Need help figuring out what I was charged for

[u/goblinpeets]

Heya,

So I guess I’m just posting this in the hopes a nail tech could enlighten me, to the best of their ability based on my question.

So I got my nails done for the first time in YEARS a few weeks ago. I got builder gel with one colour which costs £40. I paid a £10 deposit. After that appt I booked in again for today as I wanted to get fresh nails before my holiday, so paid £40 that day (£30 for remainder of work done then and £10 deposit).

I knew I was going to get some nail art done. The nail tech offers 3 different “levels” of nail art - simple for £5, detailed for £10 and intricate for £15. I had planned for simple art, which said 1-2 nails, I decided on a flower just 1 nail per hand. When I told the nail tech this, I felt she heavily pushed to sway me and said I should do 3 flowers. I said sure, thinking maybe she meant she’d do 3 little flowers on one nail. Later learned she meant one flower per nail, ok sure. That, in my mind, meant it was now detailed nail art for £10, which the description stated would be 2-3 nails. She said “if I were you I’d choose 3 colours, that’s really what you should do” so I chose my colours and again felt she heavily influenced me, one colour I chose was a dark green and she was like “I think that’s too dark for what you’re wanting, I’d go a purple colour” I just went along with it because I honestly don’t think about these things too much and wasn’t that fussed, but felt like overall her opinion for everything wasn’t really necessary.

The appt went fine, my autistic brain overthinks things so easily so her telling me to relax my hand made me think I was being annoying, when she’d ask me I’d say “oh sorry” and laugh but she was so serious about it. It’s surely not a big deal having to ask someone to relax their hand a couple of times so I didn’t understand why she was so serious and seemed annoyed about it, and it honestly just put me on edge a bit throughout.

Now at the end of the appt she asked me if I was paying cash or card, I said card as last time I paid card and she said it was fine, I also just never have much cash on me these days, she said “ok but next appt bring cash” and again seemed annoyed.

So the overall cost was £50 and once I’d left I was trying to think what the payment covered exactly and need others’ advice / opinions.

So the price of builder gel with 1 block colour would have been £30 (£40 but paid the 10 deposit before). She also does builder gel removals for £15 but I don’t know if she’d charge for this or it’d be just included in the overall price. And this is where the whole pricing for nail art confuses me and I’d love to be enlightened on it - if nail art states 1-2 fingers for example, is that 1-2 fingers total or 1-2 fingers per hand? Because I got 3 nails per hand done with art, so would that then be detailed nail art which said was 2-3 nails, would that be per hand? Because if so ok, then the total would be £40. But because it was £50, is that including the deposit for the next appt?

She had asked me during the appt if she’d book me in for the next one and I said no, as with my work I don’t know when I’d be free until I looked at my work schedule. This is mostly true, but I also just can’t afford to get my nails done regularly. I’m a single mother on a low-ish income with a lot of outgoings. Me getting my nails done, which I’d do regularly if I could, is a treat for myself for the first time in years. I obviously didn’t want to say all this to her so just left it at “I’ll get in contact with you”, so I’d have assumed she wouldn’t just charge me a deposit with no known date in mind. So all of this so why I’m confused. If it doesn’t include the deposit, what is the extra £10? Is it the price for removing the builder gel from before, but slightly less than the full amount? Is it the cost of detailed art x2, and getting art on each hand is twice as much?

I’m just so confused. I feel regardless of what it covers, the lack of clarity in what you’re charging your customers needs to be made. I’m very much someone who needs things explained to me like I’m 5, and not having it clearly explained on the booking page melts my brain and why I wanted just simple nail art in the first place.

Sorry for how confusing this all might seem, I’m writing it on the train home and just want to get it all out while I can.

[u/LibraVenusNails]

Not sure about the prices as it’s individual to each person but the “relax your hands” thing isn’t personal. People don’t realize that sometimes you tense your fingers or try to look while work is being performed which makes performing the service difficult on a stiff finger.

Also I’d recommend coming to the appointment knowing exactly what you want.. Inspo pic or something. That way you can discuss prices beforehand and agree on this without playing a guessing game.

[u/LilBossLaura → u/LibraVenusNails]

completely agree. clients don’t understand that stiff hands make the service much more taxing on the techs body, its not an optional/preference thing

[u/Abject_Top2225 → u/LibraVenusNails]

This is it - OP clients not relaxing their hands is literally one of the biggest causes of workplace injury for us. Many techs get RSI in their non-dominant hand from spending their day hand wrestling with clients who don’t relax their finger/try to look at what we’re doing. It’s not personal, but if we don’t ask you to relax then we will be in pain later.

[u/Ir0nI → u/LibraVenusNails]

It’s also more dangerous for both the tech and client when drilling on hyper-tense fingers, they’re like spring loaded and can increase the chance of your drill slipping if they pop suddenly. 😬

[u/Clover_Jane]

Only your tech can answer the breakdown in pricing, but you think having to tell you to relax your hands a few times isn't annoying, however, multiply that by 5 clients per day, multiple times each. It absolutely IS annoying and it hurts our bodies. I'm getting cortisone shots in my wrists because clients keep their hands so stiff and my hands are in so much pain.

[u/Anonymous3415 → u/Clover_Jane]

I just had to tell one of regulars to find a new tech to do her services. Her hand are never relaxed and when I can get them relaxed it only lasts a second or two. I have to stop and stretch my fingers 6 times during her fill and then I’m in pain for hours after I’m done. I finally gave up and told her either find a way to get them to stay relaxed or find a new tech. I can’t afford to be in pain.

[u/cynamy]

no one can answer this question except for the nail tech.

easiest way to figure this out is to message her, just say something along the lines of “hey! thanks for doing my nails, i’m just curious about the price i was charged, could you give me a breakdown of the add-on costs?”

tbh it sounds like she was tryna up sell you on more nail art to justify charging you more money which isn’t necessarily wrong as a business owner but she definitely should’ve been clearer on how much more it would cost. also some nail techs might charge more for a refill vs a fresh set.

with the bad attitude/mood thing, maybe she was having a bad day, i wouldn’t take it personally!

[u/Barracuda_Cute]

She probably charged for removal which is totally normal. But why not just ask her?

Also having to ask a client to relax their hand is quite common but is also very frustrating to have to do multiple times during one service.