Elm City Wellness Policies

Payment is required to guarantee and reserve your appointment.

Your credit card will be charged a 50% deposit. If you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment, your deposit is forfeited.  If the cancellation is more than 24 hours before your appointment, your deposit will be refunded.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are booking your massage within 24 hours of the actual appointment, there is no cancellation and you will be charged the full amount of the missed appointment. If you are using a gift certificate, it will be redeemed to pay for the missed appointment.

ACCEPTED FORMS OF PAYMENT

We accept cash, checks and credit cards (Visa, AmEx and MasterCard only). Please note that there is a 3% service fee added to all credit card payments. No service fee is added to cash or checks. We request credit/debit card information for Couples Massages and appointments scheduled over holiday weekends, however payment can be made in any form at time of service.

Cancellation / No-Show Policies

Please give 24 hours notice for cancellations and rescheduling requests. You will not be penalized if you cancel more than 24 hours before your appointment. 
Cancellations/rescheduling requests that occur less than 24 hours before the scheduled appointment will forfeit the deposit in all circumstances.  No-show appointments will be charged the full appointment amount by any payment method on file.  If there is no payment information on file, client must pay 50% deposit with each booking.

Late arrival will shorten your treatment time.  Arriving more than 15 minutes late for your appointment is the equivalent of a no-show and will result in being charged in full for the appointment. Cancellations or rescheduling requests may be submitted via email or voicemail, but if the request occurs less than 24 hours before the appointment, you will still be charged the full amount or a rescheduling fee (see below).

PLEASE NOTE: If you are booking your massage within 24 hours of the actual appointment and cancel, you will be charged the full amount of the missed appointment. If you are using a gift certificate, it will be redeemed to pay for the missed appointment.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT ILLNESSES DO OCCUR.

If you have a fever, have been in the hospital, have been vomiting or had diarrhea within 24 hours of our appointment, please call to reschedule.  There will be no charge for these types of cancellations.  Clients who repeatedly cancel last minute will be asked to pre-pay for future appointments and refusal to provide valid credit card information will terminate our relationship.

THERE ARE TIMES THAT EMERGENCIES OR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES force you TO CANCEL WITH LESS THAN 24 HOURS NOTICE.

In the event of an emergency cancellation, you have the option of paying a 25% Rescheduling Fee if you elect to reschedule within 7 days. The Rescheduling Fee is based on the full regular cost of the treatment. 

Please NOTE: You may only reschedule once before the full amount of the missed appointment is applied. Additional appointments cannot be booked until fee is paid.

RESCHEDULING FEES

30 Minute Massage - $12.50 Rescheduling Fee 60 Minute Massage - $22.50 Rescheduling Fee
90 Minute Massage - $32.50 Rescheduling Fee
60 Minute Couples Massage - $45 Rescheduling Fee
Private Acupuncture - $22.50 Rescheduling Fee
Community Acupuncture - $7.50 Rescheduling Fee
Facials - $12.50, $22.50, or $32.50 Rescheduling Fee

A deposit is required for all Couples Massage appointments.

We require a 50% deposit (payable by cash, check or credit card) to make a couples massage appointment, which will then be applied to the cost of the session. This deposit is completely refundable if the appointment is cancelled at least 24 hours before the appointment time. If the cancellation occurs after the 24-hour time frame, your deposit will be forfeited and paid directly to the therapists. 

Why? Good question. This isn't something we want to do, but due to last-minute cancellations, we therapists have come to work only to leave without working. A last-minute (non-emergency) cancellation means that we cannot book another appointment in that slot and when it happens consistently, we can't afford to stay in business. And, to be honest, that's just not fair. We know you honor our time as much as we honor yours, so please give us proper notice when canceling and we'll gladly return your deposit.

If this is your first visit to Elm City Wellness... 

ARRIVAL TIME

Please arrive 10 minutes early for your appointment to get comfortable and give us time to discuss the session. The time we set aside for your appointment is completely yours. If you are late to your session, you are missing out on your massage time. The session will end at the time scheduled and the full cost of the session is expected as the time was set aside for you.

MASSAGE SESSIONS ARE STRICTLY NON-SEXUAL.

Any suggestive statements or actions will result in immediate termination of the session wherein the client pays the full cost of the session. Law enforcement will be notified if deemed appropriate.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Each client's records and sessions will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone without the client's written consent.

MASSAGE ISN'T ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA.

If a client presents with signs and/or symptoms of illness that contraindicate massage (fever, undiagnosed rash, contagious infection, etc.), the session will be rescheduled. This is to protect the health of both the client and the therapist.

WE ARE NOT DOCTORS.

Massage is a therapeutic tool, but it is not a substitute for medical treatment. Massage therapists are not qualified to diagnose conditions, prescribe treatment or perform spinal/skeletal manipulations. Any information imparted by the therapist in the course of treatment should not be construed as such.

Health Intake Forms

To ensure safe, customized sessions, you must fill out a Health Intake Form before treatment. It is the client's responsibility to relay all health information so the therapist can modify the treatment plan where necessary. To save time, you are welcome to print form, fill it out and bring it with you.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT OUR INTAKES...
Why do we include our pre-massage talk, also referred to as an intake, in our allotted time?

If you walk into one of our studios and we just tell you to lie on the table face up or down and get to work, we're not doing our job properly. We take our work VERY seriously and we need to know a little bit about you -- your health history, any injuries, how you're feeling today, etc. in order to tailor a session specifically for you. And we consider that to be a vital component of a session. We only get a few minutes to get to "know" you in a way that gives you enough trust in us to take care of you. It's what makes the session YOUR session.

Part of that intake is also to encourage you to communicate with us during the session if we're not addressing your needs properly. Many of our clients call us mind readers, but that really isn't the case! We work hard to take excellent care of you -- something we don't take lightly. Our intakes usually last 2-5 minutes (and if there's something that requires a longer discussion, please notify us at the time of booking so that we may accommodate for it).

... FOR ACUPUNCTURE, please complete your forms prior to your appointment, they have been emailed to you and are also available online. If you are unable to print them, plan to arrive at least 15-20 minutes early to fill out the intake and consent forms (this is a longer process).

If you would like to fill out the forms in advance, CLICK HERE to access them.

... FOR MASSAGE, please plan to arrive at least 5-10 minutes early to fill out our intake form. Our intake is part of your session, and we want to discuss your needs as thoroughly as possible in order to give you the best massage for YOU.

Inclement Weather

Elm City Wellness's standard policy is that appointments canceled with less than 24-hours notice incur a cancellation fee. During the winter months, we are willing to make an exception to that rule. If New Haven is under a winter weather advisory and you believe that it would be unsafe or impossible for you to travel to your appointment, you may reschedule within the 24-hour window at no charge.