Bamboo Nails — Local services in San Francisco

I had a mani/pedi and while the services were ok, my shoes were stolen. I normally don't write online reviews, but I was so upset the way two of the receptionists and the manager (Coco) handled it, that i feel customers should be aware. I was the last customer out that evening, most of the staff had left, and i changed into my flipflops, forgetting my ecco trainers next to the pedi chair. I went for dinner next door to Rose's cafe and 20 mins later realised I'd left my shoes. I called but they had closed already. Over the next two weeks, i called, and visited twice, each time being told i needed to speak to someone else or that the manager would call back (but they didn't). It took 3 attempts before the I spoke to Coco who confirmed there were no shoes to be found. In fact they blamed me, saying i must have taken the shoes with me to dinner, or forgotten where i put them, 'our staff for 15 years have never stolen and every pair of forgotten shoes have been returned'. A simple apology or a little empathy towards the loss of my new Ecco shoes would have gone a long way, but rather I was treated with disdain and accused of having a bad memory. Made me wonder that any other place would have been shocked at the incident, rather than defensive, so maybe there is more to it than meets the eye....

Bad experience, would strongly recommend avoiding. While the place looks pretty and has a great menu of services, so many things were wrong about the experience.

1. The pedicure lady poured burning hot green tea on my feet and instead of apologizing for the accident, kept ON blaming me for not “paying attention to where my feet is in the bowl”.
2. I went for a relaxing experience but literally could not relax because the manicure and pedicure staff kept talking non-stop in asian language. I requested them twice to keep the voice low and not talk at my head, but no acknowledgement whatsoever - and within few mins they would just start talking loudly among themselves again (while working on my nails!)
3. Even though we booked one of their most expensive manicures, the service time was much shorter than they advertised on their website. They literally just rubbed one cream before applying nail paint and that’s it.
4. Despite all of this, at the end even the lady who burned me and was arguing with me non stop came running (literally!) - insisting on a 20% tip.

Overall a waste of money, and not...

I had the most wonderful experience at Bamboo Spa today. I’m a little upset I haven’t found this place sooner! I had a gel manicure with Amy, and regular pedicure with Sarah. I appreciate that this salon offers cruelty free gel, which I haven’t found elsewhere in the city. They offer Londontown gel nail polish, which independent vegan and cruelty free review blog Ethical Elephant confirmed is a cruelty free brand and offers many vegan options, though not all of their products are vegan. I’ve had 3 gel nail polishes at a few other salons in SF over the last year, and this is by far the best one I’ve had - beautiful, no large gaps between polish and cuticle, no pain or cuts, shaping is excellent, and the entire appointment was efficiently accomplished in 1 hour without feeling rushed (I did have both services done at once, which might not always be a guarantee if they’re busier). I went on a Saturday afternoon and enjoyed missing the morning rush. Now I’ll just wait and see how well it lasts! Thank you so much Amy and Sarah for a...