Client wanting refund

[emma m]

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice of what they would do in this situation.

At the end of november I preformed treatments on a client which was a full set of semi permanant lashes and a full set of nails, (I worked a sunday morning as iam a friend of the clients mum so did it as a favour) well her mum contact me a week or so later and said that her daugther had lost a couple of lashes, which i told her to come back and i would replace them, well she never came back. Then yesterday I got a message from the cleint saying that she wanted a full refund for the treatments as it was towards a christmas present, she said that the nails had cracked and the lashes had just fallen out.

could anyone give me advice on what they would do, I cant understand why leave it until weeks after the treatments to complain and want a full refund.
Iam just trying to build up my new business and this is the last thing that i need at the mo.:cry::cry:

thanks for any help.

 

[Klassy Klaws]

Hun to be honest I think she is trying to pull a fast one

You did these treatments at the end of Nov it is now 4 weeks and she hasnt been back to you for maintenance appointments then of course the lashes are going to fall out and the nails will lift. You need to explain this to the mother and say you do not give refunds at such a late stage and certainly not without seeing the nails or lashes.

Dont worry about it dont let this knock your confidence:hug:

 

[VHunter]

Absolutely no refund!

I shall assume the daughter was an adolescent? If so, we all know how careless they can be. And many of the newer generation have no respect or appreciation for 'things'. That said, she was likely careless, or picked her nails, and/or picked at her lashes (to remove clumps of mascara instead of makeup remover ) etc etc etc..

IF they had contacted you before 7 days that there was a problem AND shown up for an evaluation 'of the problem', then at that time, you could have ascertained if it was YOUR work... or her daughter's 'work' that caused everything to go down S**t creek without a paddle.

Going as long as they did, without coming in for the evaluation (for you to have a look to see if the nails were picked at...which then would mean the lashes too..) leaves me to question their honesty.

ALSO if no other clients are experiencing such problems... then it is clearly the client's fault and not your own.
And for BOTH services to be faulty? Even on our worst days, that is HIGHLY unlikely.

Don't take it to heart and don't let such peeps knock your confidence.
You'll meet people like this all the time.
Remain confident in yourself, and be firm. Don't take it lying down, or they'll bamboozle you again and again

:hug:

 

[cabinkel]

Def dont give a refund! I imagine that you explained the lash after care to the client, so would have explained that they need to attend infill appointments to keep the lashes full? Same for nails really!
If the client lost a lash or two after a few days, this too can happen as, although we try to apply lash to a medium growth lash, we never really know when the natural lash will fall out. I would explain to the client that you offered to look at the lashes shortly after applying them, and she never took you up on this offer. dont let it knock you xx

 

[loubylou]

I'm a bit confused by you asking this question,
i thought you were a lash trainer for hollywood lashes ?

 

[perfectbeauty]

I'm a bit confused by you asking this question,
i thought you were a lash trainer for hollywood lashes ?

I dont think emma is asking for help/advice with her technique or ability to perform either of the treatments - after reading the post it seems she is asking about advice on giving a refund with the business being new and the client's mother being a friend and anything else that she has mentioned in the original post

also being a trainer doesnt mean that you cant ask for advice on something that you have never had to deal with before, Emma will already know what she should be doing (ie as previous posts suggested) but way I read the post she is asking for opinions - everybody runs there business differently - some people might refund to keep client and her mother happy - some wont refund - some might find a compromise between both solutions

am quite sure we have all come across a situation at some point that we are unsure on best way of dealing with and just needed reassurance

its good to talk :green:

 

[shedunlop]

I am inclined to agree with Loubylou! I don't understand why anyone would even consider refunding anyone after this length of time. Both treatments need maintenance and are not everlasting. When the first couple of lashes fell out, were pulled out or whatever the client should have returned to show what was wrong. I imagine that neither the eyelashes or nails have been looked after by the client and both will have reached the end of their lives by now anyway without maintenance.

Don't refund under any circumstances!

 

[kennedia]

Agree with everyone else here. She is trying it on. She wanted them doing for Christmas, now Christmas is over, she's skint and she's trying to get some cash. It's no surprise at all to me that she has contacted you now. No way on God's green earth would she have contacted you before Christmas, as Christmas was the reason for getting the treatments.

Stay strong, hold your position.

 

[Jenx]

I think the difficulty here is the fact it is a friends daughter, so there is a personal connection. But I have to agree that if she didn't bother to come in for you to have a look, then she shouldn't be refunded.
It is a horrible situation, but you have to stick to the same policy you would use with anyone else. You put a lot of your own personal time into her lashes and nails and you didn't get the chance to check/fix before they got worse.
Hope it works out ok xx

 

[perfectbeauty]

I am inclined to agree with Loubylou!

not quite sure what you mean and what you agree with as loubylou didnt give any advice she stated she was confused as to why question was asked when emma is a lash trainer - and therefore I have clarified what I emma was asking

emma's abilities as a trainer are not the question asked which I am at loss to understand why the need was felt to bring that into question with a post that wasnt relevant to the original question asked

 

[emma m]

I would just like to say thanks to perfect beauty for putting the record straight, if you would care to read the question again loubylou i was only asking what people would do in this situation regarding offering a refund, i have worked very hard at becoming a trainer and am very good in what i do so i dont understand why the need to question that.

i would also like to say thanks for the lovely replies which i have had offering advice.

:hug:

 

[hippy-chick]

Will you let us know what you decide to do and how you dealt with it?
Hope it works out for you, but I will echo what everyone else has said, no refund. You offered maintenance, it wasn't taken up, end of.

 

[shedunlop]

What I was trying to get at was, I thought, the same as what Loubylou was getting at. Surely as a trainer of any sort you would know how to deal with difficult clients. Yes the question was about how to deal with the situation but I would have thought that with so much experience this would not have been so difficult. If the query is with regard to the relationship with the client's mother then that is a different issue. I certainly wasn't, and I am sure Loubylou wasn't either, querying anyone's qualifications, just trying to understand what the dilemma was in the first place.

The maintenance aspect would have definitely been covered for both treatments with the client so she has no comeback anyway.

I stand by what I said about no refund whatsoever. If this lady was really a friend this would not have occurred in the first place.

 

[Xhristine]

The lashes are S...E...M...I permanent as well as the nails - so tough!!!!! Dont let her dent your confidence - you paid full price for your training and pay full price for your products and u r qualified. If she didnt look after them properly she will have problems.

You dont want her back anyway - you win some and lose some, its your lively hood remember!!!!!

GO GIRL!!!!! :hug:

 

[nixnewcastle]

I've had the same problem with a client with nails. She had them done on the 14th and had very bitten down nails so I told her she may need to come back before the 2 week period for repairs. She then text me on the day after boxing day (sunday) and i picked up the text when i went back on the tuesday.

It said that she'd had the nails on for 4 days before 3 had came off and she'd soaked them off as a result. I text her back saying she should have came back in for them replaced FOC and wasn't a problem so as a good will gesture i offered her another treatment of her choice.

She text back saying she just wanted a refund!!!! Grrrrrrr

 

[hippy-chick]

I've had the same problem with a client with nails. She had them done on the 14th and had very bitten down nails so I told her she may need to come back before the 2 week period for repairs. She then text me on the day after boxing day (sunday) and i picked up the text when i went back on the tuesday.

It said that she'd had the nails on for 4 days before 3 had came off and she'd soaked them off as a result. I text her back saying she should have came back in for them replaced FOC and wasn't a problem so as a good will gesture i offered her another treatment of her choice.

She text back saying she just wanted a refund!!!! Grrrrrrr

Hope you didn't give her a refund. You offered to replace, she didn't want it, end of.

 

[loubylou]

I would just like to say thanks to perfect beauty for putting the record straight, if you would care to read the question again loubylou i was only asking what people would do in this situation regarding offering a refund, i have worked very hard at becoming a trainer and am very good in what i do so i dont understand why the need to question that.

i would also like to say thanks for the lovely replies which i have had offering advice.

:hug:

I'm not questioning your ability,
i was confused why a trainer would ask this question, when as trainers we are meant to be able to answer these types of questions for our students to help them overcome any hurdles like this,

for the record i would not refund,
you don't get a refund on any faulty goods from a shop without them seeing and inspecting the goods first (same principle) hth

 

[perfectbeauty]

I'm not questioning your ability,
i was confused why a trainer would ask this question, when as trainers we are meant to be able to answer these types of questions for our students to help them overcome any hurdles like this,

for the record i would not refund,
you don't get a refund on any faulty goods from a shop without them seeing and inspecting the goods first (same principle) hth

(Sorry this will be long)


she wasnt training any student :grr:- emma was asking for opinions/advice herself personally because client was daughter of a friend

sorry but the way you keep mentioning it does come across as if you are questioning - I think your original post may have been better as a PM

guess we will have to agree to disagree though

along these lines of trainers knowing everything it does raise the issue of how much should a trainer know - I have done so many courses in 9 years from all different training providers -

3 NVQ's, 6 VTCT qualifications, 3 courses with Creative, 2 with Entity, 2 with Hive, 2 with NSI, Calgel etc

on NONE of these courses whether it be FE or company training course have I been advised by a TRAINER on how to deal with certain situations with a client - SURE - we are shown how to deal practically with problems ie lifting

and yes I suppose on NVQ you will do a unit on recpetion and selling products and how to communicate positively to avoid problems - but i have never been given different scenarios from so called 'difficult' clients and what to say to say exactly in a trianing course

I have learnt how to deal with different situations by myself by thinking if this were me a customer how would I want it resolving to create a WIN WIN situation or looking on salongeek on how other therapists would deal.

Should as trainers come across every situation going and be able to advise learners how to deal with that situation - I know for sure that I havent come across in 9 years every possible thing that could happen and how to deal with it

If for example on a ONE day manicure course a Trainer - has to deliver -
Client consultation &contra - indications, contra-actions
Structure of the nail natural nail growth
A & P of the hand and arm
The techniques for basic and luxury manicures
Varnishing
Health and safety
Client aftercare advice
Retail and Pricing

give theory and THEN demo practically and THEN give student practice time and THEN ALSO give them every possible situation they could ever come across and how to deal and what to say to customer in a DAY thats a lot of info to cover

lets put it this way I would have to be a fast talker and the learner would have to learn fast as well lol

yes obviously you can give advice on situations that are likely to happen to them regularly

SO after all that - I guess my question is :

• What courses have you been on that tell you exactly how you deal with every situation that you would ever come across
• Is it realistic for a trainer to know absolutely everything (seen it done it got the t-shirt)
• Is it wrong for a trainer to ever ask for advice

IMHO - a good trainer is someone who if they havent come across a situation is able to ask a question and improve themself and then be able to pass that knowledge on (generally speaking now not re this thread)

I dont know everything and am not ashamed to admit it (I have no where near the knowledge Gigi, both Sams, Mum, Nailzoo have for example does that mean therefore that I shouldnt be a teacher just because I only have 9 years in the industry and not 25 so obviously haven't come across everything that Gigi et al has )

BUT I do my best to make sure that I update my knowledge constantly, learn new things and be able to give advice and pass on that knowledge to learners and also improve what I do for my clients

isnt that what lifelong learning is all about???

(and breathe lol)

 

[lizzieq]

I agree with the general comments - NO REFUNDS unless you really believe its a genuine complaint, within a couple of days of the treatment.
We have fairly recently started to offer lash extensions/gel nails in my Salon - despite the fact that years ago I swore never to do nails again because of the clients always finding something to complain about!

Think clients expectations are too great - yes the lashes are SEMI permanent and have to be looked after, as do the nails.

The more they get refunds easily the more they will expect - unrealistically