Client refund/Terms & Conditions - Need advice!

[Tasha.B]

Wanted to get some advice on a situation the recently happened to me and how i should deal with this in the future...

I had a lady who came in for a set of enhancements and shellac toes with one of my members of staff. She left very happy and even tipped. A few days later she called and asked to speak with me, she said she was extreamly unhappy with the nails and that she wanted a refund. We arranged for her to come into the salon and i would take a look at them myself and rectify the problem, she seemed happy with this. She then didnt turn up for her appointment and didnt answer my call. Then a week after her initial apointment she came into the salon to see me to again request a refund, i said i would be happy to rectify but not refund (The nails were not bad at all - she had previously been to a local NSS and our nails are very different!). As we were fully booked due to it being christmas, we agreed to book her in at the next available appointment i have (3rd jan) and i would remove the enhancments she has on and apply a whole new set for her FOC. She seemed very happy, we booked the appointment and she left.
Then, on saturday, a man came in and asked for a word with me - it turned out to be her husband! he said he wanted a refund, he was also a business owner and said he knows that even though she received a service i have to give a refund if not happy. he said he could send his wife to london and get nails to stay on for 3 weeks and they would only cost £25, i tried to explain why this was but couldnt get a word in edge ways!
He then said if i did not give his wife a refund, he would call trading standards and take me to court! He was extreamly intimidating and came across as a complete bully! I stood my ground but in the end i said i would refund, but i would give it to her and not to him. He the had the cheek to say "she very happy with her toes though!"
So i gave the woman her refund yesterday. I just wanted the whole situation to be over. In the 4 years i have been running my business, nothing like this has ever happened!
i feel i now need to cover myself in the future, so want to sort out Terms and Conditions. Do any of you currently have these? if so, where do you show them? pricelists, website etc?
Also wondering if anyone had any examples they would mind sharing with me.
Hoping i will now be more prepared if this happens again.

Thank you in advance xx

 

[sarasparkles201]

That must have been awful for you, on my consultation form above where the client signs i clearly state no refunds will be given, no one has compained about it or refused to sign this.

I have brief terms and conditions on my website which i need to add to.

 

[kerriequinton01]

i think you get people that take the mick like that, its so rude,im not the best of people to advice you on that lol was just reading your thread so thought i would comment lol ,but i wish you the best,and think you should of taken some photos of her nails as proof maybe if this happends again,just incase to conver your back xx

 

[NiCshairstudio]

Heya hun,

If this was the case everyone could do this everytime we had a service!! Have your hair done return i don't like it i want a refund, nails done and return i don't like it i want a refund so on and so forth, so no he was wrong with that and id have prob said take me tp the small claims then but he would have got my back up, i Wouldnt do her nails again though now, you prob did the right thing by refunding as seems to me you would have had this problem with her quite alot so she's not a customer you wish to keep anyway but it is unsettling when someone is like that with you

I am a hairstylist and have my own salon and have a t&Cs page on my site, http://nikkicshairstudio.weebly.com/tcs.html that's the page its on, obviously its for hair but you could have a luck as i have a bit about my cancellations in there and the life of the colour and products i use cannot be guaranteed without thwart use of the Joico products as well (worded better than that though)

What was her actual complaint though? You can't be just not happy did she give a reason?

You could maybe put something in there saying the lifespan they should expect however is not always the case due to xyz and the proper care they should take and again lifespan is potentially reduced if not followed, etc

Hope i manage to go through my business life without having to deal with someone like that, i had a lady try something but i dealt with complaints for years so am very good at handling most customers fair and you did everything right hun x

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[Tasha.B]

im sure he wouldnt have taken me to court - surely would have cost alot more than the service to begin with! I just wanted the situation to be over, so i caved in. Plus i was worried if i didnt give the refund, they woiuld end up bad mouthing my salon.

i think if i sort out t&c's, at least i'll be covering myself for the future - just not sure where to start!

 

[NiCshairstudio]

That must have been awful for you, on my consultation form above where the client signs i clearly state no refunds will be given, no one has compained about it or refused to sign this.

I have brief terms and conditions on my website which i need to add to.

This is an excellent idea for you!! You could do it for every customer along with your record card for them so they only have to sign once or during the consultation..... Im wondering if i can do this too within hairdressing

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[NiCshairstudio]

im sure he wouldnt have taken me to court - surely would have cost alot more than the service to begin with! I just wanted the situation to be over, so i caved in. Plus i was worried if i didnt give the refund, they woiuld end up bad mouthing my salon.

i think if i sort out t&c's, at least i'll be covering myself for the future - just not sure where to start!

Yer you really did the right thing hun and you do need a t&Cs i checked out all salons all over on their websites and did mine from that and the Joico site as that's what i use etc

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[Tasha.B]

i'm going to start searcing a whole lot of websites for t&c's! lol

Thanks for your replies! xx

 

[CGritt]

Hi Hun, I have yet to deal with a complaint and hate to think about it as I am not a confrontational person at all.
I have made a policy relating to my services I provide, I also put all my info aftercare, price list, risks of mma and policy together as a leaflet so it is all together in paper form for clients to take away with them.
I also have these documents on my FB page pinned to the top of the page.
I have added my policy, grab coffee sit down and draft some out, write it up and put your policy on display!

I so hope this helps you xx

 

[NiCshairstudio]

View attachment 25329

Hi Hun, I have yet to deal with a complaint and hate to think about it as I am not a confrontational person at all.
I have made a policy relating to my services I provide, I also put all my info aftercare, price list, risks of mma and policy together as a leaflet so it is all together in paper form for clients to take away with them.
I also have these documents on my FB page pinned to the top of the page.
I have added my policy, grab coffee sit down and draft some out, write it up and put your policy on display!

I so hope this helps you xx

Great policy hun, this is good for me too, i may get that sorted with a take away salon price, policy and procedures guide like

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[NiCshairstudio]

Also about client complaints, when i dealt with complaint main rule keep calm, make notes if needbe so you can answer all points mentioned, let them have their say and if you need to check something out then you can do that, just tell them, never lie or make things up as they will notice, be clear and main thing sit down! No matter how angry, rude or aggressive someone is, its proven that if you stay calm you can pretty much say what you want but they will also start to calm too, watch it people mimick each other without realising it, i had 1 complaint a lady thought i got colour on her jacket, came in standing (which is very pressing mannerisms to begin with) so i pulled my chair round from behind the desk sat down and asked he to do the same, offered a coffee and started with the friend lets be Nice approach and asked to see the jacket, it was nothing from my salon and even offered to do a test piece somewhere hidden but she refused so i offered a gwg but not the money for a new jacket she said she now needed! She started of aggressive and end up thanking me even though she refused the gwg as she left i said again if you change your mind the offer is there always stay calm and professional and true to yourself

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[Haylo_Therapies]

Wanted to get some advice on a situation the recently happened to me and how i should deal with this in the future...

I had a lady who came in for a set of enhancements and shellac toes with one of my members of staff. She left very happy and even tipped. A few days later she called and asked to speak with me, she said she was extreamly unhappy with the nails and that she wanted a refund. We arranged for her to come into the salon and i would take a look at them myself and rectify the problem, she seemed happy with this. She then didnt turn up for her appointment and didnt answer my call. Then a week after her initial apointment she came into the salon to see me to again request a refund, i said i would be happy to rectify but not refund (The nails were not bad at all - she had previously been to a local NSS and our nails are very different!). As we were fully booked due to it being christmas, we agreed to book her in at the next available appointment i have (3rd jan) and i would remove the enhancments she has on and apply a whole new set for her FOC. She seemed very happy, we booked the appointment and she left.
Then, on saturday, a man came in and asked for a word with me - it turned out to be her husband! he said he wanted a refund, he was also a business owner and said he knows that even though she received a service i have to give a refund if not happy. he said he could send his wife to london and get nails to stay on for 3 weeks and they would only cost £25, i tried to explain why this was but couldnt get a word in edge ways!
He then said if i did not give his wife a refund, he would call trading standards and take me to court! He was extreamly intimidating and came across as a complete bully! I stood my ground but in the end i said i would refund, but i would give it to her and not to him. He the had the cheek to say "she very happy with her toes though!"
So i gave the woman her refund yesterday. I just wanted the whole situation to be over. In the 4 years i have been running my business, nothing like this has ever happened!
i feel i now need to cover myself in the future, so want to sort out Terms and Conditions. Do any of you currently have these? if so, where do you show them? pricelists, website etc?
Also wondering if anyone had any examples they would mind sharing with me.
Hoping i will now be more prepared if this happens again.

Thank you in advance xx

Words fail me...I am not even going to say what I think of that bully.

I would have called the police right in front of him! How dare he!

At least you stood your ground and the situation is now over.

:hug:

Hayley x

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[Tasha.B]

Thanks for all your replies.
I guess complaints will always happen, we just have to prepared and ready to deal with them in the right way.
X

 

[Divine h & b]

I had this afew years ago with a client left very happy tipped 3 weeks later complained so made an appointment to rectify didn't turn up she rang the next day wanting to re book.
I rang trading standards myself just to see we're I stood if she didn't turn up again and then asked for a refund and was told
Because she didn't turn up she refused your offer to rectify the problem and if I wish I could actually charge her for the time that she had taken up, any way she didn't turn up then rang asking for the refund like I suspected my reply was that there would be no refund no appointment booked and she could ring trading standards as I had already spoke to them and made sure the call was logged.
Needless to say nothing happen

 

[Nikki Downing]

I had this afew years ago with a client left very happy tipped 3 weeks later complained so made an appointment to rectify didn't turn up she rang the next day wanting to re book.
I rang trading standards myself just to see we're I stood if she didn't turn up again and then asked for a refund and was told
Because she didn't turn up she refused your offer to rectify the problem and if I wish I could actually charge her for the time that she had taken up, any way she didn't turn up then rang asking for the refund like I suspected my reply was that there would be no refund no appointment booked and she could ring trading standards as I had already spoke to them and made sure the call was logged.
Needless to say nothing happen

I had the same problem two months ago where I did Glitter tips on a new client allbeit she was only 16 which I didnt know at the time. She said she was happy after the appointment then contacted me the next day to say she wasnt happy. I offered to redo her nails free of charge but she said it was fine. 8 days later she contacted me again and said I should do them free of charge as I offered that to her originally. The best bit was she wanted the nails removed and a complete new set in French Manicure tips which was completely different to what she had originally. I said I would do them but would need to charge a small amount for the difference. Her mother then contacted me and half her family demanding that I redo for free! I felt intimidated and scared so offered a full refund which they accepted. I dont know whether I did the right thing or not but will now not perform nail enhancements on anyone aged 16 years or younger...