An Eye Opening Pespective Re: Customer Service

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

I had a weird experience last week when my incall mate and I decided to go get pedicures because we really needed one. Usually I opt to go to a mainstream salon for this but with Friday being an extremely busy day, we did not have the opportunity to go a regular nail place. We found a local flyer in the mailbox with a woman working out of her home providing esthesican services and had been meaning to try her out for some time. The prices were also reasonable and a bit less than a salon. Thinking this would be so convenient since it was just around the corner from where we were, we made an appt early in the day and we went in the evening.

 

We got there practically in the middle of a flood in Orleans last Friday night and went inside the home of an Asian woman. A young adolescent teen girl met me halfway at the door and as soon as you walked in in the middle of the hallway she had a chair, table and a big bright chandelier. I thought to myself, that this was different. We were told to wait in the living room. Still no sign of the business owner. My feet were soaked in hot water and I was ordered to wait a few minutes. I look at the magazines on the table ( mostly fashion and tabloids). Then I look at the date... they were from 2005!!

 

My friend at this point was getting her feet done and she was very sensitive to the bright chandelier above her. Finally, I see this older Asian woman come up from the basement. My friend asks her what can be done about the bright lights but nothing was done when she was told she couldn't see without it. I can see points from both sides but I digress...Within minutes my friend's feet were done but nothing was done about her heels. Especially in the summer, you have all that extra skin when makes your heels harder and it needs to be taken off. Nothing was done. She approaches me, saying nothing at this point and I smile and attempt to make small talk... nothing.. Can you say awkward? With my feet being rough from walking/running all the time, I tell her that I need my heels done and tell my friend to ask what can be done about hers since they weren't done. My friend says not to worry about it but finally asks her and she says the skin on her heel isn't hard enough or it would make her bleed. That is b.s. Well, what came off of my heels was a lot of skin and I had no problems.

 

I'm sitting there and so is my dead skin on her living room floor while she tends to another woman's nails in the other room. My friend and I are staring at each other and then it dawns on me... I feel like this is the worst, no frills service on earth. I never thought something like this would affect me in this way but I couldn't help thinking wtf? And then it hit me! Is this what it's like for some guys when they have a bad experience with an SP or MPA? They frequent a place they've never been to before and get treated like this? Me, being the very detailed oriented, perfectionist type of person that I, as soon as I walked in the front door, I started analyzing things. It's like I've got a radar or a hard on for these things... I do it everywhere from a spa, to a doctor's office to a lawyer's office.

 

From the beginning with the greeting at the door ( no greeting btw.. I pretty much opened the door myself) to the outdated magazines, the dirty towel in the bathroom and finally the questionable techniques they use to clean their tools, etc. And the absolute worst... my skin lying there on the floor for 10 minutes before her husband came in with a vaccum. This was hardly a spa atmosphere especially with their "get the f**k in and out" demeanor and crappy attitude, I was stunned and it was agreed upon that we get the hell out of the asap.

 

We left with a half assed predicure and vowing to burn that flyer when we got home. I couldn't help thinking that for once I sort of unerstood what it would be like to receive a lousy service from somone. So this leads me to my next question and the whole reason for this thread... when you visit an incall or MP, what is it that you look for immediately which makes or breaks your visit? Do you look for little things from having clean towels in the bathroom or could you blindly dimiss the ugly notion of having a mattress on the floor just to pay for an inexpensive, quick no frills service that gets the job done with no muss, no fuss? Or do you prefer the little things that makes your visit that much better? I'd be interested in hearing it from your perspective. This trip for a pedicure really did open my eyes for some reason and makes me want to tweak things when people come to visit me.

[Maverick 2873]

I think the little things really do help, but at the end of the day it's the behaviour of the person (be it your foot care specialist or your massage provider) that makes it worth the time/money or not. I could handle a floor-mattress in an undecorated apartment (and clean towels) if the massage provider was friendly and she explained the location was only temporary or whatever reason there was. Candles and music are nice, but they don't make a bad massage provider into a good experience.

[roamingguy 300292]

Most important is being greeted at the door by a lady who is (or seems) genuinely happy to meet you

A clean place with clean bedding (and it doesn't matter if the mattress/boxspring on the floor)

One thing, and this goes back to an incall in Toronto I had, it's great to offer shower facilities and soap...but the soap should be more along the lines of a body wash out of a bottle, a bar of soap used by who knows who, not too appealing

There are two Orleans area ladies, and they have good incall facilities.

As for MA's, I have only seen one, at a hotel when she toured. Picking a good clean reputable hotel is important. This lady picked a good hotel:icon_wink:

RG

[Phaedrus 209521]

Well... I don't go looking for things that aren't right, but there are some things that will probably get noticed. The cleanliness of things matters, absolutely. And as RG said, spending time with someone who seems genuinely pleased that you came to visit (and not just because you brought cash with you) is also important.

 

Having said that, my experiences have generally been good, and I've never had one that I could say was really 'bad'. This is probably because I tend to follow the collective wisdom of the folks here, for which I'm very grateful :)

[chavez 641]

Yes Nicolette that is what it is like. Mostly and by a large margin most our experiences are much better. But imagine this; you just had this sort of experience and want to worn other, but your best form of communication restricts you to ' only saying good things'. What the heck is that?

You are rewarding absolute abnorrent service by not saying anything. You are doing an injustice to good service by only being able to say good thing about all service.

As a person in the service buisness, I want people to be able to express their experience with me. If is is good, I probably deserve it, if it is not good, I can learn where I am failing and decide if I want to adjust that particular point of failure, or if I am failing I can not live in anonymity , continueing to pull down the profession with my uncareing, poor service.

This world should be all about how you treat other people , not about what you can get away with.

[Boomer 33202]

There are many levels of service in this industry, but I believe there are some basic things that should be expected if one is to have a good experience. These seem to me like no brainers.

 

The provider should be cheerful and well turned out. This means a shower and brush your hair, you should be spotlessly clean. I tend to like to shower with the lady as it guarantees cleanliness. If you're a smoker clean out the ashtrays and air the place out, brush your teeth and rinse. Nothing worse that the taste of stale smoke or the smell in your hair.

 

As for the location, clean linen. wipe the sink and shower. I personally don't want to be confronted by evidence that someone has been there ahead of me. It's all about creating a welcoming atmosphere.

 

Lastly, don't create the illusion that you're in a rush. I know that bookings lengths vary, but give full value for the date.