Should you charge for a nail that has lifted after only 4 days??

[Beau Chic]

Hi everyone
Would love to know what the general consensus is on the following. I had a french gel (soak off system) manicure on Friday (£35), I notice last night a very small chip on one of my fingers. After showering etc this morning the corner had lifted.
I rang up the salon and told them and they said to come in this morning and they will have a look. I didn't peel it off, there was just a little flap. Anyway she said she couldn't repair it and so soaked it off and applied new polish to this one finger. I thanked her and was about to leave and she said I would have to pay for it.
I was a little taken aback because if any of my clients have any problems in the first few days I would never charge them and would redo the problem for free. If it had happened after a week I wouldn't have expected it free but when I noticed it last night it was only 3 days after having them done.
Just wondered what you guys do in this situation.
She charged me £2.50 but because I didn't expect to pay I had no change on me and so had to use my credit card which she charged me for because it was a small payment!! By the time I'd paid my parking I felt a bit cheesed off that a £35 manicure ended up costing me over £40!!! I would normally do my own nails and it wouldn't cost me anything but I actually hate doing my own french cos it takes too long and I thought I'd treat myself for a change, also its like doing a bit of market research checking out other brands and service and this incident has left me wondering.
I don't get many people having problems after a few days but the few I've had I've never charged and if its happened again I've advised my client that perhaps the treatment doesn't suit their nails or their lifestyle!! Sam xx

 

[Becky_simon]

Hi there

In my mind a soak off gel shouldn't be chipping, espically just after 3-4 days. However, I would always give my client an aftercare sheet so hopefully she would follow and help prolong her manicure. If she didn't/wasn't doing any of the aftercare then partentially she could have caused the chip, lift etc.

We all have accidents too, and if she caught her nail which caused the chip then that would be her fault. So if the client isn't following the aftercare and this happened I would probably do this repair for free, to show good customer service. If the same thing happened I would then charge. If she had an accident that caused this I would also charge.

If the client was performing her aftercare and this happened after 3-4 days then yes definately free of charge repair. I presume the this senario (bad spelling sorry) describes you? So I think you shouldn't have paid.

 

[izzidoll]

Either way she should have told you the cost before carrying out the service.

I would not have charged in this scenario.
With a new client, whom I would hope would become a regular, I would think it good customer relations to have fixed this for free.

 

[Beau Chic]

Thanks for your replies. Yes this is what I thought!!. Obviously i know the aftercare advice because I do OPI gel polish myself and I was probably even more careful with looking after my nails because I had to pay for them, if I had done them myself I wouldn't have had to pay!!! Like you said after 3-4 days for a new client I wouldn't dream of charging but I would if it became a regular occurrence or would just advise them that gel probably does;t suit them or their lifestyle!! Oh well you live and learn.