Who is the CF, me or the beauty salon?

[superdelooper]

Last week my DM was talking about getting powder ombre brows done. My friend had them done, and they are lovely, so asked friend for the salon details so I could contact them for DM.
I reached out to the salon via WhatsApp on Friday (there is no online booking or website) and someone responded immediately with details and an appointment time for this week (Thursday).
All good, fairly reasonable pricing and DM was happy to go ahead and get me to book. There was a £50 booking fee, which I paid, with the balance to be paid at the appointment.
Within an hour of making the booking DM realised she had forgotten about the blood thinners she takes and after a bit of google searching, we realised she needed at least a week off the thinners before she could safely have her eyebrows done. I reached out to the salon again and they assured me she would be fine to continue with the booking, even while still taking the thinners. DM is in her 70's and we didn't want to risk it and requested to cancel the booking. Salon again said it would be fine (these messages have since been deleted by salon) but I insisted we cancelled and apologised. Fine, booking cancelled. I then asked for the booking fee to be refunded. Salon refused stating this booking fee was 'non refundable'.
When we made the initial booking she sent a message with bank details and a note about things to do/not do prior to the appointment. It also stated there was a £50 'booking fee', no mention of this being non refundable.
Who is in the wrong here? We tried asking politely for the fee to be refunded as it seems like a lot to be charged for an appointment we booked and cancelled within an hour, DM would have been happy to pay a small admin fee but £50 is a quarter of what the eyebrows would have cost to have done.

I feel, if they offered to reschedule the appointment and you refused, then they are correct to keep the money. It’s a booking fee. You just changed your mind, had second thoughts, that’s ok but you can’t expect the money back.

These eyebrows, when done well are absolutely worth the money. Her mom might have had chemo or have thyroid issues, who knows. Everyone is allowed to feel nice, whatever their age.
If a 70 year old wanted a tattoo it’s the same thing. Good luck to her.

I'm with you.

oh no. Tell them that you’ll report them anyway. Isn’t there a cooling off time in booking appointments? Still report to trading standards based on your mum being 70yrs and on medication that is a contraindication.

Your mum would be insane to come off the blood thinners for a day let alone a week. What a ridiculous idea. No wonder the NHS is in such a bad way when there are people with such a cavalier attitude to their own health.

Yes, but there’s feeling nice and risking your health. I’m guessing if she’s on blood thinners then it is because she is a stroke risk? Surely, if she’d had chemo for instance, it would be because she wants to live? A week without blood thinners is risking her life. So she feels nice?

They didn't check for any medical issues, they blithely said the treatment would be 'fine' and they deleted their own business messages.
For those things alone, I think YANBU. I'd name and shame on SM.
Is there a trade body for beauty salons that would be interested to hear that they are failing to check for medical issues and trying to give medical advice?

I agree!

£200 for eyebrows. I’m in the wrong job.

I've just seen you cancelled within an hour of making the appointment, so whilst they don't have to refund anything it's not a great way to get new customers.

You booked a service online so they’re bound by the regulations that govern contracts entered into online.

Remind them of their legal obligations when you insist on a refund, and issue court proceedings if they don’t refund you in full.

YANBU. Any business should have clear T&Cs available on their website or sent to customers as part of booking. This business should also have a process for assessing medical contraindications prior to or as part of booking. The fact that they've not done that suggests they are highly unprofessional. Dp they even have insurance?. They've no right to take deposits without these processes in place. I would report them to trading standards.

Oh and the medical thing is also pretty dodgy!

They really should teach basic Law to kids at school as so many of you are completely clueless about your rights under English law. 😂

Why don't you ask if the £50 can be transferred to another appointment?

Your friend may be planning to go back for some other service, so is it possible she can use it?

If she does use it for something, she may well be happy to refund you £40. Win win.

I hope I give a shit at 70 tbh, why shouldn't she want to look her best?

@NeedSomeAnswersPlease did you mean to be so ageist? Why should anyone of 70 be any less likely to want to look good? Should we be saving the money for our funerals?

I think that it’s not sensible to stop taking prescribed medication for a procedure that isn’t medically necessary and may subsequently cause an adverse reaction. Especially if stopping the medication is done without the knowledge or consent of the medic.

I can absolutely see why someone would want good eyebrows, they do make a difference, but they aren’t worth the health risk. There are alternatives, which may not be as aesthetically pleasing, but are much less expensive and make a difference.

I’m not sure what you can do OP, especially as the salon has removed messages, so there’s no evidence. It’s true that deposits are there to secure a place and to protect the business from no shows and I think it would have been reasonable to offer to move the booking. But I also agree that I wouldn’t be comfortable with a place that only offered contact through WhatsApp.

DH ran out of his blood thinners and had a stroke the following day. Might have been coincidence but may not have been.

"Reached out to the salon " 😆 🤣 😂

🤦🏽‍♀️ twice 😂

I think you need to contact the salon and make it clear that the cancellation was for health reasons once it became clear she would need to stop the blood thinners for a week. I think it’s very dodgy that the messages telling you it would be fine to go ahead have been deleted - they clearly think they’re somehow at fault or they wouldn’t have done this. Did your mum have a consultation before booking ? If so she should have been asked to fill in a client consultation form and the consultant should have asked about any allergies or health conditions which are contra indications to the treatment. If the salon haven’t done this, then they may be liable. The process covers both client and salon - if the customer doesn’t declare then the salon can’t be blamed. I’d start with that and see what they say.

£200 for eyebrows?!? That costs twice as much as getting the same done to my hair, be glad you cancelled before you ended up completely ripped off. YABU though, booking fees are there to stop people doing exactly what you attempted to do.

Why “not with this salon”?

couldn’t you just push the booking out by a couple of weeks?

So what are our rights in this situation @DandyClocks ?

online.professionalbeautydirect.co.uk/blog/contra-indications-post