Help with lady requesting refund ?

[NailsNovice]

Hi All,

I have a little dilema. I did a full set of L&P on a new client wednesday last week. The lady had short bitten nails and had not worn nails before. Her hands looked transformed and she was extremely happy with them. She stated that she wanted them very short as she was a dental nurse. I kept them as short as possible (minimal free edge).

I provided the usual aftercare speech, and left her with aftercare advice.
She was going camping the following day.

I have today (Friday - 1 and half weeks later) received a phone call from her telling me she is not happy with her nails and that they have nearly all fallen off. I explained that I was surprised to hear this and offered to see her and see what the problem was, as I have not had this before.

She said she did not want to see me to rectify her nails and she was having them done by someone else this afternoon, she just wanted her money back.

I explained I would need to see her hands, she just continued she wanted her money back. I finished the call by arranging to go and see her next week (although she will have new nails on by someone else today).

This call has been bugging me. I don't think I shoud offer a refund, but how do I tell her this !!!! sorry its such a long one !

 

[looby lou]

For a bloody start, she should be coming back for an infill after a week and a half as we all know that for some strange reason, nail biters nails grow really quick after having enhancements applied.

Second, if she was happy with her nails then no way should she be asking for a refund?! If she was unhappy at the time she should have said.

Third, you can't rely on her telling you that she isnt happy and that she deserves her money back, you know why? COS YOU'RE THE NAIL TECH AND YOU NEED TO SEE WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT!!

And anyway, before a refund you should offer to rectify whatever, if anything, is wrong!!

Oooh, sounds like a scrounger to me!

 

[Rose143]

Hi Claire,

If what you say is the case and this hasn't happened to you before ...

Some clients do chance it, especially since she is not willing to come back in. I would say to her that she will not receive the refund if you don't get to see her nails, WITHOUT someone else doing them.

And it has been 1 and a half weeks which means she is almost due for her maintenance visit anyway and she has been camping. What did she expect? The fact you gave her aftercare advice and kept the nails short is good work on your part. She also needs to take into consideration that she hasn't had these done before, it's to be expected that she needs time to adjust to ways of working with her nails.

I would insist she comes back in, offer her the maintenance treatment half price to correct them yourself. Say to her you'd like to figure out what the problem is as this can help you in the future for future clients.

Hope this helps

xxxx

 

[melissaq]

she probably flubbed them all up camping ! No Way!!! would I give her a refund........If she had a problem with them it would have happened in a day or two ....not a week and a half.......
perhaps she is asking for a refund so she will have enough money to go to the other tech.....
And if she refuses to come in how are you supposed to tell how they came off....maybe she also does not want you to see the damage....perhaps from some teeth?...no refund!!!

Although I do great nails ......I do not guarantee nails past my door .....especially on a nail biter ......

 

[florence2004]

trading standards rules are that the company giving the service should have the chance to put things right. The law states that you do not have to giv a refund. If she will not allow you to rectify the situation then you do not need to refund her.

 

[littlegrohl]

As Techs we really have to try and drop the guilt we let others put on us.. I know from experiance how much self-doubt goes with the job..:irked:
Its the one aspect i hate.. twice i have been put in a position where i felt terrible and lost sleep.. those were the early days.. Now i have gotten savvy on how to deal with people like the one your describing.. Some people have some nerve..
You have offered to set things right and she is obviously avoiding you because she is at fault.. so let the next tech have her and be done with it.. How the hell can you see the problem if she has another techs work on?? makes no sense to me..for every client like her you will find two worth their salt.. Some unfortunately dont get the idea that having enhancements means constant care..you did everything right.. so stick to your guns!

 

[Sassy Hassy]

trading standards rules are that the company giving the service should have the chance to put things right. The law states that you do not have to giv a refund. If she will not allow you to rectify the situation then you do not need to refund her.

Yup that's the one you hit her with!!!!

 

[pink apple]

There are always a few like this out there, trying it on - xGood Luckx

 

[Bluetiger]

I agree with all of the above. If it was something she thought that was your fault she'd be banging your door down for a refund! So with that in mind, and the fact that she's having them re-done by someone else BEFORE she is willing to see you then I would say that she KNOWS that she is at fault NOT YOU!!

I'd just tell her no way are you going to refund her and leave it at that - you don't need clients like that anyway!!

 

[missgelfling]

If it was your fault, she would be desperate to show you what has happened and not have someone else do her nails first. You cannot give her a refund!!! If I went into my local hair salon and they dyed my hair and a week later I wasn't happy, I would not go into another salon and have it fixed and then except the first salon to refund me - they would tell me where to go!!! And this is just the same. She is trying it on with you and I would be really firm with her and tell her that you cannot refund her until you have seen her nails before they are applied by another salon.
I would call her back - there is no need to go and see her nails after they have been done again - this won't solve anything. Tell her that if she wants a refund she will have to come to you or you go to her before she has a new set otherwise you will be unable to offer a refund. Then you can see what state her nails are in and see whether she was the cause of the nails coming off or whether it would be honourable to give her a refund.
Please don't get worked up about this - there are people out there who try it on.
Let us know the outcome.
xx

 

[Lisa2810]

i must say that i was taught that nail biters need a re-balance every week for a couple of weeks untill the nail growth slows back down. I am a nail biter :o:smack: and i need a re-balance every week to 10 days or my nails start to look awful. and if they look bad, being the nail biter i am, guess what.... i start biting. :Grope: before i qualified i used to get my nails done by a local tech and she would always tell me that she could not garentee how long my nails would last because i was a biter. Which is exactly the same as i now advise my naughty clients lol. This might sound like a self confession but what i'm trying to say is that if i were you i would most definately not be refunding this client. she's a nail biter, she's never had them on before AND she's been camping....the fact that they stayed on a week and a half sounds pretty good to me. HTH

Lisa xxx

 

[izzidoll]

This article by Geeg will give you great advice about how to deal with these kind of situations.
http://www.salongeek.com/business/51249-show-you-confident-yourself-your-work-some-tricks.html

 

[Urban Geek]

I would tell her to go and rotate! You gave her the opportunity for you to assess them and she didn't take you up on that. In any case, one and a half weeks later is a bit late to complain about poor workmanship. Poor workmanship would have shown long before then. Tell her you are confident that you did a good job considering the weak foundation you had to work with. Don't let her knock your confidence.

 

[Bagpuss]

I wouldn't even waste my time going to see her next week, like you said whats the point there will be nothing for you see but someone else's work.

Nails cannot be guaranteed as we don't know what they are doing with them once they have left us.....its only our good will that decides we will honer broken nails in the first week for a free repair....and we don't even HAVE to do that.

Any kind of guarantee that she thinks she may have had she has voided herself.

She is being totally unrealistic...what does she think this is...Marks and Spencer !!..:lol:

 

[Minipig007]

This article by Geeg will give you great advice about how to deal with these kind of situations.
http://www.salongeek.com/business/51249-show-you-confident-yourself-your-work-some-tricks.html

This article contains excellent advice for dealing with complaints. I was a complaint handler for 4 1/2 years.. (yes, all day, every day!), and I have always worked on the basis of not accepting liability until YOU can see it was your fault. If the client is unwilling to co-operate, you cannot resolve the complaint to anyone's satisfaction.

I hope this works out for you. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

She is being totally unrealistic...what does she think this is...Marks and Spencer !!..:lol:

... and even they don't always refund! we used to have a client that worked on the refund counter and some of the stories she told us were unreal - clothes that were over 5 years old, someone wanting to exchange a christmas present that turned out to be a promo free gift and so on. All their stuff is recorded by the bar codes! ... oh and they want to have the goods back too! can't see them giving refunds for goods that a person has lost or broken!

 

['chelle]

trading standards rules are that the company giving the service should have the chance to put things right. The law states that you do not have to giv a refund. If she will not allow you to rectify the situation then you do not need to refund her.

Hi, can I just say that although I dont have any experience of this type of refund demanding client, I do know that I would tell this client to swivel, she can forget her refund!!! As someone else said earlier, if they genuinely "just fell off" she would be camping outside your door waiting to show you your shoddy work. There is another thread somewhere called "they just fell off", have a look it may help you. Jackie's advice that I have quoted is good but not quite right I'm afraid, I'm about to become a nail tech, but at the moment I'm a legal executive and have a detailed knowledge of consumer law: the Sale of Goods Act states that when goods or services are faulty the aggrieved party is entitled to a full refund or a repair but its up to the buyer to choose, however she must return to you and show you whats wrong. Think of it this way, if you bought...ooooh I dont know, say.... a mobile phone. You were pleased with it in the shop, got it home, then it fell to bits and was unuseable, how do you think the shop would react if you went back in without the phone asking for a refund? You would be laughed out, same as you should do with this woman. What system do you use, are you using retention+? If so, they cannot just physically fall off without some user error, as this system is keratin bonding which means it literally fuses to the nail plate and cannot just fall off (I dont know if other monomers are keratin bonding, but if so, same applies). Have confidence in your workmanship and your products and tell this lady to take a walk, you dont need clients like her.
Well sorry to ramble, but I'm just about to start in business for myself and know how hard it is, so p*ss takers like her really get me mad!!! Good luck, post a reply on this thread when youve seen her and let us know how you go on xx

 

[EllaX]

i had one like this - she rung up to tell me she wanted her money back cos her nails came off 3 weeks ago

i said thats strange, why didn't you ring me as soon as it happened?? (ie not 3 weeks after the problem occured)

'oh i knew you was going on holiday' i said yes but i did your nails wed, if they fell off on thurs like you said i could have fixed them thurs night or fri night and then they would have been good for the wedding on sat (which is why she had had them done)

she then got flustered oh well er last time you did them i broke 2 nails so that shows you aren't doing your job properly - i said yes but you went 6 weeks between infills, i did recommend 2, etc etc

to cut a long story short she backed down cos i wouldn't give her her money back (she probably was low on cider) some clients will try and take advantage of peoples good nature - try not to let it worry you, you always get the ones that are after a freebie!! xx

 

[minky]

Hi, this may be helpful to you,
also it might help stop you from getting too worried over things
this is also by Geeg, :hug:

What to do if you have a Serious Complaint

 

[NailsNovice]

Thanks everyone.

When she rang I sounded like such a fool, because I was so taken aback by what she was telling me.

Reading Gigi's article was fab, and your all right I will tell her where to get off..... politely and professionally of course !!:lol: