honeypig

OMG, FireSprite, I had a HORRIBLE massage therapist experience recently too! I have been seeing one particular therapist on and off for about a year and a half, and she is very calm, soothing and professional. We do chat a bit, but always about pleasant subjects. She was looking to add a partner, as her practice was growing out of control, and found someone she thought would be a good fit. I scheduled a massage w/the new gal, and I cannot imagine WHAT made my regular gal think THIS person was a good fit!

The new gal had contacted me about an hour before my appointment, wanting me to come in 45 minutes earlier than scheduled, as she "had something to do." Well, I don't mind being flexible, but on that short of notice, there is only so much I could do. I did manage to get there 15 minutes early. The therapist then spent that 15 minutes complaining to me about how unpleasant her last client had been and how unpleasant Groupon clients in general were. She told me specific things about the last client and referred to the client as "really bizarre."

After the massage when I was dressed again, she had what seemed to be a ton of trouble running my credit card through. While this was going on, in an attempt to make small talk, I asked about her dogs, since she'd mentioned she had some. This opened the door for another 15 minutes of her talking nonstop about her dogs, her husband, her son, and her problems with all of them. During this time, she finally finished the credit card transaction and then proceeded to pull the bag for used linens out of the hamper, strip the table, and wipe things down w/sanitizer wipes while still talking to me. She could easily have cleaned up after I left if she had noticed I was edging towards the stairs, trying to leave, but she didn't pick up on this.

I really wanted to get out of there at that point and said "well, I had better get going, b/c you do have another appointment you need to get to, right?" She said "oh, well, I don't really know what I'm doing after this." So did she just want to leave early, since it was a Sunday? I didn't appreciate being asked to change my plans just for her convenience.

What I learned from this? If I ever find myself in such a situation again, I am going to speak up promptly and cancel the appointment right then and there. Guess I'm not as good about being upfront and not "people pleasing" as I thought...