Customer Service. What would YOU do?

seadoug

seadoug

Well-known Member
Location
Texas
So, I've been a member of a local Massage Envy for probably 15 years. I pay $70 per month as a member. Hubby went back to work on January 5, so I thought it would be nice to book appointments for both of us for 90 minute massages today. He needs it more now than ever. They have a policy that you can only use your credits to book a friend every 6 months. Far be it from me to keep up with the last time he was in.

I called and spoke to someone last week who said I had 16 credits and could transfer a portion to him. She looked up his phone number and confirmed his name. She booked us. We both went in for our massages today and when he checked out the woman behind the desk told him it would be $108!

I told her I had spoken to ******** and she had confirmed the transfer. She then said ******** was no longer with the company. I said "No wonder". She told me Hubs had been in last August on my points so that would make him eligible for the end of February. She clearly had no ability to override the system, so I just told her to charge it to my credit card. Policies are policies, but I did think they were responsible for the mistake someone else made.

I didn't ask, but she clearly saw that I wasn't happy, so she wrote up a report and told me a manager would be in contact with me within 3 business days. Do you think I should make them responsible for the mistake of an employee who is no longer there and have them refund my credit card?
 

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Doug, the points were transferred while she was working at Massage Envy. The fact that the woman you spoke with later couldn’t override the system should hold no consequence for you. Massage Envy is responsible for resolving this issue. You should not have to pay. Inform management that you want a refund to your credit card.
 
If you like to fight then go ahead. But you still have the credits to use for yourself for additional massages. They didn't steal from you.
 
Many years ago I needed to cancel my Massage Envy Membership and there was no online way to do it, though their website is fully functional otherwise. On the phone they told me I had to drive out to my "home" location which was about 1.5 hours round trip and do it in person. I am generally very low key and don't make waves, but I reported them to the Better Business Bureau that time. Within a handful of days they canceled my membership without the trip. I'm probably blacklisted at Massage Envy Worldwide now :rolleyes:
 
I wouldn’t waste my time or energy arguing with them but I believe that they should eat it in the interest of customer relations.

From the company standpoint does it really matter if you redeem points for a guest in January vs February? 🤷‍♀️

If it bothered me, I would save myself $70.00/month going forward.

Good luck!
 
seadoug said:
Do you think I should make them responsible for the mistake of an employee who is no longer there and have them refund my credit card?
Click to expand...
Other country's laws may differ but here in the UK that employee, no matter that she's an ex-employee, represented the company.
You said: "She looked up his phone number and confirmed his name. She booked us." That is a simple contract, one that would have "Massage Envy" on toast in our law courts.
Never mind all the legality, how much do Massage Envy value your business? For goodness sake, it's not mega-bucks, why can't they just pay your refund, apologise, smile and leave it at that!
 
For those not familar, Massage Envy and other similar chains sign people up for "memberships" for discounted prices. They atomatically charge your bank or card every month. You still need to tip the masseuse.

If you are busy and do not come in for your monthly visit, massages are accumulated in your account to use whenever. If you cancel your account there is a slow time window where they keep on charging you.

If you have many massages banked when canceling, you have a short time window to use them all or forfeit them.

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Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience, @seadoug and I hope you find some peace of mind
about it all, soon. In the end, it's all just a personal choice in how you, personally, can let it "be in the past".
There's no right or wrong decision... but I think that you know that already

My short answer is Yes! get back what's yours.
(Soapbox Ted says:)
I agree with most here that the burden of the misunderstanding is clearly with the company and that regardless
of the rules, regulations, policies and procedures - written, stipulated assumed, presumed, implied or something else -
the "booking" constitutes the contract made, as @horseless carriage pointed out. And that type of contract is not without
value or a whimsical thing... though businesses these days, especially online/internet based like to make it out to be just that...
meaningless and unenforceable. I believe they kinda' hold people hostage with tactics that you're dealing with in this situation.
That is, if you want them to deal fairly, you have to make waves and (potentially) get all confrontational... and they bank on the
fact that most folks just don't want to go thru the hassle. And as mentioned, they're even making canceling memberships a hassle.

Personally, I doubt very much that the "woman behind the desk" couldn't override things (or some other employee) over-rides
are needed for several reasons besides dealing with exceptions for customer satisfaction issues... it's been that way since they've
been making cash registers. But maybe these crooked folks are getting even more brazen, idk.
I also believe that the You need to wait 3 days for a manager is ridiculous and offensive... it's like they put you in "Time-Out", so
that you calm down and don't explode all over the manager. Sometimes we all need a time out and to calm down... but you said
that you hadn't reached that level yet, right? I mean, think about this Doug... if I remember right, you a service-related industry...
does this story make sense to you? An upset customer that can't get satisfaction "in the moment" or speak with a manager?

Also, how is it that the woman behind the desk is competent enough to know all about the other employee who was no longer
working thee, pretty much understand her mistakes/error in taking your appointments, retrieve your hubby's info (that is, he's only
a guest but she has access to his info) and she's perceptive enough to read your emotional state and has the presence of mind to
initiate an incident report? Does that sound like an employee who doesn't have the skill and authority to do a simple over-ride?

Ya' know though... the whole thing reminds of an old episode of the Seinfeld Show. Where Jerry gets all upset because the Rent-a-Car
place took his reservation for a car but then didn't keep his reserved car reserved for him. 😂 So it's an older thing than the internet...
businesses doing things that are merely "flash" but are only profitable to/for them. The customer is made to believe that there's reason
for "brand-loyalty" while the Company is not loyal at all.
 
For what it's worth, I got a call from an Assistant Manager today. We went over the circumstances and she said the Manager would be in touch with me tomorrow. She implied she would be offering me a free massage. I'm not even using all the credits I have accumulated, so unless they are willing to offer it to Hubs (without the 6 month restriction I won't be accepting.

I'm going to remind her that I've been a member for over 10 years and if $107 means losing a long-term customer so be it. The only other alternative I will accept is that they skip the $70 monthly charge next month.
 
Offering you something free that you wouldn't have to pay for anyway ( because you have built up credits or whatever reason) is worth nothing.

Either a refund or something like a month's free membership would be acceptable- along with them clarifying their policy.
 
seadoug said:
So, I've been a member of a local Massage Envy for probably 15 years. I pay $70 per month as a member. Hubby went back to work on January 5, so I thought it would be nice to book appointments for both of us for 90 minute massages today. He needs it more now than ever. They have a policy that you can only use your credits to book a friend every 6 months. Far be it from me to keep up with the last time he was in.

I called and spoke to someone last week who said I had 16 credits and could transfer a portion to him. She looked up his phone number and confirmed his name. She booked us. We both went in for our massages today and when he checked out the woman behind the desk told him it would be $108!

I told her I had spoken to ******** and she had confirmed the transfer. She then said ******** was no longer with the company. I said "No wonder". She told me Hubs had been in last August on my points so that would make him eligible for the end of February. She clearly had no ability to override the system, so I just told her to charge it to my credit card. Policies are policies, but I did think they were responsible for the mistake someone else made.

I didn't ask, but she clearly saw that I wasn't happy, so she wrote up a report and told me a manager would be in contact with me within 3 business days. Do you think I should make them responsible for the mistake of an employee who is no longer there and have them refund my credit card?
Click to expand...
seadog: Most definitely. I'd take it further.
 
You have some options to offer the manager to resolve this issue. I would remind them of your loyalty years and offer the options you have stated. If they don’t accept agreeing to one of the options, then you have the option of either staying with this service or using another massage service.
 
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