Wedding hairdresser cancelled because of covid- what refund should I get?

[Weddingrefund]

Hi! I wondered if anyone would be able to help with a covid related refund question. Sorry it’s long, I’m trying to be really exact about the situation. Happy to provide other information if it would be helpful.

In August 2021 I booked a hairdresser/MUA to do hair and makeup for my wedding in October 2021; I paid £315 in total for a hair and makeup trial for me only, and then hair and makeup for me, my mum and my bridesmaid on the day of the wedding. The bulk of the services were therefore to be delivered on the wedding day itself. I can provide a full breakdown of the costs of each individual service agreed.

Half of the total was paid as a deposit on the day of the trial, and half the week before the wedding. The deposit was described as non refundable in the following terms: ‘Half of the amount is due on the trial. The deposit paid on the trial is non refundable should you wish to cancel my services after the trial, but no more money will be owed afterwards’. No other written contracts terms were agreed.

The day before the wedding the hairdresser contacted me to say she had COVID and couldn’t do the work, so would refund me for ‘tomorrow’s costs’. However, when the refund arrived it was for £160, rather than the £235 I expected. I have messaged to query this and received no response.

I’m keen to understand the legal position here before taking any more action, and have looked at the CMA guidance concerning COVID and weddings and various websites to try and understand what would apply. I think I understand the principles at a basic level, but have a few questions I’m not sure of the answer to:

• the CMA published specific guidance to the wedding industry in autumn 2020, mostly pertaining to lockdown but discussing other legal restrictions related to COVID. Is it reasonable to assume this guidance is still applicable to the remaining legal restrictions?
• would the self isolation rules be likely to lead to the contract being frustrated in this case?
• as a force majeure clause wasn’t agreed, presumably force majeure doesn’t apply?
• is there a legal argument/perspective which would say the hairdresser is allowed to keep the non refundable deposit?

I realize it’s probably not worth bringing a money claim for £75. However, I’m annoyed by the hairdressers behavior and would like to know if I’m justified in my annoyance from a legal perspective! 😂

You should get a refund. Her getting Covid is not your problem. That is if she even had Covid in the first place.

@drpet49

You should get a refund. Her getting Covid is not your problem. That is if she even had Covid in the first place.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the OP has received part of the service - the trial. The question is whether the trial is half the total cost (which appears to be the hairdresser's position) or one quarter as the OP believes.

Hm, I read it first that the hairdresser was right. The hairdresser clearly thinks that the trial itself is half the full amount. However, that seems more to do with if the client herself doesn’t wish to proceed.

Thanks prh47bridge, that’s the kind of issue I’m wrestling with. The hairdresser hasn’t actually explained why the refund is the amount it is, just been ignoring my messages. I’m keen to pay a fair price in the circumstances, but not more than that.

There was an itemized price list, which I kept a copy of. The bridal package which included trial and wedding day was £160, so the cost of trial and wedding day weren’t listed separately. However, the package was clearly to cover the two days, one of which wasn’t delivered.

Where the price list does list services with/without trial, the trial element is around 50% of the cost, so it seemed a fair estimate for the bridal package too. I’m open to suggestions that the trial is more than 50% of the package, if there is a reason that can be presented. I’m just struggling to understand why the trial element should be worth 96% of the total cost of the bridal package!

Thanks lemonyellow. The issue I’m wrestling with is that the majority of the work was to be delivered on the wedding day, as neither my mum nor my bridesmaid had a trial- so basically, out of 4 hair and make ups booked, only one was delivered (there was a travel fee too).

In this circumstance, which is not covered by that line on cancellations, I don’t see why the trial would be £155 of a package that was advertised at £160 for trial and wedding day.

You are £85 apart if I have understood your calculations correctly

It will cost you about half of that to issue small claims court proceedings, so you might feel that this is not worth doing

All you can do is try to negotiate. I’d wrote to her (not text or email) setting out your case as you have done here and say that you expect a refund of £X within 7 days. If that doesn’t flush it out then you coukd say let’s agree to split the difference of £Y.

But for such a relatively small amount it really isn’t worth taking further.

The total cost was £315, though. Half of that was for the trial/non refundable deposit. That’s why the hairdresser thinks you get the other half - £160. The difference is that the hairdresser cancelled, not you. It says, “should you wish to cancel my services”. I think you have a case to argue for more. It’s a badly worded contract.

Ask the hairdresser if she has insurance to cover her own sickness (I doubt it).
Do you have insurance?

You could threaten her with small claims court. It might make her rethink her maths. I'd also try to talk to her face to face. It's more difficult to evade questions.

The trial is completely pointless though without the actual wedding day hair and make up, OP should have received a full refund. If the OP cancelled, then the hairdresser should be paid for the trial, but the trial is useless to the OP without the actual day as well so the hairdresser needs to refund in full.

I agree with dancinfeet. Demand full refund and threaten small claims court.

How much in total are you spending on the wedding?

£75 is the cost of one main meal at my friend's wedding, and she had 5 no-shows.

It's not going to be worth claiming for this op, but I'd be mentioning goodwill gestures in exchange for no negative reviews - is her reputation worth £75 to her?

A full refund is not appropriate as part of the contract was in fact fulfilled - the trial. The only point to be argued is the proportion of the cost to be attributed to the part of the contract not performed ie the wedding day.

Small claims court for such a relatively small amount is of course possible but there’s no guarantee that even if a judgment is secured that the OP will actually get the money. The cyst if enforcement proceedings may wipe out the amount awarded.

And lets remember this all happened because unfortunately the hairdresser fell ill during a pandemic which is just plain bad luck. If the bride had caught Covid and the hairdresser posted that she was owed money what would you have said? Sometimes we need to accept that shit happens.

If you order a bespoke two part set of furniture and only one part is provided, for example, you would be entitled to a full refund.
I'd have thought this was the same situation. The trial was not a separate service. It was an additional service. It's was pointless on its own. I think the OP would be entitled to have a full refund.
OP, how did you pay? Hopefully it wasn't cash or direct debit? You might be able to get a Section 75 / chargeback.

I'd write again and mention the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You are being generous not asking for all the
Money back. You could also go to you credit card provider and try a chargeback.
(I'm not legally trained but I think what I'm saying is correct).

***Sorry I said direct debit in y post when I meant bank transfer

The CMA guidance on Covid related cancellation says

“advance payments for future services should usually be refunded (and any deductions should be limited to those costs that a business has already reasonably incurred in connection with that contract)”

Therefore the hairdresser is not unreasonable in claiming a deduction in respect of the trial to reflect the cost of their time/materials/travel etc.

What's the point in the trial if you didn't get to have her on the day? She should refund the full thing! I would be chasing her for the whole amount. Sorry she had covid, but she didn't provide you with the service required.
I know she worked for the trial, that's unfortunate for her.

To answer a few points:

I know it’s definitely not worth pursuing from a financial perspective and is a small amount compared to the cost of the wedding. I’m quite a rules driven person and hate feeling like someone has taken the piss out of me and got away with it (which is of course a rubbish motivation for legal action, I know). So I will feel better if I know I’m likely right and have decided not to take action, if that makes any sense?

The hairdresser has very little online presence apart from her Instagram so little opportunity to leave negative reviews that won’t be deleted!

We didn’t have wedding insurance- a calculated risk that worked out overall. I don’t think the hairdresser has insurance either. Weirdly, at the trial we actually talked about last minute cancellations, as it happened to a friend of mine, and it was clear the hairdresser had made no provision for this- she just said it would be dreadful, but she had never let anyone down in 14 years and it wouldn’t happen.

I did show the photos from the trial to the replacement hairdresser, and had already started using some of the techniques from the makeup trial when doing my day-to-day makeup so it wouldn’t be fair to say I got no benefit from it.

I’m in Scotland and the hairdresser is in England so talking face to face would probably cost me more in train tickets. Realistically it wouldn’t be with turning up at court in person either.

If I had got covid and cancelled the wedding with 24 hours notice I wouldn’t have expected any refund from the hairdresser at all. And I doubt any refund would have been forthcoming no matter what the contract says.

I’m not sure you can call having to cancel due to Covid and offering you a partial refund as “taking the piss”. It sounds to me like she has tried her best to be fair.

Imo the hairdresser should refund at least two thirds of all costs.
When my dd's photographer couldn't do her wedding photos he had already taken lots of pre wedding couple photos.
She got a full refund and didn't pay a penny for the pre wedding couple photos.

I paid by bank transfer so no chargeback is possible. Bank transfer seems to be standard in the wedding industry at the moment so didn’t worry me.

As she cancelled I would expect to be refunded all but the list cost of the trial.

I don’t think her getting covid is taking the piss, more the not refunding me in line with the CMA guidance and refusing to communicate about the issue.

@Weddingrefund

I don’t think her getting covid is taking the piss, more the not refunding me in line with the CMA guidance and refusing to communicate about the issue.

My reading of the CMA guidance as previously quoted is that she is allowed to make reasonable deductions for work already done. And as you have said you did get some value from that work. Failure to communicate is I agree unprofessional.

Gosh thats alot for hair I paid 20 pounds 15 for the bridesmaids and 110 for makeup.

You should never pay in cash or by bank transfer if you can help it.

The hairdresser is definitely taking the piss. If I were you I’d be ok with paying for a quarter or a third of the total price and that is being generous.

In total she was meant to do 4 x makeups, your trial, your wedding day, your Mum wedding day and you bridesmaid wedding day. She has only done one.