Massage Envy Spa - Alpharetta

They are excellent. I would consider using them again in the future.

I was very pleased when I called Massage Envy of Alpharetta
to find out they could see me the same day for a Deep Tissue Massage (in fact, within the hour of
my call). I arrived 15 minutes early as per the receptionist who advised , as a
new patient , I would need to fill out paperwork which would eat into my 60
minute massage service if didn't arrive 10-15 minutes early.
The front desk staff was very warm and pleasant to chat
with, and offered water upon my arrival which was welcomed.
My masseuse picked me up from reception within a few minutes
of my scheduled start time and introduced herself as Tracy.
She asked me what brought me in and I explained that I was a
frequent participant in massage but hadn't been to Massage Envy before. I told
her multiple pieces of information about myself including having Fibromyalgia
but prefaced it by saying that despite my condition , I truly prefer a very
firm pressure on some areas of my body; in fact, I explained that I wanted
firmer pressure on my upper back,. neck , lower back, and shoulders , but when
it came to my legs, hips, and feet (bottom portion of my body basically),
I preferred she not spend her time on
those areas or if she did, any contact down there needed to be approached with a softer hand than that to
my upper body.
Lastly, I focused her attention to the most painful part of my body and the driver for my visit to Massage Envy which was
the left shoulder and left neck areas.

This isn’t my first rodeo with massage and I knew that providing my therapist as detailed of information up front would only help to improve the experience and services I received during the massage.

She started me on my stomach which is common with deep tissue massages, and immediately started my massage using a soft touch. This is no big deal because I just told her that I would like firmer pressure. Instead of asking whether she was applying enough, it felt like she took my feedback personally and became aggressive with her motions.
For example, when she got to my arms, she pulled them out from under the blanket, and started walking in a 3 point motion before dropping them back on the table. She didn't even focus on the left shoulder, but I thought that was to come later.
Instead of starting at the base of my spine and moving upwards in the M motion, (up over my spine and down over the shoulder blades and down the back), she kept stopping her motions midstream and therefore creating no continuity
or flow of motion to relax me.
She also applied pressure on the wrong areas like my ribs cage around my spine instead of on the muscles. And she would not keep a common experience between the sides of the body that she was rubbing, e.g. she would apply one style to the right and when she got to the left side, its like she would rush and only due some of the movements she did prior.
This left me feeling very unbalanced.
But worse of all, she didn’t even focus on my left shoulder/left neck at all. In fact, she didn’t even touch my neck when I was on my belly.
This didn't seem like a red flag because I have had massage therapists tell me that it is better to focus on sore shoulders/neck when you are on my back (2nd portion of a deep tissue massage), because the therapist can use an elephant walk down the shoulders and arms to release tension. In addition, they can knead the traps in ways that she relieve shoulder tension
more that when you are on your stomach.
Unfortunately, the back portion was very short, so I was already disappointed when she started on my lower body, again, the area that I told her to mostly ignore in favor of the upper body in my pre-massage preamble. But instead, this was where she spent the lion share of time (about 35 minutes).
Not only that, but I had to stop her because she was physically hurting me to the point of tears while rubbing my gluts and hips.
Again, she seemed to take this personally.

When she made me flip over onto my back, she spent approx. 9 of the last 13 minutes pulling my arms (mentioned before), rubbing the fronts my legs and shins (again, the areas I wanted to de-focus).
After finally, in the last 4 minutes she quickly rubbed / pinched my shoulders, didn't walk up my spine with
her fingers nor did she stretch my head to the left or right to be able to rub each side of the beck.
I was shocked when she said the time was up (massage is a hard thing to judge the time duration because of the atmosphere and supposed relaxation; I , on the other hand, had a good feel for the time because it was all I was focusing on to get through the pain).
She asked how the massage was and I was literally speechless.
I told her I was shocked that she ignored the two areas that I had told her was in true
pain and the whole reason I was getting the massage in the 1st place.
She pulled me back on the table and started this fast kneading motion, trying to make up for her lack of attention.
Unfortunately, her 'save the situation' efforts didn't feel very good and was little too late.

When I got to the front desk and they repeated the question
about my massage, I broke down in tears. I was embarrassed for crying and upset
that I had just thrown away $50 (in addition to tip).
Maybe I am silly, but I still tipped her. I understand how little money services folks make and how hard it can be
when a customer doesn't tip. But I left a smaller one than I normally would
(10% only).
The front desk staff seemed truly concerned about my experience and offered to have the manager call me on Tuesday (Monday was Labor Day). Today, is Thursday, and the manager still has not called. I didn't even ask to speak to the manager as I just wanted to get out of the Massage Envy location, and yet , I accepted this offer as an appeasement that I would at
least be able to share what happened to me so that it didn't happen to others.
The other thing I left with was several bruises on my gluts
and hips that greeted me the next day. Reminders, that I will never again visit that Massage Envy location.

I have heard other Massage Envy locations are great. I am
sure there are other therapists in the Alpharetta location that are probably
good as well. However, I warn anyone to stay away from Tracy until she either gets more hands
on experience or more training preforming deep tissue massages.