She already has the money from your gift certificate, so she has no incentive to get you in when she can fill her time with other customers that will be giving her additional money. It's bad business, but it sounds like that's what's happening.

If you don't have all the fine print (expiration, terms and conditions), get them from the GC giver or the issuer just to be sure of expectations.

I would let the giver know because this lady is being an unprofessional jerk who got her money and customer service be damned.

I hope you get a good massage when you go!

Don't forget about social media if people should really steer clear!

I don't know if it's "typical" but it definitely not good business practice.

How does she know that you're not in the market for a regular masseuse?

I would let the gift giver know of the situation. I'd want to know! And I'd demand a refund, as well.

Good luck!

She must be really good, or why would your friend give you a gift for a masseuse who is open only one day a week, depending on the weather?

that's terrible after sale service but seeing she's a one man show, understandeable, but geez her availability is so limited!

i'm thinking she might have accepted a full time job somewhere else.

If she is only open on Wed a 4 month wait doesn't sound terrible.

OP here - to clarify, the gift was from my DIL & son. I think the masseuse has her regular job at the same facility where DIL works. It's a small town and I don't want to rock the boat with anyone, just felt like I'm being used because her initial text implied she had an opening the following day (because they were calling for snow & she said if the weathers bad then the appointment would move to Saturday), but then when she finally called me back she said her next opening was 4 months down the road. And the bad weather didn't happen so she would not have had to postpone anything. I did put my name on the wait list in case she has any cancellations. We'll see.

This massage therapist should NOT be issuing gift certificates, so there's that. Nice for her to have your money in her pocket and put off delivering her service for an unacceptable period of time. Throw in the lack of promptness in communication, and this woman is a real amateur.

However, because there are some delicacies here with it being a gift and this woman working with DIL, I would hope to get the massage in 4 months or sooner, and call it a day.

I would try to gently tell DIL to never buy a GC from her again.

Make an appointment for the week after your busy season ends, you will certainly appreciate it then! Sounds like your DIL was trying to do two nice things at once: give you a nice treat, and hopefully find a customer for her coworker. Not bad, support all around.

I would text from a different phone (work phone, spouse's phone, son's phone, etc.), try to make an appointment and never mention the gift certificate. Just use your first name. If the appt is actually four months out, you will have your answer.

As long as she is not your DIL's boss, I wouldn't worry about offending her. If she is putting you off because you are a gift certificate customer, she certainly is not worried about offending you or your DIL.

d_gw, excellent idea.

I agree with the above suggestion! See if she would do this to a cash in hand appointment. Make the appointment, go, then when there hand her the certificate. If she fails to honor it call DIL and tell her the situation and have her get a refund.

It did not occur to me when I originally read your post that when I have a gift certificate for a service at a salon or spa, I just call and make an appointment. Like d_gw suggests no need to tell the masseuse that you have a gift certificate until it is time to pay.

This could get tricky because the OP already made an appointment giving her own name. If she hadn't, then I agree with happy2b.

i would let the DIL know because this is not something you would want as a repeat gift.

I say screw that! I would absolutely let your DIL know AND if she paid with a credit card, I would look into getting the money back with the claim that she's not fullfilling her part of the obligation

No, it is not "typical". Maybe this masseuse bit off more than she could chew w/ the gift certificates? Wondering if your DIL & son knew about these restrictions on their gift when they purchased it for you?

Definitely not the best way to build a clientele!