what would you do if you were me

[ariaaland]

hi all
i am a bit irked at the moment i have something on my mind. on friday i had a client come to me for the first time to do her nails, she wanted them done for a wedding the next day saturday, anway she said she wanted her nails done like mine and i had on gels, she also wanted a design on them like what i had on. anyway i told her to come at 9.am (incidentally i am home based) because i had to have enough time to clean up her nails prep size tips etc etc. and seeing that its her first time it would take a while and besides i had to finish in time so i could pick up my preschooler at 12.30

anyway i got my stuff ready and everything and sat waiting 9 came an went so i called her at about 5 past nine and asked her if she was on her way she said no she was actually just finishing up her housework and was on her way to the bathroom to have her shower. now i am a person who hates to be late for anything and i hate when people make an appointment and turn up late for it .. it pees me off to no end. anyway she said she would soon be there but she would be brining an uncle and her daughter i'm like excuse me but why? i said to her the service is going to take a while and i dont think they will be comfortable just sitting there waiting so she should kinda find some other arrangement re her uncle. her response was that if it is so long it takes to do nails i told her yes especially when your nails are in the condition they are in (extremely dirty) so anyway she said okay.

she turns up 1and a half hours later with her kid. i said nothing. now where my space is there are two doors that lead to the kitchen and and my living room i closed the door to my living room and pulled up but did not close the one to my kitchen and i also closed some windows that one could look in and see my living room. this i did just to let them know that that part of my premises was off limits. now would you beleive the woman came sat down and i began to prep her, her kid who is 12 years old pulled up her chair right up to my station to watch what i wa doing that i did not like but i never wanted to say anything that her mom would take offense to but i did give her the look of course it made no difference,

about 5 mins into my prep i look up and no kid im like where is your daughter do you know that the child pushed my door and went off wandering around in my house so i called out to her said what are you doing in my house? she said she is looking at something:irked: i look at the mother and looked at her i was about to say something rude but i held my peace. anyway i did my work and applied her tips and then did my pink and white over them. when i completed my work it was way past the time when i had to go pick up my child i was not pleased anyway seeing that it was all about the service i tried my best to be patient when she said she wanted a design on her nails all ten fingers:irked:. so i did it and cleared up my work area to get ready to leave to pick up my child when darn the rain came down in droves another long wait.

so in that time she asked me the cost and i showed her my menu with the cost it cost J$1,500 thast like about 15 pounds for you she placed J$1000 (10 pounds) on my desk and said she did not know it would cost so much but she would pay me the rest on monday i was not pleased but what else could i do i had already done her nails and could not remove them plus i was already late to pick up my child so i just took the money and went.

her son also goes to the same school my kids go to so while i was in the parking lot waiting for the rain to stop so i could go into the school she comes up to me and says .. max about the nails i really never knew it would cost so much and i dont have any money remember you had said that if i fixed your dress you would do my nails at a cost ( of course i remembeed no such thing, cuz when she fixed the dress and i asked her the cost she said it was free) so i am like really when di i say that? i dont remember telling you that.. she said i knew you would not remember so i said well whatever. i wa so mad.

now after all my hard work and incovenience can you imagine her doing that to me plus i had thrown in a bottle of cuticle oil for free (this was done when i thought i was going to be paid the full cost of the service) plus i did not charge for the nail art (just a part of customer service and her being a first time client) and now she is trying to worm her way out of paying me becasue she claims she fixed a dress for me which she did not even do properly cuz i gave it to her to replace a broken zipper i actually bought a zipper took out the old one so all she had to do was replace it withthe new she did not even fix it right thread all over the place and now she has the nerve to wantto exchange her shoody work for the beautiful nails i gave her??

i am so mad with myself i should have protested i should have said no i should have asked her to pay for at leastthe oil i should have done so many things but i did not so now it is eating away at me . its like my work is not worth anything to these people and she is off bragging toher friends how nice her nails look.

what would you do i am thinking of confronting her about the whole thiing but as the weekend has gone i am wondering if it is too late. my mom said i should have not given her the oil and i should have made her pay in full. but remember she waited until after she leftthe house to tell me she was broke because initially she had said she would give me the balance today (monday) has this ever happened to any of you?

sorry it was so long a post but i am so peed at my self for being a pushover and a bad business person

 

[Karren]

babe, can you possibly edit your thread and break it into paragraphs hun - makes it a bit easier to read !:hug:

kxx

 

[Charlyc25]

Wow!

I think I would put it down to experience and be fully booked if she ever asked me to do her nails again.

On the bright side though, at least she's showing your work off and that's free advertising for you and potentially more clients! Hope they're nothing like her tho!!

 

[Glamnails72]

What a cheek - I wonder if she does this to the staff in the supermarket!

If I was you, I would just remember this and chalk it up to experience, as regardless of what you say to her it is unlikely now you'll get the extra money. When she wants to book in again, remember to be busy, or make her pay up front and add the cost of this last treatment to it!

You never know, you may get more clients from it if she's been telling everyone how pleased she is! :hug:

 

[izzidoll]

Wow!

I think I would put it down to experience and be fully booked if she ever asked me to do her nails again.

On the bright side though, at least she's showing your work off and that's free advertising for you and potentially more clients! Hope they're nothing like her tho!![/quote]

Put is down to experience..we have all been there..I have read a lot of threads on here in this vein.....At least she loved her nails and you could get some new clients...BUT GET THE MONEY UP FRONT FROM THEM!!!!!
Always let a client know how much things will cost BEFORE you start which will save any embarrassment at the end.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I always tell people how much it's going to cost and what type of payment I accept when they book ( I don't take cheques anymore).

It's really hard when people behave like this, I had it happen to me recently, I got the money two weeks later. It's very easy to say chase them for the money blah blah, but at the end of the day we are trained to be nail technicians not debt collectors!

However, if it had been me then I probably would not have done her nails in the first place. Fair enough if she had forgotten her appointment time, but to make you wait whilst she had a shower etc is downright disrespectful and I would have told her to forget it. Just ocasionally there are clients that you just don't need and your family should always come first.

On the plus side, like everyone else says, at least she is giving you good advertising, just make sure that any clients sent from her know the full price and make sure they know it at the START of the treatment. One of those lessons that we learn, hard and grating as it is. :hug:

 

[angel fingers]

speechless:!:

 

[jenny34]

I think if i were you i would ask for payment before you started to the nails/treatment so you knew exactly were you stand from the start.
Thats what i do and it works so no-one ends having the treatment without paying and i don't loose out.

Sorry to hear

jenny

www.jennys-beauty-studio.piczo.com

 

[ValencianNails]

i'm thinking along the lines of 'familiarity' here, she fixed your dress (to a fashion) and expected her nails for a cheap price.
this is typical of clients becoming too friendly, or thinking that they're friendly with you....
i know all (or mostly all) of my clients on a friendly basis and none of them has EVER taken advantage like your client has... she has to realise you're running a business and can't afford to be giving out freebies, or reduced rates, to people you 'know', even more so as she abused the appointment time.
explain to her all of those points and hopefully she will 'see the light' and not expect something for nothing in future.... i take it she was expecting to be coming back for rebalances too?

 

[ariaaland]

thanks for your responses all. and i will do as you all say put it down to experience, and collect my money before i begin my service and if they are late dont even bother to start on their nails at least that is what my husband said. and sandi i really never thought she would take advantage of me like that especially when she had said that her fixing the dress was for free we really arent that close as i said her son comes to the school too and i sometimes am parked beside her while we wait for our kids in the parking lot and that is where we conversed from. actually she wanted a pedicure too but time was against us now can you imagine how much money i would have been out if i had gone ahead and done a pedicure?.And yes i expect she will be coming back for a rebalance but if i will do it that is a whole nother story. i dont know girls, i guess one has to live and learn. but to be very honest with you all, i guess deep down inside i did because i hoped that by doing her and doing them well it would have brought me in some business, and i still hope it will. but for now i am still so mad that i dont even think i can make myself speak to her again for a good while. this is what one has to go through to be successful.:irked:

and i forget to mention to you all that the cost for what i did in a regular salon/spa would have been J$3500 plus tax that is almost J$4000 or 40pounds in your money (which i might add is very very expensive here for just getting your nails done) but because it just a small at home operation i have , i have discounted my prices really low because i dont have the overheads the salons do. and i also actually provided her with a cold drink and a snack for both herself and her daughter. (see that is what i get for trying to be professional), so she got away with murder!!

 

[becki x]

If i were you,on this occasion i would cut my losses ad run.When she rings for an infill,i would be fully booked.I would also put this down to experience and leave it at that.This person is cheeky and although she is in the wrong ,she may be the type to slag off your work if you confront her,and thats the last thing you want.

 

[ariaaland]

thanks for your support becki appreciate it much:hug: