Product won't stick! - Unhappy client

[Dr.Girlfriend.81]

I'm still new to the trade (I finished school and started work last August), and I've used a number of well-known, good-reputation products -- Back Scratchers Extreme, CND Brisa, OPI Axxium, CND Retention. I prepare the nail properly, taking care to push back the cuticle and remove overgrowth, file to take off the shine, use 90% alcohol to remove oil and debris. I follow all the instructions for whichever product I'm using to a tee.

So what am I doing wrong? Most of my clients are just fine, I never have issues with product adhering on them, but I've got 2 or 3 clients that, no matter how I prepare the nail, no matter which type of product I use, their nails are coming off within days. I actually had a lady walk out without paying after I finished a repair yesterday because she didn't think my 48 hour guarantee should apply to her. (I guarantee my work for 48 hours, but her thumb popped off after 4 days.)

What else is there for me to try?

 

[blossom]

is it more about what these few clients are doing with their nails? Chemicals they may be coming into contact with?

Or do they all have a certain nail type in common ie paper thin/bendy?

 

[corn_pops]

Like you, I have experience this same situation with a few clients only. What those clients have in common:

1 - extremely bitten nails
2 - thyroid problems
3 - hormonal medication

Every time i do nails to those types of clients, in less than 1 week some nail have fall of, others have extreme lifting and are falling of. I refuse to do nails to those clients, so i kindly ask to all of them before i do a service, do you have thyroid problems? do you have hormonal problems and are using some medication??...Those clients admit that when they go to NSS they dont have problems and acrylics last like 2 months pointing at me like "so, you don,t know what you,re doing that nails don,t last if i do it with you". I don,t care, i don,t do the service to these type of clients, i am not an NSS and don,t use their products or technique with the efile.

I always guarantee my service for 7 days, most of my clients (that don,t have the 3 situation i post above) go normally without any hazzle with their nails for 4 and 5 weeks.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend.81]

Like you, I have experience this same situation with a few clients only. What those clients have in common:

1 - extremely bitten nails
2 - thyroid problems
3 - hormonal medication

Every time i do nails to those types of clients, in less than 1 week some nail have fall of, others have extreme lifting and are falling of. I refuse to do nails to those clients, so i kindly ask to all of them before i do a service, do you have thyroid problems? do you have hormonal problems and are using some medication??...Those clients admit that when they go to NSS they dont have problems and acrylics last like 2 months pointing at me like "so, you don,t know what you,re doing that nails don,t last if i do it with you". I don,t care, i don,t do the service to these type of clients, i am not an NSS and don,t use their products or technique with the efile.

I always guarantee my service for 7 days, most of my clients (that don,t have the 3 situation i post above) go normally without any hazzle with their nails for 4 and 5 weeks.

I'm gonna have to start asking about thyroid/hormone problems! I've never thought of that. My sis-in-law has Lupus and is on all kinds of meds, and she's one of the ones that I can't get nails to stick to. We finally gave up and just do gel polish now. That seemed to do the trick for her.

And that was something else she said, too. "Well when I go to those 'Oriental' places"... (because people in backwoods Oklahoma still use the offensively outdated term "Oriental") ..."they NEVER fall off! And they use the same stuff you do!" Which I think either a) is total bull; if they use the same products I do, they should be falling off just as easily, or b) these NSS places are using MMA (totally illegal), in which case, of COURSE mine come off easier than theirs! They're using the same crap surgeons use to cement bones together!

 

[kdc]

Those 'oriental places' also butcher your nails!! We have had many clients come in and ask advice for nails when those extensions come off, uneven nail surface, soft/sore spots on the nail etc, extensions dont last long on me whatever the product used but i am just heavy handed and thats my problem that cant be helped x

 

[Dr.Girlfriend.81]

Those 'oriental places' also butcher your nails!! We have had many clients come in and ask advice for nails when those extensions come off, uneven nail surface, soft/sore spots on the nail etc, extensions dont last long on me whatever the product used but i am just heavy handed and thats my problem that cant be helped x

Yes they do! This lady had the dreaded ring of fire about halfway down on each and every nail from the last time she had them done at her usual NSS...and she expected me to "fix" it. She was disappointed when she could still see it through the clear acrylic.

 

[corn_pops]

Yes. I don,t know what on earth on NSS they use (if it is MMA or something worse) since I cannot explain to myself, if they use similar products as I, how on earth their acrylics last 2 months to anyone?. If it were my prep, problems will happen with all my clients, not just a few that have medical problems. I can,t explain this to myself, but i always ask to clients if they are using some medication or have thyroid before any service, a few clients answer "yes i do have thyroid, but when i go to NSS nails don,t come off", and they look at me like "so, you don,t know what you,re doing or your products sucks", i prefer to keep a bad image of my products or even myself as tech, instead of doing a service to these clients and start getting complain in less than 1 week

 

[kdc]

Iv had many clients in that use these places and have said they were cut with the tools and when i have questioned if the tool was sterilized they all say the service was just carried on without cleaning the equipment!! This shocks most clients x

 

[kdc]

Dont give up on your nails if it is just a few clients this is happening to, im sure your nails are fab and their is another reason for this happening x

 

[corn_pops]

Yes they do! This lady had the dreaded ring of fire about halfway down on each and every nail from the last time she had them done at her usual NSS...and she expected me to "fix" it. She was disappointed when she could still see it through the clear acrylic.

Ouch, I got a client like 3 weeks ago that had extensions for a year, she did her infills on NSS and ask me to remove them and do a new set, i spent 3 hours removing those things! I was soaking in acetone for 15 mins and those monsters didn,t put soft like a normal ethyl monomer would. I was doing hand file and soaking, and they were very thick, hard and didn,t want to come off :Scared: i finally remove it after 3 hours, the client natural nails have spot, uneven surface, etc. She told me that yes, efile was a must in all her previous nail services, i sculpted a new set on this client and acrylics came off in 4 days...she hide to me she have hormonal problems even if i,ve asked before doing the sculpt, of course she point at me like it was my fault and my products were of poor quality, even if i tried to explain it was her condition, she refuse to accept this since she spent 1 year with acrylics from NSS without any problem.

Anyway, i don,t offer nail service to these type of clients.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend.81]

Yes. I don,t know what on earth on NSS they use (if it is MMA or something worse) since I cannot explain to myself, if they use similar products as I, how on earth their acrylics last 2 months to anyone?

Exactly! They all SAY "Oh, well it lasts like 2 full months when I go to the 'Oriental' places!" but they never have proof of that. It's irritating. What do I do about a problem client like this, though? She's already tried to tarnish my name. This morning, just about an hour or so after I posted here, she got on our salon's Facebook page and said something like "Well the salon is beautiful, but all my nails are popping off less than a week after I had them done by Toni." I was lucky enough to catch it as it happened, cuz I was already on Facebook and saw it get posted in real time, so I immediately deleted it and messaged her through the page with a very cordial "If you're unhappy with your nails, I'd be happy to try a different product on you next time." She hasn't responded back yet, and I'm on edge now that she's gonna try to smear my name.

I take great pride in what I do, and I'm good at it! I'm not conceited about it, but I do know that I have valuable skills in this particular field. I went to Skills USA, I graduated with multiple awards -- including National Technical Honor Society, and even my instructor (who I never saw do this with other graduates before me) gave me a touching card and a very generous graduation gift because she believed in me. And now that I'm out in the "real world" with this, I've got clients like this lady who's used to getting a 30 minute hack job for $20, besmirching my name publicly because she doesn't know how to take care of her hands.

 

[corn_pops]

Dr.Girlfriend.8 Clients won,t understand no matter how much you explain to them,
that the products we use are made to work with the standard PH of nails on healthy
people. PH on nails of people with thyroid problems or other disease change, and primer
, ph bond, acrylics, etc. don,t stick on this. But a client won,t understand this no matter what, specially if that client have went to NSS

I only have had this experience with a few clients, I sometimes offer another service or products, and they still don,t work, but i apologize and explain that unfortunately, my products are not compatible with them. Clients take this more easily instead of pointing their condition as the cause.

 

[kdc]

I dont no what else to suggest about this client, instead of coming back to you to rectify her nails she has posted on your business page and i think thats shocking, you have then offered to try another product and she has not responded to you. What more can you do? Personally if i was going somewhere and my nails were lasting '2 month' i wouldnt feel the need to try somewhere else x

 

[corn_pops]

Iv had many clients in that use these places and have said they were cut with the tools and when i have questioned if the tool was sterilized they all say the service was just carried on without cleaning the equipment!! This shocks most clients x

I went to NSS a few years ago, when i didn,t know anything about nails. they don,t push cuticle back, they use efile rubber bit to remove the shine of the natural nail and the cuticle, they use super glue on your natural nail and apply tip over it, they use efile again to blend the tip, and when they put the acrylics on, they use efile at almost max speed with the carbide golden bit (the one with the little teeth on it) to file the acrylic, and YES THEY ALSO CUT YOUR FINGERS with this. And no,they don,t clean neither sterilized the bit of the efile.

 

[kdc]

Also been a victim myself in my teenage years x

 

[corn_pops]

I have a facebook for my business even if i,m only mobile. But if one of my clients post a negative comment on my public area, i will do the same as Dr.Gilfriend did, but if client don,t answer me and again post a negative comment on my FB, i will delete and block her from my FB, and kindly ask her if she doesn,t feel happy with the service, to please contact me or went to my place for another product or fix.

You don,t need your reputation to fall down for 1 client with a possible medical problem that avoid your product to work with her.

 

[Dr.Girlfriend.81]

Thank you guys all so much. You've made me feel confident about my abilities again. :Love: