Michelle's Beautique

Dear [redacted],Prior to the customer's visit she was quoted a price of $47 for color services and $200 for a ** Keratin Straightening Treatment. The color estimate was based on how the salon interpreted what the customer was looking for: her mother wanted to cover her gray, which was only in...

the roots.When the customer came in for her appointment (2/19) both her and her mother received a complete explanation of the ** Treatment as well as literature providing further explanation. They were clearly told that it was not a permanent straightening service. They were also told that products used on the hair before and after the service (e.g. self-applied "box" color and generic shampoos) would most likely shorten the effective life of the service.During a pre-service consultation it was discovered that "box" color had been used by the customer. It was explained that this could prevent her color service from achieving the complete desired results, and it was re-iterated that the presence of "box" color in the hair could diminish the effectiveness of the ** Treatment. All parties involved were on the same page after the consultation, and the service commenced.After both the color and ** services were finished, the customer mentioned that she'd wanted the color all the way through her hair, not just having the gray covered. The owner/stylist apologized for the misunderstanding and explained that additional color could not be applied immediately due to the **Treatment. The customer was charged $47 for the partial color service that has been performed and that had been quoted prior to the appointment. Although the color service that was discussed and purchased was provided, the owner offered to do a complete color service at no charge upon the next visit. At that time the customer's mother mentioned coming back in June when her daughter (the customer) was expecting a baby. The customer paid in total $247 for a partial color and the ** Treatment. A $35 haircut was also performed that the customer was not charged for.On 2/27 the owner received a [redacted] message from the customer stating that the service had not worked and her mother's hair was back to normal. A picture was sent showing her mother's hair in a ponytail that did not give a very clear idea of what exactly was going on with her hair. Regardless, the owner offered to perform a different straightening treatment, which had been recommended to the customer by a family member, at no charge.On 5/8 the customer left a message with one of the salon employees asking to have the owner give her a call. The owner called the provided number and was told that the voice mail was full. The customer then sent a [redacted] message that her mom wanted to come in on May 30th (a Saturday) for a full color and a straightening treatment. The owner explained that this was not possible due to the fact that her schedule was already too full on that day to allow for everythingto be done that her mother wanted. The owner suggested some different dates, however the customer insisted on 5/30. The owner then said that she would be able to perform one of the desired services but that time would not permit everything to be done on the one day.The customer said she would speak with her mother, and then later indicated she felt it was the owner's responsibility to fit them in regardless of other business. This conversation had all occurred over [redacted], so at this point the owner asked the customer to call the salon so a satisfactory agreement could be reached. The customer responded via [redacted] a couple days later claiming she was too busy to call and that the owner should call her. Shortly thereafter the owner learned that the customer had given birth and did not feel comfortable initiating further communication at that time. Therefore no agreement was ever reached on what services were expected and no appointment was ever made.On 5/30 the customer's mother came into the salon at 2 pm. The owner had finished her other clients and left at 1:30, as the salon closed at 3 pm that day (and every Saturday, as clearly posted on the door and online). According to the employees present at the time, who are able to provide statements if necessary, the customer's mother behaved rudely and made demands and made others in the salon (employees and clients alike) very uncomfortable. The owner returned to the salon, however by the time she got there it had been arranged over the phone with an employee speaking directly with the customer's mother that the service would be performed Sunday 5/31 (even though the salon is not open on Sundays).The owner then discussed the scene that had unfolded in her absence with the other employees. The general consensus was that the customer's mother had acted disrespectfully. The owner then sent the customer a message via [redacted] stating that her mother's behavior was not appreciated and that following the services performed on 5/31 no further services would be performed.The customer then began posting her opinions of the situation on a [redacted] page intended to help mothers seek advice from other mothers. Both the owner and the customer are frequent contributors to this page, of which both were aware. The customer never named the owner or her salon specifically, however her remarks regarding the salon and her experience were highly negative and often untrue. The owner asked the page administrator to remove the post as it was in no way representative of the page's intended purpose. The administrator agreed, and the post was removed.No services were performed on 5/31, as the customer took offense to the owner's stance and began demanding a refund. The owner has suggested options that would satisfy both parties but the customer has refused.The facts of the matter are these: the customer received what was paid for (except for a haircut which was given for free and which the customer is now denying ever happened). The owner regretted that the results of the ** Treatment were not what the customer expected and was therefore prepared to accommodate her. The owner was also prepared to do a full color service at no charge, even though the $47 partial color was what the customer received and paid for. The customer gave the owner a single day of availability within which she expected 4 hours worth of services to be performed (1 1/2 hours for color and 2 1/2 hours for the straightening treatment). Due to previously scheduled appointments that was not feasible.A set appointment was never made, partially due to the owner not wishing to disturb the customer after she had just given birth. Even though there was no appointment made the customer's mother came in on 5/30 one hour before the salon closed expecting to be made top priority. When she discovered this was not to be the case she became very rude and inappropriate.The owner has never given the customer a reason to distrust her, as she is claiming, however the owner is more than a little suspicious of the customer's well-meaning in this matter. The dissatisfaction experienced with regards to the ** Treatment is much more likely to be a result of hair-damaging product being used before and/or after the treatment than any incompetence on the part of the owner. The customer's continued misrepresentation of the color service received and purchased is disconcerting, as is the blatant refusal to acknowledge the haircut provided at no charge. The customer's treatment of the matter on [redacted] and her mother's behavior in the owner's place of business are also indicative of the customers acting out of spite rather than upholding a valid claim.The owner has been in business for 4 1/2 years and has received nothing but the most positive of reviews from her customers. The owner believes that she has been more than accommodating in this affair and that the customer's complaint is misleading and invalid.I appreciate your taking the time to hear my position on this matter.Sincerely,Michelle R./Owner

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
TO: [redacted] The Revdex.com
In reference to the correspondence received on July 6th, 2015, with attachment “Michelle's Boutique Response”, the Customer, [redacted] & [redacted], respond:
On February 17th, 2015, [redacted] posted in a local mother's [redacted] group seeking recommendations for someone to “permanently straighten” her mother's hair ([redacted]), as she was visiting the state that Thursday (February 19th). [redacted] described in her post that her mother had “thick and coarse hair” and needed someone to help. Following several recommendations, along from messages from other local stylists, [redacted] made plans with Mrs. Michelle B[redacted], following a message being received. The message from Mrs. R[redacted] was received on 2/17/2015 at 2:38pm and stated: “Hey [redacted], I can do your mom's hair, and because we are awesome mom member I will charge 200. We use ** Keratin System. Let me know.” [redacted] continued the conversation to which Mrs. R[redacted] stated “this systems works awesome on coarse hair”, and explained the process as “So we put it on and let it sit for 45 min then we blow dry and flat iron and she can wash her hair that night if she chooses too.” Immediately following this message, Mrs. R[redacted] asked “is she looking for a treatment or just to have it straightened for the evening and it washes out.” [redacted] confirmed that her mother wanted the treatment and also asked if her mother would be able to get the tips of her hair cut as well. The message from this day does show that [redacted] was unsure of whether or not to cut her hair, but had asked [redacted] to ask how much for color and what Mrs. R[redacted]'s availability was for that Thursday, February 19th. Mrs. R[redacted] stated she was readily available for that day and quoted a price of $47 for color. [redacted] confirmed for Thursday, February 19th, , for treatment and color, and asked how long the treatment would last for. Mrs. R[redacted] stated the treatment would last for 6 months.On February 17th, at 7:08PM, Mrs. R[redacted] sent [redacted] a message that stated: “[redacted] I had to check but the company recommends you do the color either 2 weeks before or after the treatment.” [redacted] replied to just do the treatment, but that her mother had a lot of gray. [redacted] asked why but received no response to her question. They confirmed for that Thursday until receiving a new message at 9:29PM from Mrs. R[redacted] stating that “[redacted], we are good to do color too.”
On February 19th, at 10:27am, [redacted] sent Mrs. R[redacted] a message stating that her mother only wanted a color and blow-out. [redacted] had spoken to her daughter, and was unsure if whether the treatment would be a god idea since it was a large amount of money. At 1:30, they went to their appointment at Mrs. R[redacted]'s salon, where Mrs. R[redacted] began to color her hair. Throughout the process, [redacted], Mrs. R[redacted], and [redacted] discussed the treatment and whether or not to go through with it. Mrs. R[redacted] provided literature where [redacted] seemed satisfied. She asked more questions, such as “what happens after 6 months?”, Mrs. R[redacted] stated that she would need to redo the treatment every 6 months in order to continue having permanently straightened hair. [redacted] agreed to do the service. Throughout this conversation, [redacted] noticed that Mrs. R[redacted] only appeared to be coloring [redacted]'s roots. Assuming this was her process, she and [redacted] mentioned something when they noticed Mrs. R[redacted] had stopped the coloring service. Mrs. R[redacted] apologized for the misunderstanding and stated that she assumed it was only the roots. She stated it was not a good idea to continue the remainder of the hair due to beginning the ** treatment soon, but that she would do a complete color service at no charge during her next visit at the end of May for when [redacted] would be having her baby. Mrs. R[redacted] did state to no longer use “boxed” color to color her hair, as it did not help in having professional color stick to the hair. [redacted] stated she would wait to color her hair until her next visit. She then began what was assumed to be the ** treatment. [redacted]'s hair was washed, then blow dried, and then was flat ironed. Mrs. R[redacted] stated that [redacted]'s hair would no longer be coarse and thick. She stated it might have a slight curl to it, but would be mostly straight. [redacted] paid for the services, for a total of $247, plus tips. Mrs. R[redacted] stated she would also look into a treatment called a “Brazilian Blow Out”, which achieved ultimate straightening. Mrs. R[redacted] stated she would be putting [redacted] “in the books” for a full service color for the end of the month of May when [redacted] would be visiting the state next.
On February 24th, [redacted] sent her daughter a text message with a picture of her hair in a ponytail. Her daughter replied stating the hair was back to normal. The following day, [redacted] sent another picture of her hair. Her hair appeared to be equal to prior to the treatment.On February 27th, [redacted] sent a picture of her mother's hair to a [redacted] message with Mrs. R[redacted]. The hair was in a ponytail, and clearly showed thick, curly hair. [redacted] stated that it was back to normal, to which Mrs. R[redacted] replied saying: “Ahhhhh. Well we knew some of the curl would come back but it shouldn't be that she couldn't get it straight. OK well I want to work with you guys and I know she is back home now so we have been on the hunt with the Brazilian treatment. What we can do is next time she comes back I will give her the Brazilian treatment for no cost.” [redacted] and Mrs. R[redacted] both agreed that they thought it would not be the same as before.
On May 8th, [redacted] called Mrs. R[redacted]'s salon and spoke to the receptionist. The receptionist did not seem to be paying attention to the conversation, as she kept asking [redacted] to repeat. [redacted] asked to have Mrs. R[redacted] return her phone call, and left her number. The receptionist hung up the phone following [redacted] giving her phone number, leaving [redacted] to wonder if the number was taken down.
On May 9th, after not receiving a phone call or a voicemail, [redacted] messaged Mrs. R[redacted] on [redacted] stating she tried to call her at her salon. Mrs. R[redacted] stated she attempted to call but that [redacted]'s voicemail was full and asked when [redacted] would like to be seen. [redacted] checked her voicemail and had noticed her voicemail was, in fact, NOT full. [redacted] told Mrs. R[redacted] that [redacted] wanted to be seen on May 30th.After 4 days of no communication, Mrs. R[redacted] sent [redacted] a message on May 13th, asking what [redacted] wanted to have done. Given that Mrs. R[redacted] had stated she would be performing a full service color, as well as a “Brazilian” straightening treatment at no charge, it should have been assumed this was what she needed to do. [redacted] stated these services, as well as a possibly hair cut.
After 2 days, Mrs. R[redacted] replied on May 15th stating she could not do that Saturday. They discussed a variety of days, and [redacted] stated that she had called a week prior in order to attempt to get the requested date.
On May 18th, [redacted] sent another message stating that her mother would only be visiting for a certain amount of time and that Mrs. R[redacted] had known when she was coming. She asked what would the next option be and stated [redacted] was frustrated that she ended up spending $200 for a blow out type of service. On May 19th, Mrs. R[redacted] asked if [redacted] would do one service versus all of them and that she has to book people months in advance. [redacted] did state that [redacted] was last there in February, to which Mrs. R[redacted] knew when she would be coming back as she had previously “put her in the books.” Mrs. R[redacted] asked [redacted] to call the salon that day. Due to issues with pregnancy related appointments, as well as caring for her toddler, [redacted] was not able to call. She sent a follow up message on May 21st stating that she did not have the opportunity to do so. She asked Mrs. R[redacted] to call when she was available and left her number.
After many issues, Mrs. R[redacted] later came to say that the reason she did not respond to [redacted] following May 21st was due to the birth of [redacted]'s child. However, [redacted] had her daughter on May 25th (a total of 6 days without communication), and did not publicly announce the birth of her daughter until sometime between night time May 25th and morning of May 26th. Mrs. R[redacted] did not communicate with [redacted] in any way from May 19th until May 30th.
On the weekend of May 30th, [redacted] arrived to visit her family in PA. Since she had not heard anything from Mrs. R[redacted], she decided to visit the salon to discuss things with her in person. Mrs. R[redacted] was not at the salon, but [redacted] spoke to the receptionist who spoke with Mrs. R[redacted] on the phone. Mrs. R[redacted] then stated that she would come in the following day to do a full color for [redacted].
At approximately 4 in the afternoon that same day, Mrs. R[redacted] sent [redacted] a [redacted] message, stating:
“[redacted] I do not appreciate you guys walking into my salon and being rude to my staff when you did not make an appointment I have express to you that my hours are short and on Saturday however I am going out of my way and coming in for you guys tomorrow on my only day off this week just to make you happy but from here forward I will no longer be performing services for you or your mother”
Following this message, [redacted] and [redacted] decided that they would not feel comfortable having Mrs. R[redacted] perform any services given Mrs. R[redacted]'s attitude. [redacted] did not feel comfortable putting herself under Mrs. R[redacted]'s care. Following these messages, [redacted] and Mrs. R[redacted] went back and forth regarding the situation. [redacted] stated it was not fair for Mrs. R[redacted] to promise services at no cost, only to not perform them. Mrs. R[redacted] stated she gave over $90 of free services, which was untrue. [redacted] asked for a refund since Mrs. R[redacted] refused to perform the services she had promised, to which Mrs. R[redacted] refused.
[redacted] decided to gather opinions on the situation through the [redacted] Mother's group. [redacted] never stated the name of the stylist, nor the salon name. [redacted] received opinions to contact the Revdex.com, and even received one “private” message from another stylist stating that the stylist who had done [redacted]'s hair should NOT have colored her hair as well as use any ** Keratin System. The result could be permanently damaging to have done so. She shortly after received a message from the group administrator stating the post had been deleted. The administrator did agree that it did not seem as if Mrs. R[redacted] was handling this well. She agreed that [redacted] should contact the Revdex.com, as other opinionshad stated. Prior to doing so, [redacted] messaged Mrs. R[redacted] one more time to see if they could come to an agreement. Once again, it proved difficult to come to an agreement with Mrs. R[redacted]. Mrs. R[redacted] did state that she understood that [redacted] and [redacted] would not feel comfortable getting services. Mrs. R[redacted] made one offer which stated:
“To make this fair when your mother goes to another salon for the services she was going to get here, have that salon call me ahead of time and I will make a partial payment to the salon for your mothers services. I think this way all parties are happy and we can move on from this.”However, [redacted] felt that it was unnecessary to involve a third party and asked for a partial payment of $150. Mrs. R[redacted] responded with:“[redacted], please don't misunderstand we are not negotiating here. If you would like you can give me the name and phone number of the salon and I will contact them directly and work out the details. That way you don't have to spend any extra work, time, or effort beyond simply picking a salon. This is our final decision, as you have made it clear that you do not wish to receive these services at our salon. We will not be responding to any future messages unless they involve your chosen salon. “
To which, again, [redacted] did not feel comfortable involving a third party business into the long and past due situation. [redacted] sent a final message on June 4th, with her reply to the above message, stating:
“Truly, we are not negotiating here. The situation is simple; we are dissatisfied, as the services we received was not the services we paid for, and would like a refund. In the best interests of fairness, we will accept a refund less the price of a “blowout,” as that is what my mother received. We either receive the refund, or we dispute the payment with our bank. I’m not sure why you’re insisting on this odd method of reimbursement where you will supposedly pay another salon. How much will you pay? When will you pay? What is our recourse if you don’t?
If I have defective merchandise from wal-mart, they don’t offer to pay an undisclosed portion of my Target bill. They refund me. With this message, I have made my attempt to resolve the issue directly with you. If I do not get a response, then I’ll go through my card vendor to retract the payment. It is far easier to simply do the refund, rather than any other listed method.”
Given the situation, [redacted] did not feel comfortable involving a third party business for an undisclosed amount. What if Mrs. R[redacted] did not fulfill what she said she would? This would not have been the first time. What if she did pay another salon, but retracted the payment? That would give a new issue to a completely separate business.
At this point, [redacted] contacted the Revdex.com, as was decided would be the best course of action.
It has been a difficult and drawn out process to deal with Mrs. R[redacted] and her business, and we just want the situation to be complete, but feel we did not get the services we set out to get, and we did not receive the promises she made.
[redacted]
Attached, please find a few photos and “screenshots” to aid in understanding the situation.