I was gifted a Groupon for a 60 minute Swedish massage for Christmas. When I called to make the appointment, the receptionist did not take down any of my information. I stated my name, and telephone number, requested a female massage therapist, and then told him about the Groupon for a 60 minute Swedish massage. His response was "OK".
My husband came with me to the appointment. Upon our arrival, a man was opening the door at 10:45. He did not greet us, instead, he asked if I had an appointment. I replied I had made an appointment for 11:00, with a female massage therapist.
We sat down at the couch next to the entry way for about 5 or 10 minutes, before a female employee came up to me and asked again if I had an appointment. She was brash and was speaking very loudly. She asked if I had a Groupon. At this point, I had stated the Groupon deal twice. She walked away for another 5 minutes. When she returned, she said, "Follow me".
My husband left to a nearby coffee shop, and I followed the woman upstairs. The spa rooms are divided by curtains downstairs and upstairs there are two massage tables. When she noticed that my husband was not with me, she demanded to know "Where is your friend?, He does not want a massage? It is only you!". She appeared angry and walked off.
Confused, I got ready and laid on the massage table. A young male employee walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I was shocked because I had told the spa on numerous occasions that I had booked a massage with a female therapist. At this point, although irritated, I was already undressed and thought I should give it a shot. The first thing he did was take my hair and put it up in a clip. I started to feel uneasy because this was not typical or at least I would have been asked to put my hair up before a massage.
In the background, I could hear the other two employees downstairs, making coffee, cleaning, and slamming cupboards. Their conversation was loud and interrupted the supposed therapeutic experience.
He started by rubbing my body with the sheet over me. I have experienced this with other massages and did not think anything of it. However, when it was time for him to remove the sheet and begin using oil, he pulled the sheet down and also my underwear to below my waist. I immediately grabbed the sheet and my underwear and stated that I was not comfortable with this. His response was "no, no, no," as if I was interpreting his technique incorrectly. I responded with, "No, I do not like that, I am not comfortable with that."
The following 5 minutes were massage techniques that were painful and awkward.
The "massage therapist" proceeded to apply unnecessary pressure with his elbows to my back by laying on me. His crouch in very close proximity to my head, which was very uncomfortable. I put up my hand and asked him to use less pressure. His response was a question of "are you ok?. I reiterated that it was painful and asked for him to please use less pressure. At this point, I could hear him sniffling, and I felt one of his hands leave my back, wipe his nose, and then wipe it on the massage table sheets.
At this point, I put my hand up and asked for the massage to end. We were only 15 minutes into the massage, which was supposed to be for 60 minutes. He did not appear to understand that I wanted it to end, so I just had to say "I'm done, I want to leave." He walked away. I pulled the curtains to get dressed as quickly as I could, but before I could reach for my clothes, he opened the curtains with a hot towel. I was topless, now angry, and told him to please leave. As I was getting dressed, the female employee came upstairs and wanted to have a conversation. In order to prevent another employee from seeing me topless, I told her I was getting dressed. Her response was "Why do you want to leave?" I opened the curtain and told her I had requested a female massage therapist, and that I was uncomfortable. She said, "I can fix it". I said no thank you and proceeded to walk down the stairs with her tailing me, telling me to go lay down and she would take care of me. She stated that she was unaware of my reservation requests, that the young male, who did my massage, did not understand English that well, and that she would be able to provide me a massage. I declined. They took my Groupon and I walked out in tears.
The techniques used were not Swedish or therapeutic. It was painful and I was tense from being uncomfortable. My back is extremely sore. I urge spa goers to proceed with caution or take your business elsewhere. I will not be returning. The only reason for the 1 star rating is because Groupon worked with my husband to refund our account. read more