East Bay nail salon suffers 'dine and dash' style theft

East Bay nail salon theft

Youve probably heard of dine and dash where you eat at a restaurant and skip out on the bill. Well an East Bay nail salon was victim to a similar theft when two women ran off following a theft of beauty services.

RICHMOND, Calif. - An East Bay nail salon was the victim of a ‘dine and dash’ style theft on Monday evening.

Customers in this case ran out the door after getting $400 worth of beauty services.

Valley Nails and Spa in Richmond said there wasn't anything unusual or alarming about the two customers, captured on surveillance video checking in at the tablets in the entryway.

They chose the priciest manicure, pedicure, and lash extension services.

Hours later, video shows the pair running away without paying.

Workers witnessed them hopping into a dark-colored sedan behind the strip mall.

"It feels very disturbing, feels very disrespect, and we feel like they shouldn't have any entitlement to do those things to us. We're not a big corp," said manager Trieu Huynh.

Huynh said the two women pretended to pay by tossing gift cards on the counter.

"My message is it's okay to tell us you guys can't afford it, and we can compromise something in between, but it's not right to just run off and treat us like your slave or servant," he said.

He said nail technicians at the salon barely make $200 a day.

Employee Jennifer Huynh has a message for the thieves:

"Hey, find yourself some income or anything like that and if anything, do your nails at home. I learned it really quick, you could learn it too," she said.

The salon said a different pair of customers pulled the same stunt a few months ago.

Valley Nails & Spa is now considering making customers pay before they receive services to reduce the risk of theft.

"We just want to put our words out there for any other salon that get to see this - just to be careful," he said.

The manager also said he had never seen these women at the salon before.

He added that he hasn't reported the crime to police, because he felt that the amount stolen wasn't enough to carry serious consequences. He mainly wanted to share his story to alert other small business owners.

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