I really wanted to like this place, and tried not to acknowledge the negative reviews I had read prior to going.
A Groupon brought me into this location, which is how I found this place. I'm going to do something different and write this review in timeline format, as I think it highlights more easily why I would not return.
9am: Salon is supposed to be open
9:39am: I walk up to salon and doors are locked, but someone comes to the door to open.
Employee 1: Do you have an appointment?
Me: No, but I saw that walk-ins are welcomed.
Employee 1: Yes, but we are very busy and cannot take walk-ins today. Is it a groupon you have? Do you want to come back at 1pm?
Me: But no one is here and you just unlocked the doors. I don't live in the area and purchased the Groupon to come.
Employee 1: Okay, but we are so busy. If you can wait between your manicure and pedicure, I can do your manicure now.
Me: If someone comes in with an appointment, I do not mind waiting between my two services.
Employee 1 does my gel manicure in 20 minutes and asks 2 times if I know Vietnamese. Even after I told her I am Chinese, and do not speak Vietnamese. I only note this because they clearly didn't believe me and Employee #2 who did my pedicure, also asked twice. I don't think any manicure should be so short, unless it's just a polish change. She barely did my cuticles. All she did was barely use the tools to push back my cuticles, every last two fingers she literally just tapped them with the tool. Between coats, she didn't even let the machine run for the full 30 seconds she set it to. Then I had to ask for another coat, as the polish was still translucent. Two nails were croaked but I didn't bother saying anything, as I knew she was rushing and I'd touch up some things when I got home anyways. Another thing I touched up, at home, was getting the extra gel polish that hardened on my skin around my nails and filing non-smooth edges.
Employee 2 took more care to do my pedicure. But she also barely did my cuticles and tapped the last two nails instead of actually doing them. Maybe it's a company policy to speed up the process ? **Keep in mind that even at this point, I am still the ONLY ONE in the place. So they were rushing, I think more in anticipation of more customers vs. actually having appointments and I say that based on the next customer who came in.
As I was sitting under the light for my toenails to dry, maybe 5 minutes before I left, two people came in. It was a mother and a daughter and the mother came in saying that she was returning because her daughter's fake nails kept popping off and it had only been 3 days. Employee 1 was hesitant on what to do next, as the customer kept asking if they could be redone, if they needed to pay extra to fix the poor job, or if there would be a discount for coming back only a few days after the initial work. The employee took the daughter to her chair and started working on them. I, of course, think that this was the correct course of action. But again, they were trying to not perform my services "because they were so busy."
But additional pros:
- I liked their color selection
- Low toxic smells, only slightly noticable
- Massage chairs at pedicure stations were nice
- Cute accent wall
- Not busy
- Music + 1 large TV
- Plenty of parking
- Pedicure salt scrub was nice read more