FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – A video went viral out of Federal Way showing a teenager refusing to pay for her manicure after it was completed. The nail tech who shot the video is bringing attention to a rising crime trend: refusal to pay for services.

Often, we hear stories about tangible theft. Breaking into convenience stores walking out of malls without paying for merchandise. What separates these crimes like the one at Perfect Nails and Spa is how personal the services are. People are caught taking advantage of several hours of someone’s workday only to say they won’t pay for their labor when it’s all said and done.

A TikTok user with the handle, “nails_by_leslie89” posted a clip online of a woman banging on the door of the salon, yelling at her to unlock the door. The video can also be viewed on Instagram with the handle “nailsby_leslie92”

The video was shot from inside Perfect Nails and Spa in Federal Way.

“Yelling and knock[ing on] the door,” she said. “You can see in the video, the mom and the kid tried to destroy the door.”

Leslie said on the night of Dec. 13, her last customer asked for a manicure.

“She didn’t say anything until I finished,” she said. “When I finished, she said she don’t like the color, she don’t like what she asked for in the nail.”

She said she had explained to the young woman that the design she presented would look slightly different as she has shorter nails.

“She said she don’t want to pay,” she said. “I said, ‘okay, I have to call the police to come in.’ She said, ‘okay, just call the police to come in.’ She didn’t want to pay.”

As Leslie called the police, the teenager called her mom.

“Her mom came in front, but I locked the door before the mom came in,” Leslie said.

Leslie told them if she paid the $63 that she was owed, then she’d unlock the door. But the teenager still refused payment, and Leslie said she didn’t seem to care that police were on their way.

“She talked with her boyfriend, she put lipstick on, she said she didn’t feel ashamed for herself, what she’s doing to me, at all,” she said.

Federal Way Police came and advised Leslie she shouldn’t lock people in. However, Leslie said weeks before this incident, she was scammed out of two more services.

She said these two teenagers came in for full sets and then said their mom was on their way to pay.

“They called somebody, saying my mom is coming already,” she said. “We have to go out and get the money. I said – okay, you can go. And then they run and then they laugh about it.”

Leslie told FOX 13, she’s a single mom of two young boys and works hard to give them a good life. Not only does she want to warn other salons about these crimes, but she also wants people held accountable for their actions.

“I want people to know that we work hard to raise the kids and run the business,” she said. “We work very hard for that. I don’t want anybody to come in and take advantage of us.”

Federal Way Police said they regularly get refusal to pay for services cases regularly.

As far as the two girls in November who ran out before paying, the case has been brought to the King County Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office for review. Any charging decision would ultimately be up to the prosecutor’s office.

One of the top comments on Leslie’s video asks why nail salons don’t ask for payment prior to service. Leslie told FOX 13 that as a nail technician, it doesn’t feel right to ask for payment upfront. Sometimes customers want to change or add designs and that changes the price. She said ultimately, they want their customers to get the design they want and be happy with the product. However, if this issue gets worse, they’ll have to change the way they do business.