AIBU to ask for a refund for my hair?

[HairRaisin]

I went to a local independent salon this week to get a balayage and cut, first time since before DC was born end of 2021 so I was very excited! I’d never been there before but the salon owner/stylist had good reviews.

At end of cut and colour the stylist insisted on curling my hair, and with the mixture of the curls and the soft salon lighting I didn’t notice how choppy and uneven it was. As soon as I got home and had a proper look I realised that she had done a really bad job and it’s not the natural looking balayage I’d asked for.

I’ve since been messaging the salon owner to let her know how unhappy I am, and have also been back to show her what I’m not happy with.

Not only did she play down how bad it was, but the only option she is currently offering is for her to ‘fix’ my hair by trying again, however I don’t trust her to try again and have instead asked for a refund so I can get it fixed somewhere else. She has no employees, it’s just her, so there’s nobody else there that could try to fix it.

Looking at what she did the first time (which took 4 hours, and cost me £160) I haven’t got the confidence in her to fix it, so I asked for a refund, but she is currently refusing - although asked for the weekend to seek advice on what her next steps might be. So she might decide next week to refund me, or might decide that she legally doesn’t have to since she has offered to fix it - and that’s that.

Not sure if photos will do it justice? But it’s choppy, patchy all over including underneath, yellow and grey in parts, and all a little too Friar Tuck. Plus the cut is uneven too! I’ve been left feeling quite sad after being so excited for this first little treat since DC was born!

AIBU to want a refund so that I can get this fixed somewhere else?

Ah it was an absolute disaster of a cut and colour but it now looks great! I knew it was salvageable.
the original stylist is clearly some kind of impostor. She won’t refund you by asking nicely. I think you need to threaten to post the pics and a bad review on Facebook. And you were absolutely right not to let her touch your hair again. My salon have cocked up in the past and fixed it for free, but they are all professionals.

Wow! The difference is incredible.

As for the first salon, as you've been very patient, I'd give her one final opportunity to sort out a refund and compensation, by saying in writing that you paid X amount to her, she hasn't provided you with a receipt (despite repeated asking), she hasn't refunded your money and you're now out of pocket twice, so she has until Y date before you start legal action through the Small Claims court (and stick to it) so it's up to her what happens next.

It's really staggering the difference between the results from the two salons

Looks lovely now op ❤️

I'd threaten her with legal action and send an outline of how many times you asked for a refund etc then saying you have proof and will be taking action.

The new hair is really nice. You must be so relieved! I've never tried this but if you paid by credit card, you could contact the card company and request a charge back. It's also good that you've got before, after and now photos. It's quite clear from these that she did not do a food job.

I wonder if the reason the cut was sooooo bad was that she was trying to cut out the really fried damaged hair

If she has a Facebook presence (personal or the salon), I'd post on your own timeline but with the privacy set to public, tagging her or (preferably) the salon, complete with pictures of the cut. She could (and no doubt would) remove the tag, but she'd know that the evidence was out there for all to see. You can explain in your post that you'd asked for a refund but that she refused and then ghosted you.

Give her hell OP, don’t hold back

it was criminal what she did to your hair

Bloody hell, I’m not a hairdresser but I could do better than that!

15 years experience! She's misspelled minutes there.

Feel for you op, fight for your refund.

@HairRaisin So she’s ignoring your messages, and refusing to provide even a receipt.
I think you should message her with a deadline. Tell her if you don’t hear back from her by, say, Monday 20 June 4pm with a suitable solution, you will be contacting your bank for a chargeback.
A clear cut off for her to respond by. And chargebacks cost businesses, so incentive for her to stop being unprofessional.
Then if necessary, contact your bank for a chargeback. Surely if the transaction is on your account, you shouldn’t need a receipt.

Good luck.

Threaten to stand outside her salon handing out photos of the damage and a copy of the receipt from the new hairdresser. Tell people what she did and how shit her customer service is.I think if you refuse to leave her salon until she pays for the repair job AND refunds your money, with photos, etc… people will clear out. Follow through if necessary.

Not sure OP wants to look like a loon.

Social media is far more effective - FB/IG would be seen by far more people than the dozen walking by thinking OP had a screw lose standing outside her salon handing out photos 😂

I'd name the salon on here or worse on FB.

How dare the hairdresser consider her options, her option is to return your cash or face public backlash.

It looks horrible, I'm sorry. Ask for refund. When hairdresser wants to curl your hair, most probably there's something wrong with it and they know it.

looks much better now op

definitely put the pics on sm and tag her she had her chance to resolve this and didnt

dont let her get away with doing this to others

Just saw the update. New hair looks lovely. Still, get the refund for an awful job from salon no.1.

@HairRaisin did you manage to get the refund OP?

Thanks for checking in @sunja, sadly no refund yet. Hopefully I might be able to give a better update soon, as there have been some more developments in the background, but I think I need to be careful of what I say while it’s still ongoing 😬

I think I would give her one more chance to refund you or you’re posting the pictures. She’s had long enough. That was a shocking job in your hair.

@HairRaisin I was hoping that was you I heard on the radio the other day 😉 if not someone with a very similar complaint!

I've just seen this and honestly my mum does a better job with a pair of sewing scissors on my hair. I am low maintenance in the extreme - I don't wear any make up and I haven't been for a haircut since 2019 and make a friend or mum lop the bottom off every six months.

I am another who normally reads these threads and thinks it's not that bad, but that was dreadful. The plus side is the salon who fixed it did an amazing job and I don't think you can tell at all. I really hope you get your money back (and still post pictures on social media with an honest review!).

Your new hair looks lovely thankfully!
at this point OP I would be posting the original photos on social media. At least to help somebody else avoid the hair catastrophe that you’ve had!

I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.

Hi all, just popping back with an update to say that I did successfully get my refund! I don’t think I would have done, had it not been for @Purplefoxes suggestion about getting in touch with a local radio station which runs a consumer advice segment!

I reached out to the programme and they said they’d like to have me on the show, and I’ve now been on the programme four times over the last few weeks as things have progressed!

The presenter is a consumer rights expert and kindly contacted the original hairdresser on my behalf in attempt to get my refund, however she ignored his attempts to contact her. He then did a bit of digging and found her partners phone number, as he helped her set up the business, and contacted him.

During that call, from what the presenter said, the partner agreed that the hairdresser had done a bad job on my hair, but said since she’d offered to try and fix it, in their eyes, I wasn’t entitled to a refund. He also got quite nasty with the presenter from the sounds of things and some name-calling and swearing ensued!

The hairdresser then messaged me on WhatsApp (after having ignored my last two messages) saying that I had incited a journalist to harass her and her family and if it didn’t stop then she would instruct her solicitor… she also demanded that any future contact from me come from my lawyer!

A few days later I went back on the radio show and they invited a lawyer onto the programme who confirmed that I was entitled to a refund, and reassuringly told me that my contact with her to date did not constitute harassment (bearing in mind my contact with her was a few messages immediately after the first appointment, one return visit to the salon, and two follow up messages over the following week which she ignored).

The lawyer said that the next steps I should take were to send a ‘Letter of Claim’ to the hairdresser - essentially giving one last chance for her to refund me before taking her to small claims court! So I went ahead and wrote a letter, outlining everything that had happened, and asking for my money back.

About a week after sending the letter I got an email from the hairdresser who essentially agreed to issue my refund ‘without prejudice to liability and in full and final settlement of the matter’.

So I’m happy to say that I’ve got my money back, and I’m looking forward to my next hair appointment at salon number two in a few months time when there’s enough regrowth to have another correction! The first correction really is a huge improvement but there are still patchy areas and the colour is still uneven in places - so I’m hopeful that the next visit will really sort it out! My hair is definitely damaged, but with some decent quality bond building and hair repair products I can now brush it through much easier after washing it!

Thanks again all for all your reassurance that I was right to seek the refund! And again to @Purplefoxes as without your recommendation I would have had to probably just give up hope of getting my money back!

Congratulations @HairRaisin ! Very happy for you. Well deserved

Thanks @sunja I’m pleased to have a good outcome! Also pleased I didn’t take FIL’s advice and shave all my hair off and just be done with it 😂