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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have complained..i think i was but not sure what to ask for in recompense?

27 replies

ThatVikRinA22 · 11/07/2014 02:05

i have been on holiday in a truly beautiful part of the uk, gorgeous cottage and fantastic location with loads to do/see/walks/ etc etc. we went with dd and boyfriend, and....

my son (yep. him again...he has special needs you know....!) came with us and has done nothing but give me his problems daily. it mattered not that i said i was on HOLIDAY....he is undergoing a horrible "thing" at work and could not leave it at home...so every day he has come to me with yet another email, another interview, another problem to sort. every single day. its caused arguments. tears. because i just wanted 7 days off from it. 7 days out of 365 and he couldnt give me that.

he doesnt understand how its made me feel because he is autistic and no matter what ive said its gone in one ear and out the other.

so
today i booked a spa treatment at a hotel near to where we are staying.
it looked lovely and i was truly looking forward to it. it cost me £65. it was a back massage, foot massage (been doing loads of walking so very welcome!) hand treatment and facial.
it was to last 90 minutes. just for me. 90 perfect minutes with no one else to think about.

20 minutes in building work began to take place in the room directly above the treatment room. it went on and on, banging, drilling, hammering, by the time the treatment finished i was more on edge than when i went in. i had literally jumped at one point when something had been dropped and sounded like it was coming through the ceiling...

i complained at the time and the therapist was embarrassed and gave me a 20% discount. thing is - i could have got a 20% discount anyway as i had a voucher....she couldnt give any more than that she said.
so i complained to the hotel receptionist asking why they didnt give the spa advance warning of the building works - the therapist had told me she could have rescheduled my appt if she had known....but she didnt.

i got a very "meh" response at reception, even getting laughed at at one point for complaining. i got told they were refurbishing the room above the treatment room!
i left. i was going to book an afternoon tea there for the 5 of us but i didnt and i told them why.
ive written to the company running the spa to complain - but not really sure what they can do now....

the spa treatment would have been so lovely had it not been for the building works going on overhead.....it got completely on my nerves and i felt the whole thing was just a waste of time and money. Even the therapist was pissed off and said she could feel herself getting more and more tense! great! i wanted untensing!!

what should i expect following my complaint do you reckon? in reality i want my money back....

OP posts:
OldLadyKnowsSomething · 11/07/2014 02:12

Oh, Vicar, that's the very last thing you needed! I would hope you'd get 100% refund and a replay of the day (if that's possible, transport-wise, or if they have a branch near to you?) but if you don't get a satisfactory response from the company I'd be looking at a bad tripadvisor review at the very least. Maybe Trading Standards?

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 11/07/2014 02:19

good idea re trip advisor....cant be arsed with trading standards, just really hoped they might do the right thing....not had a response yet from the company running the spas so will await response....thing is im too nice when i complain.
i need lessons on complaining.

its typical of me. in the great scheme of things the holiday has been lovely, perfect really. we didnt get a break last year so this has been all the sweeter, we got lovely weather, lovely cottage, lovely location, nice mix of things to do, walking, eating, shopping, all on the door step.

was just looking forward to that 90 minutes of me time.
im already planning a spa break for one....later on in the year. i need it. ds is driving me insane right now....

OP posts:
OldLadyKnowsSomething · 11/07/2014 02:26

Oh, when I win the lottery you'll have a spa break every week!

You do such a fantastic job, and have so much on your plate, it's the very least you deserve. (I'm not stalking you, just spend too much time on MN) Sorry I can't be more help, and really hope you get a good result. 90 minutes of peace isn't too much to ask for.

ICanSeeTheSun · 11/07/2014 02:33

I would be demented.

DS is also asd and life revolves around him, to have 90 minutes of free time disturbed would send me over the hedge.

They should have warned you at the time of booking that building works was being done.

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 11/07/2014 02:34

thank you....i didnt think it was too much to ask but clearly it was! ha.

i must get a ticket too.....
i will return the favour! i spend too much time here too mn'ing....
ive been fantasy googling houses here on right move....its our last day tomorrow Sad so i will get to bed cos i want to be up to enjoy it! ive told dh we should retire here.....we could afford a one bed flat!
gnite.

OP posts:
SecretWitch · 11/07/2014 02:36

Oh Vicar, you just can't seem to catch a break! Perhaps you could write a letter detailing your experience and how disappointed you were not to be able to enjoy their lovely spa? I am crap at these things, though, so hopefully someone with sharper wit will be along soon.

I know I have said to you before I also have a son with special needs. He lives in my heart so much and takes up so much of my head that I sometimes feel almost consumed. I am trying to figure out how to let him make his way in the world. I know I need to allow him the opportunity to grow and learn things on his own. It's just I feel so protective and so very much aware of his challenges. Mums need to have time and space to attend to their own needs, it's just usually not at the forefront of our priorities.

I'm wishing you a lovely rest of vacation! Have some yummy cake and wine for me!

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 11/07/2014 22:57

thanks....I sent an email complaint but nothing back yet.

OP posts:
CocktailQueen · 11/07/2014 23:01

Name and shame, vicar! That is completely unacceptable! How can you relax with that racket going on? They should refund you.
Good luck. X

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 12/07/2014 23:53

thank you....it was a lovely hotel and spa....still awaiting a reply. i was disappointed - not in the treatment but in the rubbish response from the hotel when i complained.

the noise made it completely impossible to relax....and the treatment was not cheap.

OP posts:
RitaConnors · 12/07/2014 23:56

I would keep at the complaining. I would want all the money back I think so I could have another massage somewhere else.

The whole point of it was so you could relax and you couldn't.

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 13/07/2014 01:02

given a 1star review on trip advisor.....will see if that shifts their arse into responding to my email!

OP posts:
Mouthfulofquiz · 13/07/2014 02:29

What a waste of a treatment. Along a similar line, I stopped going to a yoga class in a local sports centre because they started doing circuits at the same time in the hall below - complete with BOOMING techno music. Didn't work for me.
YANBU to complain. And I would be gently angling for 100%.

Calypoppy · 13/07/2014 02:42

Threaten them with a scathing review on TripAdvisor and make sure you mention that you will include their response of laughter to your complaints.

BOFster · 13/07/2014 02:50

Have you looked up who the MD of the company is and tweeted them? Deffo complain and go for a full refund. The point of a spa treatment is relaxation- let's face it, if we did the same stuff at home, it would be called "washing"; you pay the bucks for the pampering.

ConstableOdo · 13/07/2014 04:05

I think asking for a full refund is legitimate here. If they stiff you on it go on TripAdvisor and say they suck - because they do.

nippysweetie82 · 13/07/2014 05:12

Do they have a facebook or twitter page? Complaining on there will get you a quicker response.

Original poster
ThatVikRinA22 · 13/07/2014 18:54

i commented on the FB page simply asking whom to address a complaint to. they have deleted my comment!

OP posts:
QuintessentiallyQS · 13/07/2014 19:00

I can truly recommend Cedar Falls. They are also guaranteed CHILD FREE, so peace and quiet, for under 16s only.

Cedar Falls. Go. You know you want it.

dontcallmemam · 13/07/2014 19:10

I was 20 minutes into a massage at Chewton Glen when there was some banging on the wall. The therapist stopped immediately, went to find a spare treatment room & started again. I was given a goody bag of products to take home by way of an apology.
I would persist in your complaint and advise them you'd be happy with another massage etc.
Social media if the complaint to the hotel manager doesn't work.

CauldronOfFrogsLegs · 13/07/2014 19:14

Oh vicar! So sorry you didn't get the relaxing treat you wanted. That sucks. You don't know me but I have followed your threads on here for years (my ds is as too).

Hope the company gets a move on responding to your complaint.

Noodledoodledoo · 13/07/2014 19:34

I complained to Aqua Sana about 18 months ago as I had a wrap booked and the heating in the room was broken and was belting out a temperature of about 35 degrees. I was then wrapped in a foil sheet as part of the treatment. I then had to wash the treatment off and the shower was either scorching hot or scorching hot!

I complained before I left but all they seemed fussed about was the room not functioning properly and I got a free product.

I walked back to our chalet in just a t shirt, surrounded by snow as it was about 2 degrees outside and still felt rubbish - it ended up inducing a migraine I had to take the next day off work for!

I wrote a complaint and got the full cost of the treatment refunded.

CaptChaos · 13/07/2014 19:41

Vicar if they deleted your comment on FB, then maybe try Twitter? They will probably block you, but the tweet will still be out there. You could also maybe ask friends to comment on the FB page to the effect that you had poor service from them and are being fobbed off, and what are they planning to do about it.

Stuffofawesome · 13/07/2014 19:47

Nothing short of full refund is acceptable. You can't run a therapy business when building work is going on. Sure we can muster up an MN feedback storm if required. You deserved better.

Namechangearoonie123 · 13/07/2014 19:50

I wouldn't have paid. If they'd already got my money I would have made a massive fuss til I got it back.

That would really fuck me off.

SauvignonBlanche · 13/07/2014 19:52

Sorry to hear that Vicar Sad