Customer complaint - feeling very deflated and down about it!

[tinkywinky]

Hi there

I've been a beautician for 5 years and can't say I've had someone complain in this time.

Did 2 sets of acrylics last night. The second set she is not happy with and phoned me at 8 am this morning. She said they looked lumpy, fat etc. etc.

I did say I was there til 11.30pm and my eyes by that stage aren't that good. The first set of nails were brilliant.

Also - she has not got any nail plate and is a nail biter. When I put the white tip on and laid the acrylic over they looked really fat.

Filed them down and glossed them and she said she was happy. Didn't help that this girl was as p****ed as a f**t.

I am really worried now as she says she is a perfectionist with her nails. Going tonight to put a natural set and white smile lines on.

I realised on the way home that you shouldn't put white tips on a nail biter.

Anyway I feel like I am completely deflated and want to pack in! Only qualified in April so I am still new to the game.

Please help. Any one else had similar complaints???

Thanks for your support

Vicky xx

 

[glittergirl]

Awww hun dont feel deflated! We all have days like this i for one have had loads of em! lol

Just put it down to experience go tonite and put a kick ass set of nails on and dont worry about it.

I f they are that bad i would replace them this once but dont do it again for free you may find this woman is having you on!

Let us know how you get on. xx

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Well the very easy option would be to give her her money back and walk away!

I can't work past about 7pm as I know my work suffers and my eyesight goes, so I wouldn't have done that appointment in the first place, bu that's just me.

Getting any kind of complaint is just plain pants, but at least she has had faith in you to give you a second chance. They may not be as bad as you think. She can be a perfectionist all she likes but you will never do a perfect looking set of nails on a nail biter, you can enhance them, but they will not look as fantastic as someone with a perfect base to build on. All it may take is a little further buffing to get rid of the bumps, but you were right do not use white tips on a nail biter. Their nail plates are too short and tend to be too flat for the c-curve of a white tip.

I used to wind myself up in knots when I got a complaint call so badly that I would feel ill. I stopped feeling like this when a friend of mine does hair said she used to feel the same if she didn't get a colour spot on. She then took the view point that it can be corrected so what's the worry? Yes you'd prefer to get it right first time, but just occasionally when you don't then don't stress about it, it can be corrected ... just thank god you're not a brain surgeon, get that wrong and you are in trouble!

You're still quite new to nails and still have to build your confidence, if it's any consolation it was 2 years before I became confident with my own ability. You will get days like this, I've so been there and I feel for you. Just pick yourself up, brush yourself off and start all over again. Confidence will come with time.

 

[izzidoll]

she has not got any nail plate and is a nail biter. When I put the white tip on and laid the acrylic over they looked really fat.

Filed them down and glossed them and she said she was happy. Didn't help that this girl was as p****ed as a f**t.

I am really worried now as she says she is a perfectionist with her nails.

HI,
I am sure you will get a good and sympathetic response to this thread....do a search on here about complaints and you will see that most geeks have been there!.............I have highlighted the parts that jumped out at me as they just don't compute...how can you be a nail biter AND a perfectionist about your nails?.......OK I maybe wouldn't have put white tips on a short bitten nail plate but hey plenty salons DO!!!....and if you are going to redo them tonight does that mean they are all off? did she bite them off in her drunken state?....if so I wouldn't do them for free I would make a charge of some sort for your time.........she said she was happy with them and I am sure during your consultation she agreed to the white tips......
What I think has happened here is....her friend who's nails you did probably has a long nail plate and her white tips looked great, and she expected her stubby bitten nails to look the same as her friends when you were done....and started comparing them when you left....but don't despair, it is good that you realize yourself that you could have done them differently so you have learned from this experience but DO NOT let it put you down!!!

 

[louisenewell]

Vicky baby what i've come to realise is that some clients are full of s***.Shes lucky you even done her nails considering she was drunk.If a client can tell your fairly new to nails some of them will milk it as much as they can...see if they can get a refund but keep there nails on.Two of my first clients i did when i started mobile were really pikey(there are a lot of them round here) and were used to going to the nss.two days later one called me and said all the nails had just fallen off(now we all know acrylic doesn't just fall or slide off)and paused as if waiting for me to offer a refund instead(because i was with a police officer at the time, i had got used to his way of thinking)i said that was terrible and i needed to come round and take photos so i could complain to my supplier with them.Of course the answer was "no no i won't be in...can't do monday,can't do tuesday...".

Sometimes i think like i said a client can test your confidence and i remember sitting there in tears over this pair.My boyfriend at the time was going to knock on her door pretending to sale rugs so he could see what her nails were like!!!lol!

Clients do really try it on sometimes and assume we're thick.

I'd like to know what all you other geeks say when you get the old line "they all fell off...in my sleep"???

 

[louisenewell]

HI,
I am sure you will get a good and sympathetic response to this thread....do a search on here about complaints and you will see that most geeks have been there!.............I have highlighted the parts that jumped out at me as they just don't compute...how can you be a nail biter AND a perfectionist about your nails?.......OK I maybe wouldn't have put white tips on a short bitten nail plate but hey plenty salons DO!!!....and if you are going to redo them tonight does that mean they are all off? did she bite them off in her drunken state?....if so I wouldn't do them for free I would make a charge of some sort for your time.........she said she was happy with them and I am sure during your consultation she agreed to the white tips......
What I think has happened here is....her friend who's nails you did probably has a long nail plate and her white tips looked great, and she expected her stubby bitten nails to look the same as her friends when you were done....and started comparing them when you left....but don't despair, it is good that you realize yourself that you could have done them differently so you have learned from this experience but DO NOT let it put you down!!!

think this is just what i was thinking.She isn't much of a perfectionist if she bites her nails...I'd bet she bitten them off.It is so hard to do a nail bitter and i learnt you can't do a white tip on that nail type...but that was after i done a full set!!

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I'd like to know what all you other geeks say when you get the old line "they all fell off...in my sleep"???

"Blimey what were you dreaming about then!"

 

[louisenewell]

Lol!!!

 

[EllaX]

i had a similar experience last week i did a nail biters nails and she rung up 2 days later complaining that two had just 'fallen off'.
when i got round there i replaced them free (just this once) and she was really pleased with the result and has been showing them off to everyone.

she is probably just trying it on, im sure they aren't like how she descibes.
- after all she said she was happy with them when you had finished.

what ever you do don't give in, u worked hard for this and its a shame to give it up because of one drunken customer. xx

 

[RedAdmiral]

Oh I had a nail biter/perfectionist - yeah whatever! Sometimes when she was picking at me I felt like saying have you seen the state of your hands love? under the enhancements were the worst bitten nails I had ever seen they made me gag! and her hands were like sand paper yet she picked at my work as if it was shoddy!

Dont let it get you down, you did well to enhance her in the first place some nail techs wont even do nail biters!

 

[EllaX]

I can really relate to you. I have only been doing nails for a few months. I did a rebalance on a lady, who on the phone told me her nails were only reblalanced 2 weeks beforehand. She also said that she doesnt go back to the salon she usually does as the nail tech doesnt turn up for her appointments. I thought this was strange.

I get to her house, and her nails are in a terrible state, they looked more like 5 weeks old rather than 2. I told her that most of them need replacing and she wouldnt have it. I was there for hours, and she complained all the way through that I wasnt doing it right. Then I was sure she wasnt going to pay me. In the end she did pay me. She also spoke about how her other nail tech, used to leave most of the lifting and just put more liquid and powder over the top of her nails.

I was quite upset at the end, after I did all that work for very little money and wasted my time on a client who had obviously messed many other techs about.

The lady that you did extensions on, is probably the same.

Dont feel down, I have learnt from what happened, and if the situation ever occurs again, I will now how to deal with it slighty better.

:hug:

ooh i hate that when customers start telling u how u should be doing their nails - that u aren't doing it right etc! - my sister is the worst one for that.

 

[Rose143]

Hi Vicky,

Sorry to hear of your bad experience hun but we will all go through it, no two ways about that.

First of all if the girl was drunk I would never have done her nails I would have insisted we make another appointment. Secondly, I tell all my nail biters that the first ever set won't look like the model's nails down the road because I can only work with what I'm given (without sounding negative or trying to make excuses). While doing this I make a note on the client consultation sheet that I have explained and they sign it. By doing this I back myself up and the client is fully aware that they are not going to be absolutely picture perfect but I'll try my very best anyway. I always assure the client that they will improve as the weeks progress. By the end of the treatment I get nothing but praise from these clients because their nails turned out a hell of alot better than they expected.

You need to make sure your clients don't expect you to perform miracles, you can't change their hands only make them look better than what they already are. Don't let this get you down sweetheart, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again, this time do it differently and stick to your guns. Be positive, confident and assertive with your clients or they are gonna take the p***. Some of my clients have had one damn good lecture from me on how to take care of their nails and they still come back and they still promote me.

Have a bit of faith in yourself :hug:

xxxx

 

[Kim Lawless]

I felt sick when I read this thread because we've all been there and the feeling of being a rubbish nail tech sticks with you for quite some time.

I think the best policy is to go on your gut instict and be honest with youself. If you know that a set of nails are not worth what they've paid you for them, then you've gotta wipe your mouth and walk away (admit it).

If they insisted you put white tips on bitten nails and look awful, then that's down to them. Having said that, you're the professional, NOT THEM, so you tell them what will look good on their nails.

I would just buff these down to get rid of the thickness and buff them to a shine. If she says that the white tips look bad, tell her that she should have said that at the time.

Good luck.

 

[tinkywinky]

Hi everyone


Just wanted to say thank you all for your nice comments. It has really boosted me!!

Went round to soak the nails off, they actually didn't look that bad but were a bit thick.

I get the impression she is a moody c*w and didn't like some of the things she was coming out with last night. She was being moody and sarcastic to her own friends.

Anyway, I have explained to her that although I have good experience I am still learning and it takes 2 years to become a good nail technician. And also no-one gets anything perfect.

I also explained how I will do her nails tonight. Fingers crossed it goes OK,

I will let you know tomorrow what they go like.