Biten Nails

[vicky]

I have a client that has really badly biten nails. She has never had her own natural nail so i explained how to look after the nails and also gave her a leaflet for aftercare too.
After having the first set on she gave me a call a week later saying that she had popped 2 of the nails off opening her car boot and could i fix them, which i did straight away with no charge. I explained again that when opening car doors etc you had to open with the side of your hand dont use's your fingers. As i was looking over the nails i noticed lifting in zone 2 in the corners and asked if she'd been chewing them..! She said no but im not sure if i beleive her. Anyway i said that i would see her in 8 days when her next appointment was for infills.... To my shock she walked in with NO nails...she said they had ALL just fallen off !!!!! and could i put a new set on and she would pay full price.
Im stumped, i havent had this happen before and she said that she's not chewing them off.

Where am i going wrong?
I feel bad for charging her for a new set, should i do them for nothing?

 

[Trinity]

Vicky - don't beat yourself up - she's a nail biter, then she's bitten them off, and she feels a bit foolish about admitting it!!

I am a nail biter and I used to bite my enhancements too :twisted:

If she's offered to pay for a new set, then she knows it's not your fault - no-one offers to pay for something if it's not their fault!!

Don't be too hard on her, or yourself, at least she came back for a new set, she could have gone elsewhere.

She's come back to you, so she must have been happy with them in the first place - just go through the after care again, and be prepared for lots of missing ones!!!

Before I became I nail tech I used to drive my Nail Tech nuts returning with chewed enhancements, I felt bad, but I couldn't stop biting them - now I'm on the other side of the table I sympathise with her even more :lol:

 

[thenaillounge]

no way no way no way,

She said she is happy to pay so charge her. She is a nail bitter and probably doesn't want to admit to her nibbling fettish, however due to her internal guilt she is offering to pay. Fair play to her really. If she wasn't happy with what you did, would she be so fair, I don't think so do you. It will take her a while to get used to them, and she probably has realised that, however, she is missing them and wants them back, maybe this time she will behave herself.

Best wishes

 

[Karen_SCV]

I feel bad for charging her for a new set, should i do them for nothing?

Most definately not I would say.

You spotted lifting last time you saw her & her denial of chewing then wasn't convincing enough for you to beleive her. Ok so she had lost 2 then but she admitted causing that but at the time the rest were still intact then they "miraculously" ALL fall off .......... nah I don't beleive that.
She has asked for a new full set offering to pay the full price which indicates to me that she doesn't think it was your fault they "fell" off, so strikes me she KNOWS they didn't just fall off & she gave them some help.

You do the set & take payment for them & hammer home the aftercare again ............ maybe once she has paid for enough full sets it will give her the shove she needs to stop the nibbling :lol:

 

[talented talons]

I agree with all the other posts, you must charge her. One thing i know from experience is that when you are a biter most of the time you don't even realise you are doing it. I know i used to always bite mine. Even now with my acrylic enhancements on i still have a tendancy to occasionally put them in my mouth but i hasten to add i never bite or run my teeth down the edge.

A friend of mine who wears gel enhancements also confided in me that she always finds herself running her teeth down the sides which obviously always causes them to lift but she says she doesn't always know that she's doing it.

Hope this helps.

 

[luckygirl]

I would agree to most nail biters i've done have chewed them off...

 

[prettynails]

What you must realise is that people who bite their nails must come back for maintenence every week. They see a bit of the nail that iritates them

****As i was looking over the nails i noticed lifting in zone 2 in the corners and asked if she'd been chewing them..! ****

and as with their own nails they nibble em off.
I would have repaired them at the time and charged her for a mini infill, that way she still has nails the following week, and you dont have so much work to do on her.
Be sympathetic with her, she has a habbit that is harder to give up than drugs or booze. Most nibblers will not even realise they are being a canibal till all 10 are gone.

Take Care, and dont give up

 

[vicky]

Thanks for that...:biggrin: I'm going to see how she gets on with the new set and try and get her in once a week untill she learns to love her nails enough not to bite them off..:evil:

Thanks for the support..!

Vicky xx

 

[geeg]

What you must realise is that people who bite their nails must come back for maintenence every week. They see a bit of the nail that iritates them

****As i was looking over the nails i noticed lifting in zone 2 in the corners and asked if she'd been chewing them..! ****

and as with their own nails they nibble em off.
I would have repaired them at the time and charged her for a mini infill, that way she still has nails the following week, and you dont have so much work to do on her.
Be sympathetic with her, she has a habbit that is harder to give up than drugs or booze. Most nibblers will not even realise they are being a canibal till all 10 are gone.

Take Care, and dont give up

Pretty nails is right on!!
Bitters with nails become pickers and without realising it have their nails in their mouth more often than not.
My clients could never hide anything form me cause I knew all the tricks (being a biter myself). They couldn't get away with anything!!
And I never give a free repair ever out of rebalance time (where I include one if needs be).
When cleints leave my table, their nails are perfect. If they come back with their nails less than perfect, it is down to them.

 

[cookie]

I asked for some adivice recently about a client who's gel nails 'fell' off and was told she may be a biter. I was really upset an dput a new set on free of charge. Haven't heard anything from her since - even though I asked her to let me know. Really lost my confidence. However I did three new sets last week for new clients and each of them have phoned me to say how delighted they are with them (even though I don't like the 'White' gel colour). Not a bit of lifting in sight - and one is an air hostess, costantly in and out of water. My confidence has really gone up. It only takes one client to make you feel a failure.

Marjorie (Cookie)

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

I asked for some adivice recently about a client who's gel nails 'fell' off and was told she may be a biter. I was really upset an dput a new set on free of charge. Haven't heard anything from her since - even though I asked her to let me know. Really lost my confidence. However I did three new sets last week for new clients and each of them have phoned me to say how delighted they are with them (even though I don't like the 'White' gel colour). Not a bit of lifting in sight - and one is an air hostess, costantly in and out of water. My confidence has really gone up. It only takes one client to make you feel a failure.

Marjorie (Cookie)

And another 3 to make you feel a success again.................
Biters are a breed of clients that are a challenge to all Technicians...................
Nails never fall off, the are usualy helped off............... either with their teeth, or their fingers.................or they get trapped by a door or the like....
Non of it is our fault as a Technician................

There are always tell tale signs when a nail has had a helping tooth or finger..
If you scrubfresh the pinged finger you will see stress marks, these are caused by external force of some kind.................... a clear sign that they just didn't ping...............
I always ask biters to bring the pinged off nail to the salon, so I can check and make sure it isn't a product or technical brake down.........as if lol..........
And you know what................. most then come clean and tell me the truth......
I am a nailbiter too and I know every trick in the book, how to remove a nail in one bite..................
So I always let them know..............don't kid a Techie who is also a nail biter....
This is all a learning curve , you just have to learn to trust your own work and be firm................
They brake em, they pay for em lol ............
Have a happy Bank holiday xxxxx