Couple says manager turned them away from pre-paid couple's massage for being gay
A man and his boyfriend say they were denied a couple’s massage, which they had already booked and paid for, on Monday in Naples, Fla., because they are gay. Now, the spa is issuing apologies on their Facebook page.
Michael Levenosa shared a video of a confrontation with an employee of Joy Feet Spa after he allegedly told the couple that their massages would cost extra because a couple’s massage is for only a man and a woman. The video also shows the employee telling the couple to call customer service in order to receive their refund.
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“My boyfriend and I decided that we wanted to have a relaxing Monday. So we Prepaid $109 and booked a couples massage at ‘joy feet spa,'” Levenosa shared on Facebook. “When we arrived the manager refused to service us because we are two gay men. He made it clear it had to be a man and a woman. Even after we told him we already paid he still denied us the couples massage. Today my humanity has been tested.”
Levenosa tells Yahoo Lifestyle that at first, he was confused by the man’s response. “I didn’t know if the Groupon was correct — I wasn’t sure what the problem was,” he says. “Once I found out, I was in shock… After [this incident] we called every single spa in Naples, Florida, and they all said that they perform massages on couples of all genders.”
Joy Feet Spa has since issued two apologies on their Facebook page, writing that the manager misunderstood what “couple means” and asking if he could make it up to them, such as giving them both a one-hour massage for free.
However, Levenosa, who has not yet been successful in getting a refund, doesn’t believe the spa’s apology is genuine or sincere. “I feel like they just apologized because of all the attention that they got and all the bad reviews,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
When asked if he and his boyfriend would take Joy Feet Spa up on their offer for a free one-hour massage, Levenosa replied, “Heck no. I can’t go back there, all I’ll be thinking about is how they treated us when we first got there… People need to treat people how they want to be treated. It’s that simple.”
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