Healing Hands Wellness Center — Local services in Bellevue

UPDATE (See the picture I posted to read the original review): Hi Alice,

I get that you felt the need to respond — and hey, great job. You’ve officially convinced me to update my review to one star.

Let me start by repeating what I said in my original review: Lia was fantastic. She gave an excellent massage, and my intention was always to tip her appropriately — which I did. Because your POS system didn’t allow me to input a custom tip amount (it only allowed fixed percentages), I followed up via Venmo to ensure Lia received the full 20% tip based on the full service price. I went out of my way to make sure she was taken care of — despite the limitations of your system.

Now let’s address your response.

You didn’t “clarify” — you called me and immediately jumped into accusations. That wasn’t professional, and it sure didn’t feel like a “respectful follow-up.” If mutual respect is something you stand for, maybe start by giving customers the benefit of the doubt — especially when they’re trying to do the right thing.

You claim your recommended tip is 25%. Cool — recommendations are fine. But when that “recommendation” turns into chasing down a first-time customer over literally one dollar, it stops being a standard and starts feeling like entitlement. Tipping is voluntary. If you want to require a 25% gratuity, include it in the pricing or make that policy very clear before the transaction. Better yet, maybe fix your POS system so customers can enter an exact amount instead of playing percentage math games on the spot.

You mentioned that any discounts are a “gift to the customer.” Well, based on your actions, it sure didn’t feel like one. If this is your idea of a gift, I’d advise everyone to kindly decline it. You also said you expected a 20–25% tip after the credit card charge — so is that a gift too? Let’s not play word games here. Just be honest: you expected more profit from your customer. That’s your right as a business owner — but don’t wrap it in the language of generosity when your actions say otherwise.

Also, if you consider that phone call and this response “professionalism,” then wow — you’re going to go so far in this industry. Publicly shaming paying customers who made every effort to tip fairly? That’s not integrity. That’s insecurity disguised as customer service.

To be clear, I had no intention of writing a negative review until you escalated a minor issue with a completely unnecessary phone call lecturing. I even told you during that call that I would have gladly corrected any misunderstanding had it been brought up respectfully. Instead, I got condescended to and guilt-tripped over a dollar.

To future customers reading this: Lia is amazing. But if you want to enjoy your massage without being interrogated afterward about your tipping habits, bring cash… and maybe a screenshot of your Venmo, just in case.. or, actually, never mind. No need for the screenshot, because the Venmo account belongs to her anyway.

Thanks again for the “clarification,” Professional Alice. Truly top-tier customer service — and an outstanding display of team spirit!

Warmly, A customer who’s learned the true meaning of...

Shady. Don’t go here. Demanded cash payment then tried demanding 25% tip. Massage was good but the lady working reception was beyond RUDE. I WISH I NEVER WENT HERE. I left more stressed than before I went in. Awful experience.

To calify based on business response:

No one gave option for Venmo or Zelle. She demanded I pay a $5 additional fee for using card and yes I do think that is steep so I paid cash. Then she said I must tip 25%. I am a big tipper! In general I tip above and beyond especially when service deserves it.

The massage was good but not worthy of the amount charged. I was laying down in the room for 10 minutes wondering if the masseuse had forgotten about me before the massage began. She left in the middle of the massage without instruction , I later learned it was for hot towels which was a nice touch but could have informed me why she was leaving.

Yes - she did an okay job. The massage was nice but not 25% tip worthy. I’m not going to be forced to tip 25% for adequate service when your rates are already really high.

Plus - I would have left her a tip myself if the receptionist wasn’t so rude and demanding.

You should really re-name your shop from “Healing Hands” because a place with that name doesn’t treat its clientele the way you treated me. I came to de-stress and I left with more stress than I went in with.

Your business practices are quite somewhat illegal and the receptionist you have working for you is very mean and confrontational. She should be fired.

3rd and final response based on your second review :

I was in the area which is why I chose to go to your establishment , which was clearly a mistake. The way you threw my money at me and told me I was “funny” for executing my right to no give “gratuity” constitutes as a form of harassment in the state of Bellevue, Washington. Please see below.

Which by definition means

A gratuity is a sum of money voluntarily given to someone for a service they provided, often referred to as a tip. The key word is voluntary—it’s traditionally meant to show appreciation for good or attentive service. It’s not an obligation.

Your rights as a customer in Bellevue • You are legally within your rights to refuse or not pay any tip that isn’t already listed as a mandatory service charge on your bill. • It is illegal for staff to harass, coerce, or force you into tipping beyond what’s on the receipt—doing so could constitute harassment or extortion. • If a mandatory service charge appears without proper disclosure of how it’s distributed, that may be a tax violation by the business

If you would like to take this issue further I would be happy to further discuss this while involving some legal...

The massage itself was wonderful, I went in for horrible back pain that later that day I was in the hospital for. I only got a massage to avoid the ER / bill. BUT it was after when I was paying that so uncalled for and rude. She told me a much higher amount than my bill was and explained that that was her tip as I already had given her my card but was planning to tip in cash and made another appointment with her. But she said then “this the lowest tip amount I can except is 20%” I was baffled and said that I did not want her to put that on my card and she was refusing my lower tip because it was not the amount she wanted and spent 7 minutes arguing with me that she was to be payed more than the service and tip provided. I stood my ground it was so unprofessional and I discovered she is not even certified yet to give massages. I only payed her $5 in tip one to shut her up and two she canceled my next appointment because she refuses to see someone who doesn’t tip her as high as she want and she would only give me my credit card back after I tip her the $5 that’s the only reason why I still tipped her at all and even after that she asked if I at least had another $20 bill to get closer to amount she wanted as a tip which still wasn’t what she wanted. It was ridiculous to harassed me for that long because she decided only a tip...