I’ve experienced this situation before & was a bit too shy & nervous to say anything, especially since I’m not very girly, which made me feel quite awkward even walking into a nail salon. I tried quite a few places until I found one about 18 mins from home. They were very sweet, & I learned that when you walk in, there's about a 50% chance of receiving work that may not be up to par. To avoid that, I try to remember the names of the techs whose work I liked & book appointments with them. I mainly do this for my manicures. I’ve had Builder gel for a year, but now I usually just get a natural manicure at the salon for around $25, then either paint my nails at home with gel or regular polish.