Avolve is getting rave reviews in Australia, all you have to do is follow the instructions.
Just like any product, when people get lazy, cut corners, and mix products, problems can arise.
Avolve is all about preserving the natural nailplate, a deep cleanse of the nailpate, cleaning out the natural nail grooves allowing the product to anchor itself in the natural grooves, rather than man/woman made scratches, which in most cases can flatten out the surface of the nailplate (both thinning and damaging it) and actually hinder adhesion.
Most techs I have spoken to that have issues with using the tool, are not being thorough with their prep and just want to slap the acrylic onto a poorly prepped nail and rush the client out the door.
After being properly trained/shown what respect for the natural nail actually does, have no problems whatsoever.
Seems you have been doing nails for many years Sarah and were probably trained the old fashioned way, further training can never go astray.
Research and development of products has come a long way, you no longer have to scratch the nail surface of the natural nail to get proper and long lasting adhesion.
Perhaps you can give me a run through of your preparation process so I can help you.
In the meantime, you can check out this video, it shows the prep routine how it is "meant" to be.
But if you want to be lazy, I guess you could buff the nail, it would depend on how much you care about the nail underneath. How would you choose to remove the cuticle though? Or weren't you taught the importance of that?
YouTube - Acrylic Nails - Natural Looking Acrylic Nails Part 1