Zen Nail Spa — Attraction in Orange

My experience was not very “zen”. (Long)

My sister had gotten her dips at Zen, granted I think it was just shortly after Pinecrest and Zen opened…I thought I’d try them since it’s 1/3 the distance for me now compared to my old place and they’re $10 less than most other places……………. Appt scheduled in person - man was cold and couldn’t be bothered, impatient. When I arrived for the appt it was confirmed on schedule AND I had to sign in? My tech was summoned NUMEROUS TIMES via walkie talkie which echoed thru the whole place, numerous times flat out yelled the techs name across the establishment, a few other staff joined in yelling for him, mind you while other customers are all in the middle of their own appts….why. Just go get him. Also, I was a little early. Chill. The dip color samples location feels like you’re ON TOP of the first pedicure station. Awkward. Tech also seemed like he couldn’t be bothered, cold and impatient. I told the tech I did not want a top coat (which was no problem at my old place). The appt was basically silent - language barrier? I honestly don’t have a problem with language barriers, actually on a normal day I would be super grateful for silence but there was just kind of a cold, resentful, vibe about it. IMPORTANT: Toward the end of the appt he pulled out what I saw was “top coat” and I shook my head (I don’t know if he saw) and he put it back to grab something else so I was like, ok, but I didn’t realize he was doing a GEL FINISH on DIP until he pulled over the UV light and at that point it just felt too late to stop what was happening. If you’ve never had Dip before, dip systems have THEIR OWN top coat solution- you’re not supposed to use gel. You never have to use UV light with dip. And, as I’ve been describing, you don’t even have to use the top coat if you don’t want to. I suppose they could do the gel top coat as like a signature finish at no additional cost for “bonus customer experience” but I should have been told/asked because I definitely would have said no! Also, because I had ALREADY said I didn’t want a top coat! There was an unpleasant hot/tingly feeling during the uv light in/on my left hand, and honestly hours later it still feels strange. I was FINALLY instructed to wash my hands at the end of the appt (but not before he started). There were no nail brushes. After washing I was just sorta pointed away and escorted to the front desk by someone else. I also realized after (since it’s been years since I last had dips) that previous techs had always wiped my nails with alcohol before applying the dip system, which this tech did not do. I overheard another tech tell their customer to have their dip refilled every 2 weeks!? My old place I could go 3-4 weeks! When I was finally able to inspect how my nails look it seems like he didn’t care how my nails are actually shaped, he just filed them to be the perhaps “ideal skinny” shape even tho he asked what shape I wanted and I said “natural”. They’re going to grow out poorly. Also my thumb nails were short and needed TLC in shaping when I came in and honestly he made the one worse and on the opposite side of where the original problem was. I’ve already taken a file to them myself to fix some of the shaping and to un-gel a filed cuticle that got trapped. The whole process only took 30 min, which would have been awesome if I was happier with the experience, the result, didn’t feel like an object on an assembly line, or like they’re scamming people into having to come in more often…I’ve never before had dips done in less than 45 min. I think my only positive is that I wasn’t cut with any of the dremels or flat files. Part of me feels like I’m being dramatic, but honestly, based off of my VERY happy experience at another salon, that I was not asked consent for a service I did not book, questionable hygiene/cleanliness, and my own approach in the customer service/retail industry- striving to ensure my clients have THE BEST possible experience I can give them, I...

HR- PLEASE GET INVOLVED. I have been a valued customer at Zen for the past three years. I have gone to the same nail tech and have a wonderful rapport with the staff and have seen this nail spa go through two different managers. The most recent manager, Ken, is not only disrespectful to customers, but to his own employees in-front of other clients. He is creating an environment that is hostile and uncomfortable with each time I visit and I think it would be wise for HR to get involved before you lose more clients and employees due to poor management. I went in yesterday 6/30/23 for an appointment with my regular nail tech at 1pm. When I arrived, my nail tech was just beginning a pedicure. With 2 small children at home, my nail tech knows how much I need to be on time which is why I have always book an appointment. I sat and waited for over 40 minutes and did not complain but sat and waited patiently for my nail tech to finish the pedicure she was doing. When she came and sat down, she apologized and said the front desk (KEN) gave her a walk in even though he knew she had an appointment with me. Ken walked over to my nail tech and said, "No, you need to give this lady over here a manicure after her pedicure", and I very politely said, "I had an appointment with her over 40 minutes ago". Ken said to me, "YOU STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS AND ILL STAY OUT OF YOURS"! I was appalled. Not only did he not apologize to me as the client for being late, but he reprimanded me in-front of the entire salon. I was mortified. I have been a loyal customer for over 3 years and to be treated with such disrespect from management is distasteful and reckless (HR go back and roll the tape from this day, you will see Kens body language towards me with such negative attitude and how he came at me). I sat so uncomfortable the rest of my nail appointment and told my nail tech I would not be returning due to the disrespectl I was shown by Ken. Not only should he never speak to a client this way, but to a woman, publicly. Afterward, I paid and he went over to my nail tech and said, "What is your customers problem? I am going to kick her out of the salon"! HR- you NEED to know who you are trusting to run your business. This man is going to continue to turn away clients like myself who will no longer be returning. I would step in as soon as possible. You should survey your employees who are also scared of him and get into altercations with him daily. There is a lot going on that you need to know about and I hope my review is an eye...

Very Long post- A friend wanted to treat me to a nice mani/pedi for my trip so he chose this place - he had read some reviews and liked the area so we tried it. I'm all-natural so it's been a decade since I've been pampered & I was excited. The lady (A) doing my mani/pedi didn't say much or explain much so I had to ask questions. I had heard that gel nails were really nice & lasted longer than regular polish so I chose a color & she got started. It was pretty basic, wasn't great but it could've been worse so I was happy. We weren't aware they only took cash tips so they offered another technician's CashApp account - didn't like that but we gave a generous tip. I left the next day for my trip & 1 day later the polish started to chip. This was a family trip so I wasn't overusing my hands or anything so I was shocked. It was only on the corner of 2 nails so I was still okay. The day after a few more chipped so I called & the manager, Brian, told me to come in so they could fix it. The original lady (A) wasn't there so they had someone else do it. Lady B looked at each of my nails & stated that the lady A shouldn't have used that polish for gel nails. I'm thinking why didn't lady A have told me that- I would have picked another color. I liked lady B bc instead just re-doing the nails that were chipped she looked at the other nails that looked like they were ready to chip & redid them (she was thorough).. after leaving I thought to myself if lady B knew that this polish wasn't good for gel nails why would she use the same polish? After a few days, the rest started chipping so I called again & Brian told me to come in again & do new polish. I told him I wanted lady B to do them, he told me I would have to wait another week bc she wasn't in. I came in, they sat me down and lady B started the take-down process. She then said it would be $28, so I explained that Brian told me to come in & it would be taken of. The other ladies there started speaking amongst themselves in their language & then said to me that bc it's been longer than a week I would need to pay. I was angry bc I asked them to call Brian & the excuse was that Brian turned off his phone. I called the next day & he was "sick". Which could've been true but it felt like they just didn't want to honor the request & felt I was trying to get a handout - My friend paid extra for gel nails to be done correctly. I will never go back & probably not try gel nails again. My nails were brittle after the gel...