11: Vault: He goes undercover to nail salons to find violations.

Summary

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The Bert Show – Episode 11: Vault: He goes undercover to nail salons to find violations

Date: May 14, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on nail salon safety, focusing on an investigative report by Adam Murphy of CBS Atlanta. Murphy details his undercover efforts to uncover health and hygiene violations at various Atlanta-area nail salons. Through hidden camera footage, expert interviews, and personal stories, the episode explores risks faced by customers and the shortage of official oversight, aiming to inform listeners about the hidden dangers of insufficient sanitation in the nail salon industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Investigative Genesis and Motivation

• Origin: Prompted by a team member, Jen’s, concern about salon hygiene and professionalism.
• Adam Murphy’s Role: Adam Murphy, an investigative reporter, began looking into nail salon practices about six months prior to the episode (01:52).
• Main Concern: Are customers really safe, and are salons properly cleaning their tools between clients?

2. Widespread Lack of Oversight

• Inspector Shortage: Only 9 state inspectors are responsible for over 700 licensed nail salons and thousands of hair salons in Georgia (04:16).
• Inspection Frequency: Each salon is supposed to be checked once a year, but this rarely happens (02:15).
• No Public Grading System: Unlike restaurants, salons do not display clear letter or numerical health grades—only inspection sheets, limiting consumer awareness (02:41).

3. Undercover Investigations & Findings

• Method: CBS Atlanta sent undercover producers with hidden cameras into dozens of salons to spot violations (03:17).

• Key Violations Found:

  • Failure to clean or sterilize instruments between customers.
  • Use of dirty or even rusty tools.
  • Reuse of single-use equipment.
  • Staff working without state cosmetology licenses (07:41).

• Examples:

  • City Nails and Spa, Snellville — Fined $500 for not cleaning instruments (04:38).
  • Nail Talkin Tan, Atlanta — Fined $1,000 for reusing dirty, rusty instruments (05:18).
  • Nail Angel Salon, Lithonia — Fined $1,000 for reusing unsanitized razors/blades (05:41).
  • Nail First, Atlanta — Employee caught on camera using a foot scrubber on herself, then throwing it back in the communal bucket (06:06).

  Memorable Moment:

  • Adam Murphy: “We caught a woman that was working there, sitting at her station, and she gets the scrubber out, scrubs her feet, and throws it right back in the bucket. All caught on camera. Never cleaned it before the next customer, perhaps.” (06:06)

4. Immediate Salon Response to Exposure

• Non-Compliance: At Nifty Nails Oncoming Highway in Beaufort, inspectors discovered the required inspection wasn’t posted and three unlicensed nail techs working—leading to a cease and desist order (07:41).
• Post-Investigation Change: Once questioned, the salon immediately posted their inspection and removed the unlicensed workers (08:00).

5. The Real Risks and Horrific Outcomes

• Personal Story:

  • Kristen's Infection:
    • Caller Kristen recounts losing her toenail and nearly her entire toe following a salon infection, requiring a week of hospitalization and minor surgery.
    • Kristen: “If I had waited one more day, I would have lost my toe. Thankfully, I just lost the toenail.” (08:40)
  • Listener Reactions: Anecdotes of friends developing infections from salons—even rumors of complications impacting breast implants.

• Expert Warnings:

  • Infections can spread rapidly, sometimes resulting in toe amputation, especially for diabetics (12:09).
  • Adam Murphy: “They see patients every single day that come in with nail infections from salons. They've had to amputate toes… If you are a diabetic, you have to be extra careful because you run the greater risk of getting these infections.” (12:09)

6. Spotting Danger—Customer Advocacy

• Difficult to Identify Risks: Kristen didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary in the salon she visited, even in retrospect (10:08).

• Advice Given: Customers are encouraged to self-advocate, ask about instrument sanitation, and be selective, but it’s still hard to spot risks.

• Safety Tips Mentioned:

  • Don’t shave your legs right before a pedicure to minimize infection risk if you get a cut (07:00).

7. Call to Action & Follow-Up

• Engagement: Adam Murphy offers to personally investigate any salon listeners are worried about and invites emails and social media engagement (10:46).
• Teaser for Part Two: Further investigative findings and tips for consumer safety set to air in the evening news (13:02).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Hidden Violations
  • Adam Murphy: “There are just not enough inspectors. To go around and check on a regular basis.” (02:15)
• On Sanitation Failures
  • Adam Murphy: “We caught a woman that was working there, sitting at her station, and she gets the scrubber out, scrubs her feet, and throws it right back in the bucket. All caught on camera. Never cleaned it before the next customer, perhaps.” (06:06)
• First-Person Infection Account
  • Kristen: “A week after I got a pedicure… if I had waited one more day, I would have lost my toe.” (08:41)
  • Host/Bert (reacting): “That’s disgusting. What was the name of that?” (06:31)
• On Inspector Shortage
  • Narrator/Reporter: “Only nine state inspectors monitoring more than 700 licensed nail salons in Georgia…” (04:16)

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• Adam Murphy explains inspector shortage & risk – 01:52–02:41
• Description of undercover investigation process – 03:17–03:54
• Hidden camera finds: City Nails and Spa fined – 04:38
• Rusty tools: Nail Angel Salon fined – 05:18–05:41
• Unhygienic personal use of tools at Nail First – 06:01–06:06
• Unlicensed workers at local salon exposed – 07:39–08:10
• Kristen’s infection horror story – 08:38–09:54
• Advice for post-pedicure infection symptoms and tips – 12:03–12:58

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, candid, and often darkly humorous. Serious discussion about public health risks is interspersed with shocked reactions, empathetic storytelling, and listener engagement. The hosts and Adam Murphy maintain a real, direct, and sometimes irreverent approach to exposing the seriousness of health regulation lapses.

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Conclusion

This installment of The Bert Show provides an eye-opening look behind the scenes of nail salons, exposing regulatory gaps and real dangers through investigative journalism and personal testimony. Listeners are urged to stay vigilant, support tougher state oversight, and share their own stories or concerns for further investigation.

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Transcript

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[Host/Bert]

show so you're getting your Mantis down, your patties down or whatever, and you're thinking, you know what? These people know what they're doing here. I'm safe here. It's clean, even though I know I'm getting all these little cuts and stuff all over my feet or on my hands. Cool. Adam Murphy's going to tell you that you may want to watch a couple of times before you go in and come out. This was Jen's initial concern. A couple of weeks ago, she had the same thought. You know, she went in to get like a manicure or whatever. She's like, are these people really qualified to be doing this? So I think at that point you picked up the story, right?

[Adam Murphy]

Yeah. Well, this is something I actually began looking into about six months ago, and we did a couple of investigations. And then of course, we wanted to revisit this. And the timing really with Jen was impeccable because it was something that she just experienced. And there are a lot of issues with nail salons. And one of the big things that we uncovered is there really not enough inspectors in the state.

[Host/Bert]

And I should just reintroduce you again. This is Adam Murphy from CBS Atlanta

[Adam Murphy]

here, and there are just. Thank you. There are just not enough inspectors. To go around and check on a regular basis. I mean, each salon should be inspected about once a year, much like we talk about with restaurants. But there really aren't enough inspectors to get the job done. And so when we go in and when customers like yourself go in, you probably spotted some violations. You probably noticed they may not be cleaning the instruments right before you go in.

[Host/Bert]

But are there violations? You said spotted some violations, but there are no violations, right?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Well, there are.

[Adam Murphy]

Every salon is inspected. They don't receive a numerical or letter grade score like they would at a restaurant that we talk about, but there is an inspection sheet. And so they are held accountable for certain things. And so the state says they send inspectors in on average about once a year. But we know based on the number of inspectors that we found, we talked to the state board of Cosmetology, there just aren't enough to do it as often as they should. And so you definitely could be at risk if you're not being your best advocate when you walk in.

[Host/Bert]

So I guess it's in the piece on things that you're supposed to look for when you get there or no.

[Adam Murphy]

Well, I mean, what we talked about in this first investigation that aired Last night at 11 is we pulled some inspections from some of the salons. These are recent inspections. And at the same time, we went in undercover to many of these salons and we sent one of our undercover producers in with a hidden camera just to see if she could actually spot any violations, for example, to see if they were actually cleaning the instruments prior to her pedicure or her manicure. And it's pretty interesting what we found. We don't want to give it all away because I think. I think you have some audio of this story from last night. And then tonight at 11, I'll tease that out here at the end of this. We have another part two of our investigation running tonight at 11 o'.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Clock.

[Adam Murphy]

But I think the best way to go about this, really, Bert, is just

[Host/Bert]

to play the audio.

[Adam Murphy]

Did you hear what aired last night at 11:00 clock on CBS Atlanta?

[Host/Bert]

And this is Adam Murphy. And they're going from nail salon to nail salon, checking out what looks right and what doesn't.

[Adam Murphy]

Has this been sanitized?

[Narrator/Reporter]

There is good reason to be concerned about the safety of some metro Atlanta nail salons.

[Kristen]

Have those things been cleaned?

[Narrator/Reporter]

CBS Atlanta News has learned there are only nine state inspectors monitoring more than 700 licensed nail salons in Georgia. Not to mention those nine inspectors have to monitor thousands of hair salons as well, it may explain why a CBS Atlanta undercover camera investigation found violations at salons like City Nails and Spa in Snellville. Were you using dirty instruments on customers?

[Caller/Listener]

No.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The state finds City nails and Spa$500 on their last inspection for not properly cleaning their instruments. Plus, our undercover producer did not see salon workers sanitize any equipment prior to giving her a pedicure.

[Adam Murphy]

Do you understand why your instruments have to be cleaned properly?

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, I do.

[Adam Murphy]

And why is that?

[Caller/Listener]

I have to get a new stuff. New equipment for after each customer. So not getting infected.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The owner showed us the steps he says he takes to keep his salon clean. He said that every nail tech has two sets of instruments which they rotate between customers. He also said they sterilize the dirty instruments in this autoclave. These photographs provided by the state show dirty instruments being reused on customers. At Nail Talkin Tan on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, inspectors fined the salon $1,000 for the violation. Our CBS Atlanta investigation found similar problems at Nail Angel Salon on Panola Road in Lithonia. This photograph provided by the state shows dirty instruments in the salon that even appear to be rusty. The salon was fined $1,000 for reusing unsanitized razors and blades. And who could for this? Six months ago, a CBS Atlanta undercover investigation caught this salon employee scrubbing her own feet and then tossing the scrubber in a bucket without cleaning it for the next customer. This happened at Nail first on Piedmont Road in Atlanta.

[Host/Bert]

So she was taking care of herself and using the same instruments on customers and never wash them?

[Adam Murphy]

Yes, and in this report, I felt it was important to bring that back up. That was something we saw six months ago, but it was priceless. I mean, we caught a woman that was working there, sitting at her station, and she gets the scrubber out, scrubs her feet, and throws it right back in the bucket. All caught on camera. Never cleaned it before. The next customer, perhaps.

[Caller/Listener]

Her feet were very clean, right?

No. You've got crusties on the bottom of your feet. You're using that scrub.

[Host/Bert]

That's disgusting. What was the name of that?

[Adam Murphy]

Stop being sexy, Wendy. That was called Nail first, and it's on Piedmont Road, the one where the woman was scrubbing her own feet and then, of course, threw it right back in the bucket, the scrubber. So, yeah, lots of problems.

[Host/Bert]

This was so frustrating.

[Adam Murphy]

It's unbelievable. And going back to the other salon right before that, that we men. That actually. Nail Angels Salon on Panola Road in Lithonia. Yeah, we had photographs. It showed dirty instruments in the salon, and they were rusty.

[Host/Bert]

How long does it take for one of those instruments to rust, you think?

[Adam Murphy]

No idea. But, you know, they were fined $1,000 and it said that they were reusing unsanitized razors and blades. And, you know, this is one reason why it's a good idea for women not to shave your legs before you go into the salon. And they talk about that. You don't want, you want to have an extra layer of skin basically just in case, because infections can happen and they can happen fast.

[Host/Bert]

So what's in this second clip here?

[Adam Murphy]

The second clip goes back to our current investigation. As you will hear in just a moment. We go into another spot. And the story wraps up after this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Now back to our current investigation. We found problems at another local salon.

[Adam Murphy]

So you have the inspection in a drawer.

[Narrator/Reporter]

CBS Atlanta also uncovered violations at Nifty Nails Oncoming highway in Beaufort. The salon failed to post their last inspection for the public to see. The state also issued cease and desist orders for three nail techs that were working in the salon without a license.

[Adam Murphy]

Why were you guys hiring people that didn't have a proper license?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Salon employees immediately posted their inspection for the public to see. Once we started asking the tough questions and they told us that the three unlicensed techs no longer work at the salon.

[Adam Murphy]

Want to make sure everybody is properly licensed because the state issued a cease and desist for three of your techs that were operating without a license.

[Narrator/Reporter]

CBS Atlanta News spoke with one of the Board of Cosmetology members, and she said budget cuts are to blame for the health risk you face at nail salons. Coming up Tomorrow night at 11, you'll meet a woman who explains why inspections are so important at nail salons. Adam Murphy, CBS Atlanta News.

[Host/Bert]

If that's not enough to scare you, check this out. Hey, Kristen, good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Kristen]

Good morning, Burcho.

[Adam Murphy]

Hi.

[Kristen]

Last year, actually right at this time, I spent an entire week in the hospital with a toenail infection. A week after I got a pedicure. And I had so many doctors. I also had an infectious disease doctor who said if I had waited one more day, I would have lost my toe. Thankfully, I just lost the toenail.

[Adam Murphy]

You lost the toenail?

[Caller/Listener]

Does it ever go back?

[Kristen]

No. They said it should, but it didn't. They had to do minor surgery on me in the hospital room with no anesthesia or anything.

[Caller/Listener]

That disease can go straight up your leg. You could lose like half your leg from disease.

[Host/Bert]

What happened when you called back to the nail salon and told them all about this.

[Kristen]

Well, I didn't. I had someone else call because I just. I didn't want to have anything to do with it. My dad wanted me to sue.

[Host/Bert]

I was gonna say, I hope that person had Esquire at the end of

[Adam Murphy]

their name that called.

[Caller/Listener]

You mean they were a young man

[Kristen]

in Eng Nail salon in Smyrna.

[Host/Bert]

And you didn't get any money back for that at all?

[Kristen]

No, an entire week. And I got out the day before Thanksgiving.

[Caller/Listener]

So do you just. I would just go buy a pet egg and just sit at home.

[Kristen]

Yeah, pretty much. I have yet to have a pedicure since.

[Host/Bert]

You know what that is, Jeff? That's funny? I have no idea. I sort of laughed through that, but

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I had no idea.

[Host/Bert]

Kristin, let me ask you this. Now, looking back at it, was there anything that you saw at that nail salon that now tips you off that that's something that you should definitely look for?

[Kristen]

You know, I've thought about that and to be honest, I have to say no. My grandmother lives in smyrna and she's 85. And one thing we started doing was getting pedicures once a month together. I thought, what a great little field trip for us. And we had gone there for seven months. And that happened on the last time. And no, I didn't see, you know, any suspicious looking thing or instruments going to a room and then coming back out. Nothing. They seemed to clean the water bins with the soap and everything. I don't know, but the infectious disease doctor told me this is why you got this infection.

[Host/Bert]

Well, thank you for calling. This is not the only call we can get.

[Adam Murphy]

Yeah, I would love to hear from you too. If you want me to investigate the salon, just email me adam.murphybsatlanta.com youm can also look me up on Facebook, follow me on Twitter d'. Amgetsaction. I mean, I want to check these places out.

[Host/Bert]

Adam Getsaction. And they call you that at UGA also, right?

[Adam Murphy]

That's right. Always have.

[Host/Bert]

Hey, listen.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, I got some action for you. How about finding the guy who hit Paula in the face of the ham?

[Narrator/Reporter]

You get some action.

[Host/Bert]

That's a big old cover up.

[Adam Murphy]

Actually, that video was captured by one of our CBS Atlanta photographers.

[Host/Bert]

Yeah, we ran it this morning.

[Adam Murphy]

Yeah, I heard. That's great. I mean, the video, I mean, I feel bad for Paula. I mean, she's. She handled it so well.

[Host/Bert]

But everybody's covering up that dude's name. We can't find him anywhere.

[Caller/Listener]

Man, I don't feel bad for Paula. Somebody finally put her in her place.

[Host/Bert]

She's so sweet.

[Caller/Listener]

That's the way I look.

[Host/Bert]

Jennifer, are you still there? No, she hung up. She's gonna say girl I knew got an infection from nail salon and it affected her breast implants.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What?

[Host/Bert]

Yeah, I don't want her to call back.

[Caller/Listener]

That's a special nail salon.

[Host/Bert]

That's a lot of breasts. If it's staying as low as your

[Caller/Listener]

well, don't you petty. Don't you remember Paula Abdul?

[Host/Bert]

That's a bad breast job.

[Caller/Listener]

Paula Abdul got a manicure and then

yeah, you gotta be careful of any cuts.

And then something happened to her and she became crazy and just rattled on about nothing on Idol but her finger got all jacked up.

[Host/Bert]

Remember, if you go to higher end places, are the offenses as much at a higher end as they would on

[Adam Murphy]

a lower end place or it's all the same. Everybody's on the same grading scale. But you know, you guys were talking about Paula Abdul and this other woman that called in that had all kinds of complications. I mean, we have found out by talking to one of the podiatrists in Atlanta. It's actually village podiatry centers. And you will hear more about them tonight at 11. If you watch my investigation. They see patients every single day that come in with nail infections from salons. They've had amputate toes and they said it happens often because the infection will get into the bone and if you don't amputate the toe, for example, then it spreads throughout the body. And they also mentioned that if you are a diabetic, you have to be extra careful because you run the greater risk of getting these infections if you're diabetic. So keep that in mind as well.

[Host/Bert]

All right, this is all great stuff to watch tonight. And that's at 11:00 o' clock tonight on CBS Atlanta.

[Adam Murphy]

Yes, 11:00 clock tonight. You've got to tune in. We talked to a lady with a nasty looking nail infection. We're gonna show it all.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, good.

[Adam Murphy]

Yeah. Viewer discretion advised. But it is worth seeing just to show how bad of an infection you can get if you're not careful when you go into a salon. And we'll tell you what you can do to protect yourself. That's tonight at 11:00 o', clock, CBS Atlanta News. Hope you guys check it out.

[Host/Bert]

Go get action.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, good luck getting action.

[Host/Bert]

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