The nice thing about writing on the internet is that your thoughts can be “half-baked.” Nothing is immortalized (as in a book). I have lots of half-baked notions — and here’s one of them!
First, an apology to 99.99% of our patients; this is not directed at you — just that infinitesimally small minority that can make our lives a living hell. And it’s a tiny minority: in 30 years of practice, I have only had three of “them.” But what a three!
They did, however, teach me. I learned a lesson that never fails, it’s almost an axiom: “Those patients with the smallest ‘problem’ end up being our ‘biggest’ difficultly.” Let me give you an example.
Right now, a beautiful young woman is nearly finished with her treatment. She has PCOS and nearly had a beard. Everything went as planned: great attitude, on-time treatments, total success and smiles for everybody!
And then there’s, let’s call her Sally. She actually has no hair that needs treatment (maybe one or two), but she’s “freaked out.” Even being highly emotional about her “condition,” she constantly makes and breaks appointments. Last week she was supposed to come in at 10 AM, called me at 9:50 and rescheduled for 1:00 PM. Then called at 1:15 and got “in traffic,” and rescheduled for 5:00 PM — showed up at 6:00 PM. She had two hairs. I didn’t charge her, but listened to her latest “drama” that took about 45 minutes — boyfriend issues.
Two other cases come to mind. Another young woman, with no hair — I could see nothing. I did remove ONE hair (no charge) and a week later her attorney called me threatening a lawsuit because of a “scar.” Luckily I had photographed the area before and after the treatment. The attorney got the photos and that was the end of it.
And then there are eyebrows! After 30 years of it, I usually refuse doing them. My best story is a patient that came in with pencil marks all over her brows (mostly where she didn’t have hairs.) I removed ONE hair, she got off the table and started screaming: “you took off the wrong hair!” It took me 30-minutes to calm her down and, of course, I refused to continue treating her.
The point for me is this: I will not treat “untreatable” cases. I especially avoid eyebrow cases (unless the person is realistic about what can be achieved). I hope this helps, knowing that you are not the only one dealing with the occasional “nut job!” Every electrologist I’ve ever known has a “loving heart.” Just be careful and don’t let yourself get dragged into somebody else’s drama. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
May I ask you why you would not treat eye brows?
If I did not wax, I would have almost a uni-brow. I am personally not bothered by the fact that I have to wax them every 2-3 weeks. I thought about doing electrolysis on them and decided against it (it just does not bother me - I always take care of it during my nails appointment - so I always look presentable).
Nevertheless, I did consider it for a moment, so I am interested to find out why you would not want take eyebrow cases.
Yes, these are the unfortunate experiences we all wish we didn’t have to endure. I learned a long time ago there are always some clients where a business simply doesn’t need their revenue.
Congratulations on having the forethought and wisdom to take before and after pictures.
Well, yes I still do eyebrows here and there; but would rather not. They take an ungodly amount of short treatments and clients usually continue tweezing — which makes the situation difficult. Most eyebrow folks complain WAY too much about “all the hair coming back.” It’s not at all satisfying for me.
I get nervous trying to make the proper shape and I don’t think I’m the best guy for the job — So, I always send them to my awesome friend Karen Stathis, a 25-year veteran who does great work.
I get it. Among the reasons why I decided not to bother with eye brows are: 1) timing of the appointments to make sure I always look presentable without the need for tweezing/waxing. 2) nervous about getting the right shape that I will like 10 years from now.
I had my eyebrows done and love it. My electrologist was very nice and let me hold a mirror and make sure she got the right hairs when we got close to the end of the ordeal and one or two hairs here and there matters. I think as long as you choose a pretty conservative shape, Lerkin, it’s definitely achievable in a way that won’t make you regret it years later.
Michael - I feel your pain. Some people are simply looking to take their frustrations out on other people. These “nut jobs” are all around us. They’re people’s relatives, friends, etc. They’re not just electrolysis clients 
Hee hee…I so misinterpreted the title of this thread.
I pictured a very painful electrolysis session.
Must be an British thing, sorry.
Now THAT above post “made my day!” ha ha ha
Some of your clients sound familiar to me, Michael!!!
It’s almost funny when a client with a chin full of hair says, “Only take the bad ones.” (They are all bad, honey.) But I don’t say that.
It’s sad when a client has no hair, goes home and then her husband calls saying that his wife cried all night because I missed the one that bothered her the most. (OCD, I believe.)
It’s frustrating when the first time she came in she was wailing because a friend of a friend was just diagnosed with cancer and “What are they going to do? Oh, I don’t need the consultation, I had this done before.” Then after a few clearings her husband emails me asking why she is not done, and that I took out too many hairs." (Excuse me, but which beard hairs did you want me to leave?)
I hate it when someone says to me, “Trust me,” as I don’t trust someone who says THAT. I love it when the client says to me, “I trust you to do whatever needs to be done.” Then they follow my directions and they get done.
I’ve been accused of being a very patient person. There are more good people than bad…and the bad ones go away if you don’t return their calls.
I can imagine there are a lot of nut jobs you guys have to deal with on a reoccurring basis. On the other end, what frustrates me is sometimes as a client, when I have raised questions or concerns, I get looked at like I’m a nut job for wanting to know more details about my care. Maybe, some people get nervous when questioned about their work?
YES! and that’s why all information should also be in writing: CLEAR and SIMPLE. The best client only remembers half of the initial information — it’s a new universe. (And an accurate estimate wouldn’t hurt either. And, if an estimate is not possible, the reasons why … i.e., PCOS, menopause, young male with developing body hair. Still, a reasonable estimate is appropriate.)
One of my favorite clients (one more appointment from being finished), has greeted me at very single appointment — from day one — by saying: “I just don’t understand where all these hairs are coming from.” After 10 - 15 explanations I just say: “I’ll tell you when we’re finished.” She laughs, gives me the finger, and we’re both happy. Her first “clearing” was 16 hours. Her final clearing (#3) will be <1.5 hours. I know she’s happy.