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

I would agree with people who say get another earring tomorrow, make the hole super clean and then put that in and be scrupulous. The chances are it will heal within a few months and you will be fine. If you take them out now I would leave them at least two years to heal all the way through before trying again, which will disappoint your daughter if she told her friends she was getting her ears pierced.

Letting them start to heal and then making another hole in kind of the same place but not quite is a shortcut to infection and potentially years before they heal fully, if ever.

@formula3 i think a lot of people don't realise how crap Claire's are unfortunately, so don't be too hard on yourself especially with not having piercings yourself.
I had 3 sets in my lobes done with guns, 1 at Claire's 🫣 it was only 10 years later I found out about getting piercings done with needles 😳

Take the other out right now.

Get a full refund. Insist on it.

Do not go back to Claire’s ever again (healed and re-pierced in a week?! That’s a sure fire way to a wonky earring, an infection or scarring). How they’re still allowed to pierce people is beyond me. Insufficient training, improper equipment and I very much question their hygiene.

Allow it to heal properly then go to a reputable piercer who will do it properly with a needle.

YABU to go to Claire's to pierce ears. You said you didn't know they weren't reputable therefore again, YABU to have done ZERO research into this.

YABU to pierce an 8yr olds ears. That's too young, and she cannot give informed consent for the procedure. Yes, I'm judging you, as I'd judge any parent for piercing a young child's ears.

And just because a child asks or begs for the ears pierced, doesn't mean you have to say yes, be a parent and say no.

Thank you so much for your help everyone.

just to say - she has been through a lot health wise and is a brave soul who knows what she does (and doesn’t!) want and has asked for this for a couple of years. Fully on board with cleaning / caring for it as she has various IV / bloods I’ve the years. I don’t have any regrets about her age, simply the fact it was faulty and she now has 1 ear pierced 🤷‍♀️

I paid £25 recently for by (older) daughters seconds. From a tatooist shop, with a fully trained professional. Wouldn’t take her to Claire’s if you paid me.

i also recomend using salt water to clean the ears afterwards. Never had an issue, and what the piercer recommended too. You do not need to spend money on other products.

in your shoes OP, I would remove the other earring, wait 6 months and go somewhere better than a high street shop. Your daughter is quite right to be upset, you’ll know best how to manage that disappointment. She sounds like she has a few extra health challenges, and this means more to her than others. I’m the meantime, do your homework to find somewhere better.

Go to Asda buy a cheap pair of earrings take the back off one of them then put the earring back in and pop the back on it.

Go back and have the other earing removed and ask for refund. Have ears pierced when DD is older - say 12 - and can be relied on not to fiddle with the earings.

How's she going to get it out without touching it??

No it's not. I had my ears pierced at eight because I really wanted them done. May be it was a 70s thing, but quite normal.
Also married into a culture where ears are pierced as a baby.
It's a reversible procedure. I don't agree with piercings as a baby but if a child is informed that it's going to hurt and be responsible to keep it clean and healthy and still wants it done then it is the child's decision - children can have body autonomy if they are informed and supported.
I had eight ear piercings and now just stick with three.

Don't get her ear re pierced it will be agony for her!

Strangely a similar thing happened with my daughter only last week! She had her ears done with a needle, the guide she was using to put the earring in one ear fell out. Blood everywhere and she couldn't put the earring in without this guide, so she had to hold the earring with a clamp really hard so she could put the needle and guide through the same hole!

It was a n accident, my daughter was really upset and hurt, but the earring was in and her earlobe is more bruised but a week later it's fine.

My daughter is 10.

I would let both holes heal and try again in a few years time, it's going to be painful re piercing a hole which is healing and still raw.

In case I wasn’t clear - she didn’t fiddle at all with them.

I think OP is now aware that Claire’s may not have been the best option!

Also, I think OP now knows that not everyone agrees with children getting piercings!

Why would you go to Claire's?!!?!! Is it that not a Saturday girl who's watched a YouTube video?? Go to a piercer!

I'd ask for a full refund. Let it heal then go to a reputable piercing studio. I don't understand why people still go to places like Claire's where they still use guns and charge more than a trained piercer.

It would have taken 15 minutes of internet research to learn that Claire's is not an appropriate place to get ears pierced.

I would take them both out, let them heal and take her to an actual piercing shop with qualified piercers to do it properly in a few years.

Your dd is only 8, and clearly not mature enough to have her ears pierced. And to go to Clare's is a big mistake.

yup!

She is incredibly mature for her age.
how does a faulty piercing by the piercer= lack of maturity in my daughter? 😵‍💫

All her friends / cousins had no issues with Claire’s. Obviously I won’t be using them again, I just wanted advice on how to word my complaint.

Also OP, please don’t try to force an earring back through.

It’s possible that the reason it come out is that the inexperienced shop assistant didn’t actually manage to punch it all the way through with the gun and there was still some skin/flesh between the two parts of the earring. As it then started to swell it would have pushed the back off and come out. It might not be a complete piercing and therefore be much more prone to infection - give it a very thorough clean and keep an eye on it. Any sign of ball like swelling or pus and head for the doctors.

Can I say as well, I had my ears pierced at the same time as my daughter and I massively regret it. At 10 she was still too young, it was traumatic, she wishes she hadn't, she doesn't have the pain threshold I have had. She said it's the worst pain she has ever felt.

So don't get her ear re pierced! Wait until she is older!

Thank you, I hadn’t thought of this so will be on lookout for any signs of infection.

Leave the normal one in, very quickly disinfect your own gold (GOLD) earring and insert it into the hole the original earring fell out from. Secure it at the back if it is a stud. Do it quickly, don't leave until tomorrow. Buy some cheap non-flavoured vodka and soak cotton pads liberally in it, and twice a day or more, gently clasp around the earrings, to prevent infection. Re-insertion may be painful, but do it quickly to avoid the trauma of re-piercing later. It should be fine.

I haven't read the full thread but if you do take advice to let them heal and go to an actual piercer (Claires' are absolutely dreadful and shouldn't be putting holes in people!) Please make it known to the studio about this issue. They'll then likely put the new piercings in a slightly different place

Piercing thru scar tissue HURTSvoice of experience .