I think you've had some great advice on here. I would just add the following.
If you take her moaning, personal contact, 10 paragraphs etc out of the equation, what you have is a client who wasn't happy with her treatment. Rightly or wrongly, she should have said at the time. She should have made them aware and so on. But ultimately she's unhappy. I would personally try and win her round with either a complimentary treatment (whilst admitting no liability as there is none to admit) or a voucher towards a treatment.
She has come to your salon and she may come back. She may be the best client ever - and she may not. But if you make her happy, she will tell everyone. If you don't, she'll tell everyone.
This doesn't sound like an insurance claim or a scam, it just sounds like she's letting you know.
To us, our treatments are common place. To many they're a bit "mystical". We do clients for facials or massages who are scared. They've never had it done. They don't know what's right or wrong. They don't know what "firm" pressure is compared to gentle.
I would personally offer her a free treatment that you're sure she'll enjoy.
Well done for taking a little time to think it over. Knee jerk reactions can land us all in trouble xxx
Thanks for your message. Totally appreciate the fact that we should always make sure clients are happy and that a bad review can be terrible.
However I don't like the message this gives the staff. They work on commission so whoever has to give that 'free' treatment won't earn any. As a team the girls are more than happy to do that if there's been a problem but I rarely do this if the client is in the wrong.
I don't think this particular client realised but it was me that took her payment. I asked if she enjoyed the treatment and she said 'yes I needed that'. She said in the message that as soon as she left she had to find the first place she could to sit down to take a painkiller. However when I took her payment we chatted about our loyalty point system, she asked questions about it and I asked if she wanted to rebook she said she would do so via Facebook.
I am really upset if she went away in pain, and I don't think she's lying, however she had so much opportunity to say something. She certainly didn't look as traumatised as she's made out when paying at reception!
I know it's awkward and embarrassing, but just a simple 'that pressure is too much' or filling out her consultation form correctly would have avoided all of this.
So it just makes me question why we should give a free treatment, we're a business and I'm generally someone that would only do something like this if we were completely at fault.