Comments for SpaBoom Blog

Comment on Facebook Sweepstakes in Minutes by Andrea Feucht

Andrea Feucht — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:33:28 +0000

Jane, yes – your Sweepstakes is a way to both increase your number of Facebook fans but also to increase awareness of the great things you do with anyone already your fan. You can use the Sweepstakes to give away anything you'd like – whether it is your service or not! We have had spas team up with a local limo service to give away a limo ride to the spa – that's a great incentive for the winner to book a spa day! Just let us know if you have any further questions, and thanks for your comment!

Comment on Facebook Sweepstakes in Minutes by Jane Fuchs

Jane Fuchs — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:08:47 +0000

When creating a sweepstakes on Facebook….is it just entering to win something…without having to do anything? Is it just a way to get more fans and not any bookings?

Comment on Webinar Downloads: 3 Trends You Can't Afford to Miss by Shirley Schneider

Shirley Schneider — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:10:52 +0000

I watched this and found it very interesting. Please look at my website to see if I need some up dates.

Comment on Yelp IPO, One Star by Brad Wicall

Brad Wicall — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:51:41 +0000

Love this also. Bottom feeders…

Comment on Yelp IPO, One Star by Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:02:40 +0000

Great information considering I just received an email from their sales department today. The timing of finding this topic couldn't have been better.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Christine Ramsey

Christine Ramsey — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:25:09 +0000

I've used SpaBoom for years and it literally changed our business with the ability for our customers or potential customers to purchase gift certificates instantly. Further the exposure has been incredible, over 30% of the gift certificates we sell are out of state. We've even had certificates sold to be people in Europe, Asia and Australia. Have you ever googled "instant spa gift certificates"? Spa Emergency, SpaBoom and The Joy of Spa (all SpaBoom companies) come up on top, why would you want to lose that invaluable placement? Lastly, I try to sit in on as many SpaBoom webinars as possible as they are extremely informative and professionally done. When was the last time Spabooker has held a professionally executed webinar? I've used Spabooker for about 3 years and yes they changed my life also but...their original credit card processor made two huge mistakes that thank goodness, I caught. The first mistake they made was to give all of our American Express deposits, for 4 weeks, to another merchant. It took me 6 weeks to get the money back. Another month they made all of our Visa and Mastercard sales as non-quals. I was offered no explanation and very little apology. Every time I need to call Spabooker I feel like I'm imposing on them. I will be looking for a new online booking system and will remain loyal to Spaboom. Anyone using another software that is really good?

Comment on Yelp IPO, One Star by CANdice

CANdice — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:46:19 +0000

I have a business that has been gravely harmed by yelp and their false low rating. They remove all positive reviews.Yelp is organized crime on the internet. What can we collectively do. Can we have their transgressions posted on internet to show their ratings are fasle and their lack of integrity. I am in for whatever.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by sandra wiendels

sandra wiendels — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:29:39 +0000

I use Spa-booker for my appointments online and eventually as our P.O.S system. Meanwhile I use a gateway or portal called six card solutions which overrides their c. card processing which is quite expensive and processes through to Sage. The same is used for Spaboom so will I be affected. I read above someone else is also using a similar portal. Thank you.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Gerald Kirkpatrick

Gerald Kirkpatrick — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:48:55 +0000

I never used anything from Spabooker because I had issues with Spa Finder on line booking. I was have been with Spaboom 8 or 9 years and was told spabooker was an option. Spabooker was very immature in their actions to say the least. I truly hope Spaboom can keep things together going forward. The one good thing about all of this is it did not affect me because I have always done my Credit Card Processing by hand. Main reason their was no Spabooker when I started with Spaboom.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:15:30 +0000

We had issues with spabooker's online booking – which we were using until Spaboom got their promised online booking up an running. We ended up switching to someone else who is compliant and has no problem running credit cards with software. It doesn't surprise me that Spabooker didn't work (it does surprise me that before I downgraded Spaboom did not let me, a 5+ year veteran know that spabooker's processing was an option). Things just keep getting better and better. Guess the switch was better in more days that one. Just hope we don't have to drop Spaboom entirely by next year. I have trusted you for so long. This is another example of poor research and….exactly what Spaboom has become in my observance in the last year.

Comment on Massage Envy envy? by Paiu;

Paiu; — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:24:17 +0000

I own another Franchise very similar to Massage Envy. Our prices are the same at ME. We have 16 therapists and I can say that ALL of them are very happy as well as our customers. I believe that this pricing model does not cheapen massages. In fact, because we make massage more affordable for most people that MORE people get into the regular practice of receiving a massage….something good for EVERYONE> The massage industry is growing with a wide variety of facilities for the customer. Find your niche and do it well. There are plenty of customers thanks in part to ME and facilities like mine.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by JaxRox

JaxRox — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:50:40 +0000

I have been using the SpaBooker merchant card portal SkipJack since early 2008, then that company was sold so SpaBooker went with another merchant card processor, but allowed us to stay with the original provider. I stayed with them because the new company did not have a SkipJack feature which allows you to do a transaction directly without going thru SpaBooker which is handy if there is a problem going thru SpaBooker (power outages, system updates etc.)
I was finally able to process clients credit cards mid-day on Friday. Yes SpaBooker has said they were not supporting SpaBoom, but there was no official warning. I have read the above too but still wish SpaBooker and SpaBoom could be partners. SpaBooker Gift Certificate portal is a bit dull, clumsy, not really user friendly, poor choice of card pictures and clients complain they can't find their gift certificate and I then have to download it an personally email to them… like I need more work to do.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Bill Bice

Bill Bice — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:40:10 +0000

Hi Raeann,

Yes, your clients can buy Instant Gift Certificates. Because there were still problems with credit card processing via SpaBooker this morning, we've switched you to manual processing.

Thanks,
Bill

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Raeann johnson

Raeann johnson — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:43:23 +0000

I just want to verify that my clients are still able to purchase purchase spa boom gift certificates. I have spabooker as my mobile booking site.

please let me know. I just want to double check.

thank you very much,
Raeann Johnson
relaxation by Rae massage

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by SpaBooker Support

SpaBooker Support — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:18:52 +0000

Please note that we have a further update for any affected SpaBooker customers:

Please note that yesterday afternoon the credit card gateway service that some (less than 10%) SpaBooker clients use, SkipJack, began experiencing connectivity issues. SkipJack determined that these were due to an issue with their DNS provider Prolexic.

Working with SkipJack a fix was implemented at 11:45am EST on 12/23/11 so that credit cards can again be charged. If you used SpaBooker’s “Save Order” button after entering a customer’s credit card information (either by swiping or by key entering it) during the service interruption you should now be able to process these orders.

On behalf of SkipJack we apologize for the poor timing and inconvenience of their service interruption. If you have questions about this outage please call SkipJack at +1-888-368-8507. If you would like to investigate other credit card integration options that SpaBooker offers, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer support team.

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Laurie Pratt

Laurie Pratt — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:42:49 +0000

I just switched over to a company called Diamond Elite who gives a very competitive rate and is very easy to work with. Tom Mastny can be contacted at: tom.mastny@diamondelitems.com or call him: 973-320-5740.

Laurie Pratt
Serenity Day Spa

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Inspiring Hands

Inspiring Hands — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:56:04 +0000

I really wanted to let your company know that I value all your hard work and terrific communication. Any coversation I have ever had with spa booker, they offer no additional help and Just basically say sorry and thats the end of it. Then spaboom, always friendly goes above and beyond to try fix a problem. Spa booker's solution was to save all credit card information and just run it at a later time when their third party company is up and running again, tho they don't have any estimate to give. I know I will be calling as suggested for an alternative solution to card processing. Thanks so much!

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Bill Bice

Bill Bice — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:18:40 +0000

Hi Snjezana,

I understand your frustration, and I share it. We didn't tell you about the January 3rd cutoff because we didn't know about it. You can see SpaBooker's position in their comment. However, you're not the only client we've heard from, that like us, wasn't aware of them cutting service off. We have great alternative credit card processing choices for you; please call Client Services at 800/940-0458 and we'll take care of you.

Thanks for being a client!

– Bill

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by Snjezana

Snjezana — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:45:12 +0000

What will happen now? Can clients still buy Giftcertificates or pay/book an appointment online? We did not know about this, not even about the Jan 3. date of no longer being supported. Why were we not informed by you at least about Jan 3. What are the repercussions for lost sales. I actually called Spaboom about this three days ago, since I had 2 clients complain about CC processing issues. I was assured by Spaboom that all was alright, but to call my Merchant Proceesor, First Data, and they also could not find anything wrong. Why would Spabooker,a sister company to Spaboom as it was explained to me before I signed up for Spabooker service, drop such a huge client and sister company for service at all, especially without any warning? Problems, miscommunication? This is really a big deal, you know! What will happen now, who will process us, and what does switching to manual mean?
Thanks for your help. This is frustrating.
Sinserely, S

Comment on SpaBooker credit card processing no longer works by SpaBooker Support

SpaBooker Support — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:13:25 +0000

Please note that one of our payment interfaces, SkipJack was having processing issues today that may have affected your interface.

In addition, the SpaBoom interface is no longer officially supported and any SpaBooker users that utilize this interface have been notified of this multiple times. Please use it at your own risk.

Bill – thank you for posting this.