Allergy at Spa - Advice?

moneyistooshorttomention

Toothsmith wrote: »

If they have lost your questionnaire - then especially as you had the reaction there on the premises, then that would reflect very badly on them. Similarly if there is no mention of this made in their accident/incident book.

!

I think there's every chance they have "lost" it. Businesses have a tendency to get very "absent-minded" with any paperwork they have that could be used against them.

I've had an employer I worked for "lose" paperwork to do with me. They might as well not have bothered - as I knew they would do that and therefore had photocopied it in advance:rotfl: I gather Councils are also very prone to "losing" paperwork as well, if it's something they'd rather not have.

TheBadgerCat

Thanks to everyone for your replies and advice!

To confirm, I don't have sensitive skin at all, and don't believe that I implied this. I have no sensitivity to chemicals or any of the 'common' allergens. I frequently use Tea Tree oil, and have been given Lemon oil as an alternative to Rose in the past. My last allergic reaction was around 2014, and I haven't been particularly cautious with the products I use. I'm not high risk, so to suggest that I shouldn't visit a spa on the basis of this single allergy is absurd!

My partner and I both assumed the mud treatment to be natural clay, we didn't actually realise it was a cosmetic product until we'd applied it and it didn't dry out like we expected! I had planned to ask about the products used for the upcoming facial I had booked as I knew this was likely to contain essential oils, but the mud just didn't occur to me!

If the spa had been apologetic, promised to review their processes and refunded me, I would have left perfectly happy. As it stands, they spent the entire time making excuses, offered no refund or compensation and even had the cheek to ask me to pay for the remainder of the bill on the account!
This is why I am angry, not the allergy, but the sheer incompetence of the staff there.

I just had a phone call with the spa manager. Apparently it is my fault because I specified rose OIL and not just Rose......... No refund. This is the weakest defense I have ever heard!!!

I was unsure about taking this to a personal injury lawyer, but this conversation with the incompetent spa manager has changed my mind!

BucksLady

A personal injury lawyer? Well, good luck in that respect.

TheBadgerCat

In terms of...? Chances of winning or costs?

Mr_Costcutter

I've always found that when there's a complaint to be made, it's always best to put it in writing. Writing a formal letter addressing ones concerns (to the person at the top of the organization), can often achieve results that a telephone call or a face-face meeting would not.

lisyloo

I would be pretty annoyed at their attitude too.
Like you I'm not a fan of suing but their attitude is appauling and I think they've failed in their duty of care.
I personally think you're quite justified.

You have a couple of options.


You could do a Subject access request and ask for details of the information they have on you which should include the questionnaire. If they have "lost" it they that's going to look at worst suspicious and at best careless.


You could contact the solicitor via your household insurance if you have legal insurance for advice. These people are often quite slow but if you're insured it would be free.



You could also go for a no-win no-fee solicitor. These people are pretty voracious as they only get paid if they win, but do check what fees they take.


Personally I'd probably phone the legal helpline on my household insurance for advice in the first instance, but seems to me you told them about your allergy, they failed in their duty of care and have failed since to deal responsibly with the situation.

ManofLeisure_2

TheBadgerCat wrote: »

I'm not high risk, so to suggest that I shouldn't visit a spa on the basis of this single allergy is absurd!

Who actually said you shouldn't visit a spa? I most certainly didn't. How ''absurd'' that you would think so!



As for instructing a personal injury lawyer. I would advise, but judging from your tone on this thread, I don't think you would listen anyway, so I will refrain from making further comment.

moneyistooshorttomention

ManofLeisure wrote: »

Not sure why anyone with such sensitive skin/allergies would take a chance with such a treatment to be honest. Yes. you alerted them to your rose oil allergy and they should not have overlooked this. However, there may have been other components which you were also allergic to, but did not know about.

I admit I also read this as "Don't go to a spa" myself - though allergies aren't a concern of mine personally. So it may not have been what you meant - but I had also interpreted it that way.

It did come over rather as per Watchdog programme this week where a couple with food allergies felt they were being told not to eat out then as the method of preventing reaction to it - and I thought "Of course they're going to keep eating out - everyone else does and they have just as much right to do so as the rest of us".

Toothsmith

Was the spa just a stand-alone high street sort of place, or within a big posh hotel?

You might get further with hotel management if they knew the lax processes in the spa on their premises.

If on the high street, is it a chain or a franchise, or just independent? Is there someone above the manager you could take your complaint to?

Lawyers should be a last resort. The law can crawl along, and cost a fortune. The winner isn't always the one who's right either, but the one who's lawyers make the best arguments. On the other hand, the spa would really want to avoid all that too if they can. Maybe just start with a solicitors letter detailing what happened and what you would like to stop you 'taking it further'

Mr_Costcutter

The first thing a lawyer would ask is ''did you put your complaint in writing?''. You haven't done so as yet - that really should be your next course of action. Then armed with a reply, a lawyer could then respond.