Woman books a facial to help her friend’s sister’s business. Then the sister allegedly snaps and points out flaws in her skin: ‘You’re the awful girl’

It’s nice to support a small business, especially one that’s just starting, but a new business means that you don’t know what kind of experience you’ll have. If somebody you know is starting that business, then you might end up feeling obligated to help them out however you can.

For Rylie (@ryliebrii), trying to help her friend’s sister, who was starting a business that offers beauty services, resulted in an experience that allegedly led to her leaving before she even received the facial she booked, according to the Daily Dot.

Rylie’s friend apparently booked a facial with her sister for Rylie, even offering to pay for it, just to give her sister a client because she felt bad that she wasn’t getting business. Rylie told her friend that she’d pay for the service, but mentioned that she wasn’t going to post about the appointment. However, Rylie ended up posting about it after all due to how poor her experience was.

Rylie’s appointment started with her friend’s sister running late

According to Rylie, she arrived for her appointment to learn that the sister, whom she calls Betty for the story, wasn’t there yet. Betty arrived about 15 minutes late, and she didn’t seem to realize that it was already noon, which was when Rylie’s appointment was scheduled for.

Rylie described how Betty had her follow her back and slammed her purse down. She apparently told Rylie that she wasn’t having a good day and would prefer not to do small talk. Then, she asked Rylie about her skin, which Rylie takes pride in, saying, “I take pride in my skincare, and I have really good skin for being 29, like I pride myself on it.”

According to Rylie, Betty said that she had redness and underlying acne in a way that made Rylie feel like she was being talked down to. Rylie decided to end the appointment early and said that she told Betty, who tried to apologize to get Rylie to stay, “You have been so disrespectful to me, and you made me feel unwelcome, and you just made me feel like I was gross.”

Rylie said that she told her friend about her experience, but understands that it wasn’t her friend’s fault. Apparently, Betty talked to her sister and told her, “You’re trying to say you’re trying to help me, but you’re bringing me such awful girls.”

Rylie’s friend told her this part, and Rylie ended her video saying about Betty, “You are the awful girl. It’s you. It’s your problem; fix it.”

Estheticians weighed in on the topic of professionalism in the comments

Rylie’s story is that of an experience that many commenters consider unprofessional, and estheticians chimed in with their opinions on how estheticians should handle clients, even if they’re balancing having a bad day or dealing with personal issues of their own.

One commenter said, “As an esthetician, none of my clients have ever known if I was having a bad day. From their point of view, every single day is my best day.” This is generally how customer-facing employees are taught to act when they’re being trained for a new job. It’s usually frowned upon to bring your personal issues into work, and even worse to take them out on customers or clients.

Another commenter said, “In esthetician school, something they tell us (or at least told my class) is that if someone has a good experience, they might tell one or two people, but if they have a bad one, they’ll tell a lot more. I’m sorry you experienced this, girlie.”

What to do if you have a negative experience with a business

It’s common to see people sharing their experiences online, especially on a platform like TikTok. As that commenter said, it definitely feels easier to find stories about negative experiences online. When you have a small business that’s just starting, it’s going to be difficult to come back from receiving poor reviews online.

When you feel like you’ve had a poor experience with a business, you have some options for how to handle it. First, it’s usually a good idea to contact that business’s management. Management tends to want customers or clients to be satisfied and often tries to make the situation right. In Rylie’s situation, Betty would be her own boss as the person starting a business, so that likely isn’t feasible.

In that case, leaving a poor review, but being calm and clear about why that business is receiving that rating from you, tends to be effective in two ways. You let the business know that you were unsatisfied with their product or service and why, and you warn other potential customers that they might experience a similar issue.

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