Massage Envy — Local services in Jersey City

This review is specific to the Jersey City location. I loved my masseuse, but the service and management here is atrocious.

I've been a patron of this location for 10 years and I come every sunday for a 1.5 or 2 hour massage. They have amazing masseuses and Arnese Carty is one of the best I've ever had.

However, management is rude, disrespectful, and just wants to make money. They've avoided fixing the heat in the building for 2 winters now becuase they're "waiting on a part" which is a lie. They think the tiny space heater in the freezing room is fine, but when you start out cold and the masseuse's hands are cold it's not fun.

Management has also moved my massage 15-30 minutes earlier about 10-15 times in the last few years without notifying me to come earlier which cuts valuable massage time out and they made me pay full price. They've even completely cancelled about 5 times without notifying me (one time they notified me of cancellations two weeks in a row about 30 minutes before my massage when it's too late to rebook at another location).

I reached my limit this past weekend when I called them when they opened on Sunday to confirm I did NOT have a massage (I didn't have one on my calendar and I didn't get a reminder call/text but I wanted to be sure because their front desk is a mess) and I DID have a massage. I apologized and asked to cancel and they charged me for the session even though they did not send a reminder the day before as I have repeatedly requested ever since I replied STOP to the third-day-in-a-row text notifying me that there were appointments available on a monday, then tuesday, then wednedsay. I told them I did this and asked them to please call or text with confirmations/reminders days before because I book months in advance to keep my favorite masseuse and they ignored these requests for months. They argued with me, ignored what I said, and told me they did call (they did not) and they couldn't leave a voicemail because my inbox was full (they didn't call in the first place and the voicemailbox was not full). The manager at this location is a liar and does not care about her employees or her clients. She only cares about maximizing profits. It's disgusting and I will never be going back.

Edgewater and hoboken locations are run MUCH better, never have these issues, are always on time, warm, and...

Five stars for Arnese’s massages. Zero stars for management. I have been a customer for ten years and my current plan is to use up my prepaid sessions and cancel ASAP.

I did not get a confirmation call/text for my massage today. My husband noticed it on the calendar, so I called the studio to tell them I’ve had a cold and probably shouldn’t come in. They are insisting on charging me for the missed session! They said they’d knock it down to half if I got a doctor’s note.

1. The policy on the website is you get charged half the cost for a same-day cancellation anyway, so if they’re charging anyone the full cost they’re ripping people off in the first place.

2. I’m happy to get a doctors note, but the studio needs to encourage customers to cancel if we feel sick, not charge us. That’s putting a lot of economic incentive for people to show up sick and just say they don’t have symptoms. It makes me concerned for the safety of their employees, clients, and frankly makes me feel uncomfortable going there in the future. I listened to half an hour of their hold recording talking about their state of the art infection prevention protocols— which should include encouraging sick people not to come in to their appointments! If customers know they will be charged if they are sick... I’m sure there are plenty of people who would fudge it and say they don’t have symptoms so they don’t have to pay for a session they can’t use.

3. I called my home location (Garwood) which told me they would normally let a customer cancel if they hadn’t gotten the confirmation, and definitely wouldn’t charge if you are sick. They have the same franchise owner as Jersey City but different managers. So this is definitely a specific problem with the Jersey City manager feeling her customers should bear the burden of the pandemic, not the business. It’s not safe, it’s irresponsible, and it’s awful customer service for someone who’s been loyal for ten years.

Front desk claimed the manager would call me herself in five minutes... it’s been...

Horrible location, Horrible management. The assistant manager and staff aren’t empowered to make a decision. They are just puppets it seems like. they could not even speak. The new associate was whispering on the phone to me because she was so afraid to apologize for poor service. And she said the manager did not want to talk to guest.

On 10/25/2020, I payed for my wife to have a full massage envy experience, aroma therapy massage. Unfortunately and truly disappointing, my wife, left massage envy more stressed. During the appointment, Her masseuse talked from the beginning to the end. She politely told him she was going to put her air buds in her ears for peace, however the male masseuse continued to talk about political topics, his thoughts about Kanye West, Trump, being bullied in high school and other personal stories. Also when My wife asked what aroma would they be using for the aromatherapy, he said there is no aromatherapy because the coronavirus. So I paid for something that doesn’t exist.

Once My wife left she called me and told me about her experience. I quickly called the location and spoke to the assistant manager she told me her name was Tiffany but I’m learning that is not her name. She said she was highly embarrassed to hear about My wife’s experience and that the therapist is very quirky. She said she’s hurt about complaints around those same topics but he’s an odd character. She offered me a refund and I accept it, but she said she needed her shop manager to initiate the refund. I have called every other day and the shop manager is never available or never at the location. They have taken my number but no one has giving me a call back. This is so unacceptable and I have had a membership with you guys and have never had this experience so I’m a bit taken aback. Maybe it’s because my membership was in the Maryland locations. I have a few employees who have memberships with you guys, they will...