Massage Envy Changes in Membership Prices Class Action

Do subscribers to Massage Envy’s monthly massage know how much they’re paying for their memberships? The complaint for this class action alleges that many do not know, because Massage Envy Franchising, LLP raises the rates without informing them.

The class for this action is all persons in New York who, within the applicable statute of limitations, were enrolled in a Massage Envy membership and whose monthly membership fee was increased to an amount higher than that stated in their membership agreement.

Massage Envy operates through franchises that offer a monthly massage for a fee of between $39 and $59 per month. The agreement that the member signs is quoted in the complaint as saying, “Your membership dues of $[X dollar amount] (not including any additional applicable taxes) are due on or after the ___ day of each month hereafter until your membership expires or is terminated in accordance with this agreement.”

 “In other words,” the complaint says, “a customer contracts to an explicit, set fee for the entire membership term…” When the agreement expires, the membership is automatically renewed. The agreement is quoted as saying, “Following the initial term, your membership will automatically continue of a month-to-month basis at $[X dollar amount] per month until your membership is cancelled.”

According to the complaint, this means that the member pays a set fee, with the agreement locking in the amount of that fee, for both the original term of the agreement and the renewal term. 

However, the complaint says, Massage Envy violates this agreement; it “unilaterally raises the monthly membership fee amount without consent of the customer.” In some cases, the complaint says, the increases are more than thirty-five percent of the amount agreed on, and sometimes the increases are made without notice. Many customers do not know about the increases, the complaint says, “due to the nature of [Massage Envy]’s automatic billing.”

Why not just cancel? The complaint says that the company requires prepayment for the massages, which means that some customers acquired a backlog of massages. If they cancel, they lose all of these massages, even though they have already paid for them. In the course of using up these massages, the complaint claims, customers keep incurring fees.

Cancellation during the initial term is difficult in other ways. During the initial term, it’s only permitted if the customer moves more than 25 miles away from a Massage Envy location or a doctor certifies that the customer should no longer receive massages. According to the complaint, “both circumstances [are] dependent on approval by” the company. Cancellations also require 30 days’ notice.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Business Practices, Deceptive Pricing/Undisclosed Surcharges, Requiring Consumer to Pay Higher Prices, Unlawful Subscription Renewal