Body Freedom Spa & Clinic — Local services in Melbourne

Very inflexible cancellation/changes to appointment policy. Will take your money regardless. Be careful when booking - no compassion or exceptions at all.

I made a remedial pregnancy massage appointment for myself on Tuesday afternoon for Tuesday evening, because I had been having some lower back pain and discomfort across the last week. I'm 6 months pregnant so I thought that was fairly normal. Unfortunately fairly soon after I had made the appointment it became apparent that something was wrong (approximately 2 hours after I had booked online), and that I would not be able to make the appointment so I called the Spa to have it changed to another day.

The front of house person was very professional and explained that I was within the 24 hour non cancellation period and that I couldn't change my appointment or get a refund, which I accepted at the time, as I was in too much pain to really argue my case. I explained to the front of house team member that I needed to change the appointment because of a medical emergency and that I would not be making the appointment that afternoon. She confirmed with me that I understood I would be forfeiting my payment.

After this call I went directly to the hospital where I have spent the last 2 days recovering from a very painful and potentially life threatening bowel obstruction, which is what was largely causing my lower back pain.

I'm not writing this review just to complain or get anyone in to trouble, I wanted to give some feedback, and suggest perhaps a blanket no cancellations or changes within 24 hour rule isn't always the best response. I was trying to change the appointment (not cancel or refund) within 2 hours of booking, and was changing it due to a medical emergency that was totally out of my control - which I had also made clear over the phone.

I was very much looking forward to having a treatment at your Spa as I had heard only good things, but unfortunately now I just feel let down. I may try to book again in the future when I am 100% recovered, but I doubt it.

I can see that Body Freedom's response to these kind of reviews is that their cancellation policy applies to everyone, and that you can 'send in a friend instead' but that's quite hard to arrange when you're being rushed to hospital and prepped for emergency surgery. If you are providing a luxury service, some customer service flexibility...

Very disappointed with their strict cancellation policy for pregnant women/mum of very young kids ( who obviously has more likelihood of unforeseen circumstances for being unable to attend). I thought I had a bad experience speaking to reception about this for my friend ( after she told us that they will forfeited her massage+facial as her daughter is sick that morning and she is heavily pregnant and needing a well deserved massage). I offered to babysit but she didn’t want to spread germs to the staff incase it is contagious so she sent me instead. She is thoughtful for putting staff safety first .

So off I went after scrambling agenda last minute and spoke to receptionist after treatment and offered to buy a 60mins voucher for her to reschedule next time if they can just at least add the facial back for her as act of goodwill for this unforeseen circumstances . The receptionist bluntly said no. I then offered to buy 2x 60 mins voucher for my mum down the road if she can also work with me and add the facial back in for my friend as act of goodwill again reminding her that my friend is heavily pregnant and really needing this break . She became more blunt and said yeah you can pay for the facial then. Wow I thought so blunt. I then asked for the 3rd time, what about just adding half of the facial time (ie 15 mins) ? She just stared at me and said no it was forfeited . I was so shocked with her response and lack of empathy so decided not to go ahead and went to buy a voucher from another spa place nearby after speaking to them re their cancellation policy . After all, this is not about money, but about being empathetic and supportive to exisiting clients or in this instance potentially 2 new future clients. This didn’t sit right with me as I discussed this with my friends over dinner , so we looked at online reviews about this place and was appalled that similar thing happened to someone who gave birth on the day of the massage booking and they wouldn’t let her reschedule. More reviews we read, the more we can see that this happens more often than not for mums/pregnant ladies! I recommend revisiting your cancelation policy for these...

I enjoyed the overall experience (a botanical facial) from my therapist Kate, she ensured a relaxing experience, however the products used were way too harsh for my skin. I had advised the products I generally use are gentle and natural as I do have sensitive skin during the consultation. I did feel tingling as I left the session but Kate did explain that the enzyme mask can be a bit tingly so I didn't think too much of it. It has now been an hour since I have left and my entire right side of my face is extremely raw and red and painful to touch. I have rinsed my face with water and a mild face wash that I use and have applied a barrier repair cream. There is so much damage done to my skin and I am now left feeling awful. I have worked very hard to get my skin to this point and wasn't expecting to have red raw irritated skin. Goodness knows for how long. Even after discussing options with Catherine over the phone, I just am not sure that there is anything that can be done immediately to repair the skin. I offered to send photos to Catherine but she just quickly dismissed me and said she didn't need any photos. I couldn't come back into the store as I live 40 mins away and my mum was babysitting my baby and come back as I had already left. Catherine did suggest that I apply some allergic reaction steroid cream, but I should not have to apply allergic reaction cream, as this is not an allergic reaction but a reaction due to sensitivity. I know my skin and I have been to countless skin clinics for facials and have never had an experience like this. I'm really sorry to be leaving such a bad review as I did really like Kate as she was lovely and gave me such a relaxing experience but unfortunately the post-facial experience has been horrible. I've attached a few photos. The first photo was right after I left the spa, the second photo was 1 hour post the facial when I got home and the last image was my skin without makeup just 3 days ago (no redness or irritation...