Olive Tree Spa — Attraction in Englewood Cliffs

I am extremely disappointed with my experience at Olive Tree Spa. I booked a 90-minute service for two people through ClassPass, which should have covered the entire cost, including taxes, as is standard for the platform.

Even though my appointment was fully prepaid through ClassPass, the spa presented me with a bill for $77.66. They charged me sales tax based on an inflated, arbitrary "original price" that had nothing to do with the ClassPass value. Then they literally taxed the tax—charging an additional tax on the first tax amount! I've never seen anything like it. I will find out with the NJ Division of Consumers Affairs about this business practice.

Furthermore, I was pressured into paying a mandatory, fixed tip of $60. Tipping should be at the customer's discretion and based on the quality of service, not a fixed, required fee.

I was charged nearly $80 extra for what should have been a prepaid service. Very deceptive. This practice is deceptive.

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Thank you for your response. However, your explanation is factually incorrect and fails to address the main issues.

Incorrect Math: Your own receipt shows the total tax was $17.66, not $17.22 as you claimed.

Mandatory Service Charge, Not a "Gratuity": A $30 per person fixed fee that is automatically added to the bill is a mandatory service charge, not a discretionary tip. It was not presented as a choice. When booking through ClassPass, nowhere there's any notice about such an additional fee. If we were satisfied with your service, we could tip through ClassPass's platform, not directly to you.

Improper Tax Calculation: Your response completely ignores the most serious issue. You charged tax on top of tax. Your receipt shows a tax of $16.56, and then you charged an additional NJ Sales Tax of $1.10 on that tax amount. This is not permitted under any state regulation.

NJ Tax Law: According to the NJ Division of Taxation, sales tax is calculated on the actual amount paid by the customer. When a coupon or voucher is used, the tax applies to the discounted price. For third-party platforms like ClassPass/Groupon, the tax is owed on and included in what the customer paid for the voucher, not a fictional, inflated "full value" presented after the service.

I will not be contacting you privately, as your business practices and this misleading public response should be transparent to all potential customers. I will forward this matter to ClassPass, through which you should...

We've been coming to Olive Spa for the past 3 years because our first and fourth experience were good, but will not be coming back because of the poor customer service. During the massage, I experienced two painful moments. My masseuse (Leni) was doing a good job until he decided to use his elbows (pointed downwards) on the right side of my spine. During this process, I verbally expressed pain but he continued pressing down and finished his movement. Once finished, he asked if I noticed how it opened out.. I felt very tense where he worked on and directly pointed out that it was pretty painful. He retorted on how I should try a deep tissue massage as if I didn't have experience getting a massage. He was, however, much more careful on the other side asking if pressure was ok and decided against using the same movement. This was until he decided to stretch my legs, where he literally yanked on of my legs open to the point it hurt again. Again, I pointed it out and he adjusted on the other side. The leg stretch wasn't too bad but I could feel my right shoulder aching.

One hour later, I'm starting to feel an uncomfortable pain on my right shoulder and a sharper pain when removing my shirt. This was when I decided to call the place and to just let them know what happened. The male store owner picked up and told him I had a pain where this happened. He just said that it was normal to feel uncomfortable after a massage and to let us know if I felt the same after a week, pretty much dismissing my concern. When you're in the health and spa industry, customer service is a huge part of the business. This kind of treatment is unacceptable.

4 hours later there is still a dull pain on my right shoulder. Really thought we found a decent massage place but it's been too inconsistent and the first time I brought up a concern, it was met with a dismissive defense.

*Update

Olive Tree reached out to me to me with a complimentary massage to make things right, assuring me they had a professional this time. The massage was just ok, but I appreciated their effort to improve customer service so I’m bumping my 1 star to 3 star. Not sure if this masseuse (Lily) knew the other masseuse, but during the massage she mentioned that I may have been tense during my last session which could’ve caused my injury. Again, downward elbow to the spine is never ok and I’m really...

I should start off with this disclaimer: I don't like massages. I know I often need one because I carry all kinds of pain in my stressed-out body, but it's impossible for me to find a massage that addresses them without some level of pain and discomfort.

Olive Tree Spa is the closest I've found in this area.

Having been to a few 'budget' spas, I noticed a few immediate differences with this spa. Here, the space is light and airy, with the remarkably calming smell of essential oils that hits as soon as you enter. The first floor is dedicated to a reception desk and foot massages, while massage beds are upstairs. My husband and I booked a couples massage, and they had a clever curtaining system that allowed them to turn a larger flex space into a more private one for us. There's also one private room for a single massage.

The massage itself was, in a word, skillful. There was general symmetry between what was done between one side of my body and the other. I didn't love some aspects of her technique, particularly a pinching motion she used around my neck that left me a bit sore until the day after. But it was still better than most, and she used plenty of pressure to work out the various knots and points of tension in my back and legs.

What I appreciated most of all was the quiet. Our masseuses worked side by side but didn't exchange any chatter (except to occasionally hand each other hot stones or towels), and there was barely any ambient noise except for the sound of the air conditioner in the background. It was all the peace and quiet one would have wanted from a massage session.

There's been some contention about the tip policy in reviews left for this spot. I'll share that after we paid, the woman at the register gestured to a printed sign that had suggestions for how much tip should be left, depending on the length of session. For an hour-long session like ours, for instance, the recommended tip was $20 per person. After pointing to it, she also plainly said, "It's just a suggestion." We ended up paying the proposed amount, but I could see how some folks might not take kindly to...