The Massage Chick

My husband bought me a prenatal massage through groupon for Mothers Day. My husband called twice for Jen to schedule a time, a week later we received a call back. My first appointment was rescheduled a couple hours before the appointment time because she said she was sick. Completely understandable, being pregnant I didn’t want to catch her cold. Two weeks later, I show up for my appointment, the office was closed, door locked, nobody there. I call Jen and she said her car broke down that morning and can’t make it. The annoying part was she said she called and left a message to reschedule again. Really? I didn’t get 1 missed call/​voicemail all morning and she couldn’t confirm my # she tried calling. Completely unprofessional and wasted my time. At this rate with her scheduling issues, I won’t be pregnant anymore.

I had a 10am appt with Jen thru Groupon. It would’ve been the first time I went to her. I’m 27 weeks pregnant and was trying out the prenatal massage.
At 9:30 I get a message that she’s running 15 min late. Not too inconvenient. She did give enough time so I didn’t leave my house as early as I would’ve but then things went sour. I arrived and parked at about 10:10. As soon as I parked Jen called & said she was 5 minutes away. Well we all know 5 minutes away in LA isn’t 5 min away. She said there’s a lounge area outside of the massage studio where I could wait. So I did. It’s way later than 10:15 now so at exactly 10:28 I called her to see where she was and she says «Oh I’m here! You didn’t see me come in? I’ve been here prepping the room. I’m all ready for you.» What?! I would’ve seen her walk by me but I realized she snuck into the office from the other side so she could hurry and prep the room. Then acted like I was holding her up. It was too ridiculous to respond to so I didn’t but now I’m concerned about the time. I have an appt at noon in Canoga Park (she’s in Cheviot hills). 11:15 really would’ve been the latest that I could leave without rushing.
But I follow her in and the room was NOT ready. The massage table was made but there were old sheets and blankets on the floor right in front of the door! That sealed it. I told her I didn’t think this would work. I didn’t want to have a massage and then have to rush for the rest of my day playing catch up. Sort of defeats the purpose of a massage. Frankly I didn’t want all this crazy energy on me and my bambino.
She was apologetic but blamed it on the traffic saying she was sorry but this trip only takes her 30 minutes, she didn’t understand why it took her more than 45. Again, LA people! We all know when we’re cutting it too close. When we leave later than we should. So she offered me a half session and a discount for a follow up session. I know that might seem generous but I’m in service as well as an energy therapist. This is the moment when you offer a free half hour session and then say you’ll use my groupon for the next full session! I wouldn’t have taken a half hour session anyhow. Half hour massages didn’t do me any good when I Wasn’t pregnant! So it def wouldn’t help now but the gesture would’ve at least prompted me to reschedule. I did not and will not. I called groupon and got a credit (unfortunately you can’t get a refund after 7 days I think).
I don’t know if this is how she treats people with groupons or what, but there’s just no excuse. She knew she was going to be more than 15 minutes late and kept hedging, then acted like she was already there and waiting on me, when she told me to wait in the lounge area. And the room wasn’t ready with the old sheets and blankets on the floor. Highly unprofessional and frankly quite irritating. People’s time is valuable. If that time is going to be violated then just be accountable and tell the truth. It’s called integrity folks. I think they sell it at Whole Foods.

This girl is amazing! I have gone to her for a while now and every time i walk out of there feeling so relaxed. My job is very stressful and I get pretty bad knots that cause nasty headaches and one hour with her they are gone and i feel so much better!

Jenn really is ‘as good as it gets’. I take my massages (and giving out 5 stars on Unilocal) pretty seriously. I’ve had lots of massages from lots of people over the years and Jen is at the top.
Why Jen is so amazing:
–She has a ‘healing nature’ about her. If you get a lot of massages, you know what I mean — some people are born ‘healers’. I’m not into new agey spiritual whatever but I can’t deny that some people have a healing energy/​vibe and when THEY give a massage, it is better than those are just going through the motions.
–She uses /​integrates various techniques, such as hot stones, to really work the muscles. She doesn’t just plop a hot stone on you and wander off; she’ll rock that stone into your body and you’ll want to weep when the massage stops. And take home a stone to cuddle.
Tao of Venus is a really nice establishment; staff is friendly. I usually am able to find street parking right outside of the building.