Balancing Touch Massage

Received a birthday gift which as a voucher from Groupon for this establishment. I had previously purchased one for myself– not for the same time duration or price as the one I received but for the same establishment. Had not had a chance to use it when family member sent me the birthday gift… went on line to schedule both appts. Gave same email, phone, etc. Also wrote clearly in the notes that one of them was a birthday gift. The next day the owner texts me (does not even call me to discuss) but sends a text telling me I can only use one and have to forfeit the other. WHAT? I explained that one was a birthday gift (which I was very open about-​now trying to hide this fact) Her text reply was «everyone say this.» Making me feel like I was fraudulently or unethically going about trying to schedule the massage I purchased for myself and then the one I received. She said she would cancel both appts on me. I was shocked that I was reading this via text. Is business that great that you can go about alienating and discouraging new clients from coming in — especially when nothing wrong was done on the customer’s part? Did this not even warrant a direct telephone conversation. Well God Bless Groupon for allowing these Massage Therapist people to just go cancelling appts on good faith would be new clients now matter what the circumstances. Not a place I would ever go to or recommend when there are so many others to try. She texted me to get a refund for both– good business practice. Thank goodness for Unilocal.

Purchased a groupon for a 75 minute massage, I was a little leary after reading the prior reviews but I am happy I booked it anyway. I did book my appointment about a month ahead of time so I had no issues getting in, I am not sure if I could have booked it earlier as I didn’t ask. Upon entering, the sign on the door states that you just take a seat and wait. I did arrive 10 min early as the groupon stated and waited for 35 min for someone to come out. I kept looking down the hall but I could hear someone in the room, assumed they were still giving the massage. Well the woman came out and was extremely apologetic for the wait as she didn’t hear me come in. I am only saying all of this because their method of knowing if someone has arrived needs some work so make a lot of noise when you come in to avoid unnecessary wait time.
Now to the massage… WOW! She was excellent, it was a deep tissue massage and she definitely did just that. The room was quiet and relaxing and the 75 min flew by (kudos to her for still adhering to the full 75 min even though I was taken in late). I have had massages at many different places and I have to say she was one of the top 3 I have had. So please see for yourself as I would be very surprised if you were not pleased with the massage!

Victoria was professional and calm. A true deep tissue massage.

I first came to Balancing Touch on a Groupon about a year ago. I had an excellent massage with Lori. I am a deep tissue client and she worked on my back and neck in such a thorough manner I knew I was going to rebook before I was even off the table.
I have become a biweekly client of Lori’s. Her prices are a blessing at $ 60 for an hour long massage. Balancing Touch also runs some amazing massage specials too, like buy 1 hour long massage, get one ½ off. You can’t go wrong. They make it affordable to come in on a monthly basis is need be.
Give them a try. You will be very happy with their services!!!

December 2012-​bought living social voucher for massage and facial as a Christmas present to myself! Yay me
January 2013– still waiting for contact with btm. They don’t call back and when they do the only number they leave to call back is the voicemail… this turned I to quite the game of aggravating phone tag because I don’t answer numbers I don’t know.
Late January 2013– contact! Made appointment for February
February– appointment gets canceled on account of snow, understandable but they don’t have another appointment until April ;(
April– appointment gets canceled because my therapist is sick. Surprise! no appointments for another month. But may is my birthday so even though it’s no longer a Christmas present it can be a birthday one!
May– appointment gets canceled (3^rd time mind you) because my therapist has court. At this point I want my money back but can’t because the voucher is expired. I have another facial at another salon scheduled for July (I get two a year usually) so to me it’s useless to schedule one this summer. The therapist is apologetic and agrees to let me schedule the appointment for November…[[hopefully I’ll be cooled down by then]]
Early November– I don’t receive any reminders of my appointment so I call to verify… no answer. I get a text two hours before my appointment that my therapist is violently ill and can’t make the appointment. She is very apologetic and offers me a free massage in addition to my voucher
Late November– What you’ve all been waiting for folks! The place itself is nothing special, but the therapist [Linda] was sweet and tried to make me comfortable throughout my time there. The half hour massage had to be modified because I became pregnant in the year I was waiting for my appointment. She said she wasn’t going to do deep tissue but she went very deep in my opinion. So, I’m not sure if I would be able to tolerate her version of deep tissue! [Was very sore the day after]. The facial wasn’t the advertised acne facial but what she said was a «spa facial». It was very nice and relaxing and my face feels very smooth… but, it wasn’t what I signed up for. It also was only about 45 mins [not an hour] and 20 of those minutes I was steaming by myself.
This is probably the longest review I’ve ever written but writing it throughout this fiasco was the only thing that kept me sane! If you want a bargain massage/​facial and aren’t finicky then go ahead and get a voucher… but I wouldn’t pay full price or repeat my experience again. Hope this helped!

I would give this place 2.5 stars. It’s not the prettiest place, but was clean, quiet. The massage itself was ok. Normally when I go for a massage, and tell them my «problem areas» the therapist really works out all the knots to the best of their ability… This was more of a Swedish «get it done» type massage. Biggest gripe: she didn’t even touch my quads! That’s a huge muscle group to leave out. So was it okay, yes. But for the price there are better places to go. And the sign on the wall is just poor taste in my opinion.
Addendum: I wrote that review as soon as I got home after the massage… It’s been about 5 hrs now and I have a rash on my back, face and upper chest… Haven’t used anything new, so it must have been from her lotions/​oils. I’ve never had a reaction like this to any lotions before, I don’t have sensitive skin, so it must have been really poor quality stuff.

My experience here was not positive. As a massage therapist myself, I was really looking for my own personal therapist. I will Never purchase a Groupon for massage ever again. I would never accept them in my own personal business and after my experience here I will never purchase one either. I feel the customer service gets lost in the mass quantity of people rolling through for the bigger better deal… That’s not me.
First thing was getting an appointment was extremely difficult and inconvenient. It was months and months out from the purchase date.
Second, with my own massage clients, making time for myself is difficult but finally their schedule matched mine. My original appointment was ⁸⁄₂₁. Just off the exit to my appointment, About 5 blocks away, I got a flat tire. On my ONLY OFF DAY! How frustrating. I called and wanted to come in later after AAA but was told they were booked until ⁹⁄₅. Which I later discovered was 1 day AFTER my groupon expired.
Second attempt. On 9/​5, I never received a reminder or email or text anything. And simple caught up in life and forgot about the appt. I thought a set a reminder in my phone, that never went off. I got a call from Lori 30 mins later saying i missed the appt. I severely apologized and asked to come in later. She didn’t have any availability. My fault totally. We rescheduled for ⁹⁄₁₆. Mind you, I still don’t realize my Groupon is expired but obviously BTM does. No one brings it to my attention.
Third Attempt, I get up early. Purposely to be on time and make sure that there are no issues to getting there and I get there and it’s not Lori at all, it’s Vicky (lovely girl) but as a professional in this industry, I should have been notified in advance about a change of therapist. She informed me that my groupon is expired so I would have to pay the difference $ 30 and that Lori left her a note that I also owed an additional $ 25 for no call, no show on ⁹⁄₅. So an additional $ 55! No way!
If I had been notified of either additional charge, I would have been able I make an educated decision concerning my appointment. I didn’t even have that much cash on me. I had just enough to tip my therapist at full rate. I work in one the most UPSCALE/​HIGH END salons in Providence and this isn’t even our practice to charge no show fees, what? People would leave in droves…
In defense of the business, I get what her loss would have been but both times, I apologize sincerely for that. I tried to come the same day to recoup the appt. but as those on this industry know, it’s the cost of the service business. As a potential long term, frequent LMT customer, what she would have made on me residually would have far out weighed her UNNOTIFIED $ 25.
Unfortunately, I won’t even consider going back nor referring them for lack of professional courtesy. I acknowledge my fault in this but in this instance, I was the customer and you know what they say about that… Good Luck trying to retain your Bigger, Better Deal (BBD) customers.

Like many previous posters, I had a groupon for a massage. While I agree that booking was difficult, that was the only part of my experience that wasn’t 5 star.
Linda was my massage therapist for a pre-​natal massage. I’m kind of a massage snob and I can say, without reservation, that it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had. The pressure was just firm enough, but she also checked in during the massage to ask if it was ok. I’m awful at speaking up about pressure during a massage, so it’s good to know if it wasn’t right for me, I had the opportunity to tell her. I always feel that even after a good massage I think «I just wish she spent less/​more time here» and this was not the case for this massage. It was perfect!
I think now that the groupon has come to an end, booking shouldn’t be as bad. I will be returning so I hope that’s the case!

I purchased a Groupon for a 60-​minute facial and 30 minute massage. I will NEVER, ever return. I went into my appointment with apprehension because I had read the reviews but I was hopeful that maybe I would have a positive experience. It was mediocre at best. Instead of a 30 minute massage it lasted 20 minutes and instead of a 60 minute facial, I got about 30 minutes of actual facial time and 30 minutes of laying on the table by myself while my face was «steaming». In my opinion, the beautician should never, never, leave the room during a facial. Also, at other places there is a hand and foot massage included in the facial typically, as well as extractions. This included none of that, not to mention that the «steam» machine was a joke and I actually didn’t even feel any steam. I am glad that I did not pay full price for this experience, otherwise I would feel way more gipped than I already do. Stay away!

Unfortunately, I had the same experience as Erin C. I actually wish I could give this a negative rating.
The customer service at The Balancing Touch is atrocious. They should be ashamed of themselves and not at all surprised that they have only 7 reviews, half of them complaints. That is not how you run a business.
My mother, sister and I purchased Groupons for The Balancing Touch in September 2012. It is now almost April 2013 and we have yet to be able to schedule an appointment. Right after we bought the Groupon they moved from Providence to West Warwick, during this time they didn’t return any voicemails. The woman I spoke with today claimed are «booked» until the end of May, but they won’t let you schedule an appointment months in advance. ridiculous!
I’ve tried on numerous accounts through the Groupon booking tool. The woman I spoke with today said the booking tool doesn’t work and no one is able to book an appointment through there. Why wouldn’t you call Groupon and ask them to fix it? Seems to me as though they didn’t want it fixed. My sister and I have both called to schedule appointments, upon receiving a call back we were both told there were no appointments available and to call back next month to see what the availability is. I called in early November to make an appointment for the week between Christmas and New Years, I had no plans and was not picky with the time or day and I was told only one person would be working that week and they wouldn’t have any appointments available. When I spoke with her today, she said I must have been calling another spa. How do you not hold yourself and your employees accountable for your poor customer service?
I would LOVE to see all of the rave reviews they’ve received from customers since they have been booked solid from September until now, but unfortunately, there are three. Three measly positive reviews, probably written by family members.
Luckily, the three of us are receiving a refund from Groupon. I would NOT recommend this spa to anyone, not even my worst enemy. However, I would recommend it to the Better Business Bureau.

This was a big disappointment. I bought a groupon for a 30 minute massage and 60 minute facial. The massage therapist took me back a little over five minutes late (not a big deal– just trying to provide info on how short this all turned out to be), and gave me quite a long time to change. She then did the massage. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. No real technique and I found myself wandering when it would be over– just disappointing. When she started the facial, she made sure to let me know that it wasn’t «really and hour», despite what the groupon said. She said that groupon put that in, not the business. Now, this was pretty disappointing, as well, since I’d paid for a 30 minute massage and 60 minute facial. The «facial» wasn’t really a facial– turns out she was a massage therapist, and not an aesthetician, so many of the components of a typical facial were skipped. It was basically her turning the steam on for me, rubbing some cream on, and giving me a mini temple, hand and foot rub. I was really looking forward to an actual facial– which is what I paid for. This was a total bummer! Additionally, even with taking me back a little late, leaving me almost ten minutes to change, and doing the «30 minute massage» and «60 minute facial», I was up dressed and out of there in a little over seventy minutes– definitely NOT WHAT I PAID FOR! I consider this a lesson learned. Groupons give me the chance to see new businesses that I would not have know about before and I’ve kept patronizing many of them– this place, however, did not make the cut!
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update: 5÷24÷13
PS: a recent review on Unilocal indicated that customers should not expect a «facial» at Balancing Touch or a licensed aesthetician, as they provide «facial massage». Because of this, I felt compelled to add an update. The reason that I and a number of other customers expected an actual FACIAL is that the Groupon that was purchased was for a 60 MINUTE FACIAL AND A 30 MINUTE MASSAGE– NOT FOR A «FACIAL MASSAGE». While this is what was PURCHASED this is NOT WHAT BALANCING TOUCH DELIVERED. In this case, buyer beware.

I purchased a Groupon for a Massage and Facial package. When you get a Facial, the assumption is that it will be performed by a Licensed Aesthetician. When I arrived I realized that the Facial would be performed by a Licensed Massage Therapist. The Therapist stated that the Facial would be «for relaxation only» and that no Extractions would be performed. I do not go for Facials for Relaxation and Extractions are a key piece to a Facial. The Massage was good, but the false advertisement truly ruined the experience.

I had a wonderful experience at the Balancing Touch Massage. I had a facial and a massage. My masseuse was Vicky and she was very friendly and welcoming. I felt very comfortable. There were no bells and whistles, however, the room where I had my facial was warm and very relaxing. The rooms were clean and warm. I left feeling very relaxed and rejuvenated.
I would reccommend Balancing Touch for anyone who is interested in a great massage and a relaxing experience.

I tried this place out by getting a half off groupon and then I sent my hubby in to get a full prce massage. There are no bells and whistles here, just a couple of massage rooms, but my masseuse, Vicy was great. If you are looking for a spa experience, try elsewhere, but if you want a good massage this is a great place!

The massage I received from Liz was the best massage I have ever had.
Everyone agrees that massages are nice. But sometimes, I find myself lying on that table critiquing the whole process. I often have to remind myself to just enjoy it without thinking about it. I think things like, «This is a good amount of pressure.» «Hmm, I wonder why I am sore there.» «Why isn’t she finding where all the knots in my back are?» It isn’t so much a critique as an evaluation of both my own body and the massage therapist’s technique. But with Liz, I DID just lie there and enjoy it. The only thoughts I remember having were along the lines of, «Mmmmmm,» and, «God, I want this to last forever!»
I paid 65 bucks for 2 one-​hour massages via Groupon. My first massage was with someone different who was adequate, but not awesome, so I booked with Liz for the 2^nd one. I had to book each appointment 4 – 6 weeks in advance because sooo many people had also bought Groupons. Well, now I know it was worth the wait (especially for that second one).
If I could afford it, I would get a massage from Liz at least once a week. I recommend every person who reads my words here to treat themselves to the experience at least once. But beware: you’ll want to keep going back for more. And more. And more.

I can’t review the actual massage because I never had one, but this company gets only 1 start for poor customer service.
I purchased a Groupon for a massage and scheduled it via the Groupon website. I received a phone call at the very last minute indicating they needed to reschedule. I was understanding the first time. However, I thought it was rather unprofessional that they neglected to tell me over the phone that the company was moving the following day. In fact, they never informed me at all. I received an email from Groupon with this information.
Confused (since I had just spoken to them on the phone), I contacted the company to determine the location of my massage. Liz returned my call stating they did, in fact, move and confirmed my appointment along with the new address. Less than THIRTY MINUTES later, I received a call from someone else stating they needed to reschedule it. I expressed my disappointment in the fact that I had already rescheduled once. But reluctantly agreed to a new appointment date of the following Tuesday. I did not receive an apology for the inconvenience. Only «Oh, you already rescheduled once, that stinks!»
The day before my massage was scheduled, I received an email (FROM GROUPON) stating the appt was rescheduled AGAIN. I immediately called Liz and left a message inquiring about this change as they scheduled it during my work day. I never received a phone call back or any other communication. I am disappointed by the unprofessional attitude and apathetic nature in which Balancing Touch treats their customers, and have since obtained a refund from Groupon.

Calming setting with comfortable room. It’s a little small, one room, but Elizabeth was very respectful stepping out to preserve privacy, etc. Might actually be a plus if you’re a guy like me who doesn’t normally get massages and don’t feel like reading a magazine in your robe with the other girls, no crowd means private. Very relaxing massage with obvious training, certifications on display. Regular groupons make this an affordable option also.
At times it was hard to get ahold of them on the phone to schedule, but I think that issue has been resolved most recently and they were very friendly and accommodating once I got through.