Been banned from my local nail salon

[alittlebittiredallthetime]

I started going to a new salon a few months ago. I went three times and to be honest, I was never totally happy with the service I had been receiving. The atmosphere wasn't as welcoming as I liked and the results weren't what I was happy to pay for. So I decided to just do my own from now on.

My mum goes to the same nail salon, and the owner asked her why I had cancelled my appointments. Because she was put on the spot, my mum told her that I was now working Saturdays as well, so couldn't go anymore.

Yesterday I was getting my hair done and the owner of this old salon walked in and sat down next to me. She clocked it was me, sort of looked me up and down in surprise, and turned away from me. It was a bit awkward but it's not the end of the world, in my view.

This morning I've woken up to this email from them:

"(My name),
This message serves as formal notice that you are prohibited from booking or receiving services at any of our nail salons across the (local) area, effective immediately.
This decision has been made at ownership level following a review of your conduct. We have concluded that you provided false and misleading information regarding your availability and intentions as a client. On that basis, we believe your actions amount to a misrepresentation of circumstances and may be considered fraudulent in nature.
As a business, we reserve the absolute right to refuse service where we believe honesty and trust have been compromised. This determination is final.
Any current or future appointments made under your name, or on your behalf, will be cancelled without notice. Do not contact the business regarding this matter.
(Owner’s name)"

AIBU or is this really not necessary? I'd understand if I was a long standing client who had been going for years, but I'd been three times. I don't really see what's fraudulent about it?!

Complete madness!! Salons like that will always lose customers but oh well, that’s their problem.

I think it's ChatGPT.

The salon owner probably put in something like "Draft a short email for me to send to a customer who has lied about why she cancelled her appointment at my nail salon. Tell her I'm officially barring her from booking any more appointments. Make it sound like a solicitor wrote it."

I’m afraid I’d be temped to reply and say what a bonkers email with lots of laughing emojis but then I’m childish!
How completely ridiculous.

I put the prompt I wrote in my previous post in ChatGPT and added "Mention the word fraud". It came up with this:

Dear [Customer Name],
Following an internal review of your recent cancellation, we have determined that false representations were made regarding the reason for cancelling your appointment. Such conduct constitutes a misrepresentation and is treated by this business as fraudulent.
Accordingly, with immediate effect, your right to book or attend appointments with [Salon Name] is permanently revoked. This prohibition applies to all booking channels, whether direct or indirect.
Any attempt to circumvent this restriction, including booking under an alternative name or through a third party, will result in immediate cancellation without notice.
This decision is final. No further correspondence will be entered into on this matter.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Full Legal Name]
[Your Title]

It is alleged that some Nail salons include women who are trafficked, illegally working, or under modern slavery.

I suggest you enquire with the police whether this is the case, given the reaction. The woman running the shop could be being put under pressure or suffer in some way if you contacted the owner, so is making this statement for their own protection.

I hope this is not the case of course, but seem it reasonable to follow this up.

This is the zenith of batshittery.

laugh and ignore

That’s batshit, and actually hilarious. Some people are very weird!

Lol 😆

Back away very slowly from this person and forget they exist. Worryingly odd.

'conduct'
'false and misleading information'
'availability and intentions as a client'

Fuck me! 😆

Does she have a background in law/HR? 😬

They sound insane. It must be tempting to share it on social media or as part of a trust pilot review but it might be difficult to do in reality.

Oh no 😯 Whatever shall you do ? 😭

This ☝🏻I would definitely leave a review to warn other people that this is how you were treated !

Some people shouldn’t have businesses if they’re going to take everything so personally.
I think I’d have to respond “I left because I wasn’t happy with my nails, you don’t have to worry about me coming back…”

Scratch that, I just saw the ChatGPT post above.
makes it even more hilarious.

This is so very weird. It's none of their business what you do on a saturday or when and where you book nail appointments.
I would be sending a letter back.

This is nuts ,owner is unhinged 🫣

I'd post this in their reviews and tag them in social media as they are absolutely crazy .

Do this ! Then she will realise how batshit she is !

Absolutely nutjobs!!

@alittlebittiredallthetime Haven’t read the full thread but that email is insane! Did you reply? I’d be very tempted to reply with a laughing face emoji! 😂

You went to three appointments and was unhappy with the services rendered my guess is that they picked up on that and 'who does she think she is?' came to the fore along with their petty resentments because you dared to not accept their way of doing things
If you'd still kept going they'd have done your nails more badly daring you to actually say, so they could throw a hissy fit in your direction
But you left; they had to have the last word you ungrateful person you
So the unhinged email was how they did
Believe me,
I know someone this happened to too

"(My name),
This message serves as formal notice that you are prohibited from booking or receiving services at any of our nail salons across the (local) area, effective immediately.
This decision has been made at ownership level following a review of your conduct. We have concluded that you provided false and misleading information regarding your availability and intentions as a client. On that basis, we believe your actions amount to a misrepresentation of circumstances and may be considered fraudulent in nature.
As a business, we reserve the absolute right to refuse service where we believe honesty and trust have been compromised. This determination is final.
Any current or future appointments made under your name, or on your behalf, will be cancelled without notice. Do not contact the business regarding this matter.
(Owner’s name)"

😂It reminds me of the punchline of that great Billy Connolly joke:

"YOU don't tell ME to f!!k off, I tell YOU to f!!k off"

I'm a bit worried about your Mum's nails now, though: if you get good at doing your own, maybe you could do hers, too?

The woman running the salon is the owner? I live in a small town, it’s her salon that she’s owned for years now

Maybe reply and say you’re considering suing her for breach of data protection laws by discussing your personal details with a third party without your consent.

😂😂