Nails By Vivian — Attraction in El Cerrito

I recently got a regular pedicure at Nails by Vivian. I wanted to like this place, but alas I probably won't be back.

My first interaction was on the phone to schedule an appointment. The woman I spoke with was super curt and hung up really abruptly after scheduling me.

When I showed up for my appointment, the woman at reception didn't even ask me for my name or appointment time or tell me who would be doing the pedicure; she just told me to go sit in any empty chair. I waited for a good 10 minutes before anyone came over.

Pros: The place is really spacious. The chairs are spaced apart and the staff seems to take care to keep the tools and equipment sanitary (liners in the foot tubs, gloves, masks worn by staff, etc.). The massage chairs are pretty comfortable and you can control the massage with a remote control.

Cons: There were more customers there than nail techs so customers were doing a lot of sitting and waiting and the poor nail techs were having to go back and forth between customers. Also, there wasn't a consistent policy in regards to masking. The Yelp page for Nails by Vivian says "Mask Required" but that was definitely not the case when I went.

I finally got a nail tech to come over. She was nice but tried to upsell me on some extra products which I didn't want or need. She asked if I wanted my toenails trimmed a bit. I said sure, but then she proceeded to cut my big toe nails at an angle at the corners, which is a big toenail-cutting 101 no-no. This consistently leads to ingrown toenails, especially for me.

The foot bath water was lukewarm, but the foot scrub and massage were fine. The paint job was awful though. I left with a super uneven paint job with thin spots in certain places and big globs of nail polish in other places.

The cherry on top of the unsatisfactory sundae was as I was waiting for my toes to dry. The nail tech told me to wait 10 minutes and then I could leave. I looked at my phone to gauge when to go after 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark she came back, grabbed my purse, handed it to me and then ushered me out. I felt rushed, which considering that there were a number of empty chairs around seemed ridiculous.

Overall it just wasn't a good experience, thus my 1 star "Not Good" review. It felt rushed, transactional and haphazard. I doubt I'll...

Terrible service is a very underwhelming way of describing my experience at this place. Be prepared to be violated, talked about, judged as soon as you enter this place. I am giving it two stars so they won’t be able to remove this review ( which I will go to any lengths to make sure it stays here because a service providers top priority should be CUSTOMER SAFISFACTION.) I simply said take off the dip that the technician did in 15 mins which was left super uneven and bulky not to mention she didn’t even ask how I want my nails shaped. The front desk that is mentioned in all the other reviews (I will attach a picture) come up to me forces me to go sit with another technician when I refused to do so, she names her employees mentioning how much of a “difficult” customer I am and how everyone warned her when I entered the door rather than making sure I was happy with the nails I am paying for! She starts hovering over me defending the technician is the best one there ( never in my life have seen her there and have been going to that place even before they expanded from back in 2018 and before the money got to their head) then she tells me don’t ever come back here (I was planning on going back ) she names employees that have brought up their difficulty with me and I go up to them individually asking about the accusations which they refused they accused me of. She then snitched on herself claiming how they observe each person that walks through the door and they talk about how much they tip or what difficulty they bring rather than what kind of customer satisfaction they bring. Also was also offered to work front desk by Vivian herself which I cannot comprehend since I am a “difficult” customer. I can sit here and defend myself all day long but if you are going to take one thing from this review let it be other nail salons in el cerrito where you won’t be over priced and satisfied ! I pray this front desk lady finds some peace so she doesn’t destroy her sisters clientele! She clearly is very envious and doesn’t want the...

I have been a long-time customer of Vivian's and initially gave a 5-star rating. However, after the last year or so, this salon has gone downhill. They overbook clients which leads to long wait times way past your appointment time. I've had to wait 20mins past my appointment and ended up walking out. I went back a month later (October) and was promptly seated. I got a gel manicure and I wanted a simple design but they refused to do it. (I wanted a glitter ombre topcoat which they have done for me before). I was told my nails were too short which has never been the problem before. A week later, my gel was peeling and cracking off and I was left with weak, thin, shaved down nails. My nails have finally grown out long and strong enough to get a manicure but I wanted to try dip because I was told they don't shave down the nail like they do with gel. I was sitting at the chair and they brought out the drill and I asked if they shave down the nail like they do gel and they said yes. I told them I don't want to do it because it ruins my natural nails and Vivian said no, this is better because the dip has vitamin E and calcium so it actually makes your nails stronger. But at this point, my trust is broken and I still don't want this service. Vivian and my manicurist then tell me that dip doesn't include the manicure aspect of the manicure. Meaning, no cuticle trimming, no soaking, no massage, no lotion, no nothing! If you want that, it's an extra $5. I'm sorry, but if I'm taking the time and money to get my nails done I want the whole experience. And as someone who uses my hands a lot in work and washes them constantly, my cuticles need some TLC. Lastly, there is no price list of services so I have no idea how much anything costs. Seems easy for them to add a few extra dollars here and there. I am sad to say that I will not be returning to...