Let me start by saying that I've been coming to Classy for over 10 years (off and on because they piss me off). Overtime, the unprofessionalism and blatant disregard (especially to longtime clients) has always been present, but has been tolerable until now. Lately, Tina (the owner's wife, nail tech, and apparently the only person provisioned to take payments) has proven to care more about the money generated than the actual quality of work, and her husband Andy (the owner) is under the false impression that he can speak with people rudely and disrespectfully without consequence. Because of this, I will never return to classy and I encourage everyone to give your business to another shop.
So I made an appointment to get a fill with Tony Sunday at their El Cerrito location. (Side note: please be advised that just because you make an appointment does NOT mean that you will be serviced at your scheduled time. This is partially because Tony is their best nail tech but primarily because Tina books appts in 30-minute intervals even though it takes AT LEAST AN HOUR. So be prepared to wait 15 minutes or more before you are actually seated). Along with my fill, I decided on a simple French manicure. As Tony was painting the top coat, white nail polish smeared across the top half of one of my nails. Instead of simply removing the nail polish from that finger and starting over, Tony attempted to clean it up. Unfortunately, the added coats of white nail polish made it very thick and sloppy looking. (Now, one finger looks noticeably different from the rest of my nails). So usually if this happens, I don't say anything and I literally obsess over the imperfection(s) until I return for my next fill. (or I try to fix or cover up the mistakes myself and I end up making it even worse smh). With this in mind, I decided to speak up and ask for it to be fixed. (First, I thought I could save time by simply covering up the nail with a charm, BUT apparently nail charms are no longer in style so they don't carry them). Since Tony had started on another client, I (made the mistake and) asked Tina if she could re-paint my nail. She examines my nail and quickly begins speaking in her native language and then dismisses my request by using a brush and acetone to clean-up the nail and disguise errors with MORE polish. (Wth. Now I have at least 5 coats of nail polish). I explained it needed to be re-painted because it was already too thick. Again, she insist that she can fix it. (I'm getting irritated). So, I ask Tina to just remove the polish from the finger and start over. (Now she's irritated). Clearly I should've been more specific because she didn't fully remove the polish and began to paint over it anyway. I don't know if you can picture this, but my nail looked gritty even after the coat of clear. (I'm thinking, she can't be serious. This is why I only let Tony do my nails smh). After paying, I tip the guy that painted my toes but decided not to tip for my nails since I was unhappy with them. Yet, after returning to my car and examining my nails, I got immediately frustrated. So, I walked back in and asked Tony if he could fix my nail because it was driving me crazy. (Please note that I sensed no attitude or apprehension from Tony). When his client got up to wash her hands, he quickly re-polished my nail (to my satisfaction) so I tipped him. As I leave the shop, I see that Andy is waiting for me at my car. I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about. To my surprise, it was to scold me about my poor attitude towards his wife. (I am GENUINELY confused). I walk back into the shop (with Andy yelling behind me) and asked Tina what's going on and why is her husband saying that I was I rude to her. She responds that I walked out with an attitude. (Are you kidding me?) Throughout our one-sided conversation, Tina recalls a confrontation between us that NEVER HAPPENED.
In this moment, I am completely dumbfounded and I think my overall confusion managed to keep me calm.
However, in a quick re-assessment of the situation, I realized a number of things. To start, Andy was completely out of line by waiting to speak with me at my car. If I had any clue what his intentions were, I probably would've called someone. That was super aggressive. I'm a young woman, Tina could have addressed me. Secondly, the real issue Tina had was not that I asked for my nail to be fixed. It was that I went back to Tony after her botched job. I really believe that she's jealous that more people request him and she feels threatened. Also, I think that the language barrier was a huge issue in this matter because she clearly didn't understand my initial request. Overall, It's hard to believe that I was treated so poorly after so many years of giving them my business. read more