LONGEST HOUR OF MY LIFE!
As a hair salon owner (my place is in Cherry Creek) I am very particular about client service, salon cleanliness and quality of service. . Kim's Nails failed miserably in every area.
I am fortunate to have the best hair stylists work at my salon but I have 1 nail tech as well. She sets the bar- HIGH. Usually I get my mani/pedi with her but I live in Fort Collins and needed a pedi ASAP as I am flying out to Cali in the wee hours of the morning. I noticed Kim's Nails in the Safeway Shopping Center near my home so I took a chance and walked in.... my first mistake.
The place is fairly small and since there were 3 other women in there getting services, I didn't pay TOO much attention though I could tell the place had seen better days. It's pretty run down and out of date but once I sat in the very worn pedicure chair, I instant;y regretted my selection of nail salons.
The entire staff is completely low energy, rude, poorly dressed, and seems totally miserable. My nail tech in particular was not having a good day it seemed for she was very aggressive in her techniques... water was scorching hot, filing my toe nails burned as she went to town, she jerked my feet up and around like they weren't attached and she couldn't produce a smile to save her life.
The Atmosphere was so depressing! No music, no-one making any polite conversation and it was stuffy as heck in there. STONE COLD SILENCE! I would have distracted myself with reading a magazine but the only one they had was already taken by another client so I tried using my back massage remote but since it's so old, I think it's lost it's mojo.
So I took a look around and since the shop is so small it wasn't hard to notice details. Wallpaper ripped, floors cracked stained and peeling, carpet dingy with snags all over... walls were DIRTY, place was dusty, cluttered, and disorganized. Suddenly I started panicking about their overall "professional practices" and State Board Regulations.
My friendly nail tech asked if I wanted callous remover... (guess it's a la carte) "$5 dollars extra" Ok, what's $5 bucks? She started exfoliating the bottoms of my feet and ouch ouch ouch! She was aggressively attacking not noticing I was pulling my feet back in agony. FInally I said something to her about it and she eased up, OK, the GROSS part of this callous remover part is what she did with the dead skin..... SHE DUMPED IT BACK INTO THE WATER I WAS SOAKING IN! I think I actually vomited a little bit. I know it's my dead skin but that is still disgusting.
She asked me if I wanted "sea salt scrub"... yes, that sounded good.... no mention of an additional $5 bucks" either so I figured it was part of the pedicure service. Her application of the scrub and the massage given was lame but at this point I just wanted to get out of there. The nail tech next to me giving another client a pedicure was seriously giving me the evil eye! Plus I was tired of seeing her entire stomach and plumbers crack every time she got up!!
My nail tech vanished and another woman came to paint my toes with the polish I brought. I think she was "KIM" as she was answering the phone while painting my nails and other staff members were asking her questions...I figured perhaps she has some talent and was hopeful I would at least get a decent polish. As I was finishing up with that, another unsuspecting client walked in for a pedicure and they placed her in the chair next to me which had not been cleaned at all after the last client left!!
As I was sitting under the feet lamp for my polish to dry, 2 kids came in (their mom is also a nail tach who was working on a client) and started running around, talking loudly (at least someone was talking though) and bouncing all over the place. Now I love kids, have 2 of my own, but I never bring them to work nor do I allow any staff member to bring them to work!
The charge for this wonderful hour long experience was $35. Guess the sea salt scrub was a la carte after all but the "fee" didn't bother me. It was the rude staff, the quality of service, the unprofessionalism, client service (wasn't even offered water) and the disregard for Health and Safety of Clients by following State Board Protocol.
It was my decision to go there in the first place, My decision to stay and get the service. My decision to never go back.
KIM: Train your staff. Prioritize STATE BOARD REGULATIONS and learn customer service!! My actual polish was nicely done so you have the ability to produce a great shop. Invest in some updating, clean it and for goodness sake, SMILE!!! It's contagious you know....
Stephani G read more