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

Blue Banana are exactly the same as Claires, but if anything more dangerous as they're let lose on other parts of the body!

The "piercers" there are hired as shop assistants and then allowed to pierce if they're deemed worthy. Absolutely no apprenticeship or decent training is done. Their jewellery is awful quality and their aftercare outdated.

And before anyone says I had all mine done their and they healed fine, well I could go for a drive without my seat belt on and not die but I choose not to because I know better and there are safer options.

It really isn't. My dc were 7, as were a lot of their friends.

£68! I paid £25 at a local piercing studio. When DD had an issue we popped in and they fixed it for free.

Sit her down,calmly,
ice cube her ear lobe, twidddle the front and backwith two index fingers and thumbs. Onceyou have hold of the back fairly firmly you should be able to pull the back off.

Can she, in the meanwhile with clean fingers, twiddle the stud round in case the blood has dried around the stalk of the earing, to remove the intact one and let both heal over

I wpuldn't let Caire's pierce a teddy bear. Get a refund. I'm sure DD won't mind waiting now.
DD had hers pierced at a well respected local piercer/tattoo parlour. It wasn't cheap, but worth the price. We made an appointment and has it done on the day she left year 6. That gave her ears six weeks to heal before she had to take them out for P.E when she returned to secondary school that September.

No, Blue Banana are as bad, again, retail assistants with minimal training.

Piercings should only be done by proper, accredited piercers, most will either be attatched to Tattooists or have their own studio.

Could you contact a local reputable piercing/tattoo parlour, they may be able to pierce the same hole but with a needle rather than a gun.

I had mine done with a gun when I was young and the gun got stuck with the earring kind of half in my ear, it was incredibly painful and had to be finished off with a needle which hurt much less!

Claire’s should definitely refund, those backs go on so tight, there is no way it should have fallen out. Contact them on social media if the store don’t agree to a refund.

The earring falling out isn’t their fault. This is so dramatic. Just put it back in, sounds very wishy washy

£83 BLOODY QUID? For gun pierced earrings and their "fast healing" crap? Boy they see people coming don't they!

I'd take both out, wait a few months then go see a competent piercer. And get your money back from Claires.

No!!!

The advice now is not to touch them, no twiddling, no turning, no touching. You spritz them twice daily with something like Neilmed aftercare, its isotonic sterile saline, and keep your fingers OFF.

8 is fine, old enough to understand what they're doing.

I'd just take her back and get it re-pierced like they offered.

If the piercing has healed over how are they supposed to put the earring back in?

I certainly didn’t force her: she’s been asking for a couple of years since her friends had their ears pierced and I had to wait until some blood tests came back looking fine and got the go ahead from her Consultant to get them pierced. It’s been much looked forward to by her. I’ve never had mine pierced so definitely no pressure from me! I just meant brave as she was upset to have got so excited and then get home and find out one had fallen out ☹️

Get a refund and take her to a tattoo shop with a piercer.

Updated advice is to not twist new piercings

The sales assistants at Claire's shouldn't be allowed anywhere near anyone's ears.

They don't have proper training. They use guns which are outdated and dangerous, and the so-called aftercare is appalling. The fact that they charge £68 is even bloody worse.

A decent piercing parlour will pierce ears for around £30, including jewellery and free aftercare. They'll use proper earrings, hypoallergenic metals and will have been properly trained in handling needles and cleaning wounds.

I would take the other earring out, get a refund and go somewhere reputable at the start of the summer holidays and get them done properly.

I’m surprised they bled. Dd had her ears pierced last summer. We went to a tattoo parlour, who oddly enough used a gun rather than a needle. Quick pull and both were done. No blood, no drama. Dd was 11

I'd take the other one out if she let's you, let them both heal over and take her to a reputable piercing/tattoo place in the summer holidays, please don't take her back to Claire's they're awful but make sure you request a refund.

It's too young because you are giving permission for someone to cause your daughter pain and permanently scar her without her informed consent (an eight year old is too young to give informed consent).

You'll have loads of people telling you it's fine, but you really can't deny what I've written in the paragraph above.

Do they use a piercing gun? I use the stud types for day to date wear and takes months before they fall out. Def something wasn't right

It also cost us £40 for gold earrings

Also don't beat yourself up about going to Claire's, I've had my ears pierced twice there, 4 of my daughters had their ears pierced there too (two of them have had them pierced twice there) and not had a single issue.

When I was 18 I got my ears pierced in Claire’s - I didn’t know it wasn’t great. The gun was painful and the holes were crooked. A few years later I got a piercing studio to adjust the bad hole with a needle (when I got second holes done) and it healed perfectly, it was painless and much less inflamed second time around.
It’s much less brutal on your ear using needles than guns. It heals more quickly too, I still followed all the guidelines for the aftercare.

Why are you assuming that your choice to let your seven year old get her ears pierced means others should agree with you?

Your obviously don't think eight is too young, but lots of us do.

Oh bless her!

My DD really wanted hers done but also got really nervous about it all. Wouldn’t change them or allow anyone else to touch them, but a few months in now and she changes them all the time easily. They were pierced by UKAPP accredited piercer and they were really good, definitely better healing than ones I have had with a gun.

As others have said I would let them heal and get a reputable piercer to do them.

I would also be after a full refund.

Hope your DD is ok.