ComplaintsforMassage Envy

• Initial Complaint

  04/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Business has a problem with their gift carding system. Today 4/17, I used a gift card presented to me by my girlfriend for Valentines Day in the amount of $125. After my massage, however, the business informed me that it had a zero balance. The card had been sitting on my dresser since Valentines Day, unused. The manager apparently was not there so the ladies at the desk agreed to call me with a manager to resolve after I left. Instead, without my consent, and after explicitly telling them not to, they decided they were correct and said they charged my credit card for the massage. I returned to the store irritated. I put my girlfriend on speaker and we all discussed about how their system must have been printing cards with the same number or some other glitch, they were insistent, impolitely suggesting, with smirks on their faces, that someone had used the physical card (and that we must be mistaken). Finally the business found two charges on 4/2 and 4/11 in the amounts of 65$ each. I again explained how it could be possible that these charges were made by my girlfriend with some other gift card, but NOT with the card given to me that was stored on my dresser. The remained resilient in their thinking even though there are repeated offenses by this particular massage envy on BBB. They were supposed to call my girlfriend back to continue the discussion, but did not comply.

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  February 10, 2022, I purchased memberships for my ************ to Massage Envy in Belmar as a birthday gift. We used the service a few times for massages but availability of appointments very limited and it was almost impossible to book a massage. We stopped using the service after a few times but continued to pay our monthly membership for the 12 months required. In late March 2023, I called Massage Envy Belmar to cancel our memberships. There is no information on the website about how to cancel. No one returned my call & I believed I had done what was needed to cancel. In October 2023 we started receiving calls & text messages stating that our credit card had expired & we had unused credits we would not be able to use until we had updated our card on file. When I spoke to ********* at Massage Envy, she let me know that our membership had not been canceled because we had not emailed *********** email address (not available on their website) to cancel. I asked to have a manager call me. ********* texted me the email to "cancel", which we believed we had done 7 months prior. I emailed the address she gave me on 11/1/2023 and requested that we be refunded for the unauthorized 7 months of charges for 2 memberships. Someone responded that evening asking for the phone numbers associated with the accounts. I provided that, again asked to have a manager call me, and requested that a refund be processed asap. I emailed again on 11/3/23. To date no one has responded & a manager has not called. ********* has continued to call and text both me and my husband and told us that she will call every day until we have updated our card on file. Massage Envy has locked our online accounts and we are unable to see the total credits. We have been billed $160/month since February 2022. At this point, we feel we are being harassed and our money has been stolen. No one other than "*********" will respond to us and when she calls, she is unprofessional and demands a credit card number.

  Business response

  11/07/2023

  This client had been reached out to by phone as well as email. Client claims to have left a voicemail back in March or April stating she cancelled her membership. It is stated in our signed contract that all inquiries about cancellation would go through a specific email. Client stated that she thought the voicemail was enough & that she didn't realize she was being charged because she did not have access to the bank account she had been using. Our front desk did reach out to client as they do w/ all past due clients to let them know that the account is past due and that they need to come current to have access to their program/investment. Client was very rude and unprofessional with the front desk staff. Once the clients email came through & management was notified of the issue, they were reached out to. It did take some time (about 4 days) to get client on the phone & as you can see below all emailed correspondences showing several options were given. Each attempt to contact & interaction is also on the client's profile notes. Client was made aware that not only does communication need to go via email but that if somehow a call 7 months ago was missed that it is encouraged to call the clinic back. Client stated on the phone that she did not need to do so because leaving 1 voicemail was sufficient for her cancellation. It was explained that is not how contracts work. 

   

  ************
  From: ********************************************
  
  Sent: Tue, Nov 7, 2023 at 5:09 pm
  To: *********************************
  image001.png (11.5 KB)
  
  
  
  I do understand your frustration & that you do not want to provide a card. I would still like to assist in this matter as we do have options. As previously mentioned, please know that you have until 12/13/23 to discuss any programs or come current to prevent forfeiting the investment.
  
  I was not able to locate the 1 voicemail that you stated you left in March or April of this year. That being said, I would like to reiterate the importance and why our contract states that communication regarding the membership should be via the email address provided on the contract.
  
  Front desk is trained to answer voicemails every hour. If when your voicemail was left 6 to 7 months ago & in that time you had no response, or your card was still being charged, it would have been highly encouraged for you to place another call. Without communication for 6 to 7 months, we have no way of knowing what your questions or concerns are. 
  
  You asked how we send out contracts; after the contract has thoroughly been gone over in person & you have read, understood & signed the form, an email copy would go out to you. At times, messages have been known to go to spam folders. If there were a concern that you did not receive your copy back on 2/10/22. It could have been requested at any time. I did send a copy to you on 11/5/23 as requested. 
  
  
  
  -----Original Message-----
  From: "***********************" <***********************>
  Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 4:16pm
  To: ********************************************** <********************************************>
  Cc: "*******************" <*********************************;
  Subject: ************
  
  
  Hello,
  
  I look forward to hearing back from you on the outstanding questions I have asked of you:
  
  Have you researched the voicemail that I left?
  How do you provide copies of contract to your members?  As mentioned I had no record of the contract until you emailed it to me today. If your employees do not return phone calls when members say they would like to cancel, how are members supposed to know where to write to cancel? 
  
  Under no circumstances are we providing you with credit card information going forward.  I appreciate knowing that you have some flexibility in program.  We would be happy to use the credits we accumulated through March 2023 if you return the unauthorized membership fees collected since then.  As you and I both know, based on your lack of available appointments, we likely wont be able to use any amount within 60 days and youll end up with a windfall anyway.   
  
  *********************** | Partner
  Tel: ************ | Direct: ************
  www.cogovlaw.com | LinkedIn | vCard
  
  
  
  PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION.  This email may contain attorney-client or otherwise privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are an attorney or law firm, consult Title I of the federal Electronic Communication Privacy Act of ****. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error, please reply to the sender that you received the message in error and delete this email.
  
  ATTACHMENTS: Although this email and any attachments are believed to be free of any virus, the files should be virus scanned before opening them.
  
  From: ******************************************** <********************************************>
  Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 4:11 PM
  To: *********************** <***********************>
  Subject: ************
  
  Per your contract, cancellation needs to be in writing so that we do not run into situations like this one. After a request is sent in writing via the email address that is on your contract, someone from the account assistance team would connect & get over proper forms to start the cancellation process.
  
  You stated that you left a voicemail in March or April saying that you "cancel". As you may know that is not a proper process to cancel any contract.
  
  At this point, if you would like to use your investment, we need to bring you current. That is usually done by making up the missed payment. However, I would be willing to waive the payment to get you back in good standing to be able to use your accrued hours. However, we would still need to capture the credit card information to enroll in a program that we can utilize with you (if interested) to help you get caught up. I do have a couple of programs I would like to discuss w/ you that I think you may benefit from. 
  
  If your wish is still to cancel, you would have 60 days to use any accrued hours before they expire. I am sure you can understand that after having $3,000 tied in the account why I would rather work w/ you to help you use them up prior to a cancellation. 
  
  You are currently set up for an immediate cancel on 12/13/23 due to lack of payment. If that takes place, the $3,000 between you & your spouse would be forfeited. 
  
  Please consider discussing some programs w/ me; as a program or a cancellation is our only options. 
  -----Original Message-----
  From: "***********************" <***********************>
  Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 1:****
  To: ********************************************** <********************************************>
  Cc: *********************** <*********************************;
  Subject: ************
  Dear Manager,
  
  As we discussed earlier today, we do not consider the $2,975 an investment, but rather money that you took without our permission and in violation of federal law. It is both illegal and unethical for you to hold that money. You are demanding that we give you a credit card so that you can charge us for Octobers membership and then have access to our investment.   As we discussed on the phone, we are not comfortable giving ME a credit card number.  How can you guarantee that you wont charge our card more than authorized or refuse to cancel our membership?  What you are demanding is essentially financial blackmail. 
  
  We still maintain that we reached out to you in March 2023 to cancel our memberships. The practice of making it difficult to cancel recurring membership is negative option renewal and violates the *** rules and federal law.    15 USC ****d provides A consumer may stop payment of a preauthorized electronic fund transfer by notifying the financial institution ORALLY or in writing at any time up to three business days preceding the scheduled date of such transfer. The financial institution  may require written confirmation to be provided to it within fourteen days of an oral notification if, when the oral notification is made, the consumer is advised of such requirement and the address to which such confirmation should be sent.  Have you researched that voicemail as you said you would on our call?  I look forward to hearing from you after you do.  If someone had simply returned our call and said email your cancellation request to this address we would not be having these conversations now.  In looking at your reviews online, it is clear that making cancellations as hard as possible, refusing to cancel peoples memberships, and taking their money without their approval is part of Massage Envys business model. What was supposed to be a gift has turned into an incredible nightmare for us, as it has many other people.
  
  It is interesting that you never asked WHY we wanted to cancel our account. Getting an appointment for a massage is nearly impossible. We used your services 3-5 times over a year?  We tried multiple times to book appointments. At least one was cancelled by ME.  Others we never booked because we could not find a time. Even if we were to unsuspend our account as you offered, it would be impossible for us to use our credits based on how few available massage appointments you have. 
  
  We look forward to you doing the right thing and refunding the unauthorized charges and making the credits available.
  
  Also, please cease with the daily calls from *********.  She is argumentative and unprofessional.  When I last spoke with her, I asked her to stop contacting us and she told me she would not stop and would continue to call and text us daily until we gave her a credit card number.  Her phone calls are harassing.  
  
  Sincerely, 
  
  *********************** | Partner
  Tel: ************ | Direct: ************
  www.cogovlaw.com | LinkedIn | vCard
  
  
  
  PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION.  This email may contain attorney-client or otherwise privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are an attorney or law firm, consult Title I of the federal Electronic Communication Privacy Act of ****. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error, please reply to the sender that you received the message in error and delete this email.
  
  ATTACHMENTS: Although this email and any attachments are believed to be free of any virus, the files should be virus scanned before opening them.
  
  From: ******************************************** <********************************************>
  Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 1:35 PM
  To: *********************** <***********************>
  Cc: *********************
  Subject: ************
  
  Good afternoon, ***** & *******, 
  
  *******, per our conversation today, you stated that you had left one voicemail in March or April to cancel the account & from there have been under the assumption that the account had been cancelled & did not realize you were being charged because only ***** had access to the bank account. 
  
  I did make you aware that front desk does not assist in cancellations & per our contract we do need the request in writing & a signed cancellation form to proceed. (I have attached both of your wellness agreements for your reference in separate emails.)
  
  Between the 2 of you there is a total investment of $2,975 that I tried to provide solutions for to ensure that investment did not get forfeited, as your accounts both went inactive due to a missed payment in October 2023. Please know that I do have options to bring your current & to ensure the investment is not lost. if you change your mind & wish to discuss these options, please respond to this email thread. 
  
  Thank you for your time & business.
  
  
  -----Original Message-----
  From: "***********************" <***********************>
  Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 7:33pm
  To: ********************************************** <********************************************>
  Subject: ************
  ************ and ************
  
  *********************** | Partner
  Tel: ************ | Direct: ************
  www.cogovlaw.com | LinkedIn | vCard
  
  
  
  PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION.  This email may contain attorney-client or otherwise privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are an attorney or law firm, consult Title I of the federal Electronic Communication Privacy Act of ****. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error, please reply to the sender that you received the message in error and delete this email.
  
  ATTACHMENTS: Although this email and any attachments are believed to be free of any virus, the files should be virus scanned before opening them.
  
  From: ******************************************** <********************************************>
  Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 6:47 PM
  To: *********************** <***********************>
  Subject: ************
  
  What is the phone numbers associated w/ the accounts? We tried ************ but it does not pull anyone
  
  
  -----Original Message-----
  From: "***********************" <***********************>
  Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2023 1:52pm
  To: ********************************************** <********************************************>
  Cc: ******************************* <*************************************************;
  Subject: Accounts
  Hello,
  
  My husband and I previously had memberships with Massage Envy Belmar.  I called in April 2023 to cancel our memberships.  I left a voicemail and never received a call back.  We cancelled our membership because appointment times were rarely available. As a result, the membership had very little value to us and we were not interested in continuing after our 1 year membership ended. 
  
  We recently started receiving text messages and voicemails saying that we had past due payments.  I spoke with someone over the weekend who told me that we had to email a certain individual in order to cancel our membership.  She indicated that she would make a note to have a manager call me, and the manager still has not called.
  
  Having looked at our account, I am now aware that MEB has been charging our credit card for membership fees without authorization for the last 7 months. I expect those fees to be immediately refunded.  You will also either refund our unused credits that had accumulated prior to April 2023, or make them available to us to use.  You do not need to have a credit card on file from us in order for us to use credits. And given that we have been charged without authorization for the past 7 months, we will not be providing MEB with our credit card information.
  
  Should the manager need to discuss this with me, I can be reached at the direct line below.
  
  Thank you. 
  
  
  
  *********************** | Partner
  Tel: ************ | Direct: ************
  www.cogovlaw.com | LinkedIn | vCard
  

  
  

  Customer response

  11/08/2023

   
  Complaint: 20831669
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The manager's response is inaccurate regarding many facts. It is not worth the BBB's time or my time to go into detail about each inaccurate statement.  She did finally reach out to me, but only after I submitted a complaint with BBB. She has offered "solutions" and "programs" that fail to address the complaint and continues to focus on the language of the contract (which I did not have a copy of). Her solutions are only available to us if we pay more money to the business.  They already have over $3,000 of our money for which we have received no services.  As I have stated to her (shown in emails below), we cancelled our memberships because of lack of availability of appointments. Multiple weeks and months in a row we were unable to book appointments.  Ultimately we were paying for a service that the business made unavailable to us.  If we had been able to use our membership credits we never would have cancelled. We purchased the memberships intending to get monthly massages.  That became impossible solely because of Massage Envy's business model and lack of availability of massage therapists and appointments.  

  Massage Envy's business model appears to be based on signing on as many monthly dues paying members as possible, hiring as little staff as possible, and making it as hard as possible to use their services. A quick search of online review shows that we are not the only consumers that have fallen victim to their egregiously unethical business model. Massage Envy has stated to me multiple times that they are going to keep our money and want more money from us in order for us to be able to "use" the credits.  There is nothing reasonable about that offer.  There is zero customer service or actual care for their members.  

  We continue to request that Massage Envy return the $960 in unauthorized membership fees collected after we attempted to cancel. That would still leave over $2,000 in unused credits. While we would like to use these, the reality is that there are no appointments available and we will not be able to use them within 60 days.  Massage Envy still wins under that scenario and we lose over $2,000. But we can both walk away from this situation and move on.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  09/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been attempting to pause my account without success. I have approx. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************** they made a mistake with the scheduling. Also, I am unable to find a suitable time for the appointments (nothing after 5:00 P.M.) because they are so poorly staffed at the Belmar location. In speaking with one of the staff, they noted this is a known problem that they are trying to resolve, but I have not seen any resolution. I did as instructed and emailed Massage Envy to see about pausing my account so that I could try to use my credits before being charged again for my monthly subscription. They emailed me back and asked me for a time to call me before 4:00 PM. I gave them several options and each time they called it was in the evening and I was unavailable. They do not leave a name or call back instructions. They just keep emailing me saying sorry we missed you and please provide times we can contact you and then they don't call me during those times. In the past week I have emailed them 3 times asking for someone to contact me and they have not responded to my email, nor have they called me. At one point I needed to update my payment information and I had no issue getting someone to leave me a name and callback number. Just poor business practices and I understand now why there BBB rating is what it is. I do not want to do business with Massage Envy any longer and am looking for reimbursement on my credits (35 credits x $85 = $2975). Responding back and saying please contact your local Massage Envy will not help me and will not be an acceptable resolution. I have tried that, and it has not worked. This is something the headquarters needs to resolve. Also, I will not accept a pause in payments as resolution. I have also tried that, and it didn't work either. I think this company should be shut down due to unethical practices.

  Business response

  09/15/2023

  This client will have to reach out to their home location or corporate offices to resolve this issue. We are not her home location and have no access to the account. 

  Customer response

  09/15/2023

   
  Complaint: 20610958
  
  I am rejecting this response because I stated very clearly in my complaint that my location has been unresponsive. Massage Envy headquarters needs to get with my location to get this resolved. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  09/16/2023

  Every Massage Envy location is independently owned and operated. The clinic that received this complaint is not her "home" location. Which means her membership did not originate at this clinic. She needs to contact her home location, they are the only ones that can help her. Even if she does ever manager to get ahold of some one at Corporate they will direct her back to her home location, because again each location is independently owned and operated. 

  Customer response

  09/18/2023

  Hello, I was informed that Massage Envy is a franchise, and my complaint is not going to the correct place. My complaint should go to Massage Envy South West Region. Contact there is *******************: **********************************************

  Thank you for your help!
  

  ****

  Customer response

  09/26/2023

  Hi - I was asked to provide the specific location of the complaint: 

  Massage Envy - ********
  *********************************
  ********, ** 80226
  
  **************

   

   

  Business response

  09/28/2023

  District Manager reached out to ********************* on 9/19 with various options available to her. I have sent her the cancellation form as she stated she wishes to not proceed with membership. Per signed term agreement no refunds would be issued but we have given various options outside our normal policies to assist her in using up her services. We have responded and reach out on multiple occasions, there was a delay earlier this month due to clinic manager being out due to family emergency and since then the District Manager took over the responses to assist. We have offered all options and those are available to her, and she can cancel by sending back the cancellation form. We refunded September as well as waived October so she wouldn't have future drafts and could cancel but she wanted to wait. 

  Customer response

  10/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 20610958
  
  I am rejecting this response because: the agreement I signed was over 4 years ago and before Covid. The company charged me during Covid every month and their pausing policies were only for 3 months. This is why I have incurred some many credits - that and the fact that they have no staffing at my location, and I can't book anything. I have submitted my cancellation paperwork as requested.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have tried to cancel my membership 3 times with them. In person and through email with the supposed district manager. They have continued to charge me a monthly fee and continue to call me asking for payment. I feel I am being harassed by this business and they have deceptive business practices making it almost impossible to stop my membership.

  Business response

  09/20/2023

  I have looked into this account and it was cancelled out on 9/7/2023 no further payments to come out and it was in deed cancelled out. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩