The worst sin is advertising something that you do not do !
I recently went to a new therapist for a "whole body massage" - her chosen words in her ad.
the back massage was quite good, the buttocks were ignored, my legs were only touched below the knees front and back, my arms were done but my torso was ignored
I will not return !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and the advertised one hour was more like 40 minutes
I don't know what it is, but often with new therapists the first couple massages are good, and then indeed the level of service does drop. It's like the therapist takes you foregranted....they don't ask about what's bothering you, they don't ask if it is too warm or too cold...it's like they have gotten TOO comfortable.
I agree with Alrl 'The worst sin is advertising something that you do not do' I like Alrl did not return.Other examples of this is going for a sports massage but receive a swedish and going for a lomI lomi massage and being covered head to foot in towels.
The worst sin is advertising something that you do not do !
I recently went to a new therapist for a "whole body massage" - her chosen words in her ad.
the back massage was quite good, the buttocks were ignored, my legs were only touched below the knees front and back, my arms were done but my torso was ignored
I will not return !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Male client, female therapist who is scared of men's bodies = lousy massage experience 😮
and the advertised one hour was more like 40 minutes
and mean with it, I can't stand the therapist who is a clock watcher and can't bear to give a minute for free or in this case reduces the treatment by a third but presumablynot the price. I am of the opinion that a 'one hour' massage should mean exactly that. If any therapist then says, well if you want the full hour and extra time for undressing, consultation, shower, whatever; then I will have to charge more is a charlatan IMO. £30+ per hour, not many people earn that as an hourly rate, often paid in cash;) and whilst it is a skill it's not that unique is it?
Totally agree about the time thing, it is one of my biggest annoyances.
I went for a massage on Wed to a place I have been before. The girl I normally see does massage wherereby hour is 55 minutes. This I can accept as she rents room and is obviously trying to maximise and she gives a good massage for the 55 mins.
Wednesday my regular girl wasn't there so took another therapist and I can honestly say it was the worst I have ever had. Started massage at 13:40 and finished at 14: 20 and technique was awful taking her hands off all the time and I think I got one minute (a few effleurages) on each leg and talked all the way thru. I would NEVER go near her again. She even walked back in while I was getting dressed (chapped door as she opened it). I was standing paying for the treatment at 14:25.:mad: Can't believe two such different therapists are working in the same place. I was tempted to say something to the owner and may still do so, however they are all self employed so?????
Still getting such a bad massage only made me realise that when my clients say I am good I should graciously accept this and not brush off their comments as if they don't matter. I allow an hour and a qaurter for a full body (inlcuding stomach and feet). I allow an hour and a half turnaround time.
Patchouli
It is hard though when you're working at a centre or clinic. I do so and the room rent is high, payable also when you don't have clients. So £30+ per hour sounds like a nice amount of money, but the reality is that if I don't see at least 5 clients a week, I don't even cover my costs!
Also working "full-time" as in doing 40 hours of massage a week is physically not feasible for the vast majority of therapists, so the cost of a treatment takes that into account. Also part of the "job" is doing the admin, advertising & marketing, training, research, dealing with client's enquiries via e-mail or phone etc, which is otherwise unpaid. So looking at that, after deducting the costs, I actually make less money than I do at my "day job"!
So of course I nominally see 4 clients in my 4-hour slot at the centre if I can. Spacing them apart would mean I could see only 3 people and that would severely affect my margin, or in effect increase the hourly rate I pay for the room.
I tend to overrun most appointments by a few minutes, by the end of the evening I usually finish about 15 min later because of that.
And yes people often pay in cash, but that is still taxed, just like people in employment!
In an ideal world I would like to be able to space clients apart and have each of them on the table for 60 minutes, give them a free consultation etc. In reality they probably get about 55 min on the table, apart from the first session where the initial consultation is also part of the session. They basically pay for 1 hour of my time I suppose, not for 1 hour on the table.
That said, I would never, ever see a client for less than an hour: a 40 min session is outrageous and sounds like the therapist couldnt' be bothered or was in a rush to get home!
Patchouli I would complain if I were you: yes they are self-employed but in their contract it might well say something about how to treat clients. Also if the owner gets more complaints, they might decide to terminate the contract with the therapist. They will have to give them some notice, as defined in their contract, but they can get rid of them and they probably would if someone like that is damaging the reputation of the centre.
If nothing else, it would at least get pointed out to the therapist and she might better herself, meaning that other clients are spared the same experience you have had.
I will do a full-body in a 1-hour session but find it hard to fit it all in, especially as most people requesting that also ask for more focus on back, neck, shoulders. So in practice it can mean that areas such as legs and arms only get a few minutes each. I do appointments up to two hours though, so if people want, they can book a longer session, but of course that's more expensive... 😉
It was also the fact that she had me finished dead on twenty past two and walked in while I was getting dressed, even handing me my shirt!!:rolleyes: Then had the cheek to say she hoped she would see me back again soon.
I hung around to see if she was taking anyone else in after me and she wasn't. She didn't come back out the room after I left and no-one went in. That annoyed me even more that she didn't HAVE to get me out in HER time.:mad:
I actually rent out rooms to practitioners and HAVE asked some to leave due to crappy practice (one girl, if she had a client in at 5pm would walk in at ten past five:eek:). I keep on top of what the others are doing and have good reception staff (at last) who let me know what is going on but not in a tell-tale way, just if they are concerned about anything. Whether a client didn't look happy, if a therapist is constantly turning up late for appts etc. If I feel a therapist is giving the place a bad name I will ask them to go and have done on at least two occassions, once for the girl who always turned up late (with client sitting waiting and she was just walking in door) and the other was a guy who was very aggressive with the clients regarding re-booking (he would walk them to desk and almost demand that they re-book, then he would get mad when they cancelled the following day and blame it on the reception staff).
Because I do this full time and also own the darn place I do have the luxury of giving clients extra time, however I do charge for this. A bns takes me 35 - 40 minutes and I allow an hour. I charge £25 for this. A full body is £45 and as stated previously I allow and hour and a quarter with fifteen minutes turnaround. In my opinion clients prefer to pay a bit extra and get a good proper massage and not rushed as quickly as possible out the door. In fact I encourage them to lie for a minute or two just to savour the effect on their muscles and listen to the music before firing them out the door and back to reality. I do have a high return and I think that is why. As I have a high return and a healthy client base I do end up making money from it.
We need to get away from this 1/2 hour, 1 hour etc and take what time is needed for the treatment, however, we should charge accordingly too which is why my prices are higher (but if you think about it they aren't as the client is getting the proper time). I am still in this to earn and am not a total bleeding heart but I think people will pay for really good treatments.
I would much rather have a full body (including stomach and feet) for an hour and fifteen minutes and pay a higher price than these stupid "rush jobs" which leave me irritated rather than relaxed.
Patchouli
and mean with it, I can't stand the therapist who is a clock watcher and can't bear to give a minute for free or in this case reduces the treatment by a third but presumablynot the price. I am of the opinion that a 'one hour' massage should mean exactly that. If any therapist then says, well if you want the full hour and extra time for undressing, consultation, shower, whatever; then I will have to charge more is a charlatan IMO. £30+ per hour, not many people earn that as an hourly rate, often paid in cash;) and whilst it is a skill it's not that unique is it?
I realise that you are not a massage therapist so you don't appreciate that our job can be quite physically demanding.
I know some therapists will say that their therapeutic hour is 50 mins. As metnitoned already sometimes in a clinic setting it's not possible to give the full hour if you have clients booked in back to back. Luckily in the clinic I work in I have 15 mins between clients so although I'm not earning as much as I could it means I can give the client a full 60 minute massage, give them time to get redressed, get them water and check how they are feeling, and give them any appropriate home care advcie. When I worked in a spa the sessions were 25 and 55 minutes long and I had just 5 minutes to get the client out of the room, clear the towels away and get everything ready for the next client and collect my next client. I would have to cut the treatment short by a few minutes. In my first week I gave them the exact time of 25 or 55 minutes and ended up running late with every client. If I was late collecting them they were likely to complain and I would get into trouble. I hated this conveyor belt way of working.
Although being self-employed we get what seems like a good rate per hour, we still have to pay taxes, national insurance, & room rental. Plus I do extra training to learn new techniques which I pay for from my earnings. Physically we can't do an 8-hour day of massage - well I can't anyway. The max I can do is 5 hours and even then I can't do that everyday. The reason I left the spa was because I was getting burnt out.
Also I would say that massage is a unique skill. I'm not sure if you said that to provoke a comment/argument.
Coolhandluke: why do you not train yourself? 😉
Coolhandluke: why do you not train yourself? 😉
My health is not good enough.
I seek massage to ameliorate the effects of surviving a 'life threatening disease'.
That's why I am so tetchy about the quality of experience I receive.
I want something that takes me away from the everyday and humdrum; I can get that for free.
Best of luck in your endeavours Pinky.
I realise that [COLOR="Blue"]you are not a massage therapist so you don't appreciate that our job can be quite physically demanding.
I know some therapists will say that their therapeutic hour is 50 mins. As metnitoned already [COLOR="blue"]sometimes in a clinic setting it's not possible to give the full hour if you have clients booked in back to back. Luckily in the clinic I work in [COLOR="blue"]I have 15 mins between clients so although I'm not earning as much as I could it means I can give the client a full 60 minute massage, give them time to get redressed, get them water and check how they are feeling, and give them any appropriate home care advcie. When I worked in a spa the sessions were 25 and 55 minutes long and [COLOR="blue"]I had just 5 minutes to get the client out of the room, clear the towels away and get everything ready for the next client and collect my next client. I would have to cut the treatment short by a few minutes. In my first week I gave them the exact time of 25 or 55 minutes and ended up running late with every client. If I was late collecting them they were likely to complain and I would get into trouble. [COLOR="blue"]I hated this conveyor belt way of working.
Although being self-employed we get what seems like a good rate per hour, we still have to pay taxes, national insurance, & room rental. Plus I do extra training to learn new techniques which I pay for from my earnings. [COLOR="blue"]Physically we can't do an 8-hour day of massage - well I can't anyway. The max I can do is 5 hours and even then I can't do that everyday. The reason I left the spa was because I was getting burnt out.
[COLOR="blue"]Also I would say that massage is a unique skill. I'm not sure if you said that to provoke a comment/argument.
I certainly do appreciate a massage therapists job is physically demanding. That's why I can't understand it when therapists work clients back to back with no time to re-energise etc.
You have pointed out the difference between good clinics that allow adequate time between clients and those that don't. You hated the conveyor belt way of working and were becoming burnt out so you realised the pitfalls of the 'kwik-fit' approach to healthcare/massage.
I can't imagine any massage therapist worth their salt being able to sustain an 8 hour day! This doesn't however mean they should expect to be paid for 8 hours in a four hour period of work plus 4 hours 'me' time!:mad:
In what way is massage a 'unique' skill!?!:confused:
There's good bakers, plumbers, florists and massage therapists. Any mumbo jumbo about 'unique':rolleyes: skills is to do with your own perception of your status and worth IMO (only my opinion mind!).
As a percentage of population I wouldn't expect the number of people that can do a good massage to be any fewer than any good tradesperson, nurse, gardener with of course the usual different quality standard within each group and some exceptional people in each group. (Please spare me the 'and plumbers get £80 an hour and I only get £35' retort as you don't have to crawl around on your hands and knees in dark corners of people's lofts or unblocking their toilets etc.) Massage treatments sounds quite 'nice' in the scheme of things.
certainly do appreciate a massage therapists job is physically demanding. That's why I can't understand it when therapists work clients back to back with no time to re-energise etc.
This usually happens when you work in a clinic/spa and it's not the therapists who do the bookings, or have any say in it. They usually get a booking sheet at the start of their shift which is invariably full and if you are lucky you may get a morning or afternoon break plus a lunch break. I know quite a few therapists who got badly injured working like this and burnt out, so no good for therapists either.;)
Binah
x
This usually happens when you work in a clinic/spa and it's not the therapists who do the bookings, or have any say in it. They usually get a booking sheet at the start of their shift which is invariably full and if you are lucky you may get a morning or afternoon break plus a lunch break. I know quite a few therapists who got badly injured working like this and burnt out, so no good for therapists either.;)
Binah
x
I do agree with you about spas as the practitioner is usually an employee.
However....
Our place just rents out space and time blocks. It is then up to each practitioner to tell us how they want to run their appointment system. If they work on the hour, so be it. If they want to space their clients and give more time at higher cost then so be it too.
Clinics/Spas are, as I have already said, need to get away from this half hour/one hour nonsense and actually give the time needed for a treatment. However, the charge should be levied accordingly. Imo there is no point paying £35 for an hour (read that as 40 minute) "full body":rolleyes: if I could find somewhere that takes £45 but gives me at least a FULL hour.
Who says that appts given out to clients have to be booked on the hour or half hour?
I would say that if a practitioner is renting time/space from a clinic and is not an employee then it is up to that practitioner to dictate their appointment schedule. Why is it up to the clinic to dictate?
Lets face it, if you are renting clinic time/space then you, the practitioner, are actually a client of the clinic i.e. a room rental client and as such should have say over your schedule. Clinics do, if they have a number of practitioners/rooms, make quite a bit of money via room rental so why should they dictate what your schedule is?
If the clinic has to dictate when you take appointments within your rental period then I wouldn't want to work there.
I think it is time we started to think outside the box as far as being self employed and renting room space/time is concerned. Maybe then the clients such as CHL (and me on Wednesday) wouldn't feel they are being short changed.
I think it is great that CHL has opened this topic as I am sure it has given some of us food for thought about our practice.:)
Patchouli