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.

Poise Organic Wellness Studio (OKR branch) Pre-Natal Massage & Bitter Melon Honey Scrub review

Recently, Groupon Malaysia posted the following 2 massage deals that caught my attention at Poise Organic Wellness Studio:

1. Up to 1.5-Hr Pre-Natal or Post-Natal Massage (https://www.groupon.my/deals/klang-valley-kuala-lumpur/poise-organic-wellness-studio-7/96379188)
2. 2 Hrs Bitter Melon Honey Scrub + Massage (https://www.groupon.my/deals/klang-valley-kuala-lumpur/poise-organic-wellness-studio-6/721322140)

It has been about 5 years since my last visit with my friend at the Old Klang Road (OKR) outlet where although location was nearby, parking can be a hassle at times. And now with my growing 31 weeks belly, it felt like a good time to give this pre-natal massage a try.

Before going for the pre-natal massage at this outlet, I’ve googled 2 other blogs online that gave pretty good reviews on their pre-natal massage at this OKR outlet in 2012 and 2013, and since my previous experience there was good, I thought why not give it a try?

Calling in to ask about their pre-natal massage process (since it was not mentioned in the Groupon page unlike the other massage promotion), I was greeted by the manager Ms. Gillian (pronounced Jillian) where she informed me that the pre-natal massage would be carried out on our sides, with the massage covering the soles of your feet, to your legs, hips, back and shoulder. No essential oil would be used, instead they would use coconut oil, and that the massage would not done on the abdominal/ tummy area of the mother, nor be carried out involving the pregnant mother lying on their backs. In addition, their masseur was experienced as they would normally have customers coming in anywhere between 5-months pregnant right up to 1 week before their due date.

This was very assuring for me for a number of reasons:

1. Essential oils may sometimes cause irritation on the pregnant mother’s skin due to the hormonal changes and although they were using organic products, I was fine minimising this possible complication.
2. Hitting my 3^rd trimester and being a rather petite build, I have found it rather impossible to lie on my back for more than 5-10 minutes at a time without feeling dizzy or short of breath due to the weight of my growing baby, which at that time already measured 1.6kg.
3. My body was feeling very heavy and tensed up and swelling was picking up around my hips and thigh, even climbing the stairs was beginning to feel like a warm up for an exercise.
4. The massage would not involve touching anywhere near my tummy/abdominal area. I am not doing a massage to “re-position” my baby and did not want anyone touching my tummy. So, perfect!
5. That experienced a masseur? Personally I wouldn’t want to go for a massage anywhere after my 36 weeks if possible, but if they have handled women up till 1 week before birth, my case should be a pinch right?

So after the call, I asked my mom and my hubby if they were interested to try out the other massage on promotion, since my mom loved everything organic and hubby well, he’s not been to any massage for a long time and I think he deserves to untie a knot or two before the baby arrives.

Anyways, all 3 of us decided to give the massages a try and I bought 1 groupon promo for 1 hr Pre-Natal Massage and 2 groupon promos for 2hrs of the Bitter Melon Honey Scrub + Massage and called back Gillian to give the 3 voucher security codes and booked us 3 under my name for the massage on Friday, 2 September 2016, with my mom’s slot at 7.30pm, and me and hubby’s slot at 8.00pm.

So here’s where my review begins. It will be lengthy and if you would prefer, I have listed a summary below instead for quick reading at the end of the post.

Same problem like what I had 5 years ago, when using waze/ google map to reach the outlet, once we passed Pearl Point, GPS signal went haywire and redirected us to another location. I didn’t listen to the apps after that as I knew it was just straight ahead and guided my mom (whom I was carpooling with at the time) to the place and we parked inside. The location on Google map showed that Poise was located at “205, Jalan Sepakat 8, Taman United”. Well, the lot number was correct but am unsure why the road name was different from their branch address provided of Jalan Sepadu instead.

When we entered, we were greeted by a lady at the counter named Siti who immediately informed me that unfortunately, their masseur was busy and hence, asked if my mom’s slot could be shifted to 8.00pm instead. This irked me and my mom abit because on Thursday night 7.56pm, Siti sent us a reminder that the appointment would be tomorrow at 7.30pm. I don’t see now what the point of that reminder is if Poise could not commit to our 7.30pm slot the very next day?

Well, mom and I agreed it would be fine since then it would mean all 3 of us would finishing our massage at the same time at 10.00pm (with the initial exception of me finishing earlier since my massage was only 1 hr). Then I proceeded with the registration and asked Siti if she needed to see my 3 vouchers to verify my booking. That was when she looked shocked and asked if I was using all 3 vouchers at once. This immediately made me uncomfortable and I explained to her how I made all 3 bookings with Gillian and her manager even wrote down the voucher security code to secure my bookings.

That was when things got a little hectic and Siti started calling one of their masseurs to come back as they actually had a 3^rd customer to service. Luckily she left not long ago and could turn around and head back and Siti then apologised for this confusion as she was uncertain about this arrangement since the booking was made by Gillian. I asked her how can that be, since their record showed 3 differing voucher codes she should have known or at least checked with her manager rather than jumping the gun and confidently “cancelling” 1 of my appointments?

To be honest I didn’t want to cause too much of a scene at that time since our massage hadn’t even started and I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable, so I thought since matters were sorted out, apology accepted, let’s move on right?

Next up, Siti asked if I wanted to consider extending my massage from 1 hr to 2 hrs since my mom and hubby’s massage time was 2 hrs, so I thought, why not? I asked Siti again about how the massage would be carried out and what did that additional 1 hr entail. She reiterated the same thing as Gillian and that with the 1 hr extension, the massage time carried out sideways would just be longer, coconut oil would be used throughout the whole time too.

When I agreed to it, then she showed me the top-up bill would be a whopping RM119 + 6% GST. When I saw the price I questioned her thinking it was an error and that the price included the earlier paid amount of RM69 from the groupon voucher. Apparently the top-up would be calculated based on their normal one-off massage service price and not the groupon promo price. Great, wished she had told me ahead before I agreed to it.

Anyways, kept my finger crossed and paid it, and went back to the lounge area as my hubby had already arrived and mom had started her herbal foot soak. Both mom and hubby commented that the water was lukewarm when they put their feet in so after 15 minutes of soaking, water was cold. In addition, all 3 of us were served lukewarm pandan water to drink. Not a good way to start out their massage.

Since mom started abit earlier, she went up for her massage first. Meantime I accompanied hubby until his full 15 minutes of feet soaking was up before we were both lead upstairs to the massage room.

When we arrived in the room, we were provided bathrobes and disposable head caps, disposable panties for me and boxers for hubby. One nagging bit I had in my head was since I had topped up for an additional hour of massage, shouldn’t I have actually started earlier since the 2 hr massage for mom and hubby actually included their time for the foot soak? Well, I thought let’s just see how it goes.

Massage was overall pleasant for the first hour, with 2 support pillows provided to keep my legs and arm apart. I had a lot of wind in my legs and shoulder that needed to be pushed out, whilst hubby had a few knots to loosen in his legs as well. The room was dimly lit and rather relaxing, to the extent that I felt like I could doze off any moment if not for the pain that came occasionally from the kneading.

Once the side massage ended, the lady masseur then requested I lie on my back and covered me with towels before leaving the room for a while. That was when I started feeling uncomfortable. I thought I should not be asked to lie on my back? When she returned around 5 minutes later, I asked her why am I lying on my back because I am feeling uncomfortable and will have shortness of breath. She replied that the next phase of the massage would involve massaging my 4 limbs, shoulder, and if I wanted, my breast and face, for the next half hour.

Half hour?! I thought I shouldn’t even be in this position to begin with? Ok so maybe the time extension for the massage wasn’t a good idea now, but since they are “experienced” in doing pre-natal massages, I should be fine right? Mind you at the start of the massage I already told her I was almost 8 months pregnant so she should be fully aware that as a third trimester mom, I should not be lying on my back. Well, I spent the next half hour talking non-stop with the masseur in hopes of distracting myself because the moment she stopped massaging me or I stopped talking, I honestly felt like I may pass out at any moment. This is considering that I already finished an early dinner more than 3 hours ago.

When the massage ended, hubby had just begun his rain shower and so I got up slowly to check my phone and saw that my massage had ended at 9.50pm. Feeling somewhat dizzy, it hadn’t occurred to me back then that my massage had ended much earlier than promised for a full 2 hrs massage. I was more relieved to be off my back at that time and started dressing back up whilst waiting for hubby to be done with his shower.

Once ready, hubby and I headed downstairs to find mom chatting with a Chinese lady named “Madam” in the lounge area. She poured ginger tea for mom and hubby and lukewarm pandan water for me (again?! And here I was hoping for a nice warm cuppa to heat me up after that massage) and proceeded to chat with us about how professional their masseurs are that many customers have returned time and again because of their great pre-natal and post-natal massages. It was comfortable talking to her, and she shared with us their latest promotional 20-hours or 40-hours package plan for all 17 listed massages therein. I informed her I would call back another day to ask Gillian for further details about the package and after that we all left.

Latest promotion package, whereby anniversary offer reduced each package amount by RM100/-

2 days after the massage, I sought feedback from mom and hubby on their massage experience and how they felt about it. Both mom and hubby commented that the body scrub was really good and their skin felt so soft and clean immediately after the massage. Hubby had a few sore spots on his leg from the massage which eased out by the second day and he felt much more energised as well. As for me, I actually felt much lighter immediately after the massage and felt like I could actually bounce up and down the stairs without even feeling the weight of my protruding belly, which was pretty refreshing, if not for the fact that my dizziness after that massage persisted for a full hour before wearing off.

So I called back on Monday and since Gillian was not around, spoke to Siti about the package and was informed that in line with their anniversary promotion that just started on the same day, the latest promotional 20-hours or 40-hours package plan would now each cost RM100/- less to sign up, i.e. at RM1,388 and RM2,588 respectively, with all other terms remaining the same. Just as I started to tell her about my experience of the pre-natal massage and that I had to actually lie on my back, apparently a customer just walked in and needed to be served and Siti apologised saying she would call me back on my handphone later.

Well, I never got that call even 2 days later, so hence, here’s the summary review of the overall experience:

1. I agree with many other comments that the place looks abit rundown, as the room and front entrance has not changed one bit since 5 years ago, but I believe that they are trying to go for a rustic ambience. The renovated lounge area is much spacious and roomy though.
2. GPS location can be abit confusing, best to zoom in on google map to find it, or type “205, Jalan Sepakat 8, Taman United” into your app to find the place.
3. Staff are generally very warm and welcoming, and it’s easy to fall back into a relaxed ambience when talking with them. Service on the other hand, leaves much to be desired. Poor management of my booking, seeming lack of communication between the front desk management team and masseurs, lack of clarity on the exact services provided and poor timing management of massage slots.
4. Eventhough I was assured by Gillian and Siti I would not have to lie on my back during the massage and that the masseurs are experienced in pre-natal massages, yet I had to endure a full half hour lying on my back eventhough I had told the masseur that I was uncomfortable and had difficulty breathing in that position.
5. This massage experience IMO is not for the shy. As you are expected to go almost naked when your massage starts, since no bra top will be provided for the ladies and if you do ask for a breast massage, no tissue or towel will be provided for to cover your nipples. For the gents, well I saw the masseur pulling down my hubby’s boxers to rub the body scrub all over both his buttocks. So guys (and girls too), if you would feel offended by this, better tell your masseur in advance!
6. Thinking back, the fact that my massage started 15 minutes later, and ended 10 minutes earlier than my hubby’s surmised that my massage session lasted only around 1.5 hrs eventhough I topped up for a full 2 hours, with the balance 1 hour being charged a full normal rate + 6% GST. 
7. Topping up another hour generally did not yield any additional benefit. I read in other blog posts that some customers were provided a cool aromatherapy eye pillow before the massage, an option of choosing which non-scented oil to use in their massage, and a hot ginger tea before and after (or at least after) the massage. Nope, I got none of those during my session, and even the pandan water served to me was lukewarm before and after the massage and not decided by my choice. Coupled with point (6) above, was really not worth it.
8. The website mentioned that they had therapists with more than 8 years of experience. Well, my masseur informed me that she only had 3 and previously worked in the nail parlor industry. Makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable? Definitely.
9. Personally, I felt somewhat cheated. Don’t get me wrong the massage was actually good and you could feel the effects thereafter, but everything else just frustrated me. Especially the fact that when I called back to enquire more about their package and highlight my uncomfortable experience, Siti cut me off halfway saying she had to service another incoming client and never called me back like she said she would even 2 days later.

Taking into account everything that happened, my experience at this Poise OKR outlet would be a rating of 2.0/5.0. 

Overall, I would safely say going for the Bitter Melon Honey Scrub promotion is a “Yeay!” and I would rate it 4.0/5.0, whilst the pre-natal massage for me is a "Nay!", should be done only if you are in your second trimester, and you should NEVER ask for an extension of more than 30 minutes of the massage. I don’t know if another masseur would have done it differently, especially if they have serviced moms who were supposedly a week due from delivery, with the extra half hour being done sideways instead of lying on the back but surmised from above, I’d rate this massage only a 3.0/5.0.