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Massage Envy Membership Fees Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Baerbel McKinney-Drobnis filed a class action lawsuit against Massage Envy Franchising, LLC.
- Why: Plaintiff alleges Massage Envy increased “locked-in” fees for monthly massages.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
Massage Envy saw a $10 million class action settlement that offered Class Member vouchers tossed over unfair attorney fees.
A three-judge appellate panel determined the US District Court for the Northern District of California erred when finding that vouchers were not coupons under the Class Action Fairness Act, which affects the way a class counsel’s attorney fees are calculated, according to a recent opinion issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The verified vouchers requested by 105,693 Class Members in the Massage Envy class action settlement amounted to less than $3 million in value—less than the $10 million floor of the deal, with the vouchers ranging in value from $36.28 to $180.68, the opinion states.
However, the judge calculated class counsel’s fees by adding the $10 million face value of the vouchers with the expected $450,000 in administrative costs to award 25 percent, or $2.6 million, to the attorneys.
“The appellate panel determined that the district court erred when it approved the settlement as ‘fair, reasonable and adequate’… [when determining] whether class counsel allowed the pursuit of their own interests to infect the settlement negotiations,” the opinion states.
The panel vacated the district court’s approval of the attorney fees award and instructed the lower court to use the voucher’s actual value at the time of redemption when determining fees.
“When a settlement provides non-cash relief and a reverter provision, a district court must be on the alert for an attorneys’ fee award that is artificially inflated in relation to the relief provided to the class,” the panel wrote. “The more undesirable or inflexible a voucher is in comparison to cash or to a gift card, the greater the risk that the settlement value may be overinflated.”
Massage Envy Class Action Claimed Co Hiked Monthly Membership Rates
The plaintiffs claimed that Massage Envy required customers to prepay for massages—forfeiting massages for which they have already paid if they cancelled.
The Massage Envy class action lawsuit alleged that customers were told that they could “lock in” membership rates, and that their monthly rate would not change. Additionally, they were told that they could cancel their memberships.
However, the company raised the membership rates. Customers claimed that in some cases, the rate hike was only 99 cents, but in other cases, the membership rates went up by around 30 percent. Additionally, customers claimed that the company intentionally maked it hard for customers to cancel memberships.
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The plaintiffs are represented by Trenton R. Kashima of Sommers Schwartz PC and Jeffrey R. Krinsk of Finkelstein & Krinsk LLP.
The Massage Envy Membership Rate Hike Class Action Lawsuit is Baerbel McKinney-Drobnis et al. v. Massage Envy Franchising LLC, case number 20-15539, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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105 thoughts on$10M Massage Envy Class Action Settlement Tossed for Fees
Please add me to the lawsuit. ME increased my fee from 60-75.00 on just a few months. I have lots of unused credits because there are so few therapists working there and booking is impossible. The one therapist I managed to book with was terrible and suggested I pay 10.00 extra so she could use the theragun on me instead of massaging.
Please add me to the lawsuit, as well. I am now paying $70 a month when my original “locked in rate” was $49 when I started my membership.
Add me to the class action suit, please. Working with Massage Envy is like being a rat in a trap. If one cannot get or take an appointment (not enough therapists, remodeling, Covid, client having surgery or other health issues), one’s fee is taken out anyway whether your problem OR theirs. If one wishes to cancel one’s membership, there is NO refund for unused services. So, they have thousands of dollars of free money floating, floating. They will not allow any of the client’s money in the account to be used as a tip for the therapist. That has to be another credit card expense or cash. There is also a charge to gift a session (already paid for) to friend or family. And that cannot be done but once a month. What a sweetheart deal to be member of Massage Envy!!
I just saw another increase on my monthly subscription fee via my credit card charge yesterday. It went from $65 to $75. My husband’s charge is still $55; his fee has never increased. We have been members for at least 12 years. I have 28 services built up because we have either been out of town, 2020 non-use due to Covid and restrictions, and due to restrictions for getting massages due to a pulmonary embolism.
For years, I have been told that I would be charged if we cancelled our subscription and would not be able to use our built up services,
Today I called them and gave them the what for on the increased monthly charge and told them I was about to lawyer up. They told me that they sent out notices, but I did not receive any. They also said that due to the increase in charges, that this time, corporate decided to give customers 365 days to use their remaining services if they have over 16 in their account; otherwise, they would have to use them within 60 days. Really? How could someone use 16 services within 60 days. That’s ridiculous! . I asked if there would be any charge to cancelling and she said no, that they have never charged to cancel. What they did do in the past is to not allow the customer to use any of their built-up services if they canceled. Therefore, making it difficult for customers to cancel. No one wants to pay for services that they cannot use.
Seems like there should be a class action law suit for this. Corporate finally decides to allow customers to use their services within 365 days (if over 16 banked up). I’ve been wanting to cancel for years!
Please add me to this lawsuit. They raised monthly dues. I was locked in and I have like 80 months massages. I want to cancel but will lose the massages.
Please add me! My husband and I hand been members since 2006. We have always been able to share credits back and forth. I used a bunch of his while pregnant with no issue. Now they are raising are “locked in” prices and want to charge me $10/ credit I use from my husband’s account. I have 3 locations near me and they are 2-4 months out for bookings. If we cancel, we can’t use any credits because they only give 60 days and there’s no openings. They keep telling us to cancel, but my husband had 36 credits. We have No choice but to Freeze our accounts til we can figure something out.
Please add me to the Massage Envy lawsuit. Locked in price increase member for 10 years!!! Massage Envy breached their own contract. Please don’t let them get away with this.
Please add me to this class action. I have been a ME member since around 2014 , when ever the winter park florida location opened, at monthly rate of $49 locked in. 2022 they just increased my monthly rate to $65. I didn’t notice until March billing. I called to inquire , they ended up given a bunch of BS saying they emailed me in December, which they did NOT. Plus my rate i was told was locked in as long as I renewed my membership annually. As in almost 10 years my monthly membership rate has been $49 despite many new member price increases. So why now out of the blue they are raising my rates without notice? As if i was notified i would have refused and cancelled immediately. I have tried to cancel membership. They refuse to respond to my emails confirming they received my cancellation paper work and left me a generic and vague voicemail saying they are reviewing my papers and I should call to follow up! .
Please add me to the class action suit!
I had massage envy over 7 years they continue to draft account during COVID-19 shutdown when they reopen I started back using my unused vouchers they terminated my account and refused to allow me to use my 6 unused vouchers