UPDATE: I never imagined changing my original five-star review. I genuinely loved this salon and…read morebelieved I had found my forever nail spa. After my most recent experience, I will never return.
My original review described how Escape helped after I badly injured a nail while moving. They declined payment, but I tipped because I appreciated their kindness. Before my wedding, a friend gave me handmade wedding nails that did not fit. Glue was stuck to my fingers and causing pain. Escape cleaned up the glue and saved my wedding nails. Again, the technician declined payment, but I gave her cash anyway.
On September 13, I returned for a manicure and pedicure. I was grieving my stepmother and having an extremely difficult week. I simply wanted to treat myself. I spent approximately $100 and tipped each technician $20, adding $40, or roughly 40%, in tips.
During my manicure, I repeatedly explained my design and provided a reference photo. The technician argued about the colors even though I had selected colors matching my reference.
The pedicure technician put my shoes on before the polish dried while moving me to the acrylic desk. One toe smudged badly. Her "fix" was layering more polish over it. At home, at home I later noticed it was super lumpy and uneven, so I added clear coat to make it less noticeable. Ok but not great for $145 M/P.
I did not fully notice how bad my nails looked until a day or two later too. Several were so far from the cuticle that they already looked like they needed a fill, while others were closer. Multiple nails had gaps along both sides, as if the artificial nails were not wide enough. They were crooked, inconsistently shaped, rounded, and very thick. Some looked like lima beans. Several were already lifting near the cuticle.
It's been a rough week, I planned on coming into the shop earlier but my week took a turn with getting food poisoning. Finally feeling better on Sat, September 19, exactly six days after the appointment, I returned to ask about correcting my fingernails and lumpy toe.
I never demanded an immediate correction and would gladly have returned another day. All I needed to hear was, "No worries. We can fix that." Instead, I felt accused of lying or trying to scam them.
I quietly approached a woman technician because I did not want to embarrass the man who had done my nails. She immediately called him over and argued that the nails were older than a week or had grown that much. I tried showing her timestamped photos from the appointment day, but she initially would not look. The pictures proved it had been six days.
I was told the gaps resulted from unusually fast nail growth. That doesn't explain the inconsistent gaps or natural nail visible along the sides of several fingers.
I also noticed my cuticles had not been pushed back or cleaned up. I was told cuticle work costs another $10 and must be requested. This surprised me because it had previously been done at the same price, and no one explained the extra charge. I offered to pay the $10 and asked them to do the cuticle work and fix my nails.
I was then scolded for not returning sooner. When I explained I had been sick, that became another argument. I mentioned becoming ill after eating McDonald's chicken nuggets. The technician said she had eaten them all week without getting sick and told me it was my body reacting to food, not food poisoning. I stopped talking because everything became an argument.
They eventually agreed to make corrections. The technician sanded and repainted the nails closer to my cuticles. It took approximately eight minutes, but she complained and argued throughout. When I pointed out remaining problems, she became angry and said another client was waiting and it was unfair to that customer.
I would have scheduled another time. I only wanted them corrected because they were visibly flawed and lifting after six days. The corrected areas are still bumpy, but I accepted them. After being ridiculed throughout the correction, I told her to forget about fixing my toe.
Then, in front of other customers, I was called a "freeloader," accused of "freeloading on a small business," and told never to return.
I was humiliated.
I was not asking for free services. I was requesting corrections to work I had paid approximately $100 for six days earlier after tipping another $40. I even offered to pay the additional $10 for cuticle work. I have always paid when charged and tipped generously, including twice when they declined payment.
Mistakes happen, and I could have forgiven imperfect work. I cannot overlook being treated as though I were lying, publicly humiliated, and called a freeloader.
I walked in hoping they would stand behind their work. I walked out in tears.
They told me never to return, and I will respect that request. They did not lose a freeloader. They lost a grateful, generous, loyal customer who would have continued supporting them for years.