Client nail prob- need advice

[kc333]

Hi
Just had my first client compaint today and I feel really gutted!! I applied a set of natural tips (blended) and L&P to her on Fri morning (Creative Retention). No contra-actions and they looked great but she was very picky and questioning everything I did throughout and commented at the end she wish she'd had permanent French which was charming!! but she did seem happy with them.
She phoned me today to say she'd gone to another tech for advice because she didn't like them.
She didn't like thickness, gap around edge, they were lifting and had air bubbles. She wants them soaking off and a full refund.
The lifting and air bubbles concerned me as I cannot think of a reason why this has happenned. She told me the lifting happennned a few hours after being applied and now the nails look appalling.
I did many sets last week and haven't had any complaints so don't think there is any reason for brush or retention to be contaminated. I press and burp the brush to release air bubbles. Prepped properly, even applied primer. (all Creative products).
I explained the reasons for there needing to be a tiny gap all around edge. Regarding thickness she seems to think it will be same thickness as natural nails!!
I spend time at the end of every set of enhancements I apply checking C curve and apex and they looked good.
I strive to be good at what I do and if any client was unhappy at what I do I will go out of my way to help.
I am really annoyed that she has gone to another tech before consulting me. Whats to say the other tech just wants her business instead?!
Sorry to go on!!!
I've even made an appointment to see her tomorrow to soak her nails off and I don't even work Tuesday's!!!
Any advice appreciated

 

[big miss nails]

i would wait till tomorrow to see what the nails are like yourself.your client only has the word of anther tech (thats if she did go to one) when your client comes tomorrow ask her what the problems are and ask her to show you.

 

[jenny mosley]

Hiya
I would offer a mini manicure and soak for free..but..not a refund.
If client has lots of lift etc then a new set should be on offer and thats all i would do.
She may of wanted them for a night out now its over wants to get rid of them.
keep us posted..and..good luck
Jenny

 

[VHunter]

Look at the nails, try to see what she's referring to.
As already said, do NOT offer a refund. Offer to remove and mini-mani if she chooses. She could be 'one of those'. As for expecting them to be as thin as natural nails
We all know that there is always a space between product and cuticle. There MUST be. How big it is... is it possible there's a 'ridge' and the product wasn't filed flush enough?
Bubbles might also be pocket lift and if she's been heavy handed...

Also, if she comes in and they're 'gone', do not refund. If she's picked'em off or had them removed and redone.. oh well too bad too sad.

If she was picky at the onset.. it does't bode well. People like that are difficult to please.

Let us know what you see when she comes in.

 

[BABSann]

Firstly dont beat yourself up over it.The thing is if they were only done on Friday and now it's Monday then there really should not be any lifting.It's tricky.If I had the same problem I would re-do them.But....I would first check that it was my fault.As I said,dont get downhearted or beat yourself up over it.We are all only human and mistakes are often made.I can tell you that about a year ago I did a full set of sculpts on a client,she rang a week later,saying she wasn't happy.I removed them,did a mini manicure and completely lost my confidence.I havn't done any sculpts since.I wish I could/would but confidence just zapped.(sculpts only)Sad thing is sculpts were always what I wanted to really do.Now I tip only.Dont let anyone make you lose your confidence.There are always going to be finicky clients.Trouble is you can always detect them as soon as they walk into the salon and it takes away your confidence.Rise above her.Tell her what you can do and dont be fobbed off.HTH:hug: xx

 

[lotus blossom]

if it were me, id wait and see the nails before i decided anything!
if she returns and there are problems like she suggests, and you are certain that you did everything properly, i would suggest you put them right, if she aks to have them removed i would remove them and call it quits ( no refund) if she has already had the nails removed or they are off, i would refuse any treatment on her,( no refund)
she said she was happy when she left, is she just dissappionted that theyre not permanent french?
jmo

 

[NtricateDesigns]

I had that experience once. I tell you what I did, I gave the refund and let her leave hoping to NEVER see her again. I now have a sign posted that says, ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS, if you are not happy at the time of service I will gladly repair or remove your enhancements! Once a client leaves they pay for their repairs or replacements unless I truly feel I am to blame. I think your client changed her mind and wanted a pink and white set, and rather than pay the "other" tech to take your set off and then do them over, she is using you to do it for free. And on top of all that making you give her her money back so she can go elsewhere. Tell her you'll give her half of what she paid back because your time is valuable! She was pleased when she left, so you can't expect to be the blame for her change of heart.

Best Wishes
Sharmie

 

[geeg]

I had that experience once. I tell you what I did, I gave the refund and let her leave hoping to NEVER see her again. I now have a sign posted that says, ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS, if you are not happy at the time of service I will gladly repair or remove your enhancements! Once a client leaves they pay for their repairs or replacements unless I truly feel I am to blame. I think your client changed her mind and wanted a pink and white set, and rather than pay the "other" tech to take your set off and then do them over, she is using you to do it for free. And on top of all that making you give her her money back so she can go elsewhere. Tell her you'll give her half of what she paid back because your time is valuable! She was pleased when she left, so you can't expect to be the blame for her change of heart.

Best Wishes
Sharmie

Excellent advice!! If she or another nail technician has so much as touched them then NO REFUND: Also I would make a note on her client Record that she was happy with the result when she left the salon and that she had said so.

 

[minette]

Hi there KC333,
I realy am wondering how this story ends?
Will you update us?

Minette

 

[hazeljane24]

I think it sounds like the woman is just "one of those" but wait and see what they look like tomorrow and go from there. If they have lifted maybe she hasn't followed your aftercare advise and has done something herself to cause the problem. So have a conversation with her, when did it happen, what had you been doing etc and maybe you will find an explaination.

I had a similar instance recently where I did a girls extensions and a couple of days later we were out with friends and she complained in front of everyone -which was bad enough having just started a mobile business, the last thing i needed was her putting everyone off! She moaned that she hadn't liked the french tips, there was a gap at the bottom and they came off. I have only been qualified for a few weeks and this was all new to me, so i tried to ask questions but she denied everything, "they came away and fell off".

So a couple of weeks later we were talking, we were going to a wedding that afternoon so i went to her house and I ended up doing her a new set for free, with natural tips, i thought this would make up for the 1st time in case i had made a mistake - WRONG!
The next day I bumped into her, asked her how her nails were and she said "Oh, iv bitten them all off, I decided they don't suit me. I did that last time." She then went on to admit that she does all the house work and refuses to wear gloves when using chemicals etc, despite the aftercare advise i had given her.:grr:

So she had just lied infront of everyone in the hope she would get a freebie for a day out. I was sooo annoyed! I certainly am not going to be doing her nails again! And i have definitely learned from it!!

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I've had a client do this to me and when I got there (it's in my mobile days) there was one nail lifting and nothing else wrong. She was just mega picky and I had been panicking over nothing. Wait until you see them before you decide what to do. But if you're anything like me the more fuss they create the more stubborn I get NOT to refund them or help them in anyway! I won't bend over to these people who have to be rude and stamp their feet at me to try and get their way.

 

[bombini]

Its awful when someone complains, I once had a lady have a mani & pedi & she wouldn't make conversation & stared at me the whole time anyway two days later she came back & complained to the manager that i had not cut her cuticles off ! I said to my manager that i had been taught not to cut them off, well my manager said the same but refunded her both treatments & booked her in to have them redone with another therapist all because this lady lived on the most exclusive road in town !!

I remember asking her at the time if everything was ok as she was looking at me as if i was the devil & she said she was happy :irked:

Hope everything gets sorted x

 

[geeg]

Its awful when someone complains, I once had a lady have a mani & pedi & she wouldn't make conversation & stared at me the whole time anyway two days later she came back & complained to the manager that i had not cut her cuticles off ! I said to my manager that i had been taught not to cut them off, well my manager said the same but refunded her both treatments & booked her in to have them redone with another therapist all because this lady lived on the most exclusive road in town !!

I remember asking her at the time if everything was ok as she was looking at me as if i was the devil & she said she was happy :irked:

Hope everything gets sorted x

I so hate it when managers refuse to support their colleagues! It stinks. Sends out all the wrong signals to clients too.

 

[kc333]

Hi
Been tonight and left feeling dis-heartened! The client (same as Sassy Hassy's) exaggerated and there was slight lifting on one of the nails near the edge of the blended tip so I think this was maybe my fault.
Also I'm concerned about the gap area in zone 3 near cuticle, it was slightly bigger than when I' done them. The only thing I can think of for this is that her cuticles were pretty bad and overgrown so after I'd pushed back there may have been excess skin that has shrunk slightly after nails were applied thus given a bigger gap. One thing I am so careful of is never to go too near skin but I would also never leave as big as gap as that. Another thing was that I used NSI Glaze and Go (used this many times but never had probs), could this have shrunk the acrylic when cured???
I've only been doing nails for a year but have never had probs like this, feeling bad about it but need to focus on it being a learning curve.
There was no thickness probs and no air bubbles.
Also she hadn't been using cuticle oil as advised although she once used a Boot's cuticle oil!!!! When I was going through aftercare with her I explained she needed to use a good oil such as Solaroil but she said she wanted to use some she already had which I advised against due to it being a chance that it wasn't suitable but she wouldn't part with £3.95 for a bottle of SolarOil!!!
Sorry to go on geeks but I really appreciate your help and advice and just wanted to update on this.
The outcome was that I soaked off, gave a refund, got the hell out of there and will never go back!! Fair enough its a time and financial loss for me but I've gained in a big learning curve!!

 

[adelekeegan1]

Sorry it wasn't a happier outcome for you but at least you don't have to see her again

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Sometimes it is just easier to give in, refund and move on. BUT remember that if it's something you don't normally experience then it's one of those pain in the arse moments, after all what we do isn't an exact science and everyone is so different and nails behave so differently from one client to the next. It's a shame she didn't give you the chance to sort things out, not that there sound as though anything was wrong.

I agree that either she wanted a refund to get a French set, or they were for a weekend do and she thought she'd be clever and get them for free. It's one of those situations that get us down for a bit, but we learn and move on and are beter prepared the next time.

Chin up hun :hug:

 

[nailsbydesign]

Hi
Been tonight and left feeling dis-heartened! The client (same as Sassy Hassy's) exaggerated and there was slight lifting on one of the nails near the edge of the blended tip so I think this was maybe my fault.
Also I'm concerned about the gap area in zone 3 near cuticle, it was slightly bigger than when I' done them. The only thing I can think of for this is that her cuticles were pretty bad and overgrown so after I'd pushed back there may have been excess skin that has shrunk slightly after nails were applied thus given a bigger gap. One thing I am so careful of is never to go too near skin but I would also never leave as big as gap as that. Another thing was that I used NSI Glaze and Go (used this many times but never had probs), could this have shrunk the acrylic when cured???
I've only been doing nails for a year but have never had probs like this, feeling bad about it but need to focus on it being a learning curve.
There was no thickness probs and no air bubbles.
Also she hadn't been using cuticle oil as advised although she once used a Boot's cuticle oil!!!! When I was going through aftercare with her I explained she needed to use a good oil such as Solaroil but she said she wanted to use some she already had which I advised against due to it being a chance that it wasn't suitable but she wouldn't part with £3.95 for a bottle of SolarOil!!!
Sorry to go on geeks but I really appreciate your help and advice and just wanted to update on this.
The outcome was that I soaked off, gave a refund, got the hell out of there and will never go back!! Fair enough its a time and financial loss for me but I've gained in a big learning curve!!

In the summer people's nails do tend to grow quicker than the rest of the year, and although it was only a few days since you did them, maybe it was just new growth area that made the gap look bigger than when you did them. Also is it possible that the tech she contacted has actually filed down in the cuticle area for her if there was a slight ridge there if maybe zone 3 wasnt quite as flush at it could have been????? The Glaze and Go should have been fine with L&P as I use this all the time over L&P and never had a problem with it after the L&P cures.
I would have just offered to re-do the one nail that had the lifting but if she absolutely insisted on a soak off, then seeing as the other nails were fine, I would have charged her for this service, after all it is your valuable time we are talking about here. I would definitely NOT have given her a refund at all seeing as the rest of the nails were fine.
Some people spend their life doing things like this....they need something for a special night out, then try to get their money back on whatever they bought afterwards...they do it with clothes, shoes, make-up, nails etc.....dont let this one client make you dispondent....your other clients seem to be happy and have not complained so carry on and be happy:hug: