Barefoot Oasis — Local services in Vancouver

Summary:

It was a bad experience for me Not only the message was not enjoyable, it was painful The actual length of the 60 min massage session was 50 mins It is not possible to use insurance for their service since their massagers are not registered, -despite being stated that they accept insurance on Yelp They do not respect your choice of massager and might give a different massager than your reservation without any explanation

Explanation:

I had an insurance that supports massage service, so I wanted to use it. I never had a massage before, but I knew that it should be an enjoyable experience. I searched on yelp and this place was the first recommendation and based on the good reviews and the fact that they accept insurance as stated on Yelp, I booked an appointment for a 1 hour Deep Tissue Body Massage, and based on the recommendations on Yelp, I chose one of their massagers.

I arrived 5 mins earlier as stated on their website to avoid any delays. I filled the forms and while the receptionist went (to inform the massager, I suppose), then he came and said that the massager is waiting for me in one of the rooms. The name of the massager was different than the one I booked online, and this was the first red flag, but I did not mind much as I assumed that all of their massagers should be good.

The massage started, 5 mins or more, later than the scheduled time, despite that I came early enough. From the first moment, the massage was painful for me, so I asked to reduce the pressure, then after few minutes, change the type of massage, changing the focus of massage on other parts of the body, changing the massage type 2 more times, etc. But not only I did not enjoy any single moment of massage, half of it was painful, especially on my back and neck area.

The massage ended 5 mins earlier, so the total time of the massage was 50 mins instead of 60 mins. But, I did not mind much as it was not an enjoyable experience anyway, and the insurance was going to pay for it.

Then I came back to the receptionist to pay, and he mentioned that because their massager is not registered (no wonder why the massage was so bad and painful), it is not possible to use insurance, and I become really disappointed, paid, and left the place very sad.

For the rest of the day, I was very upset and sad and was thinking about the experience and regretting my decision and blaming myself. I was thinking how could I avoided the bad experience, and telling myself, I should have searched better and read more reviews, but the reviews of the place was very good, I should have checked whether their massagers are registered, but how could I knew it, it was stated on yelp that they accept insurance, etc... I was worried if the pain that I am feeling in my back and neck is going to persist if there was a permanent damage to my backbone...

I was sad, because: I wasted my money I wasted my time I felt pain during the process and not a single moment of joy My choice of the massager was not respected without any apologies I felt pain in my back and neck afterwards and worried about my health

My receipt...

The place is very clean and has a nice and calm vibe. Supposed to be a perfect place to relax and melt the fatigue away. The masseur that I met today was the by far the worst I have ever experienced. Throughout the massage I was keep thinking what is this person trying to do? Or is this the first day for him? If so, maybe he had no training? I couldn't relax during shoulder massage because he was keep struggling with the towel, which was kept rubbing on my ear. It was very noisy. Also, I had my glasses on but he just tried to massage my head. I had to stop him to take my glasses off. I know it's a small thing but it made me feel like he doesn't care at all. The overall vibe was like ‘I don't want to work now.’ For his technique, he doesn't press firmly into your feet but just rubs the center of the feet and my leg. It felt like he doesn't want to touch my feet. I had to ask him to focus more on my feet because he was just rubbing my leg with oil, which wasn't even feeling good. Also, he keeps changing where he gives massage and it wasn't constant and moves back to the same place and to the same thing that he did multiple times. I think he doesn't know how to give a foot massage although this spa is specialized in foot massage. It is such a disappointment since I was looking forward to this. I felt like I threw my money away.

If anyone trying here for the first time, look elsewhere. Don't waste your money here. The worst...

After taking a zodiac-like boat tour the other day (lots of hard bumps on the water!) it seemed a good idea to get a massage. I was able to walk into a serene and clean space, and secure a 45 min massage with Jessica. This isn’t a typical offering on their services menu but they could hear how I was hurting so they were quite accommodating. I waited for about 15 min then brought into another serene and calm space for the full body massage. Jessica listened to me describe my issues then she used a variety of massage methods such as Thai and Shiatsu to help loosen my muscles. At certain points it definitely brought forth an “eek” out of me because of how tight and constricted some of the areas were. She always checked in about the pressure though. Compared to US American massages as. New Yorker, Jessica worked on spots that frankly have never been touched like below my glutes and the sides of my back. At the end of the massage she used a hot towel under my neck to rub that area once again. I appreciated how I didn’t feel pressure to talk. We chatted a little at the start but then I just closed my eyes and relaxed into the massage. Then I was offered tea and pocky treats (!) It was definitely worth my time and $$ to go, and due to the current USD to Canadian $$ exchange rate, the fee was more...