I was born in Vietnam and came with my family to the U.S. when I was ten years old. I grew up working in a nail shop and so developed an understanding of how nail shops operate. Yesterday's terrible experience at this nail salon for my fiancée, her mother, and 86 years old grandmother made me disgusted at what I had experienced from them. In short, I would not recommend this business to anyone, American or not, based on how degrading the skinny owner with the arm tattoos and platinum neck chain treated us all yesterday. Given my dual understandings of both being Vietnamese and American, I will now share my story.
Yesterday was the third day of this new year, 2023, and it was also my fiancée's birthday. I wanted to treat her to a good experience and so I brought her family to Bellagio Nails and Spa, which was a recommended salon from my mother-in-law, who had gotten nails done there in the past. She has purchased a gift card last year and it had a remaining balance of $97.
At 2:30pm, we arrived at Bellagio Nails and Spa, for the appointment of three manicures and shellac. The skinny owner in his white tee greeted us with such lack of patience and basic respect for customers. He immediately commanded my family members to choose a color, not giving them even more than 1-2 minutes, and directed them with such lack of grace to take a seat. I told him that they were still choosing their color (we hadn't been there for more than 5 minutes), and he intensely yelled back and said they need to go sit down and choose the colors at the desk. We chose to be classy and respectful so we sat down at the tables. My 86 years old grandmother has to often use the bathroom because of her weak bladder, which is a very common condition in the elderly, and asked to use the bathroom. I escorted her back at the end of the shop, and felt so much judgement, rejection, and the feeling of being unwelcomed. It made us both feel extremely uncomfortable, right off the bat. So far, it has been less than 10 minutes into our visit.
After a long while, it was already 4PM, and service hadn't started for my mother-in-law, but our appointment was confirmed for 3 people at 2:30PM. In trying to save time, my mother-in-law wanted to pay in advance with a gift card. The skinny guy again, was showing such a lack of patience and respect, and spoke to her in such a rude manner. He yelled at her, "I WILL BE WITH YOU IN A MINUTE," all with such a hostile intensity, far from anything serving the customer. She wanted to pay with a gift card that they had discontinued THREE days prior, with a small sign in tiny fonts at the colors station. She never received a message, warning, nor notification that they were doing that. At first, he said that my mother-in-law did not have the receipt showing the amount, and therefore he couldn't accept it. Got him! We showed him the receipt showing the remaining $97.50 balance, and so he changed his story. He even SAID that he remembered her from her last visit using the card! He also then said that he and his business partner took over the business a few months back, and they were responsible for playing for a significant amount of gift cards already. Also the 'terminal' that were used to process these cards were no longer available. However, I did not believe him because even if what he said were to be the case, the transaction and negotiation of the sale of the business would have included the amounts of gift cards purchased. He was most likely already paid for these cards. Also, I know how these businesses are ran too well, he could have easily accepted the payment. However, we all know that the love of money is the root of all evil. He was belligerent, disrespectful, and displaced all of his frustration on all of us, especially me. I felt humiliated, and so ashamed that I share an origin with these people. The only one day that I decided to show my future family a good time, they have to show up in this manner. This dictator decided to called me outside to talk. He lied to me some more outside. Of course, it was convenient being away from the ears of his workers and customer. The real reason was he called me out to unload lies on me, and to get the guilty conscience off his chest. Overall, based on my experience, I feel that this place does not focus on the customer and their experience, but treat anyone who walks in like some sort of cash opportunity. There were no greets, no questions of how we were doing, no basic hospitality whatsoever. How ugly he treated us tells me that they would do this to anyone if they could get away with it. At the end of the day, it is all about money, and not people with them. Our services was almost $150, with 18% tip for the workers, even with this terrible experience. I know that a lot of time it's not the workers, they were just doing their job. This owner and his arrogance were the cause of our horrible experience. Find another place that genuinely care about people. read more