Due to Covid, I’ve been unable to get a massage for a few years, and I decided that it was time to get back to getting some relief from back pain.I started searching for a new place as the business that I had used before...
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Due to Covid, I’ve been unable to get a massage for a few years, and I decided that it was time to get back to getting some relief from back pain.I started searching for a new place as the business that I had used before had permanently closed. I did my due diligence and ended up finding Transformation Massage in Osseo. Their reviews were very good, the website was professional looking and full of good information. In addition, they were a small, independent business that was minority owned. This seemed to be a great fit, so I made an appointment for a deep tissue massage on Wednesday with Lisa (the owner who has had great reviews) and very quickly got back a confirmation email with a link to fill out a form asking about any medical issues. The form asked detailed health questions, which I thought was great because I have pretty severe lower back issues. I was excited to be able to discuss these issues and tailor my massage to make sure that I got some relief from pain.On Friday, I headed out for my massage. When I arrived, I was checked in by a nice young man and sent to the waiting area. He eventually showed me to a room and said that my massage therapist would be in shortly. After undressing and getting on the table, the massage therapist came it. This is where things started to go south quickly.This massage therapist was clearly NOT Lisa. I asked her if she was the one that I had scheduled with and she said 'Yes'. I asked her what her name was and she said Ling. The confirmation emails very clearly stated that my appointment was with Lisa. Some serious red flags, but I thought that I’d just roll with it and that it would be fine. I was wrong. Very wrong.She started in right away by climbing on top of me and digging her knees into my back. I had expected a conversation to discuss my needs, but she was having none of it and when I started asking questions, responded with such a thick accent that I couldn’t understand what she was saying. At one point she had her elbows right on top of my spine on my lower back which was incredibly painful. I let her know this and without saying anything, she left the room and came back a minute later and started sticking things on my back. I was face down and had no idea what she was doing and communication was clearly not going to happen.She finally finished up the massage and I left feeling like I had been a victim of bait-and-switch by scheduling with someone who appeared to be highly qualified and then worked on by someone who I suspect wasn’t at all qualified. I was in more pain than when I had arrived and even two days later, I’m still feeling pain in the place where she was pressing directly on my spine. I got out of the shower this morning (note that this was 2 days later) and my wife gasped and asked me what happened. I had no idea what she was talking about until I looked in the mirror and saw enormous round red welts all over my back. So, they were apparently suction cups that she was sticking on me. Were these supposed to help with pain? I seriously have no idea. That she didn’t even ask me if it was okay to do this was very clearly a violation and I’m not sure how long these marks are going to last.If the owner ends up reading this review, I’d like her to consider a few key points:1) Communication was clearly awful. If there was an issue and you had to change which therapist was going to work on me, you could have let me know via email, when I checked in, or when the therapist walked into the room. At any one of those three points, I would have rescheduled, but I was never given that option.2) The therapist that worked on me and had clearly not read through the medical information that I had supplied on the require form. This was incredibly dangerous and could have serious long-term health effects on me.I really did want to like this place. As I stated prior, they really did check all the boxes during my research, so I’m super disappointed that I had such a bad experience here.