A woman went viral for filming her confrontation with an Albuquerque, New Mexico, nail salon employee, who she says let another customer skip her in line in the middle of her service.
On June 2, @bbym666 posted the interaction with NT Luxury Spa and Nails to TikTok. The video has amassed over 32.5 million views as of this writing. “I’m in the middle of trying to get a set done, and this woman says, ‘Can I get my nails done first?’” says the disgruntled customer.
Why Was the Customer Upset With the Nail Salon?
The woman clarifies that she had already paid when a woman walks in and asks to skip the line. The employee allegedly agreed to this, leaving the original customer waiting. “You asked if you can just get your nails done in front of me after I had been here,” she says to the customer who had skipped her.
She proceeds to confront the workers and the customer who skipped her and asks why this happened. However, the employees and customers ignore the woman. Eventually, another customer stands up for the woman filming. “Why did you make her pay?” the other customer asks.
After initially ignoring the upset customer, the employee involved eventually approaches her to apologize and offer a refund.
Why Did the Nail Technician Allegedly Allow This to Happen?
In a follow-up video, the woman explains that she had called that morning to make sure they had availability for a walk-in appointment, which she says they did. She says she arrived, and the employee she would eventually confront, Anna, starts her visit by removing her previous nail set. The customer explains that this service, which is called a soak-off, is what she had already paid for.
After her previous set had already been removed, the other customer arrived. “She could have completely started my nails at this point,” she shares. “But this woman insisted she get her funky [expletive] toenails painted first.”
The woman filming initially left out of frustration. However, after a moment of reflection, she went back to the shop to film the confrontation and get a refund.
In one more follow-up video, she shares screenshots of a voicemail from the establishment. She says the spa apologized for the incident and offered free services. They also informed her that the employee responsible for the incident will be fired. She shares an additional screenshot of a text message from the owner himself apologizing and asking to speak with her about the incident.
Many of the commenters suspected that the incident felt discriminatory, as the woman who was skipped was the only Black woman in the salon, including both the employees and customers. “Can’t stand racism!” wrote one commenter. “You stood up for yourself in a respectful way, and I am so sorry you had to endure this.”
Was The Nail Salon Legally Out of Bounds With This Interaction?
Generally, no law requires a business such as a nail salon to serve customers in a strict first-come, first-served order. Businesses are usually free to manage appointments, walk-ins, and service priorities as they see fit. That means a customer cutting in line, by itself, is not necessarily illegal.
However, the situation changes if a customer receives different treatment because of a protected characteristic. These characteristics include race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or another category protected under state or federal law.
In New Mexico, nail salons and similar businesses are generally considered a public accommodation. A public accommodation is defined as an establishment that offers services to the public. The New Mexico Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in public accommodations and allows individuals to file complaints if they believe they were denied equal treatment because of a protected characteristic.
If evidence showed that the woman was allowed to skip ahead specifically because the other customer was favored based on race or that the woman who was waiting was intentionally pushed back because she is Black, the incident could potentially support a discrimination complaint under the New Mexico Human Rights Act.
Federal civil rights laws also prohibit certain forms of discrimination in places of public accommodation. However, state law often provides broader protections. In this case, proving discrimination would require evidence that the decision was motivated by a protected characteristic rather than poor customer service, favoritism, or an isolated policy violation.
AllHipHop reached out to @bbym666 for comment via TikTok direct message and the TikTok comments section and to NT Luxury Spa and Nails via Facebook Messenger. We will update this story if either responds.
@bbym666 NT Luxury Spa and Nails near Coors & Sequoia #ABQNails #Fyp #Racist #blacktiktok ♬ original sound – bbym