I came to Annie Salon & Day Spa on 5/20/26 after being recommended by my sister, who had wonderful…read morethings to say about their pedicures after I moved from California. To be fair, the gel pedicure absolutely met expectations. Andy did an amazing job with my pedicure -- he took care of my ingrown nails, the French tip line work was sharp and clean, and overall I felt he deserved the tip I left him because I truly needed that level of care and attention.
Unfortunately, my Gel-X full set was a completely different experience.
I originally requested almond French tips. Andy then suggested with my nail bed stiletto would be best. Andy did beautiful line work on 7 out of the 10 nails, but halfway through the service he ran out of the stiletto tips and used coffin tips for the remaining 3 nails, saying he would shape them to match the others. I brought up my concerns multiple times throughout the appointment because the process already seemed off to me, but he continued reassuring me that everything would look the same in the end.
The problem is -- they didn't.
Those 3 nails ended up bulky, wide, and visibly different from the others. I also found it odd that my nails and cuticles were not properly prepped beforehand, and the replacement tips were glued further up the nail bed instead of properly seated at the base like traditional Gel-X application. By the end of the appointment, I still voiced concern about how bulky the nails looked, but unfortunately I was actively working remotely and had urgent matters to return to, so I paid the $153 total $80 of that for my Gel-X full set including $10 tip and left hoping it just needed minor adjustments.
After work, I called the salon and explained the issue. The receptionist scheduled me for a correction appointment the next morning at 10 AM and confirmed it would be free of charge.
On 5/21/26, I arrived at opening time, though staff did not arrive until about 10:05 AM. Tracy and another employee inspected the nails and decided they only needed reshaping, despite me clearly explaining that the issue was not just the shape -- it was the bulkiness and placement. One employee even commented that I "should have said something yesterday," which was frustrating considering I had already voiced my concerns multiple times during the original appointment. To Tracy's credit, she did acknowledge that I had in fact spoken up.
I could tell Tracy did not want to fix someone else's work, which honestly I understand. That responsibility should have fallen on management or ownership to properly resolve by having the original nail tech correct the issue. Instead, the fix felt rushed and dismissive.
Tracy continued filing the nails despite me repeatedly stating they still looked uneven and off. At that point, I didn't want to argue further or create a scene, so I let her finish. Unfortunately, one nail on my left hand ended up looking even worse afterward, and the French tip line work became sloppy and uneven.
This experience was disappointing because I really wanted to love this salon after hearing such positive recommendations. Their pedicure services absolutely deserve praise, and I will likely return for pedicures. However, I cannot recommend Gel-X full sets here unless you have the time and energy to closely monitor every step, repeatedly advocate for yourself, and stop the service the moment something feels wrong.
I would much rather a salon simply tell me they do not have the proper supplies to complete a service correctly than improvise and still charge full price for incomplete or inconsistent work. The pedicure earned my trust, but the nails -- and especially the customer service during the correction appointment -- turned what could have been a minor mistake into an overall disappointing experience.
