Fountains Day Spa — Local services in Alexandria

Best I can say at this point is "inhuman robots". What happened to the point where people can separate from the black and white of a computer and being human? I was super hopeful when I purchased a gift certificate from this location only to find that the location was not where I thought it would be for the recipient. I requested that they please cancel the transaction PRIOR to the order being completed but unfortunately, the location is closed Monday and Tuesdays. This morning, they processed my transaction before acknowledging my numerous requests to cancel. Now, I understand my shortfall here as I did not confirm the location in relation to the person who is to receive it. However, this is where humanity should kick in. I tried multiple times to contact them regarding my mistake and concern. When I finally reached the location the response from Savannah was "they cannot refund gift certificates", "I checked a box acknowledging the certificate is non refundable", "she was only repeating what she is told to say" and that "I should consider selling the gift certificate on Craig's List". Oh! also that "the address noted on MY billing was 'local'..." Couple of things - 1. to refund a Credit Card is not difficult but a PURE CHOICE not to by the location. I have done it many times at the salon I used to work at and the process is not complicated. 2. The only check box I had seen was not for acknowledging it was non refundable - it was that they had to use it within a year. I am unsure where that other "checkbox" was. 3. Selling it on Craig's List!? ...wow... just speechless there. 4. MY address is irrelevant to the person who I WANTED to get the certificate, and now I am OUT hundreds of dollars for them!! What a great way to start the holiday season but with an experience like this! I am guessing if YOU are going here, only go and PAY WHEN SERVICES ARE RENDERED. You may loose it any other way since they could care less about their potential customers. Hell if I know what I am going to do now with loosing $300 and a gift certificate I cannot gift out. Don't even bother with...

I usually have a great customer experience at Fountains Day Spa. I’ve been an on and off client of theirs for over 12 years. Francis is a superb aesthetician and I’ve always had great facials when I can’t book with him. Unfortunately, I had a less than great experience with the front desk attendant during my last visit. I booked a facial to take advantage of the furlough discount but left my ID card home. The attendant said she could refund me the difference if I came back with my ID card. She never mentioned that it has to be the same day. If she did, I would have checked out with the 20% discount on one of the services that was offered as I knew my day could get busy with other errands I was trying to complete. When I returned today, she immediately addressed me in an aggressive manner stating that to get the discount, I had to return the same day and that she tried to call me to twice to tell me. I was made aware on no uncertain terms that I was at fault. She then offered to provide me with a gift certificate for the $95 refund. I asked to apply it to product and at first the answer was yes but during the middle of the discussion, she left to go into a back office to talk to “management”. When she returned, she said she was mistaken and that the refund could only be applied to services. Again, this was a less than stellar experience and I left annoyed that I even had to engage in the conversation.

Customer Service is characterized by what I do to you or for you. Customer experience is expressed by ease, effectiveness, and emotion or how you feel after the engagement. 5 stars for effectiveness of the aesthetician. One of the best facials I ever had. 3 stars for ease. Could have been 4 stars if the front desk explained things better or simply recommended checking me out with regular discount vice the furlough discount. Would have saved time and reduced frustration. 1 star for emotion as I walked away feeling like a less than...

I reviewed this place three months ago after a few services. They give you $20 off a service if you give them a review online (which is why there's so many positive reviews) - looking back this is pretty icky. Last night I called to reschedule my appointment for today (the first and only time I've done this). I was met with hostility and was told they would charge my card a 100% of the service as that's their policy.

I called my credit card account manager and found out that places that try to use these "cancellation policies" to charge you a fee are actually committing fraud and are not authorized to use your credit card on your behalf. At a minimum American Express does NOT honor ANY charges for goods or services not rendered. I recommend that if you run into this situation in the future and this/a company tries to charge your card, either put your card on hold or request a charge back.

Also to avoid any accusations towards my experience and that I'm being unreasonable - I understand that this is to protect the employees (as they have previously commented). Frankly if the cancellation fee was just what the therapist would have made for my service (aka a prorated cancellation fee) I would have paid it to ensure she didn't miss out on her paycheck. But I will never pay a 100% cancellation fee to give greedy business owners my money for work they aren't doing. This is a practice that other companies in other service industries do to protect the employee. Recommend the business owner takes a page out of their book for a more reasonable policy.

Original review: Excellent service, cozy environment and quiet throughout the spa services. I've had a 50 min and 80 min deep tissue massage, and both were amazing. Reasonably priced for Old Town Alexandria and good value for the price. I intend to go back monthly. Going to check next time to see if there is a membership...