Massage Envy Class Action Says One-Hour Massages Come Up Short

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A potential class action lawsuit claims Massage Envy Franchising LLC shorts its customers by 10 minutes of massage time for each one-hour session.

Plaintiff Kathy Haywood alleges Massage Envy unlawfully charges customers for a full hour of massage despite the fact that customers spend a significant part of that hour “being interviewed by the massage therapist, dressing and undressing, and waiting for the massage therapist to appear.”

Haywood says that on Massage Envy’s website, the company used to make a more up-front disclosure of how the time in a one-hour massage session would be spent.

She says in the past the website’s home page clearly disclosed the 50-minute length of the massage.

The company has since changed its website so that it no longer clearly discloses that at least 10 minutes of each one-hour session are spent on non-massage activities, she reports.

Haywood says Massage Envy now discloses the 50-minute length of each massage in only one web page and in the fine print on a single pricing sheet, both of which she says are almost impossible to find or read.

She alleges Massage Envy purposely makes these disclosures difficult to uncover, such that a customer could purchase and receive a massage without ever having been presented with them.

In contrast, Haywood quotes other promotional material that does not mention the actual length of the massage.

She quotes a promotional video from the Massage Envy website that tells the customer what to expect during their first appointment, without addressing how long the massage will actually last.

The company’s Step-by-Step Guide, also found on its website, reinforces the idea that each session consists of all massage and that other activities happen outside that time, Haywood claims.

She also refers to Frequently Asked Questions web page that repeatedly refers to a “1-hour massage.”

For comparison, Haywood refers to promotional material from MassageLuxe, a competitor to Massage Envy.

Haywood points out that MassageLuxe clearly states that a one-hour massage session consists of 50 minutes of massage time and 10 minutes of consultation and dressing.

Haywood says she purchased one-hour massages from a Massage Envy location in Illinois on two occasions in May and September 2016. She claims the massages she received lasted no longer than 50 minutes.

On neither occasion did any Massage Envy employee called Haywood’s attention to the price card where the 50-minute length of the massage was disclosed, she alleges.

She also says no employee told her verbally about the actual length of the massage.

Haywood alleges Massage Envy’s actions violate provisions of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. She seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of “[a]ll consumers who, in the State of Illinois, purchased a one-hour massage or massage session from Massage Envy or its franchisees (other than a purchase as part of a membership) and received no more than 50 minutes of actual massage time.”

She is asking the court for an award of damages, restitution, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Haywood is represented by attorneys Richard S. Cornfeld of Law Office of Richard S. Cornfeld and Anthony S. Bruning, Anthony S. Bruning, Jr. and Ryan L. Bruning of The Bruning Law Firm LLC.

The Massage Envy One-Hour Massage Class Action Lawsuit is Haywood v. Massage Envy Franchising LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-1087, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.