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

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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

I had mine done at similar places as a kid. It's so much better and cheaper at a tattoo place with a needle and buy prontolind spray for about a fiver or so off Amazon.

It’s probably more about being old enough to care for them. And deal with the pain when something like this happens.

Claires is a minimum wage high street shop. Up to you if you go back or go there in the first place, or up to your daughter who entrusted them with her ear under assumption of trust.

Hmmmm she didn’t lose the earring - it was in her coat having fallen out as the back was clearly not secured, to me that is in no way her or my fault.

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Go to a proper piercer!!! Not claires jesus

To everyone suggesting just shoving the earring back in that's not how it works. Piercings don't create a hole, the piercing procedure makes a cut, letting it heal with the jewellery in creates the hole.

Firstly unfortunately Claires are absolute trash, guns are terrible (just Google it) there jewellery is awful and their staff untrained and they aren't even piercers.

There's no harm taking the other one out, I would chalk this up to experience, remove, let them heal and then visit a reputable piercer later on. Preferably a UKAPP or APP member piercer.

She’s very good at caring for wounds (she’s had to have lots of bloods done and meds so I had no worries she’d not manage cleaning it etc) and I think anyone would feel disappointed to have one fall out mere hours after getting it done.

Get a new earring to put through - the ones they pierce with using a gun are usually quite thick and quite hard to get back through. If you have a thin sleeper earring it'll go through easily as it's thinner (or most straight studs will probably be thinner too). Then it can heal. Leaving it without an earring may cause problems. This happened to me with freshly pierced ears, I left the stud out and it got infected. Hopefully you can save the piercing it would be a shame to take the other one out then have to go through the healing process for nothing.

What earring is she disinfecting? The one that they can't find because it fell out sometime after leaving Claire's?

Could you take out the other while she's asleep?

Then just leave them to heal and think about again in a few years.

I suppose this will be unpopular but I can't imagine why anybody would want to pierce any part of a child. It just seems like (admittedly mild) mutilation to me. You say she was being 'brave' so who's forcing her to have her ears pierced? And what for? I say wait until you're 16, then people are old enough to make up their own minds.

Absolutely they would be disappointed but you tried for ages to get it back in and had to give up as an 8YO wouldn’t have the grit of an 18YO.

I completely agree that the back shouldn’t have fallen off; I’m on your side here.

As someone with a few piercings, I would take the other one out and let them both heal up. Yes it might hurt and be uncomfortable.

I'd go back into the shop and request a full refund, if you have no luck I'd contact head office. Take photos to send.

Then I'd wait until she's older and if this hasn't put her off getting them done again, I'd go with a proper piercer (needle, never a gun) in the school holidays (most school require them removed for pe).

Keep an eye on both ears for signs of infection.

@StormingNorman I was gutted. I constantly had them in for 14 months, never taken them out. Changed them occasionally, no issues. Put a gorgeous pair of Whitby jet drop ones in my mum bought me for my 40th, took them out at 3 am after the ball. Woke at 9 and went to put my studs back in and no chance at all.

P.S. but I'm genuinely sorry that it's gone wrong and I hope she's fine.

and I found the earring itself in the hood of her coat

Probably this one 🤷🏻‍♀️

£68 for earrings, I'd expect the back to stay on. Get your money back. Ridiculous.
Take the other one out, let them heal over and go to a proper piercers in a few months such as Blue Banana. They can give advice and do a better job than Claire's.

I would take the earrings and aftercare back and ask for a full refund. Once your daughter is ready, I would take her to a professional piercer. It’s night and day service wise and pain wise. My teen waited until she is 15 because she is terrified of needles and she didn’t even flinch when the piercer did her lobes. Now she wants all sorts of piercings.

i can’t promise it will be complication free as anyone can have complications. The difference is that a professional piercer will bring you back in and deal with the situation.

Dd ended up with an infection 4 months after we thought her ears had healed. Her piercer drained it, gave us care instructions, and let us know it was bad enough to need oral antibiotics which we got from her GP.

It's the back she lost, not the earring!

I'd take them both out, wait a couple of years and go to a better place if she still wants them doing. Before my last piercings, I researched online and Claires came out as the very worst place for piercings. I ended up going to my local tattoo studio, was pierced by needle, no blood at all and paid £35 for it, with titanium earrings.
Edited to say pursue a refund from Claires!

It not her fault. Claire’s is not a reputable place for ear piercing. Tell them no thanks I want a refund as re-piercing in a week is not acceptable - she’s traumatised and doesn’t want that, and you did not expect to have one piercing!!!!

She explains in the OP that they found it in the hood of her coat.

OP, I’m interested why you have allowed your 8 year old to do something that you yourself have not had done?

If you’re going to be snippy, at least be literate.

This happened my daughter with ear piercing at Claire’s.

I just took her in and they pierced the one ear again.

No dramatics, it was no one’s fault and easily sorted.

i had 3 sets done via gun as a teenager, only one worked the other two ended up having issues, i've since had them re done, and several others (including a triple helix) done via needle with a proper piercer and only had one have any problem.. which was my fault for touching it with fingers i'd had in dirty washing machine leaked water... that was a trip to dr and a week of antibiotics to fix.

Claires are a shithole and ought to be stopped from doing peircings.