Help please! Refund and get rid?

[Mrs RSM]

I had a 20 year old girl walk in for an eyebrow wax today. She said only wanted a quick tidy and due to other bookings that's all I had time to do anyway. I tidied them up and then client said " i like them but wanted them alot thinner" I explained she had only asked for a quick tidy not a re shape and that I had made it clear when she walked in that I had a client due soon after.

We agreed that she would come back tomorrow. As I was getting treatment room ready for the next client, a woman just walked in! I asked if I could help and she said said you just did my daughters eyebrows and she hates them, they look awful and I could have done better myself. I pointed out that her daughter seemed genuinely pleased when she left and had in fact agreed to return tomorrow for a longer appointment and I explained to the mother exactly what had been said. The mother just kept having a go at me at I asked her to keep her voice down and let me speak. She then moaned about having to drive the girl over again etc etc, the girl is 20 years old and lives in easy walking distance !



I really didn't like the way the mother walked all the way through my salon and into the treatment room where I could have been with client and then went on to be so rude!

So, wise geeks, do I do what I want to do which is refund and dismiss or do I reshape for her and still get rid ?I get the feeling nothing would be good enough and tbh i just don't want troublemakers and I got the feeling they were exactly that. She had slated another salon not too far from mine as soon as she sat down.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Lorrainelola]

Hmmmm if it were me I would do the reshape and then never have any appointments available if she ever wanted to rebook. Don't give a refund. You did what was asked, a tidy up. Its the same thing with bloomin bikini waxes. They want a bikini line wax and then want a bit more and a bit more off.

 

[ABDiva]

i agree dont refund simply reshape and never have availability if they come again

 

[MissConfused]

i wouldn't refund her. she knew what she was getting as you'd explained to her and explained you didn't have a lot of time, so long as you charged her for a tidy and not a brow reshape then i'd just tell her she is more than welcome to come for another appointment and pay the extra that a brow reshape is charged at.

if she's slagged off other therapists/salons then there's a good chance she's going to bitch about you regardless of if you refund or not... so you might aswell get paid for being bad mouthed.
x

 

[Mrs RSM]

Thank you ladies,it's good to get other opinions. I will see if she even comes back.

I still feel really cross! :biggrin:

 

[Lee-Ann]

I wouldnt give a refund either. You didnt do anything wrong so giving a refund is like saying you did. Like the others said just be fully booked when they want an appointment.

 

[vitality]

I 'tidy up' could mean anything to a non professional so unless you have it on your pricelist as that then it was open for an argument. The fact that you both have verbally agreed to do it the following day, means that the mum had no right to come in and complain it had nothing to with her. I wouldn't have given the girl a refund either.

 

[orchid11]

Definately no refund! But do a fantastic job when she comes back and get her on your side, you never know she could have had a bad experience elsewhere you dont want her saying the same about you. Be extra friendly and she wont be able to say a bad word, she could become a loyal client, tell her friends how great you are and hey presto!

You never know! Not sure about the mum though lol!

 

[mac72]

stand your ground, i got good advice from a teacher friend, lower your tone of voice speak slowly and calmly. She uses this on children I use it on excitable, reactive clients. Always works, as they tend to calm down too unless they are a fruit loop.

 

[elliebee]

My first thought was "what has it got to do with the mother anyway"

The daughter is 20. An adult. If she has any concerns then I would only address them with her, no-one else.

Sounds like you did exactly what you said you would and offered to have her back. You have acted professionally and shouldn't feel bad :hug:

 

[soriminah]

She asked for a tidy up which you provided and were paid for...service provided and paid for...no refund..

If she comes back for a reshape then she pays for the reshape...but just make sure you are very clear with her and that you do a thorough consult before hand so she knows what you are going to do and that she agrees first.

Sounds to me like she isn't clear herself on what she wants.

 

[Pevonia<3]

I think you did exactly the right thing, you've offered her a solution by coming back the next day , you did what the client wanted , so i wouldnt given her a refund. Im sure she will be happy with the results tomorrow :biggrin:

 

[Ammej85]

Did she come back in the end?

I agree - no refund.

 

[shedunlop]

Do you know what? I wouldn't have discussed it with the mother at all. All treatments are confidential as far as I am concerned and this girl was 20, not a girl but an adult. I would have shown her mother the door in no uncertain terms! You discuss treatments only with the person you have done the treatment for, no one else.

 

[tigi]

i agree wholeheartedly with shedunolp... what the blue blazes does it have to do with mummy dearest????

I would have curtly shown her the door and then rung the client to discuss further.

no refund, reshape and then ban her.............

 

[izzidoll]

I also would not refund as you carried out the service discussed, although I would maybe deduct the cost of the tidy from the cost of the reshape as surely this would make the reshape easier, and it is a good compromise. As Shedunlop has already said though I would only have said this to the client, not her mother.

Also can I just add, I am really concerned at how many people want to ban, bin and get rid of a client for something that is easily sorted with a smile and another professional service.
Yes, I know some clients can be difficult, but I was always taught that clients are 'gold' and should be treated as such, after all none of us would have a business without them

I hope everything got resolved one way or the other today :hug:

 

[Mrs RSM]

Also can I just add, I am really concerned at how many people want to ban, bin and get rid of a client for something that is easily sorted with a smile and another professional service.
Yes, I know some clients can be difficult, but I was always taught that clients are 'gold' and should be treated as such, after all none of us would have a business without them

I hope everything got resolved one way or the other today :hug:

Thank you very much ladies. She turned up far too late to be treated and so rightly or wrongly, I gave her a refund.She was more than happy with that...a bit too keen to take it actually.

I am kicking myself for speaking to the mother, as you have all so rightly pointed out, the girl is an adult and it's nothing to do with the mother.Its a learnign curve though...if/when it ever happens again I will deal with it very differently! :wink2:


As for being too ready to bin or sack clients...well why not, none of us would have a business without GOOD clients... I own my salon, I decide who to have as a client, thats my right, I don't have to put up with nonsense and I don't expect my nail tech to either, that is surely the beauty of being your own boss...you make the rules! A bad client is not gold dust...but something else altogether.:biggrin:

I love my good clients and will bend over backwards for them.

Again, thank you all for helping out!

 

[Dolly6410]

Personaly id plain refuse to have her back in the salon, say her mothers behaviour was unacceptable and for the safety of your other clients neither of them are welcome back.
I can imagin how you're feeling, i had a client say she was really pleased with her eyelash tint, she checked it and i left, then 2hours later i got a really REALLY rude phone call sayin she was disgraced i left her with her eyebrows looking like they did, they were awful and patchy.... Luckily i was on my lunch break and went back within 10minutes of the call, they were fine, infact perfect, she was so smarmy to me and all i could find was one, yes one, corse white hair on one brow so i tweezed it out and she checked and said it was much better and what a shame i didnt do that in the first place and waved me off, i havent heard from her since and if i did id refuse to go, i didnt work my butt off for 3 years in a shop to make the money to set up my own business to be spoken to like crap x

 

[Dolly6410]

Eyebrow tint* sorry im half asleep here!!! Ha