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?

I regularly use the same hair salon and when I pay I book my next appointment, I write down the date and time in the calendar on my phone and so don't take a card.

I turned up once to be told by the stylist she expected me an hour ago. Luckily for some reason on this occassion I did have an appointment card so was able to whip it out from my purse and present it to show I was on time. Needless to say I always take the salon's appointment card now.

I wouldn't doubt your DW's memory so much, they could be at fault but there is no way to prove it. Your DW is doubting her memory because we are all human and we just do doubt ourselves at times when we are brought into question even if we were correct in the first place. If she cancelled fully 24 hours before the salon should refund the deposit. As other PP have said, really if this was an online or phone booking they should have sent her a confirmation email or text at the time of booking. Even my doctors and my dentists surgeries do this now.

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.
If this is true, then I’m unsure how you can afford to be spending £200 on a new hair cut. My hair dresser is £20 for a cut and blow dry. I have chosen her, because she is cheaper and we actually can not afford to loose £50. (I’m aware I could go cheaper, but I am happy to pay £20 for a hair cut).

Badly run business. If they want to take deposits instantly on booking, they should equally instantly text a confirmation. I've been plagued by businesses making mistakes recently, I would assume it was your wife who made the mistake as its unlikely she would have double booked herself. Crazy that the haidressers simply doesn't just rebook her and use her old deposit to do so. Senseless.

Legally, the contract is voidable at the option of either party as due to fundamental error it has never been formed correctly. Therefore all parties are entitled to any outlays back, minus reasonable expenses. Since the hairdressers could reasonably have filled the appointment, and are under a duty to mitigate their losses, holding the £50 seems unreasonable on their part. Rather than waste money on a small claim, I'd google formation of contract and essential error and its remedies if I were you and send them a recorded delivery letter being quite shirty. You might get your money back, you might not, but at any rate you will probably feel better.

No idea why the hairdressers are being so awkward, simply just book the woman in again at the next available appointment instead of driving away customers trying to give them business!

Since the hairdressers could reasonably have filled the appointment

Not at less than a day's notice they can't.

Honestly, if you came into me to discuss I wouldn't

It's between the salon and your DW.

I think the chances of someone phoning up a salon looking for a lengthy £200 appointment and able to attend with less than a days’ notice are reasonably slim!

“
I think the chances of someone phoning up a salon looking for a lengthy £200 appointment and able to attend with less than a days’ notice are reasonably slim!”

Patch tests for new colour clients take 24 hours so this is correct

I think the Salon have been unnecessarily rigid. I would politely take this up with the manager with the request to rebook the appointment, obviously with you benefitting for having already paid £50 - so this should be debited from final bill.

If they do not agree I personally would inform them that you will be posting a review on varying social media platforms. Good luck, seems rather unfair to me.

Curious why you are dealing with this and not your wife?

Surely if they have a 24 hours cancellation policy, check the time she called them on her phone history? If it is in fact 24 hours (to be exact) then yeah... pull them up on it.

Mumsnet makes me laugh.

If this was a situation involving an 18 year old boy and his mother wanted to speak to the company who withheld his deposit, we’d have pages and pages of “he’s an adult, he needs to sort this out for himself”.

As someone who regularly files small claims cases as part of my job, I wouldn't bother as it is a lot of hassle and sometimes even if you win, you still don't get the money.

However, nothing is a 'contract' without an accepted quote or accepted job and it usually has to be in writing. Most people do this via e-mail these days or state it on their website but it's not uncommon to still do it in actual writing. Along with that acceptance, there must be terms and conditions and only what is written will be taken into account. Creating a verbal contract usually counts for nothing and wouldn't be taken into consideration in court.

If they have stated on their website that deposits will be lost if 24 hours notice isn't given to cancel, this is usually enough. But you say she did give 24 hours notice so if you want to pop in and show them that your wife called at X time which was 24 hours before the appointment then I would do that.

It doesn't matter if your wife was having a £200 haircut/style done or not and people think you can afford to lose the £50. You shouldn't be losing anything if you stuck to their terms and conditions

Was her appointment in the afternoon on the Friday? Was it really 24 hours, or just the day before?

I second what @AMAM8916 said.

I take deposits from people for my line of work. I always make it clear (in writing) that deposits are non-refundable.

DW lets things go where I like to fight if I think something needs challenging. It’s just the way I am. Some people let things go and others don’t.
I did phone them and explain but wasn’t really appreciated by the salon. I also mentioned a negative review being left but apparently the lady deemed this as being aggressive behaviour. So positive result it wasn’t.
I have no intention of going to the SCC by the way ,in lieu of what’s been said.

That’s odd, could you clarify why the salon refuses to refund the deposit if she cancelled in time? Or was the appointment cancelled too late?

Was the deposit paid with cash or card? If card, you can dispute the payment with your bank. Under the circumstances you should be able to do so with both debit and credit cards

So you were going to pay £200+ for your DW’s hair. Yet still your planning to take them to court over £50 as that’s a lot of money to loose ??

I reckon that your dw made the mistake and she’d rather you STFU

She received a text from salon confirming her appointment. It was sent the day before. DW believed the appointment was for the following week so rang them to say she couldn’t attend the appointment and could she have the one she thought she’d booked. They said she’d lose her deposit and she’d have to pay another one. ( Most clients wouldn’t be happy with this)
Appointment originally booked two months ago along with deposit. It’s possible DW mistakenly put wrong date in diary but either way she gave 24 hrs notice to them.
In any event it’s unlikely the salon would confess to being wrong now even if they were. I can accept that DW put wrong date in diary but annoyed that the salon was being so rigid about the whole thing.
Legally no contract was ever signed so I suppose that could work in my favour in a court of law but I guess the courts would be full if everyone went to the SCC.

I trust my hairdresser entirely as she's been doing my hair for over 15 years, she runs a very in demand salon yet doesn't have a computerised system. She writes in a paper diary in pencil so in theory she could easily change an appointment or just make a mistake and this could happen. She sends reminder texts manually (and sometimes forgets which she admits is partially her fault if said person then doesn't show). No deposits for long standing customers and no issues as long as you don't repeatedly book and then not show.

Couldn’t you just have collected DD that one time, so that DW could have her hair done?

A verbal contract is as good as a written one 'in a court of law' and your wife agreed to this on payment of the deposit. If she 100% gave 24 hours - you still haven't said what time she called and what time the appointment was for, just that it was the day before, a 4pm phone call for a 9am appointment for example is not 24 hours notice - she needs to just go an speak to them and clarify why she hasn't gotten her deposit back. Are you sure it wasn't 'before 24 hours we keep the deposit, within 24 hours you still have to pay the full fee'?

Ah yes the old pander to me at once or i will leave a negative review and RUIN YOU favourite

So, you didn’t get the money back, and your wife, who just wanted to leave it, won’t be able to book back in there again. Why didn’t you listen to your wife’s wishes in the first place? I bet she is mortified, and to what end? So you can go around priding yourself on being the sort of person who never backs down etc etc etc? Is your view of what kind of person you are more important than your wife’s wishes about how to handle a situation that is entirely her own business? If so why?

Also mr I Will Leave You A Bad Review, do you think hairdressers in different salons but same locality never talk to one another? Don’t follow one another on social media, or message one another? Going around talking smack about people you’ve had a horrible showdown with goes both ways you know.

If the salon had been happy to hold the deposit over for 13th September, fair enough. But since they won't, I think fair enough to post your experience/ a review on FB, because surely the point of the 24 hour appointment reminder is so you can cancel when you get it. It's poor customer service; your wife and the employee are equally likely imho to have written the appointment down wrong. I wouldn't trust them or want to go there.