I had literally the worst customer service experience of my life at Samara Yoga Studio on Elm Street in Davis Square.
I get knots in my lower back, so my sweet girlfriend bought me a massage from Trubates at Samara Yoga Studio as a gift. Right off the bat the process was difficult because when she called Samara to try to schedule the massage no one answered or returned her messages. After about a week of this when my very cheery girlfriend got annoyed at being ignored she finally got a call back from Asi Texeira, who gave excuses about why she didn't return her calls. My massage was scheduled, and on the appointed day I walked to Samara, arriving about 10 minutes early. Samara Yoga Studio is on the second floor of a building on Elm Street in Davis Square, accessed through a non-descript door that I've never noticed was there before. When you walk up the stairs you're in a short, very plain hallway with doors on either side with small signs that the various businesses (except for Samara) have put on their doors. The first doors on the left and right are for other businesses; one looks like a graphic designer, another might be a lawyer, etc.
The last doors on either side of the hallway were completely blank (no signs) except for sheets of paper taped to them with hand-written notes ("Please leave shoes on shoe racks across the hall" [which didn't exist - there weren't any racks]). Examining the pieces of paper I saw a small Samara logo on top- this was literally the only way I knew I was in the right place, since there was no sign of any sort. Neither the door on the left or right had anything that said "Enter," "Office," "Welcome," or any other indication of where the entrance was. So I just picked one, and picked the door on the left. I quietly turned the knob and opened the door a few inches to peek in, and saw a mud room with yoga mats, cubbies for shoes & backpacks, etc. "Aha," I thought, and I walked in. There was a yoga classroom on the right with a number of people standing around chatting. It was clear there was no class going on. In fact, no one even noticed that I was there, much less greeted me or told me where I was supposed to go for my massage. I decided to take my shoes off and put them in a cubby, and poked my head around the corner into the yoga room. Again, no one noticed me or greeted me, but I saw what looked like an office on the opposite side of the room, so I walked through and into the office (again without being noticed by any of the people chatting). When I got into the office Asi Texeira, the massage therapist, walked around a corner and glared at me angrily, with her hands on her hips and without even saying hello, spat, "Did you just walk through the yoga class!?"
I said, "There are no signs on any of the doors, I didn't know where I was supposed to go."
To which she said, still glaring, still without even introducing herself or asking my name, with an espression of pure hatred, "So you'd just walk right through a class?"
Now, there was no class going on (people were standing around chatting and there was no instructor present), and as someone who's taken lots of studio classes before (martial arts, yoga, spinning...), I know that it's rude to interrupt a class in progress... but there WASN'T a class in progress. But that's not even the point: Samara didn't have a single sign anywhere, there is no front desk or receptionist, and I walked into what looked like the entrance. If there had been a class in progress I would've had no idea what to do.
After Asi had now attacked me twice for "walking through the class", I said again, "there are no signs on any of the doors, how was I supposed to know where to go?" Ms. Texeira then walked to the closest door, opened it and looked at the other side, saw that there was no sign, and then huffed and slammed the door. She then turned to me, pointed and said "sit down over there, I have to get a form for you to fill out" and walked away. Now I was angry. I'd just been attacked for no reason, and Asi STILL hadn't even bothered to introduce herself. This woman was clearly in an angry, foul mood and she made me angry for having been attacked and mistreated so badly. There was no way that a massage was going to be relaxing in the slightest. I walked out.
I've asked my girlfriend to get her money back. We'll see how that goes.
Samara Yoga Studio only has one massage therapist, so if you go for a massage there you're going to get stuck with Asi.
I can't comment on the quality of the yoga instruction, but I can say that the treatment I got from Asi Texeira was so rude, insulting and offensive I will certainly never go to there again. Unless you enjoy getting attacked when you've done nothing wrong, I suggest you don't either. read more
