Poise Organic Wellness Studio (OKR branch) Pre-Natal Massage review (Part 2)

Subsequent to my earlier review of Poise Organic Wellness Studio (OKR branch) on 7 September 2016, i was contacted by their outlet manager Ms Gillian that afternoon who addressed my few concerns and apologised for the uncomfortable experience at their outlet, including the messed up timing and massage arrangements for 3 instead of 2, and my experience of being made to lie on my back. However, there were 2 issues in her explanation that irked me:

1. Although she had apologised for Siti's management of our appointments, she reiterated that it was difficult to find "good staff" nowadays for hire. 
   
   
   "Good staff"? Really? Her staff had recommended a 1 hour extension massage to me despite me already clearly mentioning i do not want the massage done on my front or back. If she really is the "good staff" she is made out to be, management should fess up and take responsibility for their staff's incorrect recommendation that put me in this discomforting situation in the first place. This is aside from the mismanagement of our appointment schedule as mentioned in my earlier review.
   
   
   
   
2. My 2-hr pre-natal massage had to be conducted in the manner where after the first hour, any subsequent massage time would need to be carried out on my back as doing the massage sideways for over an hour would be too strenuous on the masseur themself.
   
   
   Again, this issue points back to their staff's poor understanding of customer needs and how their massage services work. If Siti knew that any pre-natal massage conducted more than an hour would result in the customer having to lie on their backs and the customer has already voiced that they DO NOT want to lie on their back, how can you still even recommend the 1 hour extension to the customer?! The manager giving the above excuse to me is nothing more than trying to justify their service without considering the requests of their customers, eventhough operating a massage parlour is actually deemed as being involved in the service industry?

After all that had been said, Ms Gillian did understand that i had been shortchanged on my 1-hr extension massage and at least did offer to compensate me with a half-hr pre-natal massage replacement voucher, with no expiry date, which can be used at any of their Poise outlets around town.

That said, looks like if i wanted to make full use of the balance RM60++ paid for the extended massage time, i would have to do it soon whilst i could and was still pregnant. After considering for a month, i decided to make an appointment back with Ms Gillian to use the voucher for only that half hour at their Old Klang Road branch, no more top-ups.

Relying on what i have learned from my experience there thus far, i called Ms Gillian to check with her before making my appointment if it was possible to do the massage for only half an hour, as i wanted the massage only on my thighs and calves, and at most my hips, whilst lying sideways only again. I was lucky that my back and shoulder were not stiff from being 36 weeks pregnant, but my legs and hips were really feeling the brunt of it, and were aching from both water retention and having "wind" going in. 

Thankfully, Ms Gillian said it could be arranged and we agreed that i would call Siti to make the appointment thereafter. And true as expected, when i called Siti to make the appointment, she told me there was no such thing as a half hour massage and insisted i top-up to at least an hour. When i told her i had already spoken to Ms Gillian and she had said it could be done because of my requested circumstances, then only Siti obliged and proceeded to make the necessary booking. Looks like my case had not yet taught them and management to consider a more effective team communication and understanding of their services offered.

Anyways, my appointment was made at noon on 6 October 2016 and although i arrived 15 minutes earlier than scheduled (to avoid the lunch traffic in the area) i was serviced almost immediately and began my massage 5 minutes after stepping into their outlet.

Again before the start of the massage, i informed my masseur i was coming to 9 months pregnant, can only rest sideways, and wanted the massage for the lower half of my body (excluding soles of my feet as a precaution since there have been comments about how doing pressure point massage in late pregnancy could have an effect on the baby and uterus).

Thankfully for that half hour, things were very comfortable and relaxed and whilst i did not feel the bounce in my steps after the massage like i did a month ago, it was satisfactory and i was able to unwind for a bit then. I'll admit, taking a half-hour extension to make the massage an hour long was tempting at that point in time but i had purposely scheduled other plans after this massage to ensure i would stick to my plan.

All in all, i stand by my earlier review of the place, and yes, whilst the outlet's relaxing ambiance, friendly staff and pretty good massage services are plus points, the laid back attitude of management, lack of understanding of specific customer needs and poor response of negative customer feedback to improve their services would still give them a few minus points in my book.