Albuquerque woman confronts a nail salon after she says an employee let another customer cut in line, and reveals the salon’s response

A customer at a nail salon in Albuquerque, New Mexico, recently became the center of attention online after she recorded a disagreement with salon workers. She said the staff allowed another person to go ahead of her during her appointment. The video was posted on TikTok by user @bbym666 and has been watched more than 33.7 million times.

The disagreement started after the woman had already paid for her service and was waiting for it to be finished, when another customer walked in and asked to be served first. According to the woman, the salon worker agreed to this, which upset her. She spoke directly to the customer who had moved ahead of her, saying, “You asked if you can just get your nails done in front of me after I had been here.”

The woman said she had called the salon earlier that morning to make sure she could come in as a walk-in customer. When she arrived, a worker named Anna started by removing her old set of nails, a soak-off service she had already paid for. She said the worker could have simply moved on to the new set afterward. Instead, the worker stopped to help the other customer who had just arrived. 

Online reaction raised questions about possible discrimination

After leaving the salon upset, the woman said she decided to go back to talk about what happened and ask for her money back. During this second visit, she filmed the workers and the other customer, who she said mostly ignored her. At one point, a different customer in the salon spoke up and asked the staff, “Why did you make her pay?” After that, the worker involved came over, apologized, and gave her a refund.

The video drew a strong reaction on social media. Many viewers pointed out that the woman appeared to be the only Black customer in the salon at the time. This led some commenters to suggest the situation may have involved discrimination, with messages such as, “Racism is disgusting.”

Many also voiced support for how the woman responded to the situation. Disputes between customers and businesses over fees and treatment have gone viral before, including a case where a diner spotted an unusual music charge on their bill.

In a follow-up video, the woman said the salon reached out to her with a formal apology and offered her free services. She also shared screenshots that she said showed the salon owner contacting her about the matter, including a message stating that the employee involved would be fired. Businesses sometimes respond to public backlash with explanations of their internal policies, much like the time a restaurant had to clarify why it got rid of damaged chairs.

From a legal standpoint, nail salons and similar businesses are usually not required to serve customers strictly in the order they arrive. Business owners generally have the right to decide how they manage appointments and prioritize customers. However, the situation can become more serious if there is evidence that the decision was based on discrimination.

Under the New Mexico Human Rights Act, businesses that serve the public are not allowed to treat customers unequally because of protected traits such as race. Poor service or simple favoritism on its own is not necessarily against the law. But if it can be shown that a decision was based on someone’s race, that could support a formal discrimination complaint.