Central Nails & Spa — Local services in Philadelphia

LONG BUT WORTH THE READ

So --- Unfortunately ....

First - I should say, I am not a huge nail person. I get pedicures regularly but rarely get manicures. I tried a dip-powder thing in mid March before a trip and liked it. It was $65 and I thought that was a bit high but reasonable. After some time, I decided I wanted that again.

So - six weeks later, I went back. Same person, Sarah, who gave me her cellphone number the first time I went. I liked that and was happy to text and ask her availability. Went in for pedicure and another dip powder process. I saw the board showing prices on this visit. It indicated the dip powder was "$50 and up" and I did wonder why my first time was $65 but didn't ask or say anything. Pedicure ($35) was fine although the polish could have been more covering in general.

While getting pedi, we talked about the color for my fingernails. I said I wanted something like "Ballet Slippers" which I know is a popular and common Essie color name. Sarah said they didn't have that, but she could mix two together to get that color. I assumed mixed, like in a bowl, combining the colors together to make one.

It turns out, it was not that kind of mixing, but rather a coat (or two) of one color and then a coat of another on top. Fine - I liked the color and my nails looked pretty. I said "so the dip is $50 ... or ... ?" And Sarah seemed to be doing some math in her head, adding it all up.

"The pedicure is $35 and ... "

HERE IT COMES --- The cost for my dip powder finger nail service this time was $85!!!!! I said something wow - I thought it was 50 or so ... and she mumbled something about mixing the color that I wanted.

I left and happened to be seeing my adult daughter that night. I told her who gets her nails done regularly at a really great place in S. Philly, Pure. She was confused like me why it was so high. Having Sarah's cell number, I texted her to ask.

Received her reply this morning saying that the full set of nails is $55 and the "additional gel color is $30." I asked again - and she said "I painted gel color for you that looks like ballet slipper." OMG - so it was $30 to have her paint - NOT MIX - a different color on top of first color. $30!!!!!!!!! I truly am speechless. The only thing I could reply is that her salon did not have the color I wanted, she said she can mix it to be that color but SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME IT WOULD COST AN ADDITIONAL $30 to put a different color on top. OMG -

Sarah is great and the place is so close to where I live and nice to sit by the window but I feel taken advantage of. Maybe it was because in answer to a question about trips coming up, I said we have a place at the shore that we are going to soon. Maybe they listen to things like that and then give you a price based on what they think you can afford. I don't know but sadly, I am crossing this place off. I just cannot justify the explanation of the additional $30. I mean, come...

I asked for red dip powder and the lady gave me pink, she reassured me it would change after the final process was done. When it was finished it was pink, but I didn’t have time to change it. She told me she gave me a pink red. The next day I asked to have it removed and the girl who did it and another girl said yes it’s pink but it looks good on you. I said I wanted red not pink, and you gave me pink. They both agreed it was pink. They charged me $10 to remove their own mistake, which they admitted to. So embarrassing for them as a business, I’ll...

WAY over priced for mediocre service. You’re paying for location. My nails looked good but my pedicure was pretty bad. I asked for her to cut my nails short twice and she didn’t, she barely cut my cuticles or buffed my feet and both hand and foot massages were a joke. The place and nail techs were very nice, but I would never go again. I had to wait for close to an hour while they did other people and then I felt like my service was rushed, even though I was there for nearly 3. Not worth...