Laxare Day Spa

Caution: this is gonna be nasty and I swear, not a single exaggeration.

The first time we visited the place was February in 2011 and it was just for nail services. I knew because the photo that my friend and I took is still posted in Facebook so I was able to verify. The place was almost brand new then, it was during the time when SM North EDSA main building was undergoing renovations and the 3rd floor had mostly new tenants right after, Laxare was one of them. We haven't heard of the place in the past (their facebook page barely have 15 likes) but since Let's Face It was booked, we took the risk. At the same time, we just gotten off of work, craving for some quick R&R and we badly needed to get our nails done, we didn't have the stamina to walk around and search for other options anymore.

And so we went, given that the place was pretty new, it was nice, like the only place of tranquility you can find in a busy mall. I had second thoughts though as soon as we saw their rates. Half of me felt that they seemed really pricey for a place that is not that known, the other half of me though wanted to think that, with the ambiance of their place, they could be another gem that we are yet to discover. I was wrong. We ended up paying almost one grand (php980) for a mediocre foot spa with pedicure and manicure, we even had to pay additional for the polish. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with splurging every now and then, most specially when it comes to anything relaxation, but the experience should speak for its price and that one didn't.

I never dared to come back after that day. My friend Eva though, tried their massage one time and she was satisfied. She visited the place for more or less 5 times in total so far, not for anything but their massage. I have heard all positive feedback from her since, but also not for anything but their massage. Well, I should've realized that before deciding on giving it a try last Saturday.

I honestly have forgotten about our not so happy experience with the place from a year and a half ago, obviously. We agreed on getting a massage here since we needed to drop by the mall for brunch and to buy a couple of things as well, and I wanted to experience the massage that my friend kept coming back for. We arrived past lunch time, we were greeted by a pleasant receptionist and were told of the need to wait on queue for about 45 minutes and we agreed. We were asked to sit down while waiting on the exact same spot we were at when we had our nails done before. While waiting we were exchanging stories non stop as usual so we didn't notice that almost an hour has passed and we are now being asked to head to our respective massage rooms.

The moment we got to our rooms, I felt that something is not right with the smell of this dimmed lit cubicle. I don't normally inspect the condition of massage beds but for that moment, I sort of had a strange feeling of someone telling me to do a spot check, something pushed me to look for the switch and turn the lights on and so I did. I knew it, the room stinks because the bed was dirty. They don't seem to change the sheets after every client. There were dirt and oil marks on the light green colored blanket, while the edges of face hole of the white fitted sheet was also dirty and yellowish. There was a towel by the upper area of the bed that looks like an old rug, it's no longer white but almost grey in color. When I lifted it up, it was damp from I guess some wet hair which is of course not mine, and underneath is a pair of hand marks that looked really fresh courtesy of the last customer.

I called the attention of the first attendant I saw by the hallway. I showed her my findings and requested, let me say that again, I REQUESTED-NICELY for her to change the towel and sheets. I explained to her in details on why I was asking so, and pointed out each and every single thing that wasn't right with my massage bed. She immediately took off the light green blanket and got a new one. When she was trying to setup another blanket, she saw that the new blanket she was about to put was unclean too, she didn't proceed and instead, called the attention of another attendant, which so happened was my assigned therapist, to assist. When my therapist started placing the new blanket she got I asked if she could change the white fitted sheet as well since the face hole was already dirty and yellowish but she refused. She insisted to slightly cover the area with a new towel instead. Since the towel she used was way whiter than the other one, and I really just wanted to be done and over with the treatment, I just kept quiet and tried to move on. Even though I saw that the supposedly new blanket they placed got three drops of red paint stains for who knows why. On my mind, I was really close to asking if they have ever heard of the power of bleaching!

You have no idea how close I was to wanting to just leave, but when I told my friend that I am close to changing my mind, she was of course isn't OK about it so I ended up staying. I was then preparing to take a shower when I noticed that they didn't even provide a simple robe, and that the shorts they gave me were all torn and old. The shower room didn't have any hooks for your towel or clothes, which made perfect sense since it was extremely small. I'm talking about 3x2 feet in dimension small, (come on, given my very slim size!) you call that a shower room?! Furthermore, the shower head was literally broken in half, it was just tied by a number of rubber bands so the water flows from all sides of the head but the nozzles. Don't ask me how was I able to take a shower with that condition because I was so pissed to want to remember the whole thing. What I did, I let it go. At that point I already lost the urge to raise another concern.

Here comes the climax, the much awaited massage from this unpleasant therapist who kept on interrupting every small talk I had with my friend, impolitely jumping into our conversation and even tried to put up an argument with me on where is Toccarre Spa and whether or not Ventosa massage leaves marks, goodness! But in all fairness, the massage was pretty good. Not the best I've had but it was good. Their strokes and style is unique and my (rude) therapist seemed to have a good execution of what she is paid to do. I would tell her every now and then when she needed to increase or decrease pressure and would thank her right after she take note of it. She kind of had realized eventually that I wasn't a difficult customer after all. She even noticed that I started to sneeze a bit halfway through the session and I explained to her that I have allergies that's why I needed to make sure the bed was clean. Right after the massage she offered to get me tea, I said I preferred hot and thanked her. After which she placed the cup of tea on my bed (a smart move to prevent me from lying back down for a quick nap perhaps) and asked if she could leave a tip envelope, I said yes and thanked her again. I guess what I'm trying to say is, during our encounter for about an hour and a half, I said 'thank you' more than five times but the only single time I gotten a response was when I handed her the tip. I honestly do not understand why it's difficult for people who work in customer service to be nice to anyone anytime all the time. Like seriously.

Well if you think that my horror story is over, you're wrong. Given that the attendants did not appreciate my requests from earlier, I had doubts with the tea that she served. I switched the lights back on and to my surprise, there were a couple of lips/lipstick stains on my transparent mug like as if it was never washed from who knows when. I showed it to my friend and at that point I told her I was speechless. Right after I dress up I decided to raise my concerns with the pleasant receptionist. Well, she wasn't that pleasant after all. I was holding with me the cup of tea I was served with and I started by asking if she was the manager. There was no manager on duty that time so I asked for the contact number of the owner, she underlined the email address on the receipt and after that she did her best to ignore me. I pointed the lip stain on my mug and she took it, she whispered and said they would throw it instead "ma'am tatapon ko nalang po", I told her I am not interested in drinking anything anymore. Since she was obviously no longer paying attention and evidently ignoring me, I said my last thank you and decided to leave with the regret of not being able to take even a single photo since both devices I had were running out of battery.

I would probably not ask this much if they were an establishment that is not located in a major mall that gives which gives them an instant responsibility to exceed expectations, and if I was not asked to shell out PHP480 for the service. Because really for that price, and given how their place and menu was presented, these are the type of places where the bigger part of what you pay for are supposedly for the amenities and the whole customer experience. Yet, they have very poor maintenance and customer engagement skills. I called their branch in Alabang and learned that they are not under the same owner nor management. I tried to get a phone number for the owner of the SM North EDSA branch but unfortunately they don't have it, and I know the staff in SM wouldn't give me the number either so I didn't bother trying. Will I come back to the place, maybe. Should they decide to keep up with the number of customers they cater to everyday (given their location) and the consistent maintenance of their facilities, sure. My family and friends could attest to how much of a forgive and forget person I am. ;)

Like what I have mentioned on my last post, I've been everywhere, from the high end spas to some hole-in-the-wall massage parlors, so I know where I can get a way better customer service experience for the same amount, even much less. Consumers wouldn't care if you have the simplest shower room, so long as the shower heads are not broken. I wouldn't mind getting a massage from a lesbian (e.g. Nuat Thai), if they are polite and really talented. We would understand if you have the most compact massage cubicles so long as they are hygienic. Paying customers deserve their hard earned money's worth. They should be treated how they wanted to be treated. I have high hopes that after this post, Laxare SM North EDSA would start paying attention.


Laxare Day Spa
Address: 3rd Floor Main Building, SM North EDSA, Quezon City
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laxare-Spa/144896968909869
Date of visit: October 2012