I had cut my original review to be brief. However, seeing how Mari/James is mischaracterizing…read moreevents in an attempt to mislead Yelpers, I have to now post my original draft. I was in the chair with my feet in the tub by 1:04pm. Even being 4 minutes late, still doesn't warrant the abusive behavior displayed by Mari. Original review below:
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Mari is Rude. Unprofessional. Combative. Zero sense of customer service. This is my 2nd time here &definitely a bad decision on my part, I should not have come back after the experience I had my 1st time. This time around I had to leave w/out getting my nails done. 45 minutes before my 1st appointment start time I received a text from James, asking if I could come in early. I figured someone had canceled or didnt show. I cut my errands short and arrived 20+ minutes EARLY. I texted James to let him know I had arrived early as requested. I walked in and introduced myself to Mari and explained that James, had texted me to come in early. She was clearly available, but rather than say hello back, she just pointed and said "go wash your hand" when I came back out, she continued to talk to me in a sharp, snappy tone. I asked her if everything was ok, got no response. She was acting like I had done something wrong and there was so much negative energy coming off her. It was as if she was taking out whatever had happened before I arrived, on me. The whole thing was bizarre. I came 20 minutes early (I didn't have to, but I honored their last minute request, diverted my plans and went in) and instead, I was treated as if I had come in late or worse.
I needed to get my nails done as I had an event and sucked it up. I kept trying to talk to her despite her behavior, and she eventually calmed down and managed to have a pleasant enough conversation that 1st time. Phew. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe she had just been having a bad day, (everyone has one). The work she did was ok but sloppy. I didn't notice till I got home, or would have asked her to fix it. In any case I had already decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and had already made my 2nd appointment before I left her salon that 1st time. So I went to my 2nd appointment. I came in and was in the chair by 1:04pm for a 1pm appointment. I know this because as I was getting my feet in the soaking tub I got a text from James saying they're ready for me and I responded to him that I was there already. See screenshot.
Again when I came in there was no welcoming vibe, I got the vibe that again she was pissed about something. At this point I'm starting to question why. When I asked her, she said I was 10 minutes late, I explained to her that I was only 2 minutes late. In the chair by 1:04pm. I asked her why she was always unfriendly towards me, that this was the second time I had come in and she had acted like I was the enemy or something. It couldn't be because of time because the 1st time, I showed up early and she had also been grumpy and rude to me. She started arguing with me, said "so because you came in early last time you think you can be late today?" I pointed out to her that I was only 2 minutes late. She retorted with "you just said 1:04pm, that's 4 minutes!!" I just didn't understand the animosity and was trying to understand where she was coming from with the over-the-top negative behavior. I mean, it was totally ridiculous to be chewed out like that for less than a handful of minutes. When I pointed that out to her, she responded w/ "it seems you don't like me you can leave, I don't have to work on you." I mean, so rude. At first I was still trying to calm her down because again I wanted to get my nails done. And I had blocked the time to get it done. But she was getting more irate. You would have thought I had murdered her dog, or stolen her money. Even if I had walked in 10/15/30 minutes late, that reaction was still way over the top. I couldn't take her behavior anymore and decided to leave without getting my nails done. I told her to just take off the old gel, paid her for that (which she overcharged me, but at this point I didn't care, I just wanted to get out). I honestly don't know where Mari/James is coming off in their response saying I think I'm better than them because they are in the service business. Just a blatant attempt to mischaracterize, considering the fact that I was on the receiving end of Mari's bad behavior and was pretty calm through it all. That comment says more about Mari than me because frankly her behavior was horrendous.
This is the 2nd 1-star review I'm giving on Yelp. I did not do so lightly. Customer service is a big part of the success of any business including service businesses. Perhaps Deco Nails will learn that lesson and start treating all customers with courtesy and decorum, or perhaps it will be a case of a leopard never changing its spots.
