I've been coming here on average once or twice month for nearly two years. I felt the employees are were respectful.
However, today I received quite a disturbing phone call from the establishment. I was basically told that I should probably take my business elsewhere because the employees felt that I don't provide enough of a tip after receiving services. Apparently because I was supposedly not tipping enough, the guy that works the front desk (not sure if he's just an employee or an owner) was giving them more money out of their pocket and he couldn't afford to keep doing so. At least that's what I was told on the phone. He acknowledged that I had always provided a minimum tip of $10 every time I came with the exception of the last time I received a massage there. The last time was roughly two or three months ago. I didn't provide a tip that one time in two years because I felt I paid $130 for nothing but to have someone rub oil on me even though it was meant to be a deep tissue massage. In nearly two years it was the worst massage I'd ever received at this business.
It took me a while to find a decent massage place when I first moved to this town. I'm a disabled veteran who's had multiple back injuries from my time in the military and getting massages helps with the pain. I loved coming to this place because it was clean (although I don't agree with them allowing a cat roam the lobby), the employees seemed decent and it was always easy to get appointments when I needed them. I have noticed they've raised their prices on the types of massages I would normally receive but what business hasn't raised their prices these days.
Now to get a call to tell me that I don't tip enough money is very off putting. I was told the employees have to pay bills and feed their families. Well guess what....I have bills to pay and a family to feed too!! I guess it never occurred to the folks at this establishment that I probably couldn't afford to provide a larger tip. Sounds to me like the employer could stand to pay their employees better. I'm wondering if they pay their employees below minimum wage and expect them to make up the difference in tips. If this is their business practice, normally, the business is supposed to make up the difference if what they earned between salary and tips is below minimum wage.
When I tried to make an appointment online (which is what I normally do), the site showed they had a whole day of availability. Yet when I chose a time, I got an email stating my requested appointment time couldn't be granted because they were booked for the day. So I tried to book a massage online for the next day. They showed availability starting at 230 pm. Shortly after I chose a time slot is when I got the call from the guy that works the front desk. So if you ever try to make an appointment online with them and they say they don't have any availability, it's probably not true. They're more than likely looking at their database for your history of appointments and tipping habits.
I've referred a lot of people to this business over the last two years. I will no longer be referring my friends or colleagues here because they've shown me they don't appreciate repeat business (tip or no tip). I've also seen reviews with folks saying they give military discounts. I've never received one nor do I know if they still offer one. I also don't know If they only offer them to Active Duty or not. I do know that I will tell all of my military friends (active duty and retired) not to come here anymore.