I also charge extra when there's more work involved, but I don't call it anything.....other than "Uh oh, these nails are wretched"! Then the client usually laughs & upon seeing them without polish has to admit that they are indeed bad.
Fills are normally $36 & I just charge according to how much sweat equity & product I put into them. Sometimes it's $40, sometimes it's $45. On rare circumstances when it's obvious that basically ALL the product has come off due to lifting, air pockets, chips, breaks, etc. I have no choice but to charge for a full set if I've just created 10 new nails. The info about gel over bad acrylic has been very interesting tho. Possibly you could keep a small stash of acrylic on hand just for her fill, if you think it would stick to her cheap acrylic? If not, then it's come to the point to just honestly tell her that it's too labor intensive to try to work over the top of her other techs nails and that your products aren't compatible with whatever they put on her. It's taking you extra time above your normal fill time, so then you've got to charge her extra, too, because time is money. That will mean she'll be paying close to full price for a new set each time she gets a fill, so why not start fresh? Then just tell her to arrive with her nails all soaked off (done either by her other tech or by herself) so you can do a fresh full set of gels. If she's not on board with that, then it's her choice to go elsewhere. Problem solved. But tell her before she comes back to town again expecting you to do what you've always done with her. Will she like this new rule? Probably not. Will it solve your problems if she abides by it OR she takes her business elsewhere? Definitely yes. It sounds like you've reached your threshold for tolerance with this client anyway. Jill W. On Tuesday, November 6, 2012 1:55:18 PM UTC-6, Katherine Fahrig wrote: > > Hey Techies, > > I have a client who used to be a regular gel client until she moved to > Florida last year. She now comes to me 3 or 4 times a year. It wasn't a > problem until this visit. She showed up with NSS, substandard, horrible > acrylic nails that are yellowing and have fill lines. She went on and on > about how she found a new salon that is so beautiful and the guy she goes > to is so up to date on all the latest things and does such beautiful work. > I'm looking at horrible, yellow, fill lines and acrylic ( she was told that > it was the new powder gel that they were using ) and I want to scream! I > pointed out the yellowing and the fill lines, she acknowledged them and > then said something about "taking it all off" for her fill. I told her that > she would have to soak them off for about an hour and then I would do a > full set, for the price of a full set. She said that they just pulled them > off, no hour wasted soaking them off. I had to keep my head down so she > could not see the horror on my face. > > What do you say to someone when presented with this kind of mess? I did > not have the time to soak them off and do a full set, so, I did not push > her to do so. I told her that it was acrylic on her nails and she said that > it was powder gel, didn't I know about it? I explained that it was not > powder gel it was acrylic and she still insisted that they said it was gel > so it is gel. I stopped short of telling her that they are lying rat finks > because she went on and on about how much she liked the salon and the "guy" > who does her nails and the conversation was quickly turning into an > argument with my client defending her "guy's" flat out lies! > > I'm still trying to get my hormones in balance so I could use some advice > as to what to say and what not to say. In general I do not bad mouth anyone > else's work, but, what do I do when someone is lying their but off and the > client believes them over me? I have certificates on the wall that prove my > advanced education and she's heard me go on and on about all the > conventions, continuing education, this mailing list, industry web sites > and trade publications that I've gotten all my information from for 25 > years and she still believes that lying sack of *~#t!!!!! Sorry, I fell > into name calling.....not sorry he is a lying sack of _____. > > She was a good client for about a year before she moved to FL, I educated > her while she was in my chair and now she seems to have forgotten all of > it. On her way out she saw my old ProFinish two hand uv lamp and exclaimed, > "that's what they have, the new two hand lamp! What do you use it for?" I > told her that that lamp is a least 15 years old and useless except to get > regular polish clients to sit still for 4 minutes. She looked confused, > but, said nothing more. > > I thought about booking 2 hours for her next appointment and soaking the > ac off and putting on a new set of gels so she would be reminded of how > they should look, but, if I'm doing all that work, I'm getting paid for a > full set and she would not agree to that. Besides, she saw my nails and the > clients before and after her with beautiful, clear, non yellow, no fill > lines, gel nails. Maybe she listened and noticed more than she admitted to > and she will find a new salon in FL that actually does gels, not acrylic > (that turns yellow) with a gel overlay. > > So, Techies, I did a little venting, now, what do you all say to clients > who come in with NSS nails and tell you how beautiful that are? > > Katherine > Nails at Panache > St. Louis, MO > Sent from my iPad -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/nailtech/-/bVcqqqsiD6EJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
