Gina Parker

Review of The SPA Day Retreat

I have been a customer at the bells corners locati...

I have been a customer at the bells corners location for over 4 years (1 time per month for RMT and a few other services throughout the years). I had a series of unfortunate customer service events while I was there, but kept returning because I really like one of the RMT s. I finally decided last month to stop going there after they had to cancel my monthly appointment and were unable to reschedule it prior to my next already scheduled massage.. for the 6th time. I carry a lot of stress and pain in my back so I really rely on the regular massages as a way to treat that pain.

My mom offered to take my sister in law and I for pedicures at the day retreat location. I had never been to this location so decided to give it a try, despite just having decided to no longer visit the bells corners location. So I was already skeptical given the experiences at the other location...

The location was nice and the staff was polite. The pedicure was a bit rushed but overall relaxing and good. The aestheticians asked where we wanted to wait to let our toes dry and we chose the upstairs area. We stayed chatting and letting our nails dry under the fans for about 55 mins (they recommended to stay for 30 under the fans). When I pulled my feet out from under the fan, the polish had already smudged on one foot, I lightly touched the top and it was not even close to dry. That s not normal so there had to be an issue with the polish. The others toes were both totally dry and they looked great. At this point we had almost been there for 2 hours so we went down to pay.

I told the person at the front about the polish not drying and she offered to have a polish change done but didn t have time for another 30 mins. I really didn t want to wait another 2 hours to have it changed and let it dry. They offered for me to come in the following day to fix it but I was already busy, and really the only convenient time for it to be done was the 2 hours that I had already dedicated to getting it done. The girl offered to add an extra upgrade for next time on my pedicure and said she would leave it on my file. My mom paid for all of our pedis and we gathered our things to leave. I was a bit upset as we we leaving because there really wasn t an effort to make things right within my schedule and we still ended up paying nearly $100 (+$20 tip) for me to leave with my toes looking like I painted them myself at home.

As we were walking out a lady came up and asked if was the one who had an issue with the polish drying. I said yes that was me and she offered to put a polish change on my file. At this point I said no thanks as I had too many bad experiences at the other location and after the way that this visit had ended, I would not be returning. She then upped the offer to be a free pedicure and again I said no thanks. As we were leaving she assured me that the free pedicure would remain on my file for the next time if ever I decide to come back.

I appreciate the effort on her part but the issue of lacklustre customer service within The Spa is systemic and I don t want to go back again to have another mediocre experience. Once we were put up stairs, not one person came to check on us to see if we needed anything or if everything was drying properly etc. When I went down to let them know about the polish, no one even looked at the polish as I was describing it and trying to show them. They didn t even know what colour it was and left the polish out on the floor for someone else to experience the same issue. Then, we paid for the service with them offering a small upgrade for the next time.. once they realized that I was not returning, that s when I was offered a free pedicure. If a customer is not happy with the outcome of the service and you are unable to remedy the issue, why make them pay at all? Only to offer them to come back and experience the same thing? There are so many other spas in Ottawa/Kanata who really go above and beyond to make you feel special... it s just not worth it to go to one that doesn t.