Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa — Attraction in Town of Hempstead

I recently had a terrible experience at the Hand and Stone Rockville Centre location, and I feel it’s important to share. As a prepaid member, I went in to use the services I’ve barely utilized this year before deciding whether to continue my membership. While the receptionist was professional and helpful, the manager’s behavior was appalling—rude, mean, and completely unprofessional. This is the last thing anyone expects from a place that advertises peace, relaxation, and stress relief.

Initially, I spoke with the receptionist about transferring some of my prepaid credits to my daughters and freezing my membership. The receptionist informed me they only had two appointments available that day. After some discussion with the manager, she approved transferring one of my credits, which I was entitled to, and offered a complementary transfer for my second daughter. Shortly after, the receptionist informed me that someone had canceled, and I was able to book massages for myself and all three of my daughters for the same day. I was genuinely appreciative of this resolution and thought the matter was settled.

Shortly after leaving, while I was still in my car, the manager called to tell me she had checked the computer and reviewed the services we received at another location. She claimed that we only received two massages. I remember the day clearly—all three of my daughters received massages, and we only paid for tips. I explained to her that I wasn’t sure how it appeared in the computer, but that was what happened. I was shocked to see that she felt the need to go back into the records to argue about the information I provided. I’m not totally sure what she was looking for or what she found, but I know my truth and what services were provided to me and my daughters at the other location.

My primary reason for returning to the center was to understand where all of the hostility was coming from. Getting a massage is a very personal experience, and I wanted to ensure that the vibe would be peaceful so we could all enjoy the wonderful massages we had planned. I hoped to make amends and clear up any misunderstandings.

When I arrived, the manager immediately began yelling that she had receipts. I chuckled because it wasn’t that serious to me. I calmly stated that I simply wanted a massage and to move on with my day. I felt the matter was settled and proceeded to leave. But could she let the pettiness go? No. She got up out of her chair, closed the office door, and followed me to the front door. I asked her to stop following me, and she replied that she wasn’t following me. I laughed again because she was clearly following me.

She then went over to the receptionist and loudly declared that, since I was “so ungrateful,” she was taking the complementary credit away and canceling my daughter’s 7 PM appointment. I couldn’t believe what was transpiring. She kept talking, and I couldn’t believe my ears. I’m still not sure why she was so upset, as I remained calm throughout.

After reading other reviews for this location, I saw that the police were called on another customer during a disagreement. This further compelled me to write. I am almost 60 years old and have worked hard to build my reputation. As someone who believes in the value of word of mouth, I don’t believe in frivolously tarnishing someone’s reputation. However, this is a matter of documenting the facts.

I want to emphasize that I am a very humble person. I was appreciative that she allowed me to transfer services to my children. However, in the spirit of understanding the transaction, I wasn’t given anything for free. These are services I’ve paid for, and I’m a very good tipper. I was simply trying to share my massages to use them faster, especially given that they often seem to have limited availability for prepaid customers.

This experience was upsetting and unprofessional. If you’re considering Hand and Stone for relaxation, I strongly advise avoiding the Rockville Centre location....

This was the worst experience and a waste of money. I will never buy from them ever again. I purchased this as a gift for my mother who has MS and she was soo excited to get her first facial. She has difficultt getting around so she called ahead of time to ask about parking and was told there was plenty of available parking in front and in the lot. She arrived 15 to 20 minutes before her appointment and was told that she could not park where she did, so she went and moved her car. Then she was told again by another hand and stone employee that the meters were not working and she had to move her car again. She did to only be told she had to move her car again because they got the meters working in one area and that is where she had to park. If you are familiar with MS you would understand how difficult it is to get around and how confused you could easily get. Because of this issue she missed half of her facial. My mother then told me that the lady doing her facial was not friendly and kept turning her back to her to text on her phone. This is completley unprofessional. Did she tgink she coukd get away with that because of my sickly mother??? I told my mother not to worry i would call them and straighten it out because there was jo way they wouldn't be able to accomodate her. I called and spoke to the operations manager who was no help and rude and told me it was not their problem but it was RVCs problem and i should call them about parking. All i wanted was the half of the facial that i paid for that my mom missed out on due to confusion and your employees telling her to move her car. When i explained about the lady who performed my moms facial and her behavior I was told "that doesn't sound like her, shes been an employee here for a long time and she would not do that." So then my mother is a liar??? My mother may have difficultt getting around but she is with it 100%. When i asked to speak to someone higher up who could maybe accomodate me better she said there was no one higher then her. Annoyed at this point i said so you own hand and stone and she said yes sarcastically. This is the kind of service you provide?????? I am disgusted at the way this was handled to my handicaped mother who was so excited for her christmas gift. I will tell as many people as i can DO NOT EVER SUPPORT...

I went to this location based on the wonderful reviews... however, my experience was far from wonderful. My boyfriend and I arrived 11 minutes late- fine. ( I did give them a call 20 minutes prior to my appointment time informing them that I was running a bit late) When we entered the spa, I seen my masseuse sitting down in the waiting area on his phone- ok. We ( my boyfriend and I were greeted with a smile from Jill. She was my boyfriends masseuse and I followed behind Chris was pleasant. When we entered the room, I noticed the following : the room was COLD, the music was very low and had static and there was no pleasing aroma...Now back to Chris.. he asked about my problem areas and I informed him. When the massage began his hands were NOT warm...he was breathing quite heavily (could have been the mask)... and he only massaged my problem area. I didn't pay for a targeted massage... it was supposed to be full body. I had to ask him to apply more pressure twice after telling him in the beginning about my pressure preference. When he told me the massage was over it was 12 minutes to the hr! WHAT. Did I not pay for a 60 minute massage? Granted, I was a little late and I wasn't expecting them to extend the massage BUT I expected them to give me the up to the full hr of which I paid for. When I came out , the waiting room was EMPTY and my boyfriend wasn't done with his massage.. yet we started at the same time. I was glad he received his full hr but what about me?

Also, upon booking our appointments, I specifically asked for my boyfriend to receive the sports massage because it entailed stretching which was what he needed but did NOT receive it. WHY? Maybe they should have confirmed the type of massage we were scheduled for prior to going into the rooms.? I haven't received a call back from Nola who was supposed to investigate what went wrong.

I really wanted to like this place.. we drove 1 1/2hrs to get there as it was within the vicinity of our birthday celebration location.

My boyfriend did enjoy his massage from Jill...