I recently experienced a situation that left me speechless and scratching my head thinking “what is wrong with people today?”
I was having a stressful few weeks and decided to treat myself to a facial at a leading and well known spa chain. I had a wedding coming up and unfortunately due to stress, my skin was reacting badly. My appointment was for a specific facial but when I met the esthetician, she informed me that the facial I requested wouldn’t be ideal because of the breakouts I was currently experiencing and asked me to suggest another one. I told her that I didn’t have the spa menu committed to memory so she can kindly recommend one based on her assessment of my skin. She began rattling off the entire facial menu and highlighting all of the add-ons but never mentioned pricing. I kept asking her for the descriptions, pricing, etc. At this point, I’m extremely annoyed that my appointment time is being eaten up by her regurgitation of the menu instead of her selecting one that she recommends and keeping to the original price of my initial facial choice. Once we decided on the appropriate facial, she began spewing out other services she could perform that evening; waxing, eye brow shaping, etc. All services I didn’t want or need at the moment.
Living in NYC can sometimes get to you so when you have the ability to take 70 minutes to yourself and relish in a serene environment, you take it. This was not going to happen during this spa service. At the point where my facial began, I was already frustrated that this employee was acting more like a salesperson than a skilled estictian but I was willing to mentally move on and enjoy the rest of the appointment. That is until she started asking me irrelevant and personal questions such as “What do you do?” “Are you married?” “Do you have children?” When I responded that I did not have children, she had the audacity to ask me “Do you want children? “ I was taken aback by this question because it (like the other questions prior to this one) is a very personal question and one I don’t find it appropriate to talk about with anyone, especially a complete stranger.
When I left my appointment and checked out at the front desk, there was a basket of recommended products my esthetician thought I should purchase which totaled approximately $500! Really? Did I need to spend even more than my very expensive facial to begin with? There wasn’t even a form that explained my skin type and why these products would work well for me. Maybe I would have chosen to purchase one of two of the products if I at least was given some information about them.
I walked out feeling even more stressed and frustrated than when I walked in. Her questions didn’t sit right with me all the way home and I began feeling mad at myself that I didn’t say anything to her while I was there. As I thought more about it, I decided to contact the spa manager and explained the situation to her and informed her that I will not be a repeat customer. The spa manager apologized, provided a discount on the next facial and offered a few free products but for me, it wasn’t about that. For me, it’s the fact this spa seems to be more about selling customers products, updgrades, etc. instead of providing a superior experience that will ultimately get people to spend more. This is a service business and should train employees on how to interact with customers. It’s all about selling the experience; not the product.
Have you experienced anything like this? If so, would love to hear your stories.
