A Quebec massage therapist “disappears” without providing the services she sold to dozens of clients

Dozens of clients claim to have been cheated by a massage therapist from Quebec who sold them packages including massages without providing these services.

• Also read: “Low” sanctions for massage therapists in Quebec

Massage therapist since at least 2015, Valérie Côté seems to have “vanished”, according to what several former clients interviewed by The Journal.

Recently, at least three complaints were filed with the police and she was excluded from her group (see other text).

Last July, M^me Côté in fact permanently left his two clinics, on Avenue Chauveau in Quebec and on Boulevard Guillaume-Couture in Saint-Romuald, without notice or warning.

“She sold a lot of packages and then poof! she disappeared,” protests Réjean Pouliot, a former client of Lévis.

What’s more, the owners of the premises of her two clinics claim that she never came to collect her equipment, despite several requests from them.

She also did not pay the costs related to the rental of her premises “a few months” before her departure.

Nose at the door

In Quebec as on the South Shore, customers who had made an appointment on its website showed up until last November, banging their noses on the door. Several others came, trying in vain to find the lost sums.

“There are even elderly people who came here, including a gentleman who told us he paid a package for $800,” laments chiropractor Marc Drolet, who rented space to the massage therapist in his clinic.

In 37 years of practice, the D^r Drolet claims to have never been confronted with such a situation. He is sorry for M’s former clients^me Side who show up at his house.

Low-cost plans

According to her website, where she identifies herself as a “sports massage therapist,” her packages offering affordable massages sold between $90 and $210.

Sensing a good deal, several customers bought more than one, in order to guarantee them low-cost treatments over a longer period, we are told.

The testimonies we collected reveal that the amounts claimed by dozens of cheated customers vary between $200 and $1,200.

Repeated cancellations

Since the spring, the 35-year-old massage therapist has been increasingly canceling her appointments, sometimes at the last minute, we are told.

“She canceled on me a few times. I tried to make an appointment again, but after October 7 […] she no longer responded,” laments Martin Faucher, who is still demanding nearly $500 from her.

For her part, Nancy Tessier maintains that M^me Côté cited several reasons for canceling his appointments. “She said she had problems with her grandparents or her family, or I know she injured her foot,” says the woman who now wants her $400 back.

M^me Côté would have invoked this foot injury, which occurred in June, to force the cancellation of other appointments, until October, according to exchanges between the massage therapist and former clients that The Journal was able to consult.

During these exchanges, M^me Côté revealed that she had more than 790 clients in the region.

Waitress in a bar

Joined by The Journal by different means, M^me Côté never returned our interview requests.

We were able to find the massage therapist, who was until the end of November, a waitress in a bar in Lac-Etchemin, since at least September 1st.

Joined by The Journal On Friday, an employee of the establishment confirmed that she had recently left to work in another bar in the area.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed […] », Reacts Ysabel Pincemin, a former client who still had $1,200 worth of services paid for, but not delivered.

However, it was following discussions with Mr.^me Côté, during which the massage therapist suggested that she claim the money owed directly from her financial institution, that M^me Pincemin was finally able to be reimbursed.

M^me Côté even offered to provide him with his invoices, to facilitate his reimbursement.

“It was so complicated and arduous. But I was able to prove [à son institution financière] that I asked her to reimburse me and that she did not intend to do so,” explains the woman who had been her client for eight years.

Excluded and targeted by complaints

Complaints against the massage therapist are piling up, as she was recently excluded from the Regroupement des Massotherapistes du Québec (RMQ), of which she had been a member for nine years..

This is confirmed by Christine Myette, head of ethics and legal affairs at the RMQ.

An investigation was conducted, during which the group was never able to speak with massage therapist Valérie Côté, and the latter was excluded on September 23.

“This is a situation that has become very serious. […] We have never received so many complaints as this [visant une massothérapeute]not in recent years,” she maintains.

“The only thing we can do is delist [il ne s’agit pas d’un ordre professionnel NDLR]», adds M^me Myette, admitting that the lack of communication between associations of massage therapists creates a “legal vacuum” in such circumstances (see other text).

Currently, nothing would prevent M^me Side to subscribe to another association, despite the loss of his RMQ license.

Complaints

Furthermore, at least three former customers have filed complaints with the Quebec City Police Department, confirms spokesperson William Robitaille.

And at least six others have filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Office against him.

M^me Myette also wants to warn the population, since Valérie Côté’s sales platform, via her Facebook page, is still active for certain promotions.

She also advises clients to always pay for each service after the massage is completed and not in advance.

In the case of M^me Côté, no contract or detailed confirmation of sale was sent to the customer. The massage therapist herself managed the number of treatments remaining for each client in a notebook, we are told.

The Journal tried to contact M^me Sided several times, without success.