Child ear piercing gone wrong - help me with what to say

[formula3]

DD8 had ears pierced today at Claire’s. All went fine, until we got home and she said “my earring has fallen out” and after initially telling her that was impossible l looked, and sure enough there was no earring in right ear. She hadn’t fiddled with them in the 3 hours they had been pierced and we got home, and I found the earring itself in the hood of her coat, no sign of the back so assume it was loose from start and is still somewhere in the shopping centre.
she was very upset, obviously, as she’s 8 and was panicking due to some blood around hole. I called Claire’s and explained what happened, the lady I spoke to sounded very shocked and said she had never had this happen and she needed to call her senior. She called back to say they were very sorry, that it must have been a fault with the earring (though it looks fine) and all that can be done is to leave it a week to heal over and they will pierce it again and as an apology not make me pay again!

I was too shocked to really process it other than to say that I didn’t think she’d want to come back there given she’d been brave to get it done in the first place and was now very upset, and said I had to go as had a very upset little girl to sort out but Could someone senior get back to me. That didn’t happen by the end of the day.

what do I do now? Contact head office? I spent £68 on good quality piercing earrings and about £15 on the piercing aftercare which for me is a lot but it was a special occasion that has gone really wrong. I’d like a refund because I feel I’ve paid for a service that has been poor (be it the fault of the equipment, or staff not checking the back was secure). My daughter is upset she only has one earring (fair enough) and I will try and encourage her to get it re-done elsewhere but right now there’s no way she’d agree to being pierced again.

I don’t write very well- could someone help me word an email and what I should say/ask for? I mainly want to stop this happening to someone other child but I’d also like my money back, not just free new piercing which can’t be goof
for her ear after a week? ☹️

thank you X

@MinnieBalloon at least you aren't overreacting, fuck sake

Never, ever go to Claire's for ear piercings. Go to a proper piercing studio.

Yeah, take the other one out and let her decide if she wants to get her ears pierced when she's a young adult. Is piercing children's ears still a thing?

You really do sound as though you are projecting now.
The language you are choosing is quite extreme. This is not a situation of failure to parent a child for god's sake.
A shop employee likely failed to ensure the earring was secure. That's all.

Please give it a rest. You are entering hysteria territory in a way that causes one to wonder if you are okay.

Would never go to Claire's myself or when my daughter's are old enough. Heard enough horror stories from friends. But no mine won't be getting them done at 8

I agree with the projecting which is why I’ve gently reached out to say I’m sorry this has triggered you so much, and whatever “permissive” parenting that has hurt you I hope you can heal from. However the 3rd party use of mum is over personal and condescending, and inflammatory statements such as letting someone shove something in my daughter is just very extreme so I’m concerned about you

I couldn't fault anyone for going in for ear piercing. FGS, who would think research was necessary? Especially if you know people who've gone there without issue. If the place was dangerous it would be shut down.
Research? 😂😂😂

This

Surely you are putting us on now?

Please don't do this. It starts to heal up incredibly quickly if it's fresh so you won't be able to get ot through without really hurting her.

It really is. OP's daughter clearly wasn't ready else it wouldn't have required courage.

Op I agree with others, take the other one out, let them heal & do it again when she's older via a tattoo/piercing place - the technique is so much better with secure jewellery that allows for swelling etc.

Yep, agree with those who say to take the other piercing out - deep breath, lots of chocolate, try to keep the wound clean and it should heal up quite quickly. Go back to the shop asap to try for a refund of the earrings as faulty at least because of the loose back (I suppose they could argue they did the piercing part as promised and only an expert could tell if they did it correctly). If they won’t give you one, then get the names of the assistants/manager involved and try writing to Head Office. If that doesn’t work, it’s negative but factual reviews on social media/trust pilot time for other parents and you’ll have to chalk it up as a lesson learned about Claire’s.

I do think it was mostly bad luck, but is there any chance she could have fiddled with it? I’d personally let them totally heal and wait now to try again at least until the start of the summer holidays, maybe even another year or so.

I understand a lot of kids get them pierced far younger now but it used to be a right of passage at the start of the school holidays before starting senior school for a lot of girls (so they’d healed by the time school started) and tbh I still think that’s about the right age. I still remember my cousins screams age 9ish as she hadn’t kept hers clean and one of the earrings got stuck in her ear and there was a lot of blood/pus, bless her. Definitely made me more diligent when I got mine done a couple of years later at 11.

You know your daughter best of course for when she’s ready, but maybe ask around about reputable adult piercing studios near you? Certainly way back then, they were willing to pierce kids ears too when they were accompanied by a parent and signed consent form.

Tattooist here, trained to pierce but hated doing it so stick to tattooing but know about piercing and work with an excellent piercer:

Haven’t read full thread so apologies for any repeats of advice:

Don’t try to reintroduce non-sterile jewellery into the hole. Fresh (and healed) piercings can close very fast and it’s not a good idea as it’ll just increase risk of infection. Let it heal over, I think I audibly gasped when I read they were going to try and repierce after A WEEK. The fact a staff member at Claire’s would do that is disgusting. It’ll need a fair bit of time to heal, my studio would say 3 months bare minimum as that tends to be how long it takes for a piercing to be completely healed and settled.

When you get it repierced, search on the UKAPP website for a piercer near you- these are some of the best piercers in the country, and stock only high quality jewellery. It makes me so sad on your behalf that you were sold ‘high quality’ earrings for your daughter when no jewellery Claire’s sells is high quality. You ideally want implant grade titanium as it negates any risk of reactions to the metal (we see reactions to lower quality surgical steel/mystery metas quite often in piercings done at other local shops). Not all good piercers are part of the UKAPP but it’s a good starting point. Avoid anywhere that offers piercing with a gun like the plague, I’m sure someone’s already said it but it’s not a good way to get a piercing unfortunately. More trauma to the skin than necessary and is basically forcing a blunt piece of metal through rather than a nice blade or needle that cuts a teeny weeny hole.

Feel free to use any of this info in a complaint email. If I were you I’d say I’ve spoken to a professional piercer who told you all of the info you’ve gotten in this thread and feel you were missold the jewellery as high quality when it isn’t, request a refund for the overpriced aftercare solution (Neilmed do a good solution but any sterile saline in a sterile shot glass soaked on the piercing will do the trick and is very cheap to buy at the pharmacy), and the fact that it fell out.

You don’t want it repiercing as the risk of piercing through healing flesh is so high and it’s crazy they even suggested it. Piercing guns aren’t precise enough to get it through the same hole again anyway, a professional piercer will be able to do that once it’s well healed and this avoids a scar. Make sure they know you want a refund and not it redoing, and once it’s healed nicely I’m sure you’ll be able to find a great piercer who will repierce and sort it for you and your daughter.

It boils my piss that Claire’s is even allowed to still do this. One of my work clients worked at Superdrug and was made to ‘learn to pierce’, aka piercing guns on noses and ears. She knew it was wrong but didn’t want to lose her job. She had an hour’s training on some fake skin before she was let loose on the public…

Apologies for the essay, Claire’s piercings gone bad are so so common and it really gets my back up! The best piercer I know could have done a set of earlobes with high quality internally threaded titanium with lovely stones or attachments for the same price you paid and that makes me so angry for you.

I got my ears pierced at Claire's when I was 11. It took me that long to work up the courage. Of course the bloody gun jammed. The girl had to call her manager over to help her wrestle my poor bleeding earlobe free. The fuckers didn't even give us a discount for my trauma! They aren't proper piercers. They're really just retail assistants who have been shown how to use a cheap shitty gun.

It would be best to let both the holes heal over then take her to a piercing studio where they will take their time to find the right position and use sterile needles instead of a "gun" that just inflicts blunt force trauma to her flesh.

Write to head office

Dear Sirs,

On X date my daughter had her ears pierced at Y Claire's.

By the time we got home Z hours later one earing had fallen out.

Under the Consumer rights act 2015 goods sold must be of: satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.

A piercing ear ring that falls out within hours is clearly none of these things. My daughter is traumatised and does not want to return for a second piecing and I totally understand her reasoning.

I expect a full refund of the cost of piercing, after care and x,y,z to be refunded to me within 30 days.

Please send payment to:

Address or bank account details.

yours sincerely

OP - Mumsnet is crazy about kids getting their ears pierced. I personally don't see any issue with it at all. I had mine pierced when I was 4. 35 years later I've had zero ill effects and still wear earrings 🤷‍♀️ my daughter also had her ears pierced at Claire's at a similar age as yours and again no ill effects (she's now 15 and wears earrings every day). I think it's weird Mumsnetters overreact so much over ear piercings.

They found the earring in cost hood. It's only the back missing

Why is she not mature enough? She didn't fiddle with them

100% this.

2 problems here, she's 8 and you went to Claire's.

These threads are always interesting reading on here!!

Hope you get it sorted @formula3

Ffs OP you've had a kicking here. I got my ears pierced for the 1st time at 7 and I remember it all. It was done in a hairdressers with the gun. I then got multiple ears done with a gun or by myself by the time I was 15.

However my oldest is now 8 and if she wants her ears done I am taking her to the local tattoo/piercing place as I am not having hers done by a gun.

Only on mumsnet is piercing a child's ears under 18 is a fucking disgrace.

In mumsnet world, in the real world they're not seen as problems and occur without issue regularly.