Pink Nails Spa — Local services in New York

I hate to give a negative review because I really love this salon and the ladies who do my nails. They do a really lovely job and are very warm and inviting. Today however I had an extremely negative experience. I had a gel manicure done earlier in the day (which was a little over $30 + tip), and I really hated the color but I had to get to work so rushed out, with the intention of returning for a polish change later in the day. I had a pedicure done at different salon right after work and had them go ahead and soak off the color I had on my nails for the sake of time (paid them $5 to do so). I went back to Pink Nails explaining what happened and they said “sure come back in 20 minutes and we will take care of you!” When I returned, I was told that to paint my nails a new color, the fee would be $20. TWENTY DOLLARS!! I didn’t ask them to shape or manicure my nails, and they didn’t even need to soak off any color because I had had that done already. I was in shock at the fee, and was told it was because they turned other costumers away, that applying gel polish is more involved than regular polish, and that it’s basically not their fault that I didn’t like the color I chose. I felt like I had no choice because I had already paid $38 (for the manicure plus tip, NOT INCLUDING the soak off I paid for at the other salon), and I am leaving town first thing in the morning. I ended up tipping my manicurist Alex because I didn’t want to disrespect her time and she did a nice job, but I really feel like I was ripped off and not taken care of at all.

Total cost for my manicure today (including $20 fee and soak off from other salon): $66. This is unacceptable!!

I asked them for a price list after (I should have up front!!!) and it says $7.00 for polish change, $5-$10 soak off (which I didn’t even have them do). $20 fee for gel polish change isn’t listed ANYWHERE on their price list.

Terrible...

I’m sad to write this, but I hope it helps others.

I’ve been to this salon over 10 times because it’s affordable, but the service and communication have always been pretty disappointing. Gel nails from here usually start peeling on the sides after about a week. If you don’t speak Spanish, they barely try to communicate. They don’t even ask simple things like if the nail length is okay or if you want anything touched up.

They also tend to add extra charges without telling you. I called ahead and was told it would be $20 for a regular manicure with gel soak-off ($15 + $5), but they charged me $25. When I asked why, the tech (I think her name was Alex) said my old gel wasn’t “normal” and she had to clean it twice — which honestly didn’t make sense. It was just a regular gel I got in Korea, and it lasted over three weeks with no peeling. She never mentioned anything about extra charges during the service.

While removing the gel, she used the drill way too harshly, and my nails felt super thin and sore afterward. I could still see marks under the new polish.

Also, I sometimes overheard them talking in Spanish about how much people tipped, assuming no one understood — which felt really unprofessional.

Overall, they need to work on their nail skills, keep up with current trends (like understanding what regular gel actually is), and most importantly, improve their customer service and...

I really want to root for this local business, but the one of the owner’s customer service (Alex) can use some work. I called in for an appointment in advance, but there was still a 30 min delay to start on me. It was busy, which is understandable, but an update throughout would’ve been nice.

I brought in a picture of the French pedicure I wanted and asked if they could combine two OPI colors to achieve the same look. The owner told my nail tech that only one color could be used. My nail tech did her best to try to find a similar color, but she couldn’t find a good match and the color ended up nothing like I expected.

Same for my gel manicure. I had a hard gel manicure from another place and asked if they could take it off. The owner told the nail tech how to do it, but it was so painful. (And it does not usually hurt at my other nail salon, who also use the machine to remove.) I would have preferred if they would have told me that they in fact did not specialize in that type of removal.

The nail tech admitted she would not be able to completely remove the hard gel and as a result, the manicure did not come out great. The nail tech didn’t even clean under the nails, and there is an obvious spot on one nail due to the damage from the removal.

Unfortunately, I think this is my last visit. The nail techs were super friendly, but the owner...