I struggled with whether to make this a 3 or 4 star review, so consider it 3.5.
We were staying at the WorldMark, and my boyfriend surprised me with a one hour massage for our anniversary. He confirmed with me first before booking, so I was right there next to him while he called the spa, made the appointment for me, and gave them his credit card information to bill it to.
I got there, and the lobby was okay - a little bright and not too spa-like, but fine. The woman at the front desk welcomed me and got me a cup of water while I waited and filled out the very brief intake form. My massage therapist came out pretty quickly, introduced herself, and went over some areas of my intake form (areas to focus on, areas to avoid, etc.) and I feel that she actually listened to me. The massage was very nice. She did not go so hard that it was painful, but she went hard enough where I felt she worked some knots and kinks out of me. It was really nice, especially in the middle of a late-nights, crazy Desert Trip party weekend.
After the massage ended, I tipped the massage therapist in cash and then went to the lobby. The woman at the front desk was looking down, and I was in my happy post-massage daze, so I started walking out the door, when I hear, "Hello. Hello, I need to check you out." I turned around and the woman at the front desk was looking at me, smiling. I was a little confused - my boyfriend gave them his credit card info right in front of me, and I had tipped my massage therapist, so what "checking out" was left? I turned around and went back inside. She asked me what type of massage I had gotten, and I said Swedish, which was what my boyfriend had told me he booked and what I heard him book. (P.S. Wouldn't you know that?! You checked me in...) She said, "Balance?" I said I didn't know what that meant. Then she said, "Yeah, balance." (I know now that's what they call their Swedish massage.) I stood at the table while the woman spent an obnoxiously long time rifling through papers trying to find the paper where she wrote all my boyfriend's credit card info. No clue why I had to stand there and watch her rather than saunter back to my room all relaxed, but okay. Then, she couldn't find the paper and told me she'd have to take payment from me, which was stressful because I had no idea how much it cost, it was supposed to be a gift to me, and I hadn't brought a credit card with me. I told her it was supposed to go on my boyfriend's credit card, and that he had given them the info, and she acted surprised. I told her I was right there when he called yesterday. She kept looking for it, then finally found the paper. I still had to stand there as she tried to figure out how to work the iPad to process the payment (for a credit card that wasn't even mine). She couldn't figure out how to work the iPad, so finally she said, "Well, I'll just charge $95 to the card when I can get it working, is that okay?" Again, I didn't know the price of the massage (it was a gift - that would be tacky), and I was still somewhat in my post-massage daze, not expecting this ridiculously unnecessary exchange, so I said, "$95?" She said, "Yes, $95 is the cost of the massage." I said, "Okay, yeah, whatever my boyfriend told you on the phone." She finally let me go after that. The whole exchange was unnecessary, long, and really put a damper on the massage. My post-massage buzz was gone by the time I left, and I felt bad for how expensive it was when it was a gift and I shouldn't have known the cost of it. There was no reason for me to be involved in the "check out" process at all, and she should have gotten the payment information that was given to her the day before ready during the hour that I was in the massage, rather than waiting until I got out to begin looking for it and making me stand there watching her. And for massages that I pay [way less] for in San Diego, the check out process is easy as pie - I come out, they tell me in a soft, gentle voice how much I owe, I give them my card, they give me a receipt, I go on my way. For a $95 one hour massage, I'd expect the check out process to be at least as smooth as that.
I'm torn whether I'd go back. The massage was good, but I feel that I lost some of the benefits of it because the stupid check out process stressed me out and annoyed me. read more
