Has my massage therapist ghosted me?!

[UnicornAndSparkles]

Random one, but I used to go for a monthly or bi-monthly massage with a therapist who works from home. I went for about 2 years, then suddenly last January she stopped replying to my messages. We weren't friends exactly but always had a chat often a cuppa after the massage, were more than strangers. I always tipped well. I messaged a couple of times as I had a £30 voucher to spend, as a birthday gift from MiL. She never replied. I messaged 5 times in total and mentioned the voucher, saying I was keen to book. Then covid happened and I stopped messaging. The therapist lives very local to me and I often see her in town. She also has a website where you can buy beauty products, and the voucher specifies you can use it online, so thought I'd do that instead as she hasn't replied to any messages. Now my voucher won't work on the website! I've messaged her via the website and had no reply. Has she ghosted me?! I've no idea why she would. Her website is still up and running so no concerns there. It may not seem a lot but £30 was a big gift from MiL and I'd like to benefit from using the voucher. What would you do?

Do you know anyone else that goes to her? Or anyone that knows her personally? Perhaps she’s shut down due to COVID but hasn’t closed the website?

Stop her and ask if she is still running the business next time you see her in town?

That's really odd. If you often see her in town I would go and ask her directly, though politely, what is going on.

Message under a different name and email

She has scammed you of your 30!

How strange. Does she do it from her home or yours?

Next time you see her, ask her. Don't be embarrassed, you should be entitled to use that voucher if she's still running her business. She should have the courtesy to let you know what's going on.

@bonjonbovi

Message under a different name and email

This. She stopped responding to your messages in January, i.e. before the Covid shitstorm. If her website is still operating, she might have tried to ditch you as a client for whatever reason.

Yeh, she’s one of those who doesn’t like having to provide the service once she’s already got the money for it. I’d get a friend to ask for a service and see what she says

Weird and totally unprofessional. Wonder if she has done similar to other voucher customers. If so she is a con artist and should be reported to trading standards.

Otherwise I would write off the £30 cos it doesnt look like she is going to respond.

"Otherwise I would write off the £30"

Bollocks to that. I wouldn't want a massage off her now but I'd be getting goods to the value of my voucher

Get a friend to message her and see what happens

When you say you've messaged 5 times since Jan is this on a mobile? If so is there a chance she's changed her number and you somehow got missed off the list of people to tell. ( I say this because something a bit similar happened to me ).

Is she on face book or whatsapp? Can you message there as you can see if she's seen it.

If you see her in person again then i'd approach and ask about the voucher.

If you know where she lives bung a note through the door about the voucher?

How old is the voucher? Is it definitely still valid?

I’d second messaging from a different email and seeing if you get a reply, or getting a friend to call her.

Ask a friend to e mail her asking about buying a voucher for Christmas and see if she gets a reply.

When you say “sells beauty products” has she got an MLM business on the side or are they legitimate products? I just ask because if she’s gone down the MLM rabbit hole as a lot of people have during COVID, then she might have abandoned her former life (I guess she can’t work as a message therapist anyway at the moment?). She will also be losing money hand over fist if she’s doing MLM and a £30 voucher for a massage (she can’t give) is less costly than giving you £30 worth of products iyswim.

On the other hand, I do think that quite a few people are in a very bad place at the moment, both financially and emotionally. Quite a few small businesses I know still have their website up but have gone out of business. Perhaps things have happened personally or professionally and she just can’t face it. That’s not an excuse for taking your money but it might explain why she’s disappeared.

I think I’d do what others suggest and get someone else to contact her and find out whether she’s still in business and still selling vouchers. If she’s still in business I’d get a bit more hard nosed about it. If she’s clearly had some problem perhaps a softer approach might be possible.

I agree that your first move should be messaging her under a different identity just to figure out whether its personal or whether this is a general thing shes doing to everyone. Start with that. And update us of course 😁

Thamsk for all the responses. I think I'll get my sister to message her and see what happens.

It's not an MLM, fortunately.

I've felt so awkward when I've seen her in town I've avoided her! Silly, I know.

Every message I've sent has been either on Facebook or via her website and I always get an automated "thank you for your message" response.

So strange!

Thanks for giving me the push to do something. I'll post again if there's an update.