Yesterday the bridal party in my friend T's wedding took the bride-to-be for a day or pre-wedding pampering. We chose a local spa with a pretty good reputation, and prices to match. But when I looked down at my nails after my manicure, I didn't know whether to gasp in shock or burst out laughing! This is a bit of a long story, but definitely worth it. Read on:

As I chatted with T about the upcoming nuptials, the manicurist interrupted several times to remind us that she wasn't supposed to be here today (Clerks, anyone?) and that she was supposed to be at home getting ready for her daughter's bridal shower, which was to be held the next day. We were sympathetic, but it was at that point that the alarm bells started ringing in my head. A disgruntled manicurist is not something you want when she's maneuvering sharp tools around your cuticles.

When she finished, I looked down at my nails in complete shock. I had chosen a sheer pink polish, but it looked like she had slapped on the coats so thick that it looked like opaque white. It was streaky, and there was polish all over my cuticles (which looked ragged even though she cut them). Half my nails were "squoval" and half were round. I consulted with the girls, and the agreement was that the manicure looked like a 5-year old had done it.

The manicurist must have overheard some of this; she came back and (grudgingly) agreed to clean it up. She proceeded to do this using an orange stick - not wrapped in cotton, just bare - dipped in polish remover. And she pressed HARD! This killed my cuticles and nailbeds and left my hands red and irritated. Best yet, in the process she managed to nick big chunks of polish off the sides of my nails. It was even worse than when she started!

So I quietly approached the receptionist and asked if my pedicure was scheduled with this same woman. Yes. Oh dear. Was there anyone else who could do it? No. OK, cancel it. I showed her my ragged nails and didn't need to say another word. The spa handled everything quite well and I ended up not having to pay for this hellacious mani. (Which I ended up undoing with nail polish remover about 5 minutes later, still at the spa!)

Has this ever happened to you? How do you handle bad salon or spa services?