Cheri Cellupica: “New clients who give you step-by-step instructions on how to do their nails.” The Nail Shoppe (Toronto)

Laurie Engels: “Clients who take the file out of your hand and filq their nails themselves.”

Finger’s Nails Studios (W. Dundee, Ill.)

No shows, nit-pickers, the perpetually tardy — clients can drive you nuts. Sure, we love them, need them, and can’t live without them, but annoying habits and bothersome behavior can drive even the most well-balanced nail profession to the brink. NAILS asked the crews of two Salon-of-the-Year-award-winning establishments to share their biggest client pet peeves.

Finger's Nails Studios (W. Dundee, Ill) Kristi Brown: Clients who bring kids in and feed them while they get their nails done. Why do they think that their children should have a picnic in our salon?

Peggy Brach: Clients who go to another nail tech in the shop and talk about their last tech. Do they think we don’t talk to each other? Also, no-shows who claim that they called and cancelled, but can’t remember when they called or who they talked to.

Theresa Comstock: Clients who miss their scheduled appointment then call and say they need to get in now.

Shari Finger: Clients who come in late for an hour-long appointment saying, “I know you always finish me in 40 minutes,” What they don’t take into account is that we schedule nail fixes in between clients.

The Nail Shoppe (Toronto) Sheri Kelly: Clients who are obsessed with their nails and continually pick at them. Then they come into the can tell them why, they’re picking at them, that’s why. If salon and say, ‘I don’t know why my nails are peeling off,’ I they’d just leave them alone, their nails would be fine.

Debbie Krakalovich: Clients who don’t show up when you’re doing them a favor by coming in early or staying late, or who don’t even schedule an appointment when you’ve offered to do something free of charge.

Paulette Foley: Clients who nit-pick over nothing, clients who talk about you to other technicians, and clients who are extremely indecisive about what polish they want.

Joanne Gotlieb: Clients who don’t tip you even a dollar or two for your time when you do a free nail repair and clients who try to stretch their fill visits an extra week.

Tracey Tanners: A client who is in for her 100th visit and still acts like it’s her first by questioning me and my work.

Cara Teitler: Clients who know they are coming to get their nails done, yet there is food and dirt trapped under their nails like they haven’t washed in weeks.

Trina Cellupica: Clients who come in with some nails off and the rest lifting or half pulled off. Then they want free services because they say it started happening two days after they left your salon, but they’re not sitting in your chair until a week or two later.

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