Polish by Sand Spa — Local services in Manhattan Beach

Deeply Disappointed — Terrible Service, Unsafe Practices, and Zero Accountability

I’ve been a loyal client of Polish by Sand Spa in Manhattan Beach for over five years, but after my most recent experience, I will never return.

I came in for my appointment and was very rudely greeted by the receptionist. I don’t understand why your receptionist talks to us as if she hates her job and hates her life. Why don’t you put someone with a genuine smile and a heart warming welcome in your nail salon. I can’t stand seeing her it makes me cringe every time but this time she pissed me off. Rather than saying welcome back or how are you. She greeted me with “oh you’re the one who always comes in and gets the polish package you can’t be coming here that late why don’t you make your appointment earlier. Why are you allowing me to make an apt at 6pm? Why don’t you tell me oh the phone to come at a different time? Why are you making me feel awkward and unwelcome? That’s not right especially when we are spending so much money here. I purchased the Polish Package, which includes a salt scrub—something I regularly get and specifically rely on because I’m allergic to sugar scrubs. She brought sugar scrub out. I clearly told the technician multiple times about my allergy, yet she ignored my request and continued using a sugar scrub. I kept explaining, and she kept brushing it off, insisting “sugar scrub is better than salt.” Whether it was a language barrier or just negligence, it was incredibly frustrating and unsafe.

To make matters worse, they skipped multiple parts of the service I paid for. I did not receive the full massage, the mask was missing, and the scrub process was rushed and incomplete. When I questioned the technician, she admitted she had done less of the other services because she made a mistake and had “accidentally” applied paraffin—which I never requested—and then told me I’d have to pay an additional $15 for it. When I pushed back, she guilt-tripped me, saying the money would be taken out of her paycheck. That is not my responsibility. Then, as a solution, she said she would cut my massage time in half to “make up for it.” I told her that wasn’t okay, and she replied, “Sorry, I don’t have any other options.”

The entire experience was uncomfortable, unprofessional, and deeply disappointing—especially considering I spent nearly $200 for what should’ve been a premium service. I came in hoping to relax, especially after personally going through so much recently, but I left feeling stressed, unheard, and completely ripped off.

To make matters worse, when I called to speak with the manager, Kelsey, and tried to explain the situation, she was incredibly dismissive. The moment I mentioned that I paid for the salt scrub package and that my concerns may have been ignored due to a possible language barrier, she got defensive, insisted the technician “speaks perfect English,” and then abruptly hung up on me. No apology. No ownership. No concern for my allergy or poor experience.

This place has gone completely downhill. What used to be a calming, professional environment is now careless, untrained, and completely lacking in customer service. For the prices they charge, you should be getting exceptional care and quality—not attitude, guilt trips, and shortcuts.

I do not recommend Polish by Sand Spa to anyone anymore. I’ll be reporting this to the Better Business Bureau and the health department. If you care about hygiene, clear communication, and actually receiving the service you pay for,...

This woman was so incredibly rude, mean and disrespectful not only to me but other customers as well. She spoke incredibly quickly with no eye contact and just wanted to move us in and out like cattle so she can get back on her phone and not be bothered. I remember when I left, myself and several other customers were looking at each other like “geez is she for real“!? The way she grabbed credit cards and exchanged the cash for tips, she might as well just thrown it at me. She just seemed ANGRY that she was there!! (and that’s an understatement) In addition I was bleeding and sore when I left! I let the manicurist know on several occasions that she was hurting me and she also seemed annoyed. I gasped out in pain as she dug in to me as fast as she could clipping cuticles and digging into me with the tools. I have had many many manicures in the past 40 years and I’ve never been treated like this. I was really looking forward to a day off and getting some pampering and I swear every five minutes there was just some sort of incident. I sent an email & I hope the owner will call me I’d like to discuss more at length I’m still kind of blown away at how I was treated at this place & now over a week later I can’t even do another manicure or pedicure anywhere until the scabs heal and the...

I am sorry to say, but this was the worst massage I have ever experienced. i mean they were friendly. It was advertised as a foot massage, yet approximately 70% of the time was spent massaging legs instead. The therapist seemed to have something inside her glove—whether it was her nails or some other object, I could not tell—but it was extremely sharp and caused genuine discomfort. She repeatedly ran it over my bones, which was quite painful. At one point I was nearly compelled to pull away, but I am trying to remain polite in expressing my feedback.

ibwished more a FOOD massage like it was ordered BUT they were friendly and she had strong hands and it cost not mich money so i...