To Take Hairdresser To Small Claims Court

[JediJim]

So this may seem like I’m being uber petty but here goes;
A few months ago DW went to a hairdresser salon for the second time and booked an expensive hair style a few months in advance. The price was about £200 ,maybe a bit more. So the salon wanted a deposit of £50. Fair enough, so she paid it. She wrote in her diary the appointment time and date, the 13th September ( next Friday).
Anyway last Thursday, she received a text from the salon confirming her appointment for the next day ( Friday 6th September). So bit confused, she immediately rang the salon and told them she believed her appointment was the following week and that she couldn’t go on the 6th September as she was picking DD up from school ( her first week at school). The salon told DW that she would lose her deposit and if she wanted the appointment on the 13th she would have to pay another deposit. Either way she has lost the initial £50. DW had a lot on that particular time so just let it go and wanted to forget about it. The salon said that they have a 24 hour penalty notice for cancelling appointments.
Now in my opinion this is unfair. She rang the salon after receiving the text and stated that she thought her appointment was the following week. And even with the 24 hour notice for the cancellation policy, she fulfilled this because she rang them the day before.
I know it’s a relatively small amount and they are a business but £50 is a lot to us and we could do with not losing it. DW now stating that maybe she got it wrong and maybe her appointment actually was booked for the 6th. So not sure who is in the wrong. But she did tell them 24 hours before,as I’ve said.
Anyway DW doesn’t want the embarrassment or confrontation of going in to explain and wants to let it go. I on the other hand have a good mind to pop into the salon and explain what happened and ask for a refund. If not, can I tell them I’m going to take them to the small claims court? Would it sway them at all?
I’ve checked the salon website. There isn’t an email address that I can send an email to and there is nothing on there about any cancellation policy. Anyone had a similar experience?

Just so I'm clear.
Wife made an appointment. Transpires appointment date not accurately noted.

So far okay, yes?

Wife unable to attend appointment. Salon charges usual canx fee.

You fancy nipping in to give them a good piece of your mind, amirite?

And threaten take to small claims court, because yanno, an appointment wrongly noted is their fault?

You sound LOVELY.

I think you’re being ridiculous lol

Firstly it costs £25 (or £35 via post) to file a money claim online form. Is that worth it for a dispute of £50? Also bare in mind that this isn’t an immediate process, you wouldn’t see repayment any time soon if you desperately need the money.

Secondly the courts look dimly upon people who don’t take reasonable measures to solve this with the other party, ie litigation should be the last resort not the first resort.

Obviously get back in touch with the salon and discuss this with them. Your position completely changes if the wrong date was correctly booked by yourself or a mistake made by the salon.

Did she post about this last week....? I'm sure someone was asking people's opinions on the term 'next (weekday).'

To be honest I have no advice but you would think the salon might have met her in the middle somewhere, small claims court not worth claiming £50 back as I'm sure it costs £200ish to claim in the first place.

For such a small amount it would surely cost you more in legal fees than what you would get back. I doubt that the threat would bother for hairdressers as there is no evidence of booking. She needs to try and get an appointment card next time, most places do them, so she has evidence of what was booked.

Also I dont believe £50 is a lot of money to you if you had been prepared to spend '£200 maybe more on a hair cut/colour/treatment.'

*'£200 maybe more'

So they want to charge a penalty for the missed appointment as well and losing the £50? How are they going to get the money for the penalty?
I’d go somewhere else.

I wouldn't go to court when you 'aren't sure who is in the wrong'.

I don’t think it’s worth the amount, additionally it would be quite hard to prove that your DW didn’t just mishear the date and write it down incorrectly. And small claims should only really be an absolute last resort, it might be worth your DW visiting the salon in person and discussing it with the manager.

Did she give them 24h notice or not?

He said she did give 24 hours notice

Yabu
It was your wife's mistake
The business owner will loose out here and why should they?
Is there any back story? And mitigating circumstances that could have contributed to her forgetting about the correct date?

If you gave them 24 hours notice they should give you the money back if that's their terms. I would go on social media- Facebook, twitter etc that will get you a reaction

So she rang to cancel the appointment with more than 24 hours notice? By their own policy, they shouldn't have charged her her deposit.

I would go in and discuss it with them if she was definitely over 24 hours to cancel. If they still refuse, I wouldn't escalate it further but I would take my business elsewhere.

No haven’t posted this before. My point is DW booked a hair appointment months ago. She thought it was for a date ( written in her diary). The salon said it was the week before after she phoned them. It is entirely possible that DW wrote the wrong date. But she gave 24 hours notice and was willing to keep the appointment that she thought she originally made. The salon would not give her the opportunity to re book, she’d have to lose original deposit and pay another one. Either way she’d lose £50
Im happy to pop into the salon to clear things up. But, legally can they do this? There is nothing on their terms and conditions that I have seen. Website is basic with nothing on there about this.
Im a bit of a crusader for justice, it’s a principle thing.I can’t email them, apart from pop in and explain what else can I do if they point plank refuse? Hence the small claims court question.

Now in my opinion this is unfair In my opinion, your opinion is wrong. This is what deposits are for. If you pay a deposit, you do so in the knowledge that you will lose it if you do not pay the remainder of the fee for whatever service you’re booking.

I think you’re being a bit bonkers to consider threatening them with Small Claims before you’ve even spoken to them. Particularly as there is no way of proving whether they told your wife the wrong date or she wrote down the wrong date. And as it was your wife who paid the deposit and made the appointment, I suspect the salon would have every right to point out that it’s actually sod all to do with you.

If you do decide you’re going to speak to them, I’d check whether your wife ever wants to return to the salon in the future and then double check the time of the telephone call was definitely 24 hours before the time of the appointment.

I find it odd one would book a £200 hair style when losing a £50 deposit because it is "a lot to you" would be an issue worthy of small claims court...
However I am cheap.

I genuinely want to know what hair style it is?! I feel it will put my bi-annual (If it's lucky!!) £23.50 cut and blow to shame...

Are they fining her or just keeping the deposit? I assume it's just the deposit and it sounds likely to be your wife's mistake so you need to chalk this one up to experience.

If she had some way of showing that she booked it for the 13th then that would be different. Next time get them to fill out an appointment card or send a confirmation text.

Can you prove she gave the 24 hour notice? Who says this salon isn't doing this to loads if people to make money for nothing. I'd go in and demand my money back. Yes if file small claims if they didn't give it back, it costs 70 and they will have to cover that if they lose. You can only do this if you can prove 24 hours notice was given though. It's the principle to me, I don't like being ripped off.

When salons book appointments in-store, their system typically prints out a receipt with the appointment date/time. (lots of salons use the same software) Deposits are typically non refundable or refundable within the business T&Cs. I think the salon would have an easier time defending the claim then you would have to prove what was said at the initial booking conversation.

If they are sending reminder texts less than 24 hours before they aren't exactly giving people the chance to cancel penalty free.

I think you should go in politely and point out either they have made a mistake on their booking system or they should acknowledge it was cancelled at the earliest opportunity (when the reminder text was sent) and therefore £50 should be refunded. Be nice though.

This happened to me. I definitely know I had the right date and cancelled straight away when reminded by text. Turns out a lady with exactly the same name as me had booked the appointment but they had my phone number attached to her account. So I cancelled her appointment and they had a lot of rearranging and grovelling to do when she turned up as she expected the next day!

Regardless of whether the cancelled appointment was due to a mistake, by the salons own terms and conditions, people can cancel and get their deposit back as long as they give 24 hours notice.

The op's wife gave over 24 hours notice so should get her deposit back. The salon are in the wrong.

As an eternal optimist, I would look at it as saving £150 as she's now not going for the expensive hair appointment.

But she gave 24 hours notice

^So why does the salon get to still keep the £50 deposit? The salon is behaving unreasonably here.

I would name and shame, leave bad review on their Facebook, Twitter etc

Cross posted with your update. The reality is that an appointment that makes the salon that much presumably lasts several hours long so if it gets cancelled (as it essentially was) they stand to lose money as won't fill it again the day before.

That's why you pay a deposit.

It was a mistake not to get a confirmation for an amount like £50. Without anything written down anywhere no court would back your wife's position just because she had it written in her diary.