Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa — Local services in Concord Township

As someone who has received regular massages for years at places like Calista, Joseph Anthony, Currie, and Hand & Stone Malvern, I feel I have a well-rounded sense of what a good massage should entail. Unfortunately, my recent experience at the Glen Mills location did not meet those expectations.

My therapist was friendly and welcoming, and we discussed my goals prior to starting - I asked for special attention to my shoulders and forearms, which are usually the focus of my sessions. I also added the hot stones upgrade, something I always enjoy and have had many times before.

However, the session quickly shifted from what I’d consider a therapeutic massage to something more uncomfortable and confusing. While it began with a scalp and hand massage (which were fine overall), the use of the stones felt aggressive and unfocused. The technique resembled scrubbing rather than massaging, and stones were used on very bony areas like my elbows, knees, shins, and even the tops of my feet - which was painful, and I mentioned it during the session.

At one point, my legs were lifted and scrubbed simultaneously without warning, which was disorienting and uncomfortable. While I understand the idea of exfoliation being mentioned, I came for muscle relief, not a scrub or pedi-style treatment. Despite noting my shoulder tension, only the last 1–2 minutes were spent on that area, with light pressure that did little to relieve any discomfort.

The overall flow of the massage felt rushed and disjointed, with very little time spent on the problem areas I mentioned. I left feeling more tense than when I arrived, and not at all relaxed - something I’ve never experienced before in a professional massage setting.

To add to the confusion, the checkout process was frustrating. Despite previously agreeing to use one package for the session and pay for the upgrade separately, both of my prepaid sessions were used incorrectly. The front desk staff seemed uninterested and did not clarify or check, ultimately charging me $158 for a $115 service. Thankfully, I contacted the Malvern location afterward, and they not only fit me in for a proper massage that same day, but also contacted Glen Mills on my behalf and helped secure a refund for the misapplied charge.

While I do appreciate the kindness of the therapist and know everyone has their own technique, this session felt far from standard massage practice. I left uncomfortable, stressed, and disappointed. Based on this experience, I will only be visiting the Malvern location in the future, as their service and professionalism continue to go...

I had an appointment scheduled for 10am today. I received a text at 9:13 am today and is as follows (verbatim):

Good morning Nani, this is Hand & Stone in Glen Mills. Unfortunately the therapist you're scheduled with has just called out due to not feeling well. At this time, I do not have a substitute for her, so we will need to cancel your appointment. We will put you on a waitlist for today and contact you if anything opens up.

I completely understand if someone calls in sick. Perfectly acceptable. However, nowhere in the text is there an apology for my inconvenience (and, by the way, I would be responsible for fees potentially for a late cancellation). Further, the text is thoroughly presumptive, assuming that I will be available for a waitlist availability. This shows zero recognition of my schedule. I am completely amazed at the lack of understanding and respect for the customer. I then spoke to a front desk person named Olivia, who also failed to recognize this aspect. Her response was simply that they cannot control if someone calls in ill. I agree and stated that at the beginning of the conversation. I completely understand. It is how the communication was done, which is the issue here. She was sorry that "I felt this way." Hang on, do you (Olivia) see no issue with not appreciating and acknowledging the customer's inconvenience?? She obviously didn't. I did ask to speak to the manager who apparently wrote the text. Of course the manager was not available. I am not surprised, I did not expect her to be - I was on hold for some time while Olivia went to get the manager. Only to return and inform me the manager was not available (busy with a member client apparently). I have asked for a call back. Let's see ...

Very disappointing experience. This was my first booking at this place. It will likely be the last unless I hear from the manager and we can have a good conversation. I hope they did record my call. Maybe someone will listen to it and derive some pearls to improve management skills and customer service.

I have spoken to the manager, just a few minutes ago. By the end of the conversation, Katarina (sp?) understood the concern has to do with communication context and style and not with the cancellation. I thanked her for the call back. Given the overall experience, I will likely not be using this entity. I hope that the feedback from my experience helps customers...

My name is Jordan and I am an employee at this spa. I love to read the reviews to see our clients feed back. I was just taking a look and noticed Ronnisha's negative review of our spa and mentioning my name and several others specifically. I would like to start off by saying that last night I spoke to Ronnisha on the phone a total of four times. During the time of check-in/check-out we do not prioritize the phone, we cater to our clients in the spa and call back our clients that leave voicemails. Unfortunately, Ronnisha never left any voicemails, just called 15 times back to back while we had multiple people coming in and out of the spa. She would have received a phone call back at our earliest convenience if a voicemail was left, in addition to our previous conversations. Every question that I was asked, got an answer. I was as helpful as I could be given her requests. Certain things, such as the timing she was requesting to come in and the refund she wanted was out of my control. I wrote all of her requests down on paper, along with all of her information and told her that we would get her situation resolved as soon as possible. She requested her membership be cancelled immediately, despite our 1 month notice cancellation policy. I am not authorized to give her the answer she wanted to hear, so I told her again that I will happily pass the information on to our manager (who had already left for the day). It was confusing to read that I specifically was "unhelpful" to her when during our last conversation that night, I was told how helpful I was being. The comment about being treated differently because of her race really upset me, being that my daughter is African-American along with the esthetician that serviced Ronnisha, many of our other employees, and valued clients. All of our clients are highly valued, unfortunately we just could not fulfill Ronnisha's request in the time frame she requested. The service that was provided to Ronnisha was a premium service that many of our clients get every day. Of course, since she had a reaction, which is possible and happens from time to time depending on clients skin type, we would have been happy to issue a refund for the service once a service provider was available to exam the skin. We take all of our clients feedback very seriously and handle with care, however, we do not engage in spreading...