Spa question . . . What would you have done? New ? #11, Letter #12 UPDATE #21

[jpcher]

The DDs and I and a wonderful, relaxing afternoon at the spa with an overnight stay at their resort. It was almost perfect.

A glitch in scheduling did upset me a bit, but with being tranquil and all I just let it go. I'm wondering if you would have said anything or if scheduling glitches like this is normal . . .

When I made the appointments I was told that we would have our massages and facials separately, in private rooms, but done at the same time so that we would meet up together for our mani-pedis.

(There is a wonderful tranquility waiting room (TR), so even the waiting was relaxing.)

We were all called in together for our first treatment -- DD#1 and I had massages while DD#2 had her facial. We met back in the TR for about 10 minutes then DD#2 was called for her massage and I was called for my facial.

I figured that DD#1 would be called in for her facial within a few minutes. It turned out that she needed to wait for an hour . . . which she actually didn't mind because she took a nice nap in the TR (she was told that it would be an hour wait.)

After my facial, back in the TR, DD#1 was called in for her facial. Then DD#2 was called in for her mani-pedi. I waited about 15-20 minutes (again, waiting in the TR was sooo relaxing, I didn't mind the wait at all) before I was called in for my mani-pedi.

DD#2 was getting a pedicure and I was directed to the manicure station, so we really couldn't chit-chat together . . . plus DD#1 was nowhere in sight (probably more than 1/2 way through her facial at this time.)

During my wonderful manicure, I noticed the manicurist at the next table over was almost done with her client and thought "Great! DD#1 should be done with her facial by now and she'll be next."

But no. Apparently there was a walk-in nail emergency (I should probably mention that there were only 3 nail techs on duty) so DD#1 was kept waiting for an addition 30+ minutes.

I was almost done with my pedi before DD#1 was brought in for her mani-pedi (1 hour treatment each.) DD#2 had already gone back to the TR.

In the end, we missed the swimming/hot tub (we were waiting for DD#1 to get finished, I didn't think it was right for DD#2 and I to enjoy that without DD#1.) Add into the fact that once DD#1 was done, she wanted a cup of tea and wanted to relax (without feeling rushed) in the TR to finish up her day, which I found absolutely no fault with. Why rush her? DD#2 and I had already showered, but we were still dressed in our comfy robes.

Tranquility ascended. Soooo relaxing. I didn't say anything about the scheduling, but I was a bit miffed.

It was already after 8:00 p.m. We were supposed to be done and out by 6:30 -- go to the hotel, get gussied up for a nice dinner out, the DDs wanted to work-out in the gym (fitness center closed at 10:00) . . . plus everybody was pretty much starving at this point.

So, we ordered room service and watched a movie.

All in all a wonderful experience, except for the scheduling including the fact that we weren't all together for our mani-pedi's . . . you know for bonding time.



When the emergency nail thing came up I wanted to say something like "excuse me? Isn't my daughter next?" but didn't know how to say that without sounding like an SS ("I'm spending a lot of money here, take care of us first!") . . . would it be worth it to complain after the fact?



What would you have done? What would you do now?

[MrsCrazyPete]

I would definitely say something. If I were in your place, I wouldn't have said anything at the time either; you want to stay in your cozy spa tranquil state.

You made this booking with the idea in mind that you would all be together for much of your treatment times. That didn't happen. Yes, they performed all the services you booked, but not at the times they said they would. Other posters are much better that I am at writing complaint letters, so I'll leave that to them.

[cheyne]

What the heck is a "walk-in nail emergency"? 

[sparksals]

Since when does a wall-in nail emergency trump a group of THREE people supposedly together?  I would definitely complain.  You paid a lot of money for this and I would expect to be together most of the time too.

[alkira6]

What the heck is a "walk-in nail emergency"? 

It could be something like I had when I still had gel nails - I slammed my finger against the wall and somehow broke my nail in a way that it had to be taken off, my natural nail clipped, filed, and doctored up, and a new nail applied  and built up.  Having that nail hanging the way it was was painful every time I moved my finger, so to me it was an "emergency". I was worked in at my salon around the people who were already there.

[jpcher]

What the heck is a "walk-in nail emergency"?

LOL! I wondered the same thing! I moved on to my pedi and DD#2 (beauty school student) went to the mani station while this was going on, so she filled me in.

Apparently, emergency case needed her nail polish removed in order to change the color because she was going to a big to-do and the color she was wearing would not work with her big to-do outfit. Since she had the "no chip" polish on it requires a 10 minute soaking wrap in order to remove the old polish. That doesn't count the time it takes to wrap/remove the wrap for each nail.   She did not have a new application of color done at the time.

[WillyNilly]

I definitely think you should complain as the "group experience" was half the services offered.  You could have went anywhere to have a facial and mani-pedi's at whatever individual times worked for each of you, but you chose an overnight spa experience as a group and made a point to schedule your services  appropriately.  Even if they had just gotten your DD settled with her feet soaking while they wrapped the walk-in emergencies nails to soak off the polish, at least she would have been started and there with you to chat.

[JenJay]

I would probably be a bit annoyed that we ended up separated, but I'd be really annoyed that I didn't get out of there until 8pm when I'd planned to be finished at 6:30 and go to dinner. I'd absolutely let someone know that a walk-in "emergency" color change resulted in my having to cancel my dinner reservations. Not cool!

[jpcher]

Thank you, everybody! It sounds like I do have a right to be miffed.

Please keep in mind that the off schedule was more due to the fact that they only had one facial tech which is why we were put off of schedule for over an hour. The nail emergency only compounded the issue.


How would you address the letter of complaint?

[QueenofAllThings]

An appointment trumps a nail emergency - it's not brain surgery.

[Winterlight]

Since it involved a 90 minute delay and the whole idea was to do it together, I'd be pretty annoyed too. I would complain.

[jpcher]

I'm drafting my letter of complaint and will post it shortly for your suggestions/approval.

I was reading over the amenities that our package included and it says "Spa Gift (approx. $25 value)" which I completely forgot about.

We did receive a sample mud mask (1 application each) in an envelope about credit-card sized . . . would this be considered the "Spa Gift?" Is one sample application worth $25? Or is this another complaint-worthy issue?

(Tranquility is wearing off, can you tell? )

[jpcher]

Here is my letter . . . Does it sound okay?

Dear Spa:

My daughters (names) and I had a wonderful Royal Treatment (this is what the package was called) at your spa on December 27. The technicians that treated us were amazing. They were gentle, considerate and accommodating. Your tranquility room hit the spot for a truly relaxing experience which is why I didn't say anything at the time. I didn't want to spoil the tranquility.

However, I do have a complaint. When I made our appointments I was told that, after the massages and facials, the three of us would meet up in the mani-pedi area so that we could enjoy this time together. Unfortunately that did not happen. Apparently there was a scheduling conflict and my daughter, DD#1name, was asked to wait for over an hour before she received her facial. Then DD#1name was again asked to wait while one of your nail technicians took care of a walk-in nail emergency.

Due to the scheduling conflicts, it was 8:00 p.m. by the time we checked out. We were unable to enjoy your pool area because of your closing time and the fact that all of us were quite hungry. We did miss our dining experience at the resort restaurant (opted for the quicker room service instead of taking the time to get dressed up and going out at that late hour.)

An additional question that I have is that your package states that it includes a "Spa Gift (approx. $25 value)" which we did not receive. We did each receive a sample mud mask -- was this your Spa Gift?


All in all it was quite an enjoyable experience, but I was very disappointed with the scheduling conflicts.


Thank you.

JPcher




Thoughts? Edits?

[JenJay]

Here is my letter . . . Does it sound okay?

Dear Spa:

My daughters (names) and I had a wonderful Royal Treatment (this is what the package was called) at your spa on December 27. The technicians that treated us were amazing. They were gentle, considerate and accommodating. Your tranquility room hit the spot for a truly relaxing experience which is why I didn't say anything at the time. I didn't want to spoil the tranquility.

However, I do have a complaint. When I made our appointments I was told that, after the massages and facials, the three of us would meet up in the mani-pedi area so that we could enjoy this time together. Unfortunately that did not happen. Apparently there was a scheduling conflict and my daughter, DD#1name, was asked to wait for over an hour before she received her facial. Then DD#1name was again asked to wait an additional X minutes while one of your nail technicians took care of a walk-in nail emergency color change.

Due to the scheduling conflicts, it was 8:00 p.m. by the time we checked out. We were unable to enjoy your pool area because of your closing time and the fact that all of us were quite hungry. We did miss our dining experience at the resort restaurant (opted for the quicker room service instead of taking the time to get dressed up and going out at that late hour.) which was very disappointing.

An additional question that I have is that your package states that it includes a "Spa Gift (approx. $25 value)" which we did not receive. We did each receive a sample mud mask -- was this your Spa Gift?


All in all it was quite an enjoyable experience, but I was very disappointed with the scheduling conflicts.


Thank you.

JPcher



Thoughts? Edits?

I like it! My suggestions in the stricken/bolded areas. 

[NyaChan]

I like it with JenJay's edits.  Very straightforward letter jpcher