ALERT & WORD OF CAUTION: SPA SERVICES (long post)

[Aplmac]

4 hours ago, JQTravels said:

I went in blind and they were trying to up-sell another massage

more expensive than the one we purchased.

 

I said no thank you and a manager came strolling past and said

"It's only $150 dollars more -what's the big deal?" 

.

Hard to believe the attitude could be that mercenary!! 

"ONLY" 150 dollars more" he said -It'll be fun, he said. I'll pay the bill, he said..

[JQTravels]

3 hours ago, Aplmac said:

.

Hard to believe the attitude could be that mercenary!! 

"ONLY" 150 dollars more" he said -It'll be fun, he said. I'll pay the bill, he said..

😂😂...man if we weren't at sea, and I was not having such a great time, and had the mindset of not letting small stuff ruin my vacation.....here is your $150..

[mek]

8 hours ago, dianaeatworld said:

Oh, I have no problem with telling them no, I just don't like being put in a situation where I would have to in the first place. That would totally kill my mood.

Just write on the bottom of the pre treatment survey that you do not want to buy ay additional products.  Nothing needs to be said.

[JQTravels]

1 minute ago, mek said:

Just write on the bottom of the pre treatment survey that you do not want to buy ay additional products.  Nothing needs to be said.

Good idea👍

[dianaeatworld]

9 minutes ago, mek said:

Just write on the bottom of the pre treatment survey that you do not want to buy ay additional products.  Nothing needs to be said.

 

Good to know. Thank you 🙂

[Squadleader]

Ideally, sales is the art of meeting someone's needs and solving a problem for a customer. Someone's in a spa for treatments, someone's on a car lot to get a car, someones at an open house because they need a new home.

 

So it isn't a surprise the spa tries to sell spa services. 

 

Successful salespeople probe to look for an opportunity to sell their products. If a customer is not clear and firm with what they desire, they are going to get a hard pitch, and many times, during the encounter. In most sales situations the average customer says no five times, and the average salesperson asks for the sale four times. That's why most salespeople aren't effective. There's a golden rule that applies to all sales, whether encyclopedias or real estate, that 20 percent of salespeople always make 80 percent of the sales. So training tells us we must ask for the sale at least six times.

 

The reason some posters here are saying they don't get a sales pitch is they are clearly communicating they don't want anything besides what they signed up for. They've made it clear that they will not only not buy any additional services, but will be offended if the services are even offered. These are no-nonsense people and the spa people recognize that, respect it, and don't even try a sales pitch on them. 

 

It's the people who come across as open to hearing about more services that are going to get the full-blown pitch because there's actually a chance to make the sales pitch pay.

 

Being clear that's the only service you're interested in, will serve you well in getting a pitch free spa service. However, many if not most people, will not risk coming across as rude or very hard-nosed. For them, there are techniques that will remove the pressure from them and place it on someone else. 

 

You can use the good-cop, bad-cop technique if you want to wear the white hat (be the good guy). Then you let someone else wear the black hat (the bad guy). Tell them you'd love to have the other stuff but your significant other would kill you if you did, so please don't mention any other services during this service. Or the old, this treatment is such a splurge for me already, I can't possibly afford any other treatments, so please don't offer any.

 

We all have different personality types, and different techniques are available for whatever makes you most comfortable in refusing service. 

 

The bottom line is though, I agree your relaxing experience that your paying hard earned money for, should not be ruined by a sales pitch, unless you truly want to know more about other services. 

 

[Aplmac]

LOL - say what ya like, they're just plain PUSHY!

[BlerkOne]

8 hours ago, Squadleader said:

Ideally, sales is the art of meeting someone's needs and solving a problem for a customer. Someone's in a spa for treatments, someone's on a car lot to get a car, someones at an open house because they need a new home.

 

 

 

Sounds more like marketing. Sales is more about I have all this product to sell, and if I want to make money, I have to find someone to sell it to.

[April42749]

17 hours ago, JQTravels said:

I know what you mean, I went in blind and they were trying to up-sell another massage more expensive than the one we purchased.  I said no thank you and a manager came strolling past and said "it's only $150 dollars more what's the big deal?"  I looked at her and my mind told me "you are on vacation!! you are on vacation!!!, ignore it!!! "   I held back escalating the situation, but I made it known on the survey they send at the end of the cruise that was extremely rude.

It's all in the wording and the inflection of the statement.

 

"Only" implies....very little.  And there's a vocal inflection (obviously I can't put it here) that people use to imply "very little".

 

  IMHO, as someone who gets facials/massages at home on a regular basis....the spa prices are inflated to begin with.  But if something is sold as a "relaxation experience" this payment policy is ridiculous.

[ethereal65]

I found everyone's past experiences which they posted very helpful.  I pre-purchased several spa services for my upcoming trip, as well as one for my cabinmate (brother) and friend in another cabin.  They are on limited budgets, so I've already warned them that we'll need to do a little leg work to stay on top of this and ensure their cash isn't tied up.

 

My friend is also a licensed massage therapist and a natural sales guy (though he does neither professionally) - it'll be interesting to see how he interacts with the staff when they give their pitch 🙂

[SandiLynn]

I have also experienced the Spa's charging for service again after pre-paying. The entire reason I like to prepay for as much as possible before cruise, is knowing there will not be a large bill at the end of the vacation. I budget and do not want the second charge holding up money I budgeted for something else. I went to GS and they fixed it as I stood their. I find the rudest staff on the ship are the Spa staff. Since that experience, I have not done any services in the spa, other than the aroma rooms and Tpool passes we got as prize.