Hair extension supplier sent faulty hair won't refund, client threatening legal action

[jcb85]

Hi guys- having a nightmare!

I ordered and fitted some extensions for a new client.
The same night as the fitting (once client was back home), she started messaging and saying she was unhappy with the blunt cut she had requested and that she felt the extensions weren't blending well with her own colour. I advised to have her short layers thinned out to help and to wash her hair as in my professional experience, washing makes a big difference to how the hair sits. I also asked her to come back so i could tidy up the gradient on the blunt finish. Anyway she kept messaging saying she wasn't prepared to have her own hair cut into and that tidying up the ends wouldn't make the hair look better as she felt the colour didn't match and she wanted her money back. At this point she hadn't washed it or taken any steps as I had advised to help the situation.
I slotted her in at the end of my working day and out of working hours (9pm) as its december and I'm fully booked but I pride myself on my work and happy customers so I go out of my way.
Upon seeing her, I did feel that the hair colour was not 100% and not quite ehat i ordered. I checked yhe hair against my sample wheel from the supplier and sure enough it wasn't quite the same. Ir was discoloured - faded almost. I advised that a simple toner would do the trick but she refused to spend anymore time or money in correcting hair that should have been correct in the first place. I then, as a good will gesture, offered to remove the hair and refunded her the money for my time only - not the cost of the extensions, as I felt that the issue was not with my fitting or services but with the product from rhe supplier.
I have been trying for weeks to get money from the supplier who accepted that the hair was severely discoloured but accept no liability and are advising the client to use certain shampoo to help the discoloration. The client is now threatening legal action if I don't refund her for the hair by close of tomorrow! I am actually closed until the new year now bur have been responding to her whatsapp as I am keen to resolve for both parties. Where do i stand legally on refunding her?? I don't feel I should as it's not a fault of mine but the supplier. Pics of hair attached. You will see some parts blended fine, some weren't as good. I also complained about the "blend" of the colour to the supplier as it so streaky bur wasn't this noticeable upon fitting.

 

[jcb85]

Hi guys- having a nightmare!

I ordered and fitted some extensions for a new client.
The same night as the fitting (once client was back home), she started messaging and saying she was unhappy with the blunt cut she had requested and that she felt the extensions weren't blending well with her own colour. I advised to have her short layers thinned out to help and to wash her hair as in my professional experience, washing makes a big difference to how the hair sits. I also asked her to come back so i could tidy up the gradient on the blunt finish. Anyway she kept messaging saying she wasn't prepared to have her own hair cut into and that tidying up the ends wouldn't make the hair look better as she felt the colour didn't match and she wanted her money back. At this point she hadn't washed it or taken any steps as I had advised to help the situation.
I slotted her in at the end of my working day and out of working hours (9pm) as its december and I'm fully booked but I pride myself on my work and happy customers so I go out of my way.
Upon seeing her, I did feel that the hair colour was not 100% and not quite ehat i ordered. I checked yhe hair against my sample wheel from the supplier and sure enough it wasn't quite the same. Ir was discoloured - faded almost. I advised that a simple toner would do the trick but she refused to spend anymore time or money in correcting hair that should have been correct in the first place. I then, as a good will gesture, offered to remove the hair and refunded her the money for my time only - not the cost of the extensions, as I felt that the issue was not with my fitting or services but with the product from rhe supplier.
I have been trying for weeks to get money from the supplier who accepted that the hair was severely discoloured but accept no liability and are advising the client to use certain shampoo to help the discoloration. The client is now threatening legal action if I don't refund her for the hair by close of tomorrow! I am actually closed until the new year now bur have been responding to her whatsapp as I am keen to resolve for both parties. Where do i stand legally on refunding her?? I don't feel I should as it's not a fault of mine but the supplier. Pics of hair attached. You will see some parts blended fine, some weren't as good. I also complained about the "blend" of the colour to the supplier as it so streaky bur wasn't this noticeable upon fitting.

It won't let me attach pics

 

[Patricia Bearcroft]

Hi guys- having a nightmare!

I ordered and fitted some extensions for a new client.
The same night as the fitting (once client was back home), she started messaging and saying she was unhappy with the blunt cut she had requested and that she felt the extensions weren't blending well with her own colour. I advised to have her short layers thinned out to help and to wash her hair as in my professional experience, washing makes a big difference to how the hair sits. I also asked her to come back so i could tidy up the gradient on the blunt finish. Anyway she kept messaging saying she wasn't prepared to have her own hair cut into and that tidying up the ends wouldn't make the hair look better as she felt the colour didn't match and she wanted her money back. At this point she hadn't washed it or taken any steps as I had advised to help the situation.
I slotted her in at the end of my working day and out of working hours (9pm) as its december and I'm fully booked but I pride myself on my work and happy customers so I go out of my way.
Upon seeing her, I did feel that the hair colour was not 100% and not quite ehat i ordered. I checked yhe hair against my sample wheel from the supplier and sure enough it wasn't quite the same. Ir was discoloured - faded almost. I advised that a simple toner would do the trick but she refused to spend anymore time or money in correcting hair that should have been correct in the first place. I then, as a good will gesture, offered to remove the hair and refunded her the money for my time only - not the cost of the extensions, as I felt that the issue was not with my fitting or services but with the product from rhe supplier.
I have been trying for weeks to get money from the supplier who accepted that the hair was severely discoloured but accept no liability and are advising the client to use certain shampoo to help the discoloration. The client is now threatening legal action if I don't refund her for the hair by close of tomorrow! I am actually closed until the new year now bur have been responding to her whatsapp as I am keen to resolve for both parties. Where do i stand legally on refunding her?? I don't feel I should as it's not a fault of mine but the supplier. Pics of hair attached. You will see some parts blended fine, some weren't as good. I also complained about the "blend" of the colour to the supplier as it so streaky bur wasn't this noticeable upon fitting.

Aww bless you, take a look of what it says in your insurance policy and give them a ring to explain the situation and see what they say they should be open tomorrow, they might be able to recoup the money from the wholesalers to give to the client if you have evidance of them admitting liability.

I would just message the client and say

"I will be ringing my insurance tomorrow to get legal advice on our situation, as the wholesaler has admitted liability, I will let you know next steps as soon as I know. i have already refunded £xxx for my time as a goodwill gesture, the refund of £xxx for the extensions has to come from the suppliers"

And leave it at that with he client... tbh I would view it as your working with her to get her money back from the wholesalers, but Obvousily clients dont see the inside working of what we do, so she is focusing on you because your the first point of call,

Same as if you was making a claim at a restruant for food poisoning you would keep going back to the same person because they was the first point of call...

You didn't need to refund for your time as it was her descision not to cut her own hair, and have them taken out, but you have as a good will gesture

You have to put the amounts in for proof of the claim, incase she starts saying you haven't paid her, or it's more... x

That's how I would go about it x

 

[AcidPerm]

I think you need to refund her in full and accept you made a mistake.

Under English law, the contract is between you and your client. The client agreed the colour she wanted from the choice you gave her. Unfortunately, that’s not what you supplied, so you are in breach of contract. It’s that simple.

(The supplier has no contractual obligations towards your client, so forget about them for a moment.)

In this case, you are responsible for providing the full refund to your client as the hair (you) supplied was not what was originally agreed.
You have admitted that the colour doesn’t match the colour ring. It was your responsibility to check the hair before fitting it.

This is where you went wrong!

Had you done so, presumably, you would have pointed out the colour discrepancy to the client and given them the option to go ahead or not.
If the client had agreed to the fitting then changed her mind afterwards because of the colour discrepancy, she would not be entitled to a refund. Obviously, in such cases, it is wise to get the client to sign something to say she accepted the colour was not what was originally agreed but that she was happy for you to go ahead and fit it.

You cannot charge her for your time in fitting and removing the wrong colour hair as you shouldn’t have fitted it in the first place.

The supplier is a third party to the contract and therefore has no contractual responsibility to the client. However, If you want to pursue the supplier separately, that’s an option open to you, but you cannot withold a refund from your client on this basis.


To put it into a different context:
Imagine you have ordered some ready made curtains from the big curtain shop in your town. You are shown fabric samples and choose a fabric with a cream background that matches your new 3 piece suite. When you receive your new curtains, you discover that they’ve used the same pattern but with a white background.
You return them to the shop pointing out the discrepancy and the shop refunds your money in full because they accept they made a mistake and used the wrong fabric.

(If I was the shop owner, I might try to persuade the customer to accept the curtains at a huge discount because they’re unlikely to be easily re-sold.)

 

[inspia]

I agree that she needs refunding in full this was not her fault and she should not be out of pocket.

 

[jcb85]

Thank you all for advice and input! I definately don't want any client out of pocket. I am just upset that the supplier I have used for years has literally wiped their hands of any responsibility and left me out of pocket and in the sh**! I definitely think the client deserves a refund on yhe hair but I'd rather it be out of the suppliers pocket as they sent discoloured hair
This is one of those situations where i bite the bullet and learn a hard lesson

 

[AcidPerm]

Don’t be too hard on yourself. We all find ourselves having to cover for other people’s mistakes from time to time.
It is annoying but don’t dwell on it.
Move on, take time to appreciate your successes and re-focus your energy on your next client.

 

[Beachy Waves]

Which supplier was it out of interest? I’ve had a similar problem with poor quality hair supplied by a supplier that my client complained loads about but in the end the supplier basically put me in the position to say whether I thought it was poor quality or not!

 

[Noodle]

Which supplier was it out of interest? I’ve had a similar problem with poor quality hair supplied by a supplier that my client complained loads about but in the end the supplier basically put me in the position to say whether I thought it was poor quality or not!

Please send the OP a private message if you want to know the supplier’s name, thank you.