So this is the first review that I've ever posted to a businesses Yelp and I think that's worth mentioning.
I called Oriental Massage yesterday for rates because I was thinking of getting a massage. The lady that answered the phone said $50 for a 60 minute deep tissue massage, which is great, so I told her I would call back the following day to schedule. I called this afternoon to schedule for 6:30pm. The lady asked what I needed, and I asked for an hour. I said "$50 is great for a 60 minute massage," and she replied "best in town."
I arrived at the place a couple minutes late, around 6:35pm, but I had called on the way and it was fine. When I got there, a lady rushed from the back to come meet me. Before I could say 'I had a 6:30 appointment' she was rushing me to the back and steered me into a room. I put my bag down and asked if I could use the restroom, first. She walked me to a back door to the outside, and the bathroom was just to the right of the exit. I used the bathroom and when I opened the door, she was standing there. Weird.
Once back in the room, the lady stepped out so I could get undressed. Not even 30 seconds passed before she was opening the door (to the hallway, where patrons are walking by). I said "gimmie 3 minutes, please." 1 minute later, she opens the door again. At this point, I'm in my bra and underwear and she goes "take that off" pointing to my bra. She says "it's all women in here, it's fine." I had planned to take it off anyway, but it was off-putting to be directed to do so. I started thinking 'is this place legit?' So I'm laying face down, topless, with a tiny towel draped over my upper-mid back.
The massage starts, and it's mostly just a very repetitive angry relaxation massage. She did the same 3 motions on different parts of my body for an hour. I was getting bored and started counting how many of the same strokes she was doing. She did 47 of the same motion/stroke on my right shoulder. At this point, I'm not even mad, I'm laughing to myself and thinking this'll be a funny fail story to tell my friends later.
The doorbell rings, and my massage therapist (questionable) abruptly darts out of the room to greet the customer who just came in. I can hear her scheduling with them. She leaves my door open, for God and everyone who passes by. This happens 6 more times. I start counting how long she's gone around the 4th time. At least 10 minutes worth of not only being out of the room, but leaving the door open for everyone in the place to catch a glimpse, including the almost exclusively male customers that she's leading to other rooms. As an aside, I noticed a seemingly endless flood of men coming in. Just going to leave that alone.
The 7th time she left abruptly, I thought screw this, and started getting dressed. Had about 10-15 minutes left of massage, but it was so irritating and at this point I was laying face up and didn't want to give a free show to the strange array of customers passing by. She walked back in while I was getting dressed and looked confused. I said 'it's fine. We're done.' I'm leaving and as I go to check out and end this bizarre frustrating expensive adventure, she says "$62." UM. Hold up, lady. I called not once but twice and was told the price would be $50. She says no, it's always $62. As I'm explaining that I'll only regrettably even be paying the $50 based on her massage and lack of customer service, she calls her manager (I'm assuming?) and hands me the phone! Now I've fully entered the twilight zone. The manager says "it's $62, always $62." I tell her the same thing I told the other lady, she says okay, and asks me to hand the phone back. I do, and the lady nods and hangs up the phone. She asks for my card, and the tip amount. I say "$5" because I been doing this gratitude meditation and it's got me acting brand new lol THIS lady scoffs, and says $10 minimum! At this point, I'm sure the universe it trying me and this is an elaborate test to see where my start-acting-crazy line is. I tell her she can take the $5 I so graciously offered, or she can take nothing. She runs the card, hands me the receipt to sign, and it says $57. $57, y'all. I said 'I didn't authorize you to charge my account this amount. The massage was $50, and I tipped $5.' She points to the massage charge and it says $52. I'm done with this lady and this sketchy place, so I sign so I can get out of there. I'm walking to the door, and I suddenly feel like I need to help this lady, who seems to genuinely be confused and angry. I turn around, and I say "look, I need you to understand why this happened this way. You need to provide a certain caliber of service to have an expectation of a $20% tip. Leaving the room during a massage is inappropriate and inconsiderate of your patrons time, privacy and money, esp at $1/min." She scoffs, and shoos me out. read more
