Consumer Justice: Pregnant Woman Gets Pedicure, Ends Up With Infection
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Jenny Blonk was by the bride's side the day before her best friend's wedding.
"I was looking forward to getting my foot massaged. Just relaxing the day before all the craziness started," said Blonk.
The whole wedding party got pampered at Hollywood Nails and Spa in Fort Worth last month.
"I was leaned back in the chair and they had a big pillow over my stomach so I couldn't see my feet," said Blonk.
Blonk said things seemed fined at first but the technician was a little rough.
"I thought, she is digging really hard, this does not feel good," said Blonk.
Blonk said she was in pain at the rehearsal dinner but it got really bad the day of the wedding.
"By the end of the night, it hurt to walk. The pressure on my toe was horrible. It was oozing stuff, just really nasty," said Blonk.
Blonks mother, Pam Terry, was worried.
"I was concerned for the baby. The red was moving up her toe and I though the infection would get in her blood and get to the baby," said Terry.
Terry took her daughter to the emergency room where the doctor confirmed an infection and put her on antibiotics.
"The doctor said he'd never seen a toe infection progress that quickly," said Blonk.
"I feel like, their cleaning standards are not where they need to be," said Terry.
They said Hollywood wouldn't give them an apology or a refund so they called CBS 11 for Consumer Justice.
We requested all complaints and violations at the salon from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Documents from the state show seven complaints since 2013, including five complaints over foot baths or nail equipment not being cleaned.
According to the report, another woman went to Hollywood for a pedicure in 2014 and ended up with an infection.
A former employee told the state Hollywood forced her to give massages to men, reuses wax and doesn't clean their tools properly.
Records show there's currently an open investigation by the state over the complaint filed by the employee.
We sent a Consumer Justice producer in for a service at Hollywood Nails.
She said all the tools, except the foot scrubber were in plastic wrap.
The technician told her they clean the foot tubs and fill out the cleaning logs after every customer.
However, our producer did not see the tech fill out a log after her pedicure.
CBS 11 went in to talk to the manager about Blonk's infection.
"Oh, I remember her, I spoke to her. She wanted the tip back and the refund for her nails," said a woman who identified herself as the manager but did not give us her name.
The manager agreed to reconsider.
CBS 11: "Bottom line, will you refund her?"
Manager: "I will give her back her refund on that pedicure on that card. That's it."
The manager also said she doesn't know where Blonk got the infection.
"I cannot say it happened here, I will not say it happened here," said the manager.
Terry has no doubt her daughter got the infection at Hollywood. She filed a complaint with the state.
"I just don't want it to happen to somebody else, certainly not someone who is pregnant," said Terry.
Resources:
Top ten code violations in salons.
Report a violation to the state.
File a complaint with the state.
Top cosmetology violation counts for the whole state.
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