RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh day spa has been anything but a relaxing experience for some of its customers.

The Emerald City Day Spa on Lead Mine Road shut down without notice. Some customers who paid in advance for services want their money back.

Angela Murtagh received a gift certificate to the spa as a Christmas gift from her husband. When she tried to redeem her gift, she found out that the spa had shut down.

Murtagh said she is upset that the spa sold her husband the gift certificate, then closed its doors less than a month later.

"In good faith, if you know you're having trouble, you shouldn't take someone else's money," she said.

WRAL called the spa, and heard the following recorded message:

"Thank you for calling Emerald City Day Spa. We regret to inform you we are closed. If they have not done so already, your service provider will call you and let you know where they are so you can continue being serviced by them."

The recording offered no information on how customers could get their money back. A letter posted on the door of the spa stated that it closed for economic reasons.

"Now they're in debt to me, really, because they've made a commitment they can't pay back," Murtagh said of her $160 gift certificate.

WRAL received a number of e-mail complaints about the Emerald City Day Spa. The

North Carolina Attorney General's Office

has also received complaints about the business owned by Deborah Winniewicz.

According to the Attorney General's Office, the only recourse for those who paid cash for a gift certificate is to go to

small claims court

. People who paid with a credit card may be able to be reimbursed by disputing the charge with their credit card company.