Ottawa Asian massage spot on 256 Bank St. - TROUBLE!

[iluvmuffins]

I had such a negative encounter with this massage service provider, I have to warn everyone to avoid it. Here are the details.....

So I'm downtown, and don't really feel the need to go to an escort, just want to have a decent rub & tug. Close to me is this place advertised which is on 256 Bank St., # 202.
This is the Craigslist ad for "Michelle".
http://tinyurl.com/l44zxnq

The one identified as "Michelle" is NOT her, and she's got to be in her 40's. I should have left right away, and I take full ownership for that. She hardly speaks any English, so I'm having to repeat over and over what I want. I say massage with happy ending for 1 hour. I don't want a quick 15 or 30 minutes as it can take me a while to cum and I want to enjoy a nice long massage. Michelle or whatever her name is says $50 for 30, $80 for 60. I said ok, and pay her the $80 for 60 minutes. Massage starts off ok, nothing special, flip, then she asks "do you want sex?". I said "no, I just want massage with happy ending". She seems upset and shocked so she asks again and also says "massage for 30 is $80, if I want to continue massage for 1 hour I need to pay another $30"! Any relaxation and good feelings I had are gone now. So, here in the middle of the massage she's changed the rate for a massage to be $80 for 30, $110 for 60!!! I can see where this is going now and explain to her what the agreed upon rate at the beginning of the session was....but I'm basically talking to a wall. So I ask to speak to her boss/manager. She says the boss is gone, so I said call the boss, and I'll speak with them. She calls the boss and starts to explain what happened. While she's yelling like a hyena on the phone I'm getting dressed because I know nothing is happening now as I'm so irritated and pissed off. Now, it's my turn to speak to the boss and this woman does speak English!!! I explain to her the whole situation, tell her "she asked if I wanted sex" and it wasn't me who brought it up. The boss says "she's not supposed to ask you if you want sex. I'm going to fire her". I think to myself, ok, whatever. Believe me, I'd kill myself before I'd pay to have sex with this woman!!! I mentioned this is basically a scam that is being run here and I'm going to report it on places like Twitter, Cowboy Kenny, CERB, TERB, and other spots. She says "how about if you just pay the original massage rate of $50 for 30 and we'll return you the other $30". I said fine but you'll have to tell her, and I pass the phone to "Michelle". Two minutes later "Michelle" comes back all apologetic and gives me back $30. It's just engrained in me to tip so I give her $10, and she refuses, saying "no, no, no....you keep it, I'm so sorry".

Now, I don't know how things would have proceeded had I not mentioned I can report all this online. In the encounters I've had with Asians, there is a very HIGH percentage of issues. This place was an AGENCY, just listed without a name. Almost every time I've been with an ASIAN AGENCY there have been some issues of one type or another.

Lessons learned:
1 - Avoid Asians unless there are multiple, verifiable non-shill reviews.
2 - Once there, if there is a definite communication barrier, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
3 - If I try this again, I'll have the picture of the ad on my phone and if she's not as advertised, I will most definitely leave.

I'm still reporting this and I ask you to pass this on to anyone you know. The location at 256 Bank Street, # 202 is a pure scam. They did give me back $30 probably because they wanted me to leave less upset and less likely to report this. If I didn't report it, I would only be supporting their scam on other unsuspecting hobbyists.

 

[Jabba]

Very sorry for your experience. Thanks much for your review & caution.
Unfortunately, your description mirrors what many others have reported had happened to them with the Asian parlours & SPs. Cowboy's diary has articles that Asian joints pull this kind of crap all the time.

Your "Lessons Learned" section says it all.

One thing I'm confused about - when you say you spoke with the Boss, you mentioned she didn't speak English.
Who are you talking about - the attendant or the Boss? If the Boss didn't speak English...well, you can understand my confusion.

 

[withpassion]

I think he was saying was the MA spoke no English and fortunately the Boss-lady did.

 

[iluvmuffins]

Very sorry for your experience. Thanks much for your review & caution.
Unfortunately, your description mirrors what many others have reported had happened to them with the Asian parlours & SPs. Cowboy's diary has articles that Asian joints pull this kind of crap all the time.

Your "Lessons Learned" section says it all.

One thing I'm confused about - when you say you spoke with the Boss, you mentioned she didn't speak English.
Who are you talking about - the attendant or the Boss? If the Boss didn't speak English...well, you can understand my confusion.

withpassion is correct in what I was saying. The attendant hardly spoke any English and there were some words she said I had no idea if she was talking Chinese, Swedish, Swahili, or whatever! Once I spoke to the "boss lady" I was now dealing with someone that had some understanding of English. They must set this up intentionally just to piss off some people. This is a verbal agreement for services and one side cannot even communicate in the language of the client. What if I was French and hardly knew any English? Communication would be even worse.

 

[Jabba]

withpassion is correct in what I was saying. The attendant hardly spoke any English and there were some words she said I had no idea if she was talking Chinese, Swedish, Swahili, or whatever! Once I spoke to the "boss lady" I was now dealing with someone that had some understanding of English. They must set this up intentionally just to piss off some people. This is a verbal agreement for services and one side cannot even communicate in the language of the client. What if I was French and hardly knew any English? Communication would be even worse.

Thanks for clarifying - here's food for thought:
What if the MA is just pretending not to have much English? That way, she could play the "I don't understand" card & maybe get away with it.
I think you're right - it could be a convenient arrangement with Boss Lady to see how many customers they can scam.

Obviously, with you, they didn't get away completely with that BS. Good on you & because of your review, I'm gonna do my best to spread the word to avoid this joint!

A lesson about consumer power:
What would happen if a lot of people started booking times & then no-show?

 

[Danny1012]

Go check out their BP ad under "escorts" - they raised their half hour rate from 120 to 150 bones for 30 min.... Unbelievable ....

 

[curiousm7]

Do you at least get a toothless blow for a buck fifty?

Go check out their BP ad under "escorts" - they raised their half hour rate from 120 to 150 bones for 30 min.... Unbelievable ....

 

[LikeRedHeads]

Yes that place has gone down the hill. Their bathroom is soooooo dirty, I left after I saw it and told the girl I wasn't interested anymore. All the girls are SPs now. Before, there were only MAs and there was no chance someone would propose FS. Probably new owner.

 

[mmad]

Thanks for the post Muffins, appreciated. I've often wondered about this place but have not visited and now will not !!! I had a similar experience recently at the Asian joint on Dalhousie that always advertizes on BP.
I have had great Asian experiences and hope that I can find more but the parlors don't seem to turn out well at all. I think I'll just stick to indie Asians or well respected parlors like Angels/Paradise, CMJ, ALO, etc.
Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

[yak2432]

I've always found the Asian places disgusting for the same reasons listed above. Most don't even have showers which is a huge no no for me. Had a really bad experience at a place down in the Market. Scarred me for life.

 

[Mike62]

I have to say I have no other experience with other Asian places...but I have always had good service at Jade Spa, especially Cindy. Maybe Ive just been lucky, but this one place that I frequent

 

[Walnut]

I notice 256 Bank is listing regularly on BP: http://ottawa.backpage.com/FemaleEs...harming-asian-girl-cindy-24-hours-20/22052152

Both photos are fake, one from a hair-style site and one from a stock image supplier. Too bad - they almost had me interested.

 

[wilbur]

It's important to agree in advance what you're going to pay if you don't want to haggle about price. You pay upfront for the massage part, then perhaps you add that you only have $20 or $30 left, or whatever you feel you should pay for what you want. Otherwise on the flip, when the question is asked, regardless of the amount requested, if you say you only have $20, they will usually accept to offer an extra for that price, rather than letting you out without making any additional amount. Some of these girls make all or most of their money based on tips, so better make $20 rather than nothing at all for an hour's work. It may not be with all the trimmings, but you pay for what you get. BTW nowadays, you're cheap if you only dish out $20 for the minimum extra.

Reading between the lines, it appears that she wanted $30 for an extra, whether for half and hour or a full hour. Probably because without the extra, it would not have been worth her while because she would have made exactly zero in her pocket as the massage fee probably goes entirely to the owner. The owner would automatically deny on the phone that sex is offered because there are journalists out there hell bent on making a name for themselves. The provider takes all the risks, as the owner innocently says that she has no control over what happens behind a closed door except to fire the worker... except to try to explain how the provider can otherwise work for free.

I think there was confusion over what 'sex' meant. To you it may mean FS. But to a person with a very limited amount of English, the meaning may be very broad. I also didn't see any universal hand signs. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what you want in sign language.

There are cultural differences. We in Canada don't generally bargain, and we pay upfront without question the sticker price or walk away. Bargaining is part of the Chinese culture. So if she gives you a price, it's sometimes a deliberate overstatement, especially if it's your first time, in the hope that you're some rich sucker who may actually agree to that; so more money in the pot for her, and maybe pay off the rent in one go. But it's not an insult to bargain down. Once you have a deal, even on your terms, there is almost never any hard feelings, because deal is a deal, and you're not going to get an angry face.

As for fake pictures, I can't believe after all this time, people don't know that the vast majority will always be fake. So why don't people get over that and accept that it's what is done, or just don't show up if fake pictures upset you if it bothers you that much, because they're always fake. Apart form the marketing angle, there is the issue of privacy. In Canada, far far away from home, they do what it takes to survive and achieve their financial goals. However, being found out through an internet picture by someone back home would be a huge embarrassment and loss of face to the family, relatives and friends. Gossip is a major Chinese pass-time.

People sometimes forget that even Chinese people are real people with personal lives and feelings, and not just commodities bought and thrown away like stuff at Wal Mart.