Massage Envy — Attraction in San Jose

I’ve come to this location for facials and massages. While massages have been a hit and a miss my facials have been amazing. I highly recommend Julie for facials and Daniela for massages. My main complaint with this store is their management/ policy and some front desk staff. On some occasions, the front desk staff can be extremely pushy and will call ahead of time to schedule you for appointments when they have vacancies. While this is inherently ok, they should be able to understand if I politely decline the first time they ask.

More recently, I scheduled a Microderm treatment a day before I was to come in. I was told on the phone that the full fee would be charged if I cancelled 24hrs in advance. Then on the day of the appointment I received a voicemail that there would be a $20 up charge since I wasn’t a member at this location. This policy isn’t enforced consistently and I wasn’t told this when I scheduled. If I cancelled the appointment I would be charged the full fee any way. With a tip included I would end up paying $35-40 on top of a service that came out to $150 (which lasted 35 minutes). I had no choice but to get the service since I would be charged the full fee + up charge since I was notified less than 24hrs in advance.After expressing my frustrations, upon arrival the owner explained that not notifying me prior was an oversight and to make up for it, she would leave some products for me to take home when I checked out. I gladly accepted that and was thankful something was being done. I just checked out — there was nothing left for me at the front desk. So basically I was promised something and given nothing. I would like to note that the Microderm was great but the stores policy and customer service makes me not want to return as it seems like they’re trying to squeeze money out of you at every opportunity and backing you into a corner.

On another occasion a couple of weeks ago, I scheduled a massage. 20 minutes prior to my massage, I was told my service would need to start 30 minutes later due to my therapist running late. I arrived 30 minutes after my original appointment time and still had to wait 20 minutes before my massage started. During my massage, my therapist was burping. She tried to assure me that it was just “trapped gas” but after about 15 minutes it got to a point where I was afraid she was going throw up on me and I was just not able to enjoy the service. I asked here if I could just come back another time. When I got to the front desk, the employee (I believe his name was Casey) offered no apology and rudely asked “ so you don’t want the massage right now then?” After politely explaining the circumstances to him, he just said “you’re ok for today then” and brushed me aside. I had no assurance that I wouldn’t be charged and no recourse for scheduling at a later date. I explained all of this in a private feedback survey and checked the box to hear back from a manager. I was never contacted.

Again, in my opinion — abysmal customer service and absolutely no recourse for mistakes. A tragedy really because their therapists and estheticians are talented but they’re management and policy dropping the ball. It’s come to a point where the bad is outweighing the good.

UPDATE 11/13/23: As you can see below, I’ve received a standard response. I’ve filled out the feedback form for a 2nd time from the link. I still haven’t been contacted by management. It says to allow 48hrs.

UPDATE 11/13/23 (2): I received a call from the owners about 25 minutes after posting the above update. I was told that I could pick up the products I was promised whenever I dropped by or at my next appointment. For that follow up I will...

This has one part for the massage and one part for the store itself.

Out of the 40 some odd massages I have had with massage envy, this location was quite possibly the worst experience I've ever had. Not because I was in pain at the end, but the technique of the massuse did nothing for my muscles. Mui's technique was less a massage and more akin to an aggressive application of body lotion. Some cases I'd be ok with that, but not when I'm looking for a relaxing massage. She did nothing for my actual muscles, and ended up being halfway tense and halfway bored throughout my experience. Other places would help you with the blanket when you turned over, but she asked me to turn over and left me to my own devices. My left foot and right hand were left uncovered for the duration of the massage. When she was massaging, she did this thing with her thumbs where she would rub them in the same spot back and forth like she was trying to start a fire, but not hard enough to do anything with the muscles. Going into it I told her which areas I would like focused on due to my headaches and she completely either forgot or ignored it. When she did "massage" my head, she put her hands on either side of my head and began to just scratch with her nails one side and then the other in an alternate succession. There were several instances where I just wanted to get up and leave but I did not want to be rude before Christmas, so I stuck it out. She definitely needs more training before being exposed to customers.

As for the location, you could tell that the manager or owner went out of their way to nickel and dime customers and in cutting costs. The equipment was grungy and dirty, with rust over half of it. The fan in the room was super loud and rattling throughout the massage. The pillow that goes under the feet was sad and dilapidated so much that it provided no support to the point wherw I had cramps in both feet. The bathrooms lights are on such short timers that I had to keep waving my hands around to keep the lights on. I couldn't even finish urinating before the timer ran out and everything went dark.

For the first time ever I wanted to leave no tip but decided since it was near Christmas I decided to leave $15. I told the lady at the front desk and she put $150 into the machine. I asked her about it and she said "it was just to allow the machine to calculate the tip suggestions" for 15% 18% and 20%. My massage was only supposed to be only 100 dollars so when I asked her, she said "oh, I put in the wrong amount" and proceeded to change the total to $250. This I can only assume was to jack up the suggested tip calculation. This was a mild annoyance as I just put in a custom amount but she'd some light further as to how potentially shady this location is. After I put $15 into the machine, the final charge was $15.93. After all that they wanted me to pay for their credit card charge as well.

No matter what, this is a location to avoid at all costs. If it was just the massuse that was the issue, I could try a different one, but since it's the location that also ruins the experience, I will not be coming back...

Beware of this location! I've never had a problem with any Massage Envy locations until now... I called on a Thursday evening in early December 2016 to make an appointment for the following Saturday morning as I was having extreme next pain. The next morning, I felt better after taking Ibuprofin and Flexeril so called to cancel my appointment for Saturday. All seemed well but I noticed a pending charge for $10 shortly after. I didn't call immediately because sometimes pending charges drop off. After the charge posted, I called the location to inquire. I was super nice about it, I was just curious why I was charged $10. I was told that the charge was for the transfer I did (transferring a massage from my membership to somebody else). I haven't been a member for more than 6 months and had nothing to transfer; I never did any such thing. The lady who I talked to was super nice to me and mentioned that she'd ask the manager to refund the $10. I watched my account carefully and called back in a few days when I didn't see the refund. I was told the refund was coming. A few days later, I received a voicemail message from the manager stating they'd be issuing a refund. I waited a few more days and called back. Was told they credited my account on 12/22; no, they didn't. Then I heard the manager in the background telling the guy on the phone with me that they are switching systems and they will issue the credit that day. A few days later, I called back. Irritated. The lady told me they are switching systems and will issue the credit soon. I mentioned that this has been going on for weeks and they should call me if they can't issue the credit because they keep telling me they are "issuing the credit today." The lady proceeded to talk over me and not let me speak. She told me she'll issue the credit on Wednesday. I told her I'd be spreading the word about her location if I don't have the credit on Wednesday and then she proceeded to yell at me telling me I shouldn't threaten an establishment and that she was going to notate my account about me. I asked her to call me on Wednesday if she wasn't going to be able to refund me on Wednesday and she said she would; the call ended. On Friday, still no refund. I called again and was super nice this time. They're still switching systems and they'll issue the refund on Monday. RIDICULOUS! They took money out of my account without my permission and now, a month later as of today, I still don't have my money. I finally called the bank yesterday and disputed the charge. The bank gave me my money immediately so now I don't have to deal with this rude lady anymore. Seriously, don't go to this location! I will continue to use Massage Envy but NOT this one!...