CaraVails Day Spa

In the interest of full disclosure, let me be clear: I never actually made it TO this spa. My husband and I received a gift certificate to Caravail’s as a wedding present from his coworkers, who knew we’d enjoy a couple’s massage. This was in September. At the time, Caravail’s had a location in Auburn, Alabama, which is a short drive from where we live. We were THRILLED and immediately called to set up our appointment. No answer, so we left a message. Days later, no response, so we called again. And again. And AGAIN. No one ever answered. We left eight (yes, EIGHT) messages over a two month period, and never received a call back. Finally, we called the location in Columbus, Georgia, only to be told that the Auburn location had just closed. Okay, understandable, right? That explains not getting a return call… Except that they hadn’t been closed the first five or six times we called! Instead of returning our call and setting us up with an appointment before they closed, they simply ignored us. (No wonder this location went out of business, huh?!) When my husband called the Columbus location, he actually spoke to the owner. He explained the situation, and asked if we could perhaps receive a refund as Columbus is too far a drive for us. (It would be nearly 2 hours there and back. Nearly four hours of driving for a one hour massage. Um, pass.) We were told — in no uncertain terms and without apology — that it was not «within their policy» to issue refunds. Seriously? Wtf — this was the owner! Hello, LADY! Your policy is whatever you say it is — you’re the owner! Geez. Soooo, we have a $ 100 gift certificate chillin’ in a drawer somewhere, never to be used. Thanks, Caravail’s, for your thoughtfulness and amazing customer service! Super relaxing, very zen.

Beautiful spa with friendly and knowledgeable therapists.

I was there 2 days ago. The service started off good. The front desk was polite. I walked in asking if they by any chance had time the same day. The receptionist said yes at 5. So I waited about 1hour and some. Turned out the tech had left on emergency and I had waited over an hour without being notified. I thought– ok that’s fine it happens, the receptionist is new and I dropped in. I was given a discount for it and rescheduled for two days later
On the day of appointment:
I ask for gel polish. I had a manicure on california already. They explained they couldn’t do that and haave to charge me a manicure. So I said ok that’s fine. When the tech did my work she said oh your cuticles are fine (bcs I had a manicure done already) and proceeded to do the work. It was terrible, all the nails are different shaped. I fiannly asked her to just cut them shorter hoping that it would help her shape them better. Nope. I asked for oval and some looked square so I asked her is square easier for you? And she said whatever you’d like. Well YES it is what Id like but it’s not getting done.
I finally just said you know its ok just put clear polish. I was too emberassed to tell her they looked terrible so I asked her to just do regular polish and id come back. Because OFCOUrSE I’m not going back. In addition, I usually have military discount (thank you for that) and they didn’t give me that along with the other discount for the scheduled issue. I basically paid 15.00 for no manicure just a terrible filing job and clear polish. I am Livid to say the least. But more so because I still had to pay for it. Its suppose to be professional. I pay to get them done by a professional. I might try other services but never for nails again.
I used to love this place when Ashley (I think that’s her name) did them. :/

I booked pedicure appointments here for a «girls morning» the Monday after Mother’s Day. My friends husband is deployed, I had driven from North Carolina and wanted it to be a nice treat. We arrived prior to our appointment time and the receptionist looked at us sourly and said «I just tried to call you, one of the pedicure chairs is broken» Neither of us had missed a phone call so this was a surprise. The receptionist then began to offer us substitute services, each at a higher price than the pedicures. The purpose of our girls morning was to spend time together relaxing and we both really wanted pedicures. We asked if it was possible to do them back to back and were told no because that would cut into someone else appointment time. We asked if they could do mini services back to back and were again told no. We were told they would do one pedicure and then one (more expensive) service. Take it or leave it. We left.
We were paying a babysitter and looking forward for a nice time away. CaraVails did not provide that.