Hand and Stone Massage and Spa

We received the second message from the customer regarding our response to his complaintI would like to reiterate that we are very sympathetic to any personal hardships that the customers are enduringWe wish them nothing but the bestHowever, we have made multiple accommodations and exceptions for these customers, including the waiving of the final paymentsThey are welcome to use the $(the combined $and $49.95) towards product purchase or to transfer the prepaid Services (following our transfer protocols and fees) if they wishTheir last date to take advantage of these options is 7/19/Thank you for your considerationSincerely, Catherine MH [redacted] Owner

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I am really impressed with the quick long response by the
Owner of Hand and StoneTime taken to write this long response possibly cost them
more than a refund of $
The first time we went to Hand and Stone was after we
received a couponTheir staff were very nice and they sweet-talked us into
getting into this monthly membershipOn principle, I never sign up for such
membership where I am automatically charged; it was my stupidity that for the
first time ever I signed up to such a membership
First, I would like to say that their front desk staff is
very nice and courteous
I take exception to the statement in the response that
"I became angry and argumentative"To the contrary, the Manager was
rude and showed no understanding of our difficult situation; she was only
interested in denying my request for refundI made every effort to explain our
medical situation, in that, my wife's knee replacement with minimum success suffering
from acute pain and my kidney cancer surgery, as well as the fact that I lost
my jobYes, I was angry when I called the store later and asked for the name
of the Store ManagerThe lady gave me the first name of the Manager and when I
asked for the last name, she told me that she was not allowed to give that
informationWhen I insisted, she had to get permission from someone before
giving it to me
They made the following offers:
1) Take the message which we cannot do due to our health
situation
2) Take facial serviceWe cannot use it for religious
reason which prohibits anybody touching our face
3) Buy lotions, candles etcIn 70's specially when I
don't have a job, these are the last things on our mind
We have the following options:
1) Donate $towards Hand and Stone's profit without
providing the service
2) Take the massage as long as Hand and Stone understands
that we will hold them responsible for any adverse effect to our health
3) In the next Home Owners Association meeting, we will
share our experience and advise everybody not to take business to the storeI
will do the same thing with all my friends
Regards,
*** ***

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I am really impressed with the quick long response by the
Owner of Hand and StoneTime taken to write this long response possibly cost them
more than a refund of $
The first time we went to Hand and Stone was after we
received a couponTheir staff were very nice and they sweet-talked us into
getting into this monthly membershipOn principle, I never sign up for such
membership where I am automatically charged; it was my stupidity that for the
first time ever I signed up to such a membership
First, I would like to say that their front desk staff is
very nice and courteous
I take exception to the statement in the response that
"I became angry and argumentative"To the contrary, the Manager was
rude and showed no understanding of our difficult situation; she was only
interested in denying my request for refundI made every effort to explain our
medical situation, in that, my wife's knee replacement with minimum success suffering
from acute pain and my kidney cancer surgery, as well as the fact that I lost
my jobYes, I was angry when I called the store later and asked for the name
of the Store ManagerThe lady gave me the first name of the Manager and when I
asked for the last name, she told me that she was not allowed to give that
informationWhen I insisted, she had to get permission from someone before
giving it to me
They made the following offers:
1) Take the message which we cannot do due to our health
situation
2) Take facial serviceWe cannot use it for religious
reason which prohibits anybody touching our face
3) Buy lotions, candles etcIn 70's specially when I
don't have a job, these are the last things on our mind
We have the following options:
1) Donate $towards Hand and Stone's profit without
providing the service
2) Take the massage as long as Hand and Stone understands
that we will hold them responsible for any adverse effect to our health
3) In the next Home Owners Association meeting, we will
share our experience and advise everybody not to take business to the storeI
will do the same thing with all my friends
Regards,
*** ***

We received the second message from the customer regarding our response to his complaint.
I would like to reiterate that we are very sympathetic to any personal hardships that the customers are enduring. We wish them nothing but the best. However, we have made multiple accommodations and exceptions for these customers, including the waiving of the final payments.
They are welcome to use the $109.90 (the combined $59.95 and $49.95) towards product purchase or to transfer the prepaid Services (following our transfer protocols and fees) if they wish. Their last date to take advantage of these options is 7/19/16.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Catherine M. H[redacted]
Owner

We received the written complaint through your office at the Revdex.com....

The customer complained directly to us and to our corporate office. Here are the details below.
The primary customer and his wife did indeed sign up for a primary and additional household memberships to our massage and facial Spa in June 2015. I attach a copy of our standard membership agreement. Please note in particular the highlighted portions. We have signed copies of both customer agreements on file.
The customer did freeze their memberships on 8/13/15 to 11/11/15. Upon the end of the freeze period on 11/11/15, their memberships automatically reinstated, with the monthly charges of $59.95 and $49.95 going back into effect on the monthly membership date. The drafts to the customer's Credit card after their memberships unfroze on 11/11/15 occurred on 11/13/15 (their monthly membership charge date). The customer called us on 12/3/15 (weeks after the memberships unfroze) and spoke with our manager: he asked to do another 3 month freeze on their memberships and asked us to refund the 11/13/15 charges.
Due to the situation the customer described regarding their medical situations, we made three accommodations on 12/13/15:
1) We refroze the membership for 3 more months—this is a $329.70 value and savings to the customer—without charging a freeze fee.
2) We agreed to refreeze based on his phone call alone and without asking him to fill out the freeze form again.
3) We agreed to refund him the 11/13/15 monthly fees—a total of $109.90. This is a huge exception to our membership policy. He said he and his wife looked forward to returning to the spa for services and was appreciative of our accommodations.
In April, their memberships became active again once the second freeze period was over. The monthly drafts for their monthly services restarted on 4/13/16. The customer came in to the spa on 4/19/16 and asked to terminate the membership and demanded to be refunded for the 4/13/16 charges. While we are very Sympathetic to our customers' personal situations and wish to be as accommodating as possible to our clients, we had already made several accommodations to the client and reminded him in December of our membership terms. He became angry and argumentative as soon as our manager began explaining the options (outlined below) available to him and his wife. Again, the client had already spoken to us on 12/3/15 at which time we re-explained the membership terms, explained the exceptions that were being made.
Our termination policy as stated in our membership agreement and as signed by the members clearly outlines that we have a 30 day written termination policy. The clients may terminate the monthly membership by filling out and returning a written form which we provide. The client(s) will be charged one more time upon receipt of the form(s), and then they have 90 days to use whatever prepaid services they have left during those 90 days.
On 4/19/16, our manager explained that the prepaid services do not need to be used for massages (which is what he explained was difficult for his wife and himself) but that they can also be used for facials or other skin Service. Furthermore, if neither of the clients wished to come in and use the services themselves, we do allow a member to transfer a service to another person up to three times (but no more than two to one person) during the course of 12 months and pay a $10 transfer fee per transfer. The client rejected both of those opportunities.
Despite this, we made two more exceptions for this husband and wife at that time:
1) While we did not refund the 4/13/16 charges for prepaid services, we would make another exception and allow the clients to use the prepaid funds to purchase products (facial products, candles, lotions, etc. that we sell in the store).
2) We did an immediate cancellation of their memberships and did not charge them each for another prepaid service, thus saving the clients $59.95 and $49.95 respectively (a total of 109.90).
We have gone out of our way to offer exceptional service and accommodations to these clients, and we are very sympathetic to any personal hardships they are enduring. We wish them the best. They are welcome to use the $109.90 (the combined $59.95 and $49.95) towards product purchase or to transfer the prepaid services (following our transfer protocols and fees) if they wish. Their last date to take advantage of these options is 7/19/16.
Thank you for considering and evaluating the facts provided before determining a response to the client's complaint. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached by phone at ###-###-####.
Respectfully,
Catherine (Kay) M. H[redacted]
Owner
Co: Hand and Stone Corporation
Enclosures: Membership agreements

We received the second message from the customer regarding our response to his complaint.I would like to reiterate that we are very sympathetic to any personal hardships that the customers are enduring. We wish them nothing but the best. However, we have made multiple accommodations and exceptions for these customers, including the waiving of the final payments.They are welcome to use the $109.90 (the combined $59.95 and $49.95) towards product purchase or to transfer the prepaid Services (following our transfer protocols and fees) if they wish. Their last date to take advantage of these options is 7/19/16.Thank you for your consideration.Sincerely,Catherine M. H[redacted]Owner