A New York woman says a nail salon owner grabbed her hair, chased her down the street, and cornered her in a restaurant, all over her nails

A New York woman is accusing a nail salon owner of physically assaulting her after she asked to have her nails shortened during an appointment, as reported by The Nerd Stash. The customer shared a tearful video describing the alleged incident at a business called Alica Nail Spa, warning others not to go there.

According to her account, the length of her nails ended up longer than she had requested, prompting her to ask the owner, who was also handling her service, whether they could be shortened. She alleges the owner grew upset and told her she should have requested the shorter length earlier in the service. When the owner allegedly continued yelling, the customer says she tried to defuse things by offering to pay extra.

She claims the owner then demanded she hand over her hands, which she refused to do because she no longer felt safe letting the owner touch her. A second employee took over the service while the owner allegedly continued shouting from the other side of the room. The customer says she eventually stood up to try to calm the situation, but the confrontation allegedly turned physical. “She ran towards me and she grabbed my hair and she pulled me back,” she said through tears.

Then the confrontation spilled outside

She claims she ran outside to escape, and that the owner chased her down the street and tried to grab her again before she took shelter inside a nearby burger restaurant. Disputes between customers and nail salon staff have gone viral before, including an Albuquerque woman who says an employee let another customer cut ahead of her during her appointment.

The customer says employees at the restaurant told her they could not do much to help since the building only had one exit, so she waited inside until officers showed up. She later filed a harassment report. She identified the salon owner as Wendy and maintains she never raised her voice and had every intention of paying for the service.

In a follow-up video, the customer claimed police treated the incident as harassment rather than assault, despite her insistence that being grabbed by the hair qualified as physical assault. She alleges officers told her to return to the salon and pay for a service she says was never completed, and that she is now considering disputing the charge with her bank.

She also claims the owner told police she had surveillance footage showing the customer trying to leave without paying, and that she urged the owner to release that footage, arguing it would also show the alleged altercation. She says officers told her that since they had not witnessed the incident themselves, there was little they could do, and she further alleged the owner gave police a false name. None of these claims have been independently verified.

Reactions online were split. Some viewers urged her to pursue legal action, with one writing, “You should sue her.” Others were skeptical of her account, with one commenter suggesting she was leaving out details, pointing to her acknowledgment that police had the option to review surveillance footage but chose not to. That comment drew pushback from another viewer, who argued the decision not to review the footage rested with police, not with her.

The salon owner has not publicly responded to the allegations, and it is unclear whether she was contacted for comment.