Massage Envy review: Charged after denied service

I got a gift card for my husband for Christmas and I was excited to try the chemical peel. I booked an appointment online and shortly after I received a voicemail from the aesthetician. She said in the voicemail that because she had never seen me before she would have to evaluate my skin in person and she may recommend a facial in place of a chemical peel depending on my skin type. I called massage envy the next day but was told Nancy was not in that day. A few days later I received a text requesting confirmation of my appointment along with some other information like Covid safety guidelines and Contra indications. Specifically the text said that some contraindications could interfere with SOME services. One of the contraindications was pregnancy. Wow at the time of scheduling I did not know that I was pregnant I found out two days before my appointment that I was pregnant. When I became aware of the pregnancy I presumed that I would in fact have to substitute a facial for a chemical peel. I called massage envy again and was told the aesthetician was not in but that all the information I needed was in the text. I arrived for my appointment and signed a pregnancy waiver and specifically remember reading in the forms that "skin care is essential during pregnancy." I was then taken back to one of the service rooms only to be promptly told that there was no service she could provide me because I was pregnant. She said once I was in the second trimester there were some things that she could do but in the first trimester there was nothing she could offer me including a facial. While I had expected to not be able to go through with the chemical peel I was quite surprised that not even a facial was an option. Especially since I was suffering with some sudden hormonal acne and really needed some skincare. Although I was disappointed, I understood. On the way out she said "sorry, you could've called." And my first thought was well I DID call, but I left it at that because I'm pretty easy-going, even though I had driven all the way up there for no reason. Additionally, the text message did not communicate that pregnancy would prevent them from performing ANY services on me, only SOME. About 10 minutes after leaving massage envy I received a call from the receptionist who then asked if it was OK for them to use the credit card on file to charge me the 50% cancellation fee, which she said was $100. I asked why she would charge me a cancellation fee when I did not and had no intention of canceling the appointment, and she responded "I was told you were aware you were pregnant when you arrived today." I was taken aback by this response. Unwillingly, I asked if I could use the gift card. She told me that I would have to drive back to the location so she could physically scan the gift card. I immediately thought about how embarrassing it would now be to have to go back to the location just to give her my gift card information, before she said "actually we can use the numbers if you have them." Since I was in my car driving I asked her if she could hold on while I tried to find the information, and then quickly asked her about the gift card potentially expiring before I had my baby (since I would still have a $50 balance). She responded "it could, it depends on what kind of gift card it is." Having no idea what that meant, my hormones started kicking in and I knew I was going to cry. I realized there was no indication they were going to work with me, and I was getting upset. So I asked her if I could call her back with the information after I got home, and she agreed. Ultimately, my husband provided the card info over the phone. But I will not be redeeming the remaining $50 balance, especially since I'd surely have to spend even more than that for any one of their services. It was poor communication that resulted in a very poor overall experience, and I feel very taken advantage of.

View 0 more photos