Help please, client complaint

[KimmyB66]

Hi All, i have just had my first complaint from a client and don't know what to do. I'm finding this situation very upsetting!
She says i have damaged her nails and wants compensation consisting of the last set of acrylic infills i did, the cost of going to another nail tech to remove the acrylic and do a manicure, and a treatment which was sold to her to apply daily.
I trained in acrylics 3 1/2 years ago which i know is not long. I have been doing acrylic overlay and infills every 3 weeks on her since then. I have found her nails to be a little troublesome at times because of lifting, which i rarely see in my other clients. A few months ago i found a bright green stain under a lifting nail, so i did a bit of homework on the internet to see what it was as i had not come across it before. I came to the conclusion that it had probably happened due to water being trapped under the lifting acrylic.
I continued to do infills, but always made sure the lifting acrylic was removed, the nail was lightly buffed, sanitised, dehydrated, primed and infilled. I told her i thought it was trapped moisture and it served no purpose to try and file off all the green as it would only make her nail thin, and the stain would grow out. Then a couple more nails went green, and i continued the infills as above.
At her last appointment with me on 27th Nov she wanted french acrylics. As i didn't have time for an acrylic removal and reapplication as the appointment was for infills (and i have never done french acrylics) i suggested using gel polish to do the french but that i was worried the green stain would show through.
She then txt me a couple of days later and cancelled all upcoming appointments and i have not seen her since.
She then whatsapped me 4 days ago, and an email today.
Quite often she had lifting at the back, but never came to me as they lifted, just waited until her next appointment. I do have photos that she has sent me, and her nails look terrible particularly at the free edge where they have split and broke, which is where the green had grown to. I have a suspicion that she tried to remove the acrylic herself, and found weak nails so then went to someone else to tidy them up, but thats not what she is saying.

What should i do? Should i inform my insurance company incase she wants to formally make a claim? Should i just pay her? Should i now ignore her? Did i ruin her nails???? Sorry this thread is so long! MANY THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS AND REPLY. xxxxx

 

[TheDuchess]

Hi Hun. I'm afraid you need to get better educated. You don't know enough about acrylic application to be safe. You should at least be able to read and understand what comes up if you google "bright green stain under nail" and not think you can carry on taking money from your client for treatments.

I'm not a nail tech and I'm not trained in acrylic but I just googled the above and now it seems that I know more than you.

This is a bacterial infection and you should not have ignored it. You might have caused it, you might have spread it and even if you did nothing wrong you certainly risked her safety by not giving her proper aftercare advice. You had no business carrying on applying acrylics, taking her money and telling her not to worry.

I would contact your insurance company for advice in the morning and get yourself to an educator who can go through hygiene basics, diseases of the nail and contraindications with you.

 

[holisticzoe]

If she has only cancelled her appointments I think you've been lucky, that is an infection a d sorry but by carrying on doing her nails you may have spread it and caused more damage, I'd contact your insurance company and see what they suggest and email her back a big apology and hope that will do.

Hope it works out for you

 

[Cindy2021]

It’s a pseudomonas or greenies as you may have seen it called before.

It is or definitely should be in your basic training on how to identify it. You are correct I’m saying it’s probably been caused by trapped moisture if she has had lifting. And you were right to remove the lifting product, expose the affected nail plate to the air then go on as you normally would however the client should have been told exactly what to do to avoid this happening. If it lifts then she comes back for a repair!

If her entire nail is green that’s been there for months.
I would have been concerned once “more nails went green” and would have done a full removal.

Do you feel like you gave her proper aftercare? And if so has she just ignored it?

 

[Cindy2021]

If she has only cancelled her appointments I think you've been lucky, that is an infection a d sorry but by carrying on doing her nails you may have spread it and caused more damage, I'd contact your insurance company and see what they suggest and email her back a big apology and hope that will do.

Hope it works out for you

There’s no need to stop doing her nails because of this unless it’s extremely severe and there are other related issues. Product can be applied over if done correctly and aftercare followed to prevent it happening again where possible.

This is certainly the education I was given during my mani/pedi and artificial nail enhancement training. Were you taught different?

 

[7th-Heaven]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you should know what a pseudomona is, especially having been in the business this long. This is quite a basic thing to know. On the other hand, anyone can make a mistake so please don't beat yourself up anymore about this, as I am sure this hasn't been a pleasant situation. I'm not sure how the insurance can help in this case. Maybe refunding her and paying for her removal is cheaper than potentially increasing your insurance fee and having it on record? At the end of the day, it's "just" a pseudomona, aka a bacterial infection. It's not fungus, and it's dead the moment it's exposed to air. She also has thin and damaged nails, well if she's always suffered lifting, this could be a factor, since it's not good for the nail to constantly have product separated from the nail plate. Going forward I think it's important to insist proper aftercare is followed, or perhaps a length or product that works better for her. Cuticle oil must be used every day for problem lifters like her. If the client doesn't have one and won't buy one, I suggest gifting a small oil, the kind that costs very little for us to purchase in bulk. I wish you luck going forward, best wishes and I hope this issue is out of your life very soon. xx

 

[TheDuchess]

I used to be a commercial insurance broker. Something like this, which you've mentioned on an open forum where you can be identified, must be declared to your insurance company because it's what is called a material fact. Hiding information that the insurance company would have liked to know about can invalidate your insurance cover. This means that the insurance company can refuse to pay out even for a totally unrelated claim.

If you disclose it, but don't claim, your insurance premium won't automatically go up next year. It's not like car insurance.

I suggest that write to your client to say you are sorry and most concerned to see the state of her nails. Say politely that you are very sorry but this is what happens if moisture gets trapped under her acrylic and that you have reminded her about this in previous appointments. Tell her that if she has any chips, cracks or lifting she must get a professional repair or removal and you glad that she has done this. Say that you don't think that anything that you did had anything to do with the current condition of her nails but you quite understand how upsetting this has been for her. Say that you are happy to refund her at her request as a "goodwill gesture in full and final settlement of this matter" as she has been a loyal and regular client, but this is in no way implies that you are responsible or liable for her nail problems as this is a problem associated with aftercare which is outside your control. Say that you wish her all the best for the future.

Then breathe a huge sigh of relief, learn the lessons and take all the excellent advice posted here very much to heart. And say to yourself, "gosh I was so lucky that things went so smoothly" Don't dwell or distress yourself. This is a very good outcome for you.

Good luck and never stop learning!