Salon taking advantage of me!!

[Moby]

Hi Guys, rare poster here, normally just a reader but i was feeling particularly down today :cry:
I quit my office job end of May and found the perfect salon job doing nails a week later! Was so happy and have loved it there.... until recently....
I'm on a 70/30 split and was slowly raking in the cash, (nowhere near as much as my office job, but a good amount for the hours i did) i have also been back to see my trainer regularly who has helped me loads in improvng so i'm happy with the nails i produce, never had complaints, and they look good when they return and i have only been doing nails for less than a year.
Anyway - i'm classified as self employed - however, i have always helped at the salon, cleaning, helping train new staff, doing end of day, accounts stuff, putting new locks on the doors, fixing the stereo, installing the computer etc etc, it goes on - And not asking a penny for it.
Now - everyone knows that Sept / Oct are quiet months but mine have been especially quiet, even though i had gained a few regulars after only a few months - i made about £300 in Sept and £15 in the last 3 days!!
I was looking in the diary today to see that the other lady who does Bio Sculpture the 2 days i'm not here was particularly full - only to realise one of my clients name on there! i spoke to a beautician friend there and asked her about it, she said she didn't want to say anything but some of my clients have been sent to her! And that the receptionist was encouraging it!!! And, stupidly, i forgot that the other technician was a good friend of my bosses!
I couldn't believe it! My clients were being pinched by someone in the same salon!!!!
I feel like a mug, i come in every tues, wed & thurs and sit there just in case there are walk ins and i help out, while the other technician only ever used to come in when she had a defo booking! but it seems after all my hard work, she's been given a job after me and 2 months later she is fully booked!
I feel like an idiot and that they have taken advantage of me :cry: It just seems that they saw me as free staff cover for those 3 days! I'm so angry!
I mean, does this often happen in salons?? I can handle bitchiness but i just thought this was wrong of the other tehnician and damn right disgusting of them to take advantage - It seems so clear to me now and i jutt feel like leaving :cry:
What would anyone else do? i'm so confused because i liked it there so much and everyone was so nice but now i think they were just keeping me sweet. Am i being over the top here??

 

[wizz]

I am chocked, what a story

I do NOT think you are over the top! Maybe you will think a little more clear tomorrow, but at the momonet you are deffinately allowed to be blinde with rage.

I would feel so bad having to go back in tomorrow.... Unfortunately a lot of bitchy stuff can go on in a salon. having alot of women working together and no men to balance it out, can be hell.... I'm talking from experience. But I have NEVER experienced anything like that.

I think I would look for another place to set up, maybe a place where you are the only one doing nails (thats what I am doing). Then no one can pinch your clients!

I am sooooo sorry for you :hug: and I am sure you will get a lot of support in here!

Please let us know how you manage it, and keep us updated!

:hug:

 

[kittenclaws]

hun im not to sure what to suggest as i have not been in this situation but you are well within your rights to be p***** off and upset, i would just tell them whare to jump but i know its not that easy as its your job, hun can you talk to the boss tomarow and let her know how you feel and that its totaly unacceptable, i think that as you are self employed the clients are "your clients" and she cant just hijack them, i really feel for you hun and hope things work out,:hug:
hopefully someone on here will have some better advice than me

 

[JOM]

that's bad mate

have a word with your boss and tell them you get your clients back or leave... it's there loss.

 

[VHunter]

THANK YOU for reminding me WHY I never want to work in a salon ever again.

You have my sympathies. They're thieves in my books, they might as well have helped themselves to your wallet for all intents...

I say look elsewhere, no point battling it out. Odds are it won't work in your favor. Look elseswhere 'quietly' without letting on and move on. OR start up on your own.

Best of luck
:hug:

 

[BABSann]

This is totally unprofessional.I would speak to your boss and get this sorted pronto.

I would be furious,who does this receptionist think she is?

Be strong,take a deep breath and speak firmly to your boss as this is totally unacceptable.

Good luck.:hug:

 

[wizz]

that's bad mate

have a word with your boss and tell them you get your clients back or leave... it's there loss.

Thaats what I would do too. It is an ultimatum that could loose you your jod... but if you don't put your foot down you will probably keep loosing clients and never build up you business there. And I am betting you wouldn't want to work a place like that for long anyways!

What ever you do, if you have any client you feel are pretty regular, I would call them and try to win them back. And if you find another place really do what you can to take as many clients with you as possible

An eye for an eye :twisted:

 

[Urban Geek]

Perhaps give your business card out to your clients and ask that they telephone you direct for an appointment.

Have those clients been told you have left or something? Have the clients not asked when you are available?

Speak with the owner/manager and highlight your concerns.

 

[loubylou]

You are self employed so they are your clients, personally i would leave and take my client record cards and clients with me, do it from home or mobile if you need to till you can get some where to rent from be it a shop of your own or a space in a shop,salon,sunbed shop,chemist,hairdressers etc, you know you are good enough to go it alone and they dont deserve you, good luck in what ever you choose to do :hug:

 

[1999judy]

Put a big poster up in the salon advertising your services, state the days you are available and exactly what you offer.
Unfortunately there can be an element of bitchiness in some salons, try not to let it put you off the job x

 

[Susie H]

If I were you I would quietly take the phone number of all of MY clients and find myself another spot to work in, phone MY clients and take them with me. and I would pay 20% to the place I went to and supply my own products. Wouldn't rant and rave, just quietly pack up my toys and go play somewhere else:lol: Its what I did, but I went mobile.

 

[~shelley~]

could you maybe start making your own appointments? x

 

[NtricateDesigns]

RUN! Run fast and far, find a place to work where you are CELEBRATED and NOT TOLLERATED!!!

 

[geeg]

I would show your 'boss' your post (as it pretty well explains everything) and ask her for an explanation.

Depending on her answer ... you contact all YOUR clients as soon as you can set yourself up somewhere else and leave.

 

[Beckyjane]

Aww bless hun, this thread really touched me - you sound like such a nice girl and it must be really horrible to have to go back and face them (personally i dont think i'd bother) BUT it might be best to have a chat with your boss and try and sort it out one-on-one to get some answers!....

Let us know how you get on xxx

 

[tinywaistbabe]

I know just how you feel, this has happend to me i was the only one doing nails,i use to sit there some days i would not make a bean i took phone calls swept floors eveything just to pass the time.

I had to give the owner 30% of any thing that i got so it was quite alot but i liked it there and i could see the potential in the nails so i stayed.
that was until the beauty girl came,she said right from the start that she was going to keep doing manicures so i knew that there was going to be up roar.
im a very easy going girl and i just got on with it.
this girl had 6years experance as a nail tech and i only had 2.
i had done all the girls in the shop and had gave them a discount but when i wasnt there she would stir it, the long and short of it was that i was working and one of the girls that worked there on her day off came in walked straight passed me and sat it the beauty girls table to get her nails done.
you can imagine what a prat i felt, that was the day i said to my self as i walked out the door with the bigist smile on my face that i was not going to stand for that kind of **** anymore.
i didnt go back after that and she has lost out on my 30%.
im now renting a table in a nice salon where im the only one doing nails and i only pay £30.00 rent a week.
my smile gets bigger every day.

if you dont get any joy trying to sort this out then find yourself some where else.
you deserve better girl.:smack:

 

[pattycakes]

:cry: Poor you, Moby.
This is exactly why so many of us are "self employed' in our own salon or mobile.
I agree totally with Geeg, you need to bring this to the attention of your boss. Whether or not the boss condones it though, things will never be the same for you in that shop.
Get your clients phone numbers and pleasantly let them know of your new spot! Good luck to you!
And.... as you see here, you're not alone- this type of thing happens often.
too bad but keep your own entegrity and you will soon be recognized for it. :hug: :hug:

 

[ANGELPIE]

I hope you dont migned but i showed your post to my father who ok doesnt work in a salon but knows alot about employment and our rights etc, He suggested that you give all your clients a call tell them why theyve not been booked in with you and suggest they come back to you,unless they are happy with the other technician at the end of the day they where your clients if you are really unhappy then yes i would say get your clients info take them with you? This is really wrong it really made me and my father angry. I feel for you!

 

[rachp]

You are self employed so they are your clients, personally i would leave and take my client record cards and clients with me, do it from home or mobile if you need to till you can get some where to rent from be it a shop of your own or a space in a shop,salon,sunbed shop,chemist,hairdressers etc, you know you are good enough to go it alone and they dont deserve you, good luck in what ever you choose to do :hug:

i agree here! a similar thing happened to me this summer, and i took my clients and went mobile! all my clients have stayed with me and are disgusted at how the salon treated me, they have hardly any nail customers now and have lost out on my rent. Ive still got my clients so sod them! go for it, and what you earn is all yours! Good Luck chuck xxx

 

[Moby]

OMG GUYS! Thanks for all your support!! I'm so happy!! I even went to my trainer yesterday to tell her what's happening because i was so upset - She was so understanding, she told me to speak to the boss & if she has no reasonable explanation (how can she??) then get out of there!

My boss rang me this morning too (it's my day off) and asked me to come in "Oh, oh Mo? Could you by any chance come in today? A client is asking for you - uh, specifically for you..."

I felt like saying to her "oh, is that one of my clients coming back to me then??" But i didn't, i just said no.

The thing is, the salon is 20 miles there and back as it is, i think if i did leave, i would just start afresh and closer to home, and i think i won't gain any clients there in the future anyway - they'll just be passed on until they don't need me anymore.....

I don't know, i've been thinking alot about it, and yes i think i will leave!!!!!! I'll just have to look non-stop for another job, and like most of you said, set up from home - but i think it's now or never, i will have to speak to her next week when i see her.....

But i'm still being a bit of a wuss about how to tell her! Don't ask me why but i'm scared and feel guilty if i just leave on the spot!!

Anyway, thanks again guys for you help and being so uderstanding - i will let you all know by the end of the week what happened!!!!