THE BENEV - STAY. SPA. STORE. — Restaurant in Hume

We’re local residents and we have been very keen to try this facility.

My wife booked me a massage and treatment as a birthday gift and the appointment was originally scheduled for 11.30am on a Sat.

We received an email on the Thursday beforehand regarding an appointment change to 2.30pm.

“New message from The Spa Beechworth

HI Just hoping to move Johns appointment to 2.30pm saturday, we are short staffed at the moment so needing to do some shuffling around. Thanks Renee”

I turned up at the readjusted time to be met by the owner, Deb. She bluntly informed me I had missed my appointment at 11.30 and denied that any notification had ever been sent to us regarding a reschedule.

Even after showing the email, Deb didn’t seem open to the possibility that any error on their part might have occurred. She seemed more concerned about getting us out the door in case her existing clients heard the discussion.

Turns out a contributing factor in this issue was that the contact number the spa had down for us was incorrect- admittedly an error on our part Seems they had been trying since Thursday to reach us on the wrong number.

However, they always had our email and could have contacted us via email at any point when their phone messages to us did not get a response.

The issue here is not the mix up in the booking. Anyone running a business understands that happens occasionally and can be resolved easily and politely.

The issue is the haughty ‘no fault’ attitude from the owner when trying to discuss the possibility that they may have been partly to blame for the mix up in the first place and that they could have emailed us at any time to resolve this.

We were asked to leave the premises- because the discussion relating to this mix up was being heard by existing customers. We were talking at normal volume- but the spa has no sound proofing and voices clearly carry.

When we suggested the spa take some responsibility for the mix up we were abruptly ordered to leave and told we were ‘not the type of customers we want here’. Pretty rude.

So a few lessons learned here.

Firstly, the spa needs a reception area where customers can discuss issues without having to whisper in case clients hear them.

They also need to follow up their requested appointment changes via email if they can’t reach the customer by phone.

Finally they need a course in customer relations. At no point were they prepared to even discuss the possibility that they may have been at fault or accept part of the responsibility.

We got a refund- but would have preferred a quality local service that we could recommend to freinds and enjoy on a regular basis.

Instead of...

The Benev surpassed all of our expectations. Starting with the room which was in fact probably the best room I have ever stayed in. It was a combination of subtle technology aligned with a beautiful pallette of furnishings in a Heritage Listed environment and an extremely comfortable bed. The Benev team were always there to help us but in a very subtle way so were completely in our own space. We had a delicious lunch in The Benev restaurant. On the Sunday we had The Benev Grounded Spa treatment which left us in an extremely relaxed state. If you are looking for a place where you can remove yourself from everyday life and completely relax then I highly recommend The Benev. I am in no doubt that the environment was designed by very clever people who understand what it takes to create a safe and relaxing space. We...

My partner and I booked massages last minute at The Benev - Katherine in appointments was very prompt in getting back to me. On the day we were greeted by superb facilities and very knowledgeable staff. Renee provided a safe space for me to catch my breath and Mandy found spots on my husband’s body he didn’t even realise were sore. Both were easily the best massage therapists we’ve ever had - and that’s saying a bit as this is definitely not our first time getting a massage. The other small but kind touches such as an essential oil scent pan, printed mantra, and signature oil blends you get to choose from, made this an unforgettable experience. Thank you for taking such good care of us, we will back as soon as we can...