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I was contacted by Selina Garrison of Well Kneaded Massage by telephone on November 4 for an event to be held on November 5th. I canceled TWO of my own clients for an opportunity to work with what I believed to be a national company. As of today I have not been compensated for my time. Selina has not returned telephone, texts, emails. I have filed a report with the Better Business Bureau, the Ca. Board of Consumer Affairs, the Ripoff Report and ABMP.

I have contacted a lawyer. I'm wondering if there are other therapists out there that have worked for her? I think we need to spread the word about this "company" and save other therapists the aggravation of dealing with this woman!

 

*UPDATE! AS OF JANUARY 6, 2011, I HAVE YET TO BE PAID AND/OR CONTACTED BY SELINA GARRISON OR WELL KNEADED MASSAGE.

I have placed calls to with no answers yet to:

  • The Pa. Board of Labor and Industry
  • The Los Angeles District Attorney
  • The Los Angeles Labor Commissioner
  • The company that I worked at for Well Kneaded

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This is a good post by R & R. It's really a business matter, not a personal one.  It can be infuriating to not be paid in a timely fashion for work or services, but it is a fact of life for almost any business and it is good to come to terms with that somehow.

 

Lee

 

Relax & Rejuvenate said:

Couple of things to keep in mind...

 

State Labor Boards have no jurisdiction over 99% of these situations because you did work as a contractor, not as an employee. The place to settle contractual disputes is small claims court.

 

There is no reason to give your SSN to anyone unless you will earn $600 or more in the calendar year through this source of revenue. Anything under $600, there is no obligation to report the monies exchanged to the IRS (at least not until ObamaCare's 1099 reporting regulations kick in). When you get close to earning $600, you should be issued a w-9 to complete and return to the company issuing payment. Until then it is unnecessary to provide it.

Finally, you should avoid any inflammatory comments about any other entities, especially one with which you have an unresolved beef. Stick to the facts. You did not get paid, x number of communications not returned, etc. Words like "rip off" and "warn" are not appropriate until the situation is resolved, and even then your lawyer would probably counsel against it.

Imagine if you had cancelled your participation in the event for whatever reason, and Selina came on here or went on YELP "warning" potential employers/customers that you are unreliable/flaky/ have not compensated her for the cancellation, etc.

Karen, I appreciate your taking the time to let us know that this is happening.  Your willingness to speak up is the best way to discourage bad behavior by people that would take advantage of others and it helps the rest of us avoid blindly being taken advantage of as well.   

This post is solely to warn other therapists out there that there is a company called WELL KNEADED MASSAGE out of Granada Hills Ca. that is taking advantage of therapists. I am not the only one that has not been paid by SELINA GARRISON. There were four of us at the event and I know for certain that two of us were not paid (the other therapist came with me)

It's been almost two months since the job has been completed and I still have not been compensated. Again, I make no apologies. If she calls any of you, take note that you have been warned that she does not pay, return calls, texts or emails.

That is so wrong!  I hope you find a way to retrieve the money due you.

Karen Spence said:

It's been almost 7 weeks since I've worked for her and I have yet to be paid

Hi Karen I also filed a complaint with the County of Los Angeles Dept. of Consumer Affairs.

http://dca.lacounty.gov/ComplaintForm.html#form

I actually called the LA District Attorney's Office and spoke to an attorney who suggested I file a claim. She said that if they get enough complaints they will investigate.  There are about 8 Massage therapist here in NY who were ripped off by Selina Garrison. We will all be filing claims. We also contacted the company that hired Well Kneaded and the women there took an interest in our case. 

I also found out that Well Kneaded Massage is not covered by ABMP and they have not been for a while.  I will be contacting all the major insurance companies and asking them if they are currently covering her. 

Good Luck.

Julio 

Julio,

Thank you for the link. I will also file a complaint and have my friend that worked with me that day file also.

I called the company that I worked at and she never returned my call. I guess I'll be calling her again and let her know what's going on.

She is not covered by ABMP or AMTA. When I contacted AMTA regarding her not paying, he said to me "Yea, we've heard that about her"

 

Selina's cell # is (646) 481-6646. I've been texting her every time I file a complaint :)

 

Interesting! Found this on ABMP's website!

Legal Notice: Massagetherapy.com's online referral program is provided as a service to consumers seeking a qualified massage/bodywork practitioner for professional, therapeutic massage services. Any individual or organization attempting to use this list for any purpose outside this scope, including to create a marketing or solicitation list, will be prosecuted.

 

Thoughts?

Apparently the company that hired Well Kneaded, hired her to provide massage therapist for more than 100 of thier locations throughout the US.

 

ABMP told me that she has not been a member with them "for a while". The women I spoke with there told me she is looking into what can be done and will call me back. 

I also called AMTA and they could not find Selina Garrison or Well Kneaded Massage in their records.

I think what may end up happening is that we will have to file a lawsuit against Well Kneaded/Selina.

I will also be emailing a local investigative reporter in Los Angeles at www.djgoldstein@cbs.com maybe he'll take an interest in our case.

I'll keep you posted.

Julio

 


Karen Spence said:

I wish there was a way for me to reply to the other comments on the RipoffReport.com to see if they too worked for her at said company!!


Julio Ortiz said:

Apparently the company that hired Well Kneaded, hired her to provide massage therapist for more than 100 of thier locations throughout the US.

Couple of interesting wrinkles out of this...

 

1) Who was the client? They certainly would never use WKM if they knew what went on. About  3 phone call investigation would land you to the person who signed the contract with them

 

2) If ABMP does not want their listings used to get work to their members -- there are plenty of legitimate businesses, like ours, that sometimes need to contract a therapist in South Boston, VA, for instance -- then they are doing their members a dis-service. Since ABMP does not have job listings like AMTA, then missing out on just 1 opportunity could have paid for your membership.  Consumers can make appts and then not show for them either, which is a waste of an MTs time as well.

Relax & Rejuvenate said:

Couple of interesting wrinkles out of this...

 

1) Who was the client? They certainly would never use WKM if they knew what went on. About  3 phone call investigation would land you to the person who signed the contract with them

 

@Relax:

I spoke with the company and told them that I would not post their name here because it is not their fault that we haven't been paid. I will tell you, that Julio and I both worked for Selina for the same company that has 80 locations throughout the US. Myself in Philadelphia and Julio in NYC. I spoke today with the Heath Relations Manager in NYC and she is not pleased with Selina Garrison or Well Kneaded Massage. She has called Selina and left messages with her. She let me know that Selina HAS been paid for all of the health fairs that occurred in NJ, NYC and Philadelphia.

 

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