Advice needed: should I refund a nail biter?

[corn_pops]

Hello ladies.

I usually don,t do nails to extreme biters ever, but I did sculpted nails using reverse method to a client on the weekend (saturday) these are the nails i did:

BEFORE:


AFTER:


I did file, prime, remove cuticles, and applied pressure to the acrylic ball over her little nail bed while sculpting, later i polished her nails french. Well this client text me today telling that 2 nails fall off completely, and some others are having lifting on the sides. i,m going to her home tomorrow to fix this for free since it had only been 4 days, but i,m sure in a few days she will again call with the same problem, i don,t want to be permanently taking advantage of from a client for free, and if i charge her for a next time obviusly she is going to complain, if i have to fix this again i want to stop having her as a client. Should i refund her and tell her that we cannot work together and that she needs to search for a new tech?, i don,t want to cause a drama over this, i cannot offer her a free manicure instead of refund since she doesn,t have almost any nail bed to work with.

Any hints how to manage this?

 

[katie d]

it looks like you do not want to work with her take your nails back give her a refund and be done with her lol


or work with her, gain some skills and go from there all good and charge as you go

how long do your other clients go ....?

 

[corn_pops]

Hello Katie.

Thanks for your reply.

how long do your other clients go ....?

My other clients go without any hassle or problems for 6 weeks without infill and more months with infill once per month. But my other clients have at least a nail bed of 4 mm, not so short and damaged like this client.

it looks like you do not want to work with her take your nails back give her a refund and be done with her lol

I would love to improve my skills, what I,m affraid of is that because i have to provide the fix for free, this client may use this as a benefit, and keep calling me next week, and next week, and next week for months asking for a free fix since what i did before didn,t work. That,s what i want to avoid, only once like 8 months ago i sculpted nail to a extreme biter like this one, and happened the same thing, this old client keep calling me for a free fix for like 5 weeks straight, until she got tired and i didn,t refund her but i spent product and time i could use in some paying client.

Usually i don,t have problems with other people, only with severe extreme biters and people with thyroid problems to which i don,t do any service.

 

[Nailtechybee]

I find the best way to go about treating these types of nails / clients is to book in weekly maintainance. This way you explain to the client that due to extreme lack of nail plate, the longevity of the nail is compromised until more length is achieved.
The client may not need full Infills every week, perhaps just a quick check for lifting or nail loss (for which you explain your charges and charge according).
There is no way you should be expected to repair for free after 2 weeks! You must make it clear in the consultation though the limitations of treatment on these nails

 

[katie d]

if you feel confident in your application and that they are not lifting due to your application , then you must take into account your. time, product and travel, as the time it takes to do this client you could have done another service and earn money from a full paying client , so you must charge or yes a client will think it can be done free of charge all the time so explain to her what you have said on here x

yes as above i also offer weekly maintenance for severe nail biters that is the ones that have near nothing i mean a real mess

 

[corn_pops]

She wanted the fix to be made today, but today i have 2 paying clients waiting for a service, so i said no no tomorrow is better. I will fix for free tomorrow her missing nails and the ones she,s telling have lifting. The first thing she told me before i started the service with her was that in her country she did have acrylic nails with tips that lasted 1 month without any problem, i ask her if she had the nail bed so short like now and she replies yes...i don,t know how another tech put tips on such a little nail bed, blend and still have space to put acrylic for strenght, this girl has like 2mm of nail bed :cry: that,s why i sculpted instead of putting tips on her. I,m going to explain to her that she needs weekly maintanence or something, cause i don,t want to experience what i experience 8 months ago with an extreme biter.

 

[MissLease]

Have the nails come off in one piece? If they have and her nail plate (what there is of it) is in good condition then I would question your prep. Did you extend the nail bed and then place a form underneath and sculpt the tip? (Like Gemma lamberts method) if you did it this way, and you applied the acrylic correctly it would ideally snap at the free edge (where you applied the form) and leave the remaining acrylic on the nail plate for protection until she came back to you. As other geeks have suggested i would want her back for weekly appointments and state in the consultation that she is more than Likely not going to get more than 7-10 days wear from them.

 

[geeg]

None of us can know how a clients nails come off .. In one piece .. In bits, with the help of the teeth or picking.

If I had a client with nails like those, and I have had many, I would tell them right there and then that because they have been abusing their nails for years I will not guarantee them at ALL.

They knock them, they constantly play with them and have them in their mouths, they inspect them continually and clean and pull against the free edge ... Please do not be silly enough to fix anything for free. It's really a bad idea and you can't blame her if she takes advantage of you ... And she will.

Nails don't just fall off, even on biters ... They may lift which is not surprising, but unless your prep was really rubbish .. Which I'm sure it was not if your other clients go 6 weeks (which would cost them a new full set price if they were my clients)!! ... Then your nails would not have just let go without some help ... It's chemistry.

 

[Bo]

Until you are comfortable with nail biters, just sculpt a nail in pink cover powder only. Then use Shellac or gel polish to paint on the French if they so desire. Save the reverse method when you have more nail to work with.

 

[Victoriabar]

Corn pops, I am a nail biter..
Enhancements don't always last on me, I do my own nails..
I know I do good prep, I know I follow good nail application but I also know that I LOVE the feel of the smooth new nail on my tongue - yes it sounds weird but I'm treating you to my honesty here
I know I love to run my new fingernails along and under each other, I love how I can drum my fingers on a surface, I know I can't stop touching and stroking the nail including the sidewalls and if I feel even a speckle of a rough bit I WILL NOT leave it alone..

Any one of those things will and do cause my nails to come off

When I have severe nail biters in I let them know I am too a biter but I can advise what to not do, the consequence and that due to self caused damage their nails are not guaranteed to last.

I've found weekly appts starting with an overlay or shellac to be more beneficial for chomping clients until we get a little free edge, and I make it clear to all my clients that anything after 2 days is chargeable.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[corn_pops]

Hello ladies.

Thank you all for your replies. For the moment i don,t know if her nail plates (were 2 acrylic nails fall of completely) are clean like there were never any previous prep or if she still have some acrylic attached to her nail. Tomorrow i,m going to visit her and review how her nails are. On her, i did the same prep as i do with everybody, i even prime twice her nails since she probably is a good candidate for lifting, I did Gemma lamberts method on this client, first i extend her nail bed pressing the acrylic on her little nail plate, after it was dry i put the forms and sculpted the rest, but this client said that 2 nails fall of completely, i haven,t see them i will tomorrow and notify here what i saw.

She insist that she haven,t pick, bite, lick or anything to her enhancements, but one thing is what she says and the other is what really had happened.

 

[corn_pops]

Geeg.

I don,t do infill on a 6 weeks service. Sorry if my comment was missunderstood, what i meant was that without any infill, the majority of my clients start to lose their acrylic nail after 6 weeks. But with 1 infill per month, my clients don,t have any problem with their acrylic for several months.

 

[Aphrodite26]

Corn pops, I am a nail biter..
Enhancements don't always last on me, I do my own nails..
I know I do good prep, I know I follow good nail application but I also know that I LOVE the feel of the smooth new nail on my tongue - yes it sounds weird but I'm treating you to my honesty here
I know I love to run my new fingernails along and under each other, I love how I can drum my fingers on a surface, I know I can't stop touching and stroking the nail including the sidewalls and if I feel even a speckle of a rough bit I WILL NOT leave it alone..


Sent from my Nexus 7 using SalonGeek mobile app

That sounds EXACTLY like me 🙊 I'm shocking! I do my own, they look lovely then I pick, play or chew.
It helps spot what my clients have been doing lol if they come back with problems I can normally spot that they have been picking at them. I'm quite honest and tell them that I'm a picker and my acrylics don't last on me so DONT DO IT.

The client with barely there nails will most likely be "playing" with the lovely nails you did for her. I wouldn't redo for free hun x



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[corn_pops]

Hello ladies.

Well, i did went to visit this particular client, and I did redo the 2 lost nails for free :o , they did fall off completely, her fingers didn,t look like she was chewing or picking skin, she did insist she didn,t put her mouth on them, but she did recognize that she use chlorine, detergent, etc. without gloves, and she also told me that doing her bed 2 nails got hit on the wall, they didn,t fall off but she said it did hurt a lot.

Anyway, she text me again yesterday saying that *1 nail have severe lifting* the same nail that fall off the first time, she,s going to my home for a fix and this time yes we agree i will charge her. I am not going to refund her, i did think of it well and I prefer to provide other options like a discount for some service, but not a refund.

 

[corn_pops]

Client came in today to my home, the free edge of 2 nails had snapped of :o the remaining acrylic was still attached to her nail plate.

She did paid me for the fix this time, so it was nice

 

[KaylieNails]

Sorry if this has already been saud I didn't have time to read all.

Id try again for free. Dont give her a refund. And dehydrate twice. Explain that as shes a nail biter there's less contact area therefore less durability. And also that theres usually extra moisture in the nail plate / surrounding areas. She can't go 2 weeks in between treatments like anyone else id say a week and a half ish or less.

Don't refund because it's kinda agreeing to it bieng your fault when its not redo this time if it happends again try gel instead of acrylic. Xx

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