WARNING: Long story ahead, if you don't feel like reading I wrote a summary at the bottom. Now, on to the story.
I used to go to Phanxi a while back and I've always had a good experience, maybe they changed management since the last time I was here I don't know. Anyways, Phoenix had a 30 minute wait today and I was trying to get a pedicure before I went to work so I decided to go here. As soon as I come in a nail tech asks me what I want, I tell him to give me a minute so I can decide. I know I want a pedicure, but they had so many different options it was hard to choose. Then, my soon to be nail tech (forgot his name), comes up to me asking me what I want repeatedly and offering a bunch of things. Maybe he was trying to be nice, idk but I felt pressure and bombarded, should have been my first sign. So i decide on a hot stone pedicure and he takes me back to the pedicure station, the chair was broken and would not recline, I was upset but chose not to speak on it because I was on a time limit. Now it was very clear that this man had never done this type of pedicure before, because every few steps he would stop and ask another tech what to do. So we get to the cuticle cutting, this man cuts so close to the cuticle I literally have to jerk my foot and say "hey that hurts". He apologizes and keeps going. Then he uses the cheese grater thing to remove dead skin. At first I am happy that he worked so hard to remove my dead skin, I expected soft and beautiful feet, except now here I am sitting at 11pm at night (just off work) and you can see slits of dead skin going across my feet. Also, since my seat does not recline, he is bending my feet in legs in all kinds of crazy and uncomfortable directions. Next we go to filing, he doesn't ask what shape, just immediately files into a rounded shape. Now to the two big kickers. 1) He asks me if I have a boyfriend and where he is. Now I don't know if this is normal of other nail salons, but I've been getting my nails done for a while and never have been asked that question. I thought it was very inappropriate. 2) He cross contaminates the scrub jars. He couldn't find a spoon for the orange scrub he was using, so he takes a spoon from a green scrub, RINSES IT OFF IN MY TUB, (all while looking me in the eye) and then proceeds to use it in the orange scrub. Finally, we get to the hot stone part, which lasted maybe 10 minutes and was not as relaxing as I would have liked it to be. At this point I am ready to go. So he paints my nails, and I leave. Now I know what you all are saying, I should have complained. You are absolutely right. However, I wasn't in the mood to make a scene, I had to go to work and just wanted a quick pampering session before I got there. I must say that even though I had a terrible nail tech, the pampering process involved many massages, masks, scrubs, paraffin dip and oil (Hence the one star) which is a steal for $55. With the right nail tech, this would be the PERFECT experience. But now that I am sitting at home and have had a change to look at my feet, I had to warn others. My paint job is terrible! there are lumps and streaks that I did not notice before, plus my gratered up feet. A complete waste of $55.
In case you don't want to read all of this. Pushy newbie nail tech gratered my feet, chopped my cuticle, almost broke my ankle, did a terrible paint job, cross contaminated supplies and hit on me all over the course of an hour.
Moral of the story:make an appointment at Phoenix read more