Wellville Massage & Healing Arts — Attraction in Durham

Update: Subtracting a star from my review after management's response. "Sorry for the loss of your boyfriend's dog" is extremely rude. He may have have gotten her to begin with but we've been together for years and have welcomed all of our pets into one family. Additionally, I never received a 24-48 hour email confirmation or text and I offered to provide screenshots or a screen recording showing so. I do really like my massage therapist there and would have been happy to rush over for a shorter appointment but was told I didn't have options other than the charge. I would have even paid full price for the shorter appointment. It's not about the money and I am happy it goes to cover the missed appointment for the employee, it's about the response from management.

TL;DR - We can't always control our circumstances, especially when death is involved, so I won't be booking here in the future.

I have had a few massages at Wellville over the years and have always enjoyed them. I especially recommend Kahle.

However, I want to warn potential clients about the lack of understanding on management's part before you decide to book here.

I apparently booked an appointment, and in the craziness of losing a beloved pet, forgot about it. I received no reminder emails or texts leading up the appointment, and only found out about it when I was called about 20 minutes after it was supposed to begin.

The person on the phone informed that I would be charged the 50% cancellation policy (which, fair enough, it's stated in the terms), and I explained that I was going through a loss and asked if there was any way I could reschedule to avoid being charged. I also checked my texts and emails and hadn't received anything about this appointment since early October. She called her manager for me and called me back. The call immediately was flagged as junk and I missed it (probably why I never received a reminder text). I was met with a stern no.

While within their rights as a business, it left a bad taste in my mouth that a "Healing Arts" spa would not allow a little more grace. I asked to speak to a manager to see if there was anything I could do to avoid the charge and was told they would give me a call, which I am still waiting on. I don't have high hopes that there will be a resolution.

We can't always control our circumstances, especially when death is involved, so I won't be booking here...

I'm glad that so many people had positive experiences at Wellville but I most certainly did not. I have chronic lower back pain and my orthopedic doctor suggested I try massage therapy. I've had massages before for this problem and thought it would be a good idea to do it on a regular basis. Wellville was convenient to work and home and had good reviews. I saw two different therapists on three separate occasions and will not be going back. Last night I went after spending the weekend in agony and practically begged for her to do nothing but ease the knots in my lower back. She spent almost the entire hour on my shoulders and legs despite specfically asking where I hurt during the massage. I pointed out the knots, she touched them and said "Ooh, those must hurt." and then went right back to my shoulders. I cannot sit for long periods of time, get down on the floor to play with my child, or even bend down to hug her because the pain is horrible. After expressing this she still did virtually nothing. After I turned over she did stretch my legs but that I can do for myself at home (and I do). Stretching doesn't take care of the knots and that's what I needed the massage for.

As I said, this was the second person at Wellville that I have seen. I had the same problem with the other therapist although at that time I wasn't in as much pain. I wasted a lot of money and this morning I am just as miserable as I was yesterday-maybe even more so since I'm out so much money.

3 months later: I received an email today from Wellville after reading my review. They tried to tell me that I scheduled a Swedish massage so they couldn't work on one area (my lower back) because that would be a different type. A Swedish massage apparently is a full body massage. I'm still waiting for an explanation of why she spend 3/4 of the massage working on just my shoulders which didn't hurt and didn't address any other area of my body. A full-body massage would have been preferable because then she would have presumably at least worked on the knots to some...

starting with the good: Ryn is a very good therapist. She knows her stuff.

TLDR: Terrible customer service; they will tell you one thing and do another the next day. The owner puts her staff in the middle of challenging situations. Very poor communication. They think their automated system is sending confirmation emails. IT IS NOT. Expect drama when anything difficult comes up

Now the not so good: customer service. Everyone I interacted with had pretty poor customer service.

biggest thing, being told there would not be a cancellation fee on one day and being called the next day and being told that whoever offered that to me was not authorized to offer that and I would be charged.

I was there in person, about 10 minutes late. Had I known there would be a cancelation fee, I would not have chosen to skip altogether.

Despite telling the manager what I had been told the day prior, the manager was aggressive on the call and ultimately hung up on me before we finished the call. And promptly processed a cancellation fee.

I headed over to the location to finish our conversation. And the manager was not a fan. She was defensive and dismissive but quick to call me out on my tone and was concerned the other clients would hear the conversation as it escalated.

I was told the owner would give me a call on Monday, but that never happened.

Ryn: Don't walk by your next appointment with "blinders" on. Even if you are running late, acknowledge the customer.

Everyone in this place needs to get rid of that performative customer service voice and provide a bit more of an authentic experience.

Edit: talked with the owner. Didn’t enjoy the conversation much. But I was given a refund. And as agreed I am updating the review...