ChiChris African Hair Braiding

The owner insisted that I pay her up front for the services requested. When I let her know that I was not satisfied she refused to refund my money.Just before the Christmas holidays 2014 I spent a lot of time (2 separate visits) with the owner, [redacted] trying to get her to understand what I wanted in the way of Tree Braiding which I call "un-detectable braids. This is a process by which your hair is braided with corn rows and human hair is braided in and the human hair is left out not showing your own hair. She knew that I was very particular about what I wanted and I allowed her to braid one or two braids to demonstrate to me that she knew what I wanted. I spent nearly $200 for the human hair so you know I wanted it done correctly. The first two braids were done just fine so I relaxed myself to prepare for the long process (8 hours). Once [redacted] started she did a few more braids and then decided to (on her own) to add some of her own hair to my corn rowed hair. I was surprised to see her come back with hair that I didn't bring in so I questioned her about it. She explained that she needed to add this hair in order for the braids to lock in place. I told her that in all the years (35) of my having this style this was never necessary before, but she insisted that it was necessary. I allowed her to continue not even thinking that she would add synthetic hair to a style that was using only human hair (Very expensive human hair at that). The whole purpose of this style is to be able to put heat on the extensions for a variety of style options. When I went home to flat iron my style the synthetic hair melted into my own hair from the left out braids at the end of each corn row.If only the human hair had been used this would not have been a problem. I contacted [redacted] the next day to complain about her putting synthetic hair in my head when I had already supplied her with the hair I wanted to use. Her only offer of a fix was for me to cut my corn rowed braid that was left out at the end of each row. Which would mean cutting my own hair. Of course I was livid! I immediately stopped payment on the charge and contacted my attorney. He wrote to her demanding a refund as well as payment for the hair that I had to get taken out of my head and the charge for someone else to braid my hair.I would take her to court but the time and cost is just not worth it to me. This woman is stubborn, set in her ways and inflexible. I will never go back there again and don't recommend her for any specialty styles in braiding.One other thing that I really didn't like is the fact that she insists on you paying for service before it is given. Once she has your money you will not get it back if you don't like the job she's done. [redacted]Desired SettlementI want the money back that I paid her for doing my hair. She didn't follow directions and as a result caused damage to my hair.I also want compensation for the amount that I spend on the human hair which I had to take out and discard. Total amount I'm requesting is $340.00.Business Response I want to start by apologizing for my late response, it was due to the fact that I went out off the country, I came back few days ago, and I was going through my mails and discover that [redacted] is not tired yet. [redacted] came to me for the first time on October 2014 to touch up her con-row which she told me that the person that did it, did a bad job. I asked her how she want it she explained to me and I did it for her perfectly as she said.She loved it tip me $5 and told me she has found what she was looking for since she moved from California and promised to come to me all the time.On Dec.16th 2014 she came to me to make inquiries about Tree Braiding Style, I told her everything she needed to know about the style and answered all her many many questions.She said she needed a certain kind of hair, I show her all that I had and she decided to provide her own hair. The style was human hair on top and synthetic under which I had explained to her clearly for two good hours, she asked again if I can also braid under with human hair, I told her it is not possible because I can't differentiate the one to pull out and the one that stays under. The style is the type you braid at the same time pull out so that when you finish it will look like weave,however I went ahead and told her that according to the story she had told me about her hair falling out when another stylist did it, I told her because they did not use a different kind of hair to differentiate, therefore they didn't know what to leave out or the one to leave under and that's why I can't use the same hair for both. She accepted and made appointment for Dec. 18th 2014 by 9am.On that day she didn't show by 9 but later show up by 9.45am. She signed in and pay because it is our rules that customers pay before service which she already knew before coming back for her second service with my company.We collect pay before service because our service takes a long time therefore a lot of people took advantage of us, run away with our money after offering them 4-12 hours service. They will ask to go get money from ATM or food and disappear with our money.We have the sign everywhere in the shop that says payment require before service and no refund but tell us your concern and we will gladly fix it. I asked her for her hair which she provide me with only human hair and told me she forgot the synthetic hair. I said to her I might have some left over, I got it, show it to her, she thanked me for being patient with her and we start. She started controlling me all the way, telling me to do it smaller that what I had charged her for and also asked me to do it in two lays instead one she paid for, which I did. This style normally takes me 4 hours but hers took 7 hours because she was manipulative and end up getting $250 job for $200. I did only her hair for the whole day.When I finished, she love it, she came up to me and hug me with a smiling face and gave me a $10 tip. The next day 19th of Dec. she called me on phone and said to me that she want to curl the hair again and the under burn, I said to her why would you do that since you are fully aware that you can't curl synthetic hair and she said she try to avoid it but couldn't and I asked her to come so I can fix it so she don't burn it again, and she said is ok that I shouldn't worry about it that she can handle it. I was surprise on January 25th 2015 I received a letter from my merchant Services that [redacted] is asking for her money back because she was not satisfied and I did nothing to resolve the problem, I wrote back explaining everything that happened and they refunded my money back and close the case.On February 20th 2015 I got a letter from her Attorney telling me to pay her the debt that I owe her or they will take me to court. I went out and made my investigation and found out that [redacted] still had the hair that she disliked so much on her hair after 2 months +. The style we are talking about last minimum of 6 to 8 weeks. I called her Attorney and asked him if he see this women's hair that she was complaining about and he said no, I told him that she still had the hair on after two months, if she doesn't like it, why does she still wearing it.Then I asked him to go asked her that question and then get back to me. They never call me back or write me again because he found out the truth for himself. In my conclusion, I discover that [redacted] has been playing this heartless game with other salon having them to work on her hair for all day and turn around and take her money back because most of the stylist are illegal Immigrants who are scared of the police deporting them back to their country, also can't read or write. She was so used to collecting her money back that she couldn't give up this even though I had won the case everywhere she had taken me to. [redacted] is in her late 60s and still acting like under 18 when think about this I cry for other innocent people she has done this to. I had found one of the victim and if she continue to bother me we will find the rest of them and take her to court.If need additional information, I will be glad to send them.Thanks[redacted]

Dissatisfied with the inferior services rendered at the ChiChris African Hair Braiding establishment. Unsatisfactory resolution.On 3/9/15, I contacted [redacted], owner of the ChiChris African Braiding Shop to inquire about having box braids installed into my hair. [redacted] assured me over the phone that she would deliver the best quality service and the best quality braiding. Over the phone she stated that my requested hair service would only cost $180 and that she provided hair free of charge. I informed her that the color of my hair is somewhat unique and that I would need to go to a beauty store to find out what braiding hair color number closest matched to the hair I would need. She sent me a text message to recommend a beauty store called [redacted]. When I got there, I called her and informed her of the number ([redacted]), which I wanted to mix in with another common color (**) to match my actual hair color. She told me that I should purchase the "Expressions brand hair" because it was the best quality and was what she used in her shop. I informed her that I was under the impression that she would provide the hair and that I only needed to tell her the hair color number. The hair that she asked me to buy came up to a total of $25. When I arrived to her shop, she stated that she requires payment upfront and that because of the length of my hair, she would charge an additional $20 because it would be harder to do. She did not offer a discount considering that I provided my own hair although she informed that it was a product she provided. I paid her $200 plus a $3 card processing fee. She also insisted that I sign into a book. My natural hair is curly, most shops require that the natural hair is straightened through blow drying with a comb attachment to remove any curls. [redacted] handed me an old blow dryer without a comb attachment and asked that I blow dry my own hair. I came in to be serviced, not to service myself. Secondly, I could not get all of my curls out and my hair felt tacky and gummy from applying heat in addition to my own hair product, which I had to use to try and comb my curls out. When I mentioned this to her, she insisted that it was fine because she would be the one braiding my hair. However, I insisted that I wanted to go home to wash my hair. Thereafter, she offered to wash my hair for me, which she states is a service she usually charges $20 for, but would waive the cost for me. Most hair shops only charge $5 for this service. She then instructed me to blow dry my hair without my product, which I reluctantly did to the best of my ability and my hair was still not straight enough although she once again insisted that it was. Once I sat in the chair to have my hair braided I noticed a sign that basically said that signing the book redeems her from having to offer a refund for service, but that a store credit could be provided because customer satisfaction was important to her. While in the midst of braiding my hair, [redacted] began to express frustration about her marital affairs, money problems, and her life struggles. She also publicly reprimanded an employee for taking too long to do another customer's hair, which was of very nice quality. Midway through doing my hair, I expressed to [redacted] that there were hairs sticking out of my braids, she said "don't worry, that will not show after I clean the braids up for you. Those stray hairs and dead ends will be cut off and you will not notice them at all". She finished my hair around 11 p.m. and everyone was tired including my 9 year old son who was present with me. She suggested that I allow her to pull my hair up into a ponytail, which I agreed considering the hour.When I got home, I realized that this was how she managed to hide the imperfections with her quality of work. I have several pictures to demonstrate where there are still several stray hairs, hair coming out of the roots, and long strands of unbraided, unraveling hair. I attempted on 3 occasions to allow [redacted] to rectify the matter with no solution.On my first attempt she unsatisfactory"repaired the braids".Desired SettlementBecause of [redacted] poor quality of braiding and poor customer service, I would like a refund at this point so that I can have my hair braided with better quality elsewhere. Her attitude also became very poor when my request, initially for store credit, was made in person. I no longer feel welcomed, safe, or comfortable in her establishment. I honestly feel that there is no way for her at this point to fix the matter because I fear that she will seek retaliation and make matters worse as she has already done.