Giovana S.
Yelp
It is very rare for me to write a negative YELP review, but I felt like this had to be put out there.
I have been going to Vanity Projects for a little over a year now. I started going when the Pandemic hit. It was a nice way to treat myself, relax and get away from the day-to-day craziness. I am a regular client of VP. I have been coming roughly every couple weeks - sometimes at least once month. I have made friends there with the nail artists specifically Andrea, Alice and Illiana. These girls do beautiful work.
However, I am writing this because I am just appalled with the level of bullying and unprofessionalism, I have received from the two girls at the front desk. One specifically being Ada Cruz, who I just learned is the manager at the Miami Salon. Bullying to the point where I was in tears at my job today after speaking with her on the phone.
Where it starts:
At the beginning of the week, I had an appointment with Illiana and I had scheduled my appointment for Nail Art which is usually $100. I went in with the expectations to have the art done but as we were doing the consultation, she advised that I do something different from what I had chosen because the design that I chose wouldn't look good on my nails. After giving me her opinion, I changed my mind and decided not to do the Nail Art and do a simpler "cat eye" design. I'm not a picky person. It's funny because as I was talking to Illiana, she mentioned to me that I was one of her "nicer" clients. She agreed that I was very understanding to which I usually am if something cannot be done.
As I finished my nail appointment, I went to checkout (pay) and I received a lecture from the two girls at the front desk that I was not allowed to make appointments for Nail Art if I was not going to get it. Again, I'm only human. I went in with the intentions of getting Nail Art, but I changed my mind because of the artist's recommendation. They also told me that If I didn't warn them next time that I changed my mind, they would charge me the full amount anyways. I understand time is money but I really didn't want to do a service that I was not going to be happy with and I tried explaining that to them, but they proceeded with attitude. In the heat of the moment, I was a bit upset and I didn't tip the nail artist. It's a bummer when you have a nice time and as your leaving two girls are lecturing you because you changed your mind and decided to do a different service which they still made $80 off of. I didn't feel that was my responsibility to inform them.
Two days later I received an email from Ada regarding the tip and she asked that it was customary to leave at least 18% and that if I continued to not leave tip, that they would no longer be able to service me. I always tip the girls. I called her to explain my reasoning behind not leaving the tip and she got so flustered and upset that she asked me to permanently not return to the salon. After the phone call, it's like she had the button ready to completely remove me from future appointments and I was blocked from making appointments.
It's unfortunate for the nail artists who work hard at building up their cliental while the people at the front desk seem to continue to turn people away. After the conversation, I read on YELP other reviews people have been leaving about Ada and the front desk and I seem to not be alone. I have seen the salon at different stages, and it went from being packed all the time with bookings and the last visit I went to I saw empty chairs. The girls at the front desk could've handled this in a more professional manner but they came at me with the intent to attack!! The services are very expensive... More expensive than any other salon I've gone to and the management should be more professional handling clients if they want to fill those empty chairs again.