Root Whole Body — Attraction in Portland

I hate to write this review because I have actually had some positive experiences at Root Whole Body. I’ve been to Root several times for both massages and chiropractic appointments. My first couple of massages were wonderful. (Barak is amazing!)

In December I booked and prepaid online ($125) for a “New Patient Chiropractic Appointment” with Dr. Agusta. Beneath the appointment name read, “Consultation, Plan, and Initial Adjustment.”

Upon arrival at the appointment, the woman at the front desk asked me if I wanted her to check and see if my insurance would cover the visit. I’d only been on this insurance for a few months, so I told her it was highly unlikely but still worth checking. That was my first mistake. To my surprise, she said that it would be covered. I was still doubtful that was actually the case, but I had already paid for the appointment so I wasn’t too concerned about it. I just figured they would reimburse my account and bill my insurance instead.

Dr. Agusta was very kind, the appointment went well. I have no general back issues or pain but do work on my feet all day, so I wanted to see if he had any recommendations. He gave me some postural recommendations that were similar to what Barak had recommended. A generally positive experience overall. I leave the appointment and carry on with my day.

A week or two later I reached out to see if they were going to reimburse the $125, as I had not heard anything from them. At that point, I was informed that my insurance, in fact, did NOT cover the appointment. No worries, I thought the $125 had already taken care of it.

Three months later (mid March) I receive a bill in the mail from Root for $88 dollars related to the December appointment. Mind you, I have been in twice since the December appointment for massages with no mention of a balance. I contact their billing department thinking that this must be a mistake. After a little phone tag, I find out that this was not a mistake, and that my insurance was billed $432.64! The billing representative then said that they had discounted this amount down to the $88.64.

At this point, I was extremely frustrated. If there were procedures that were being performed that were not covered by the $125, why wasn’t I informed at any point during my interactions with the staff? It’s not like I had any unusual issues that would’ve to lead to the additional cost. I was told that it’s stated on the bottom of the booking page. They said that they would be able to set me up on a payment plan for the $88.64. How insulting! I told them that this was a matter of ethics. I wanted to know specifically what my insurance was billed for and how it was different from the $125. The woman said she would speak with Dr. Agusta and get back to me. I never heard back from her, instead just received a repeat of the $88 dollar bill in the mail a few weeks later.

I too am a medical professional who performs procedures on patients. If I were to treat my patients without informing them that they would be charged, I would not have any patients.

I thought a place like Root would be above this type of unethical insurance billing behavior. Sadly,...

I went to NW location. The young woman who brought me in for my "relaxing soak" before my massage did not take the time to explain any simple, yet necessary things; like where the sandals were, or how the lockers worked, or how the tub worked. This proved a critical flaw.

The bath water was near boiling when I arrived, so I ran cold into it for almost 5 minutes first, and the tub was then too full. The women had told me to "just press on the drain" to drain a little water out, but this proved to be incorrect. Once open, the drain wouldn't close. I ended up sitting in an empty bathtub about 5 minutes into my, "relaxing soak", trying to get the drain stopped so I could fill the tub again and relax, which did not happen. I was more tense after this then when I came in.

The facility has terrible acoustics, and I could hear people talking through the walls pretty much everywhere I was. The locks on the lockers were not intuitive, and there were no instructions, and no one explained how they worked. After five minutes of frustration, I finally got the lock to engage. However, I couldn't get it to open again after my shower, which meant I had to put on my sweaty robe from the sauna again to go get an attendant. More frustration.

The shower, itself, was exasperating, as it alternated between blazing hot and ice cold with no warning. When I reported this to the manager, whom I spoke with outside, she responded with, " I've never heard that before", and the front desk girl said exactly the same thing. This was passive aggressively insinuating that I was lying, which I found offensive and rude, and does inform me that it is a stock phrase, probably in the training handbook, which all the workers have been programmed to respond with.

Rude and unprofessional attendants, condescending attitudes from management, flawed and irregular client brief procedures, uncomfortable spaces, and poorly regulated water heating/cooling are the perfect storm that make Root the last place you would want to go to relax. I left flustered and exasperated.

The problem stems from two things: the facility isn't the proper space for a spa. The bare concrete walls make the space feel industrial and the slightest sound echoes about the place like a hyper child. The management seems to choose employees for their attractiveness, rudeness, and similar appearance/behavior to the manager, herself; (It was a bit like the Stepford wives) as opposed to hiring staff based on competence.

Don't waste your time or money. Root is just another way...

Terrible attention to detail. We were cancelled on last minute for on a birthday after booking massages for my wife and I 3 weeks in advance. I provided them with all of our contact information, my phone number and email, her phone number and email. Two days before the massage I got an email reminding me of the appointment - NO MENTION OF CANCELLATION. I had already filled out my waiver form, but my wife never received hers.

I decided to call the spa the day before our appointments to ask them if they could send over the waiver form to my wife to fill out before the appointment. Again, I had already provided them with her email. When I called, they said they had been trying to reach me, which I found odd since I am in sales an constantly checking my phone for missed calls, voicemails, etc.. I check my email just as often and the only emails I have from ROOT is the one asking to fill out the waiver form and the one CONFIRMING my appointment. It turns out they had my phone number written down incorrectly and supposedly had tried to reach out via a call and text, but had they just sent an email this could have easily been resolved. I was told that the massage therapist doing one of our massages was not going to be able to make it and they had no one to cover... a day before my wife's birthday. Not enough time to book something somewhere else.

I'm in sales myself and I would have made sure to try all forms of contact (phone and email) if something effecting my clients came up. Especially if I could see that my client received the waiver form that was emailed and filled it out. Perhaps that would have been the better point of contact rather than the incorrect phone number. Again, lack of detail. They either never sent my wife her waiver form or they wrote her email down incorrectly, they didn't write my phone number down correctly, then they only tried reaching out by phone, not email, and they had someone call out days in advance (I'm assuming this because they said they had been trying to reach me multiple times by phone), but they weren't able to get someone to cover with multiple days notice?

Sometimes you loose a customer before you get one. We won't be referring...