Dear Tam, I just read your post -- as well as the experiences of many other dissatisfied customers…read morelike me who've rated your shop one star.
To be clear, I'd been a customer for a while. My complaint only concerned this one incident -- caused either by carelessness or incompetence. I believe it was the latter (I've had pedicures at many other places and nothing remotely like this has ever happened before.) The only occasion Joyce previously worked on me was to massage my neck. Frankly, I don't think she's a trained pedicurist, but the shop was busy on June 10th and it seems she helped out. If she was trained, then I cannot imagine any reputable school ever approving the evidence of her work on me.
Allow me to correct a few of the "facts" you've been led to believe:
Tam: During your pedicure on June 10th, your service was completed safely without any clipping incidents, no pain was reported, nor did any bleeding occur on-site.
The fact is, I did feel pain but said nothing. I felt more pain after Joyce treated my wound and awkwardly lifted my leg which hurt my knee. I let out a yell that everyone heard and told her not to touch me any more! You don't know when bleeding began. Since she was inches from my feet it seems likely that Joyce noticed something but said nothing. As previously noted, I had not noticed blood myself until I returned home and looked closely with my glasses. I then took the attached photo, as shown on June 10th to Elysian. The time stamp clearly shows it was taken at 1:06 pm -- just minutes after I left your shop.
Tam: Our staff performed basic first aid. expressed genuine sympathy for your discomfort - this was an act of care, not an admission of causing harm
Your legal disclaimer is noted! However, both Elysian and Joyce apologized and both treated my injury. I appreciated their concern -- but instead of taking responsibility for poor work, Elysian tried to convince me the nail wasn't as bad as it looked!! As noted before, it was only after she cleaned it that one cause of the wounds became more apparent. In retrospect I can understand her reluctance (and now yours) to admit wrongdoing in order to avoid possible legal action for personal injury -- but with better customer service this issue would probably have been resolved and a customer kept instead of alienated.
Tam: Your tablet wallpaper showed a nail condition that appeared to pre-date your service with us.
You're asserting that my nail looked this way *before* the pedicure?! It wasn't wallpaper -- it was a photo taken on my iPad 15 minutes after your staff treated my wound! Again, look at the time stamp on the photo attached. Didn't you look at the photo Elysian took on June 10th?
Tam: You threatened legal action. Once litigation is threatened, our salon policy requires us to stop direct dialogue.
As noted previously, on June 10th Elysian promised to contact "David, the owner of the business" (no mention of your name) and get back to me. I called her late that day to see if she had spoken with him. She made excuses why she had not, and it seemed evident she had no intention of actually doing that. I said IF she failed to do so and get me an answer, then legal action might be the only recourse.
Tam: At Pro Nails Spa, the safety, hygiene, and well-being of our guests are our highest priorities. We take all feedback seriously.
I'm glad to hear that. As the Business Owner of Pro Nails Spa, the buck stops with you. You ought to be appalled and ashamed when seeing the photos of my toe. It's obvious to anyone that it's a terrible mess! It clearly shows: 1. my nail was cut way too short, 2. the cuts/grazes on top layers of skin which exposed tiny underlying blood vessels, and 3. where a cut was made into the hyponychium -- which no well-trained pedicurist would ever do. Moreover, you evidently feel no compunction in taking full payment for what was photographically proven to be a botched job! I asked Elysian "would you pay someone who'd injured you?" She chose to not answer. You've offered no apology -- instead resorted to victim blaming, which (metaphorically) rubs salt in the wound.
Quite frankly Tam, it's come as no surprise to find that Pro Nails Spa has received so many negative reviews.
Sincerely, Peter