Nail Bar & Spa — Attraction in Saint Louis Park

My appointment was 6/20, starting at 4:30pm.

I haven’t really gotten a lot of mani/pedis. This was my second time getting one. The first once having been over a year and a half ago in Los Angeles, and was such an incredible, positive experience that I was genuinely excited for this.

This instance was not great, from start to finish. At the beginning, I asked for the tech’s name, and was told I did not need to know it. That should have been my first red flag.

I mentioned that I wasn’t sure of the process and the order of operations, and felt this information was used as permission to ignore me. I was honest about the fact that I was doing this to treat my hands and nails better (I’m a nail biter), and got a lecture about how I should let my nails grow and incidentally, this was the ONLY time I was conversed with in any way.

So, my complaints, mostly in order:

• not given then name of the tech(s) that worked on me • was left to have my feet (got gels) dried for a half hour. Not a joke. Every time I tried to get anyone’s attention, I was ignored, even tried to ask if I was just supposed to sit at a manicure table, no answer • got a different tech for my feet and my hands without being warned • as a result, I had to explain to the manicure tech why I had two coats (top one was glittery and somewhat translucent). Even after explaining it, still had to remind the nail tech a couple of times • the manicurist did a half-baked job on my nails. We’re talking, uneven application, gel foundation spots on my hands, gel flecks all over my hands. I got the sense that he was trying to get done with me as quickly as possible to get to the walk-ins, even though I had made an appointment. • nail manicurist was the one who lectured me about letting my nails grow for a solid 15 minutes and proceeded to ignore all other attempts at non-nagging conversation • in spite of all this, I wanted to leave a tip. I’ve been in the service industry before, and the pedicure technician did a great job. At the first mani/pedi salon in L.A., I was able to tip via card. When I asked about this before I left, I was told only cash tips were accepted. This isn’t listed anywhere obviously, and it’s possible that this is an industry standard that I (as somebody getting my second ever mani/pedi) was not informed of. Still, after everything else, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

The good parts:

• again, the pedicurist did great! My feet look cute. She got the color on perfectly, didn’t have to be told repeatedly about the multiple colors, and while she wasn’t very conversational, she at least didn’t nag at me like a disappointed dad. Had the rest of this visit gone well, I would have recommended her, and would have requested her for the future. • the gentleman who ran the front desk when I was there made a great suggestion when I was picking out colors. If not for his intervention, my nail color would have been off too. At the very least, I am happy with how the color turned out.

Overall, the feeling I was left with was one of being unwelcome. The sense I got is that this is a good place to go to if you are a regular. If you are not one, this is not the place.

I’m glad that this wasn’t my first ever experience getting a mani/pedi. If it had been, I wouldn’t have ever gone again, which is sad because it’s meant to be a “treat yourself,” relaxing indulgence. I fell in love with getting my nails done.

My hope is that the salon changes the way they treat new customers, and become more friendly with people who are clearly unfamiliar with the process. I have general anxiety disorder, and so doing this on my own in the first place took a lot for me. To have it end up being such a bad time was disappointing, to say the least.

If you are new to manicures and pedicures, I highly advise going to...

Worst customer service EVER! After over 6 years of loyal patronage (I went monthly = $120/mo with good tipping), going thru Covid19 with them, bringing friends and recommending them, I was treated SO poorly by the 12 y.o. child, "Edward" (who I've never seen, or engaged with before). I called saying I was running 15 minutes late, and he then proceeded to tell me that my nail tech went home due to an "emergency," yet they never called to tell me. I asked if they would have someone to do my Luxury Gel Pedicure, he said, yes, "Caitlin," he claimed, one of their best. So I continued to drive. There was a road closure I was unaware of, so I was further delayed by 10 minutes. When on our call, I had asked about a new Chrome product and if he could find out if they had it. When I checked in, he said it would be another 10-15 minutes and to pick my gel color. I again asked about the chrome product, he said he forgot to ask (mind you, there are only 4 clients and 5 nail techs, which is virtually empty for them in this very large nail salon). Caitlin still wasn't ready, so I asked how much longer. He then says he has a big wedding party coming, and she only has time for a quick, basic pedicure. I said no, and he then launched into why this was my fault (mind you, I've now been waiting 25 minutes, and he took no responsibility for the delay or switch on techs. He gave me lots of excuses (which I hadn't done). I reminded him how long I had been a client (representing $1,500/yr revenue), and he was curt with me and offered NO solutions or apologies. I will not be ever returning, and in fact already am on my way to a new appointment at a more highly rated salon. Edward has a lot to learn about business, people, life, and...

I came to Nail Bar & Spa for a walk-in builder gel manicure on Friday at 1:30 PM. I was told the next available technician would be ready by 2:45 PM, which I agreed to — but I wasn’t seated until 3:15 PM. The technician who finally took me was rude, dismissive, and clearly didn’t want to do the service. She was constantly getting up and walking away, never staying seated for the full duration of the appointment.

Frustrated, I went to the front desk and told them I wanted to leave and didn’t appreciate how I was being treated. They pleaded with me to stay and brought in another technician to finish the service, who was more polite but clearly unskilled. I paid for my services and left, but shortly after, I noticed that my nails were already lifting. I returned on Monday to have the work redone, which was well within their three-day grace period policy.

I came in at 11:30 AM and was told (again) that no one was available to do the service until 3:00 PM. They scheduled me for that time, but when I returned as booked, I was met with more attitude and obvious annoyance from the staff. Instead of correcting the work, they offered to remove the polish, refunded me, and sent me on my way. It honestly makes no sense — why ask me to return 3.5 hours later just to send me away?

This place is unprofessional, disorganized, and full of staff who do not have basic respect for paying customers. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Total waste of time.

Edit: This is what they consider acceptable when they “remove” their work. You can clearly see there’s still product left on my nails, and the surface looks rough, uneven,...