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Original poster

Help! DD getting sued for £1Million for rubbish hair do!

133 replies

dolldaggabuzzbuzz · 30/07/2011 20:48

Eldest DD has just phoned from her bf's house in floods of tears. She recently qualified as a hairdresser and had just started her first job as a 'self employed hairstylist' last Monday. She should have received her first wages today. She won't be receiving anything this week. She has done a perm today on a lady who insisted on having it done despite DD advising her that her hair was not in good enough condition and the end result would not be good. DD should not have gone ahead but she did and the result was worse than she had expected. The lady's hair broke and had to be cut an inch short. The lady is going to sue DD. I have tried to reassure devastated DD over the phone. What should she do now?

OP posts:
LineRunner · 31/07/2011 15:18

Sorry but the thread title is mental.

MilkNoSugarPlease · 31/07/2011 15:27

Erm, if you knew it wasn't in good enough condition, why didn't you refuse point blank to do it?!

ScaredyDog · 31/07/2011 15:33

I did everything right, only thing I didn't do was a strand test

You didn't do everything right then :(

If I'm reading this right (mental thread!) it looks like they only forgot to give you your wages in the melee that followed? So no suggestion that they are withholding your money?

You need to hope that you are covered by your salon's public liability insurance (it sounds as if you are) and that your boss will continue to be sympathetic and support you if she carries out her threat. Unfortunately, whether the woman was nice or horrible has no bearing on the outcome of any case.

TheMagnificentBathykolpian · 31/07/2011 15:39

Look. I feel sorry for you. I think the lady is probably entitled to compensation and will probably get it. This tends to be a thousand or two. It was a huge cock up.

You need to learn from this. It is a harsh lesson but you must learn it.

You must take responsibility. You failed to take due care. You did not ensure that everything was done that should have been done. You cannot put that onto other people. That was entirely your fault. Learn from it. Make sure that you personally do all the checks that are required. Never make assumptions.

Also, be assertive. You did not have to do her hair. You could have, and should have, said no. She didn't have a gun to your head. You made the wrong decision. Own it and learn from it.

You made a mistake. You are human. Learn from it instead of trying to make it not entirely your fault.

ChocolateBananas · 31/07/2011 15:50

I never said she was with holding ANY money from me!

TheMagnificentBathykolpian · 31/07/2011 15:53

Your mum came on here and said that, and I quote "She should have received her first wages today. She won't be receiving anything this week."

People took that to mean that you would not be getting paid this week.

Understandably.

ScaredyDog · 31/07/2011 16:11

Yes it looks like your mum had the wrong end of the stick.

LineRunner · 31/07/2011 16:12

Yeah, it's your mum's fault. She said you were getting sued for a million quid as well. How much of what she's been spouting is actually true, then?

SugarPasteFrog · 31/07/2011 16:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

exoticfruits · 31/07/2011 16:18

The salon must have insurance of some sort-find out first thing tomorrow. Also go to CAB.

ChocolateBananas · 31/07/2011 16:22

Haha!! No, I didn't tell her everything, as we were on the phone, I was so upset I could barely talk, the lady has a solicitor friend who said she could sue for UP TO a million! Doesn't mean she will get it!

diddl · 31/07/2011 17:03

And the fact that she wasn´t nice has nothing to do with anything!

It´s all very well saying she accepts no responsibility-but what about you?

You did no strand test & went ahead without that & even though you thought that her hair wasn´t up to the treatment.

LineRunner · 31/07/2011 17:05

Barking.

StewieGriffinsMom · 31/07/2011 17:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChocolateBananas · 31/07/2011 17:16

I'm not blaming anybody, I know I made a huge mistake! When I told her how bad her hair was, before I put the lotion on, she made me feel very small! She told me to do it and I felt as if I couldn't say no to her, I wish I had got the senior stylist of the salon to tell her! Anyway, I'm done talking about it, thanks everyone for advice and opinions!

prettyfly1 · 31/07/2011 17:21

As somone who has worked in this industry in one way or another for about a decade I will give you a piece of advice. EVERY single day of your career, someone is going to come in and ask you to do something that isnt a great idea. It might be the wrong colour, a dramatic restyle that doesnt suit, or a treatment that is wrong for the clients hair. YOUR job is to ensure that as your clients stylist you take their best interests to heart and find a kind, but firm way to let them know what is a better way forwards. If you dont agree with what they are saying and they are very firm, then do a strand test or some other kind of experiment to back up what you are saying.

College teaches you how to cut and style. It doesnt teach you the real world of hair and beauty which is about managing client expectations. In this instance, I am sorry, but you failed spectactularly and unless you get your head around the above your career is not going to last very long. You didnt burn her head, so you wont get a massive compensation claim but you didnt follow due care and attention so yes, she can sue and both you and your salon will be pulled through the mud over it. It was not her fault she asked for something that wasnt a good idea - you are the expert and as such are expected to tell her so, why she cant do it and stick to it. It may feel unfair but I promise you this is the start of many such incidences for you and if you cannot do it, change careers now as it wont get easier.

prettyfly1 · 31/07/2011 17:23

And yes, getting a senior stylist involved would have been a better way forwards. Your salon was dammed irresponsible not to have someone watching you like a hawk for a few weeks anyway.

MrsCadwallader · 31/07/2011 17:35

Haven't read all the posts but DH is a personal injury solicitor and reckons even if she did make a claim, she would be lucky to get more than a few hundred quid.

MrsCadwallader · 31/07/2011 17:43

No, not more than. She would be lucky to get a few hundred. No-one gets a million for a bad hair do. You'd have to suffer very severe injury with life-limiting consequences to get anywhere near that. People have a very skewed idea of how compensation works!

LineRunner · 31/07/2011 17:45

Like I said, MrsCad, barking.

MrsCadwallader · 31/07/2011 17:48

Indeed :o

BimboNo5 · 31/07/2011 18:00

One minute you warned her before the next minute you warned her when the rods were in? I'd have been pretty damn pissed off if someone only warned me it may be a disaster after sitting for that long!

AmyStake · 31/07/2011 18:04

Not a million definitely but depending on hair loss/condition/etc she could make a good claim. I used to work for a Solicitor specialising in trichology cases. Things that go against you in this are:

You didn't do a strand test because you were busy. No Court is going to say "oh she was busy it doesn't matter". You should have done a strand test. ESPECIALLY as you told her that you knew it would do damage to her hair. The strand test would have proved your point to her without ruining all of her hair. The fat that you knew it would damage her hair but went ahead anyway is negligent :(.

You didn't look at the consultation sheet.

You're pulling her character in to this - she insisted you do the perm, she was rude to you during the treatment, you're telling us she lied to her Solicitor and her hairdresser of 21 years - whatever she has said or done unfortunately is of no consequence to this matter.

If her hair really is an inch long now I'd say she has quite a good case if she wanted to sue you. :(

Definitely get yourself to the CAB asap or a good defence Solicitor. I can't think of any to recommend that are private unfortunately, the defendant solicitors I've worked for are insurance client only as I think most are.

Hope you get things sorted :)

LineRunner · 31/07/2011 18:04

Actually, she could fuck my hair up for about three hundred quid. I need my house painting.

AmyStake · 31/07/2011 18:05

*fact not fat doh!