AITA for not giving my friend a refund?

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A Redditor shares her dilemma about refusing to offer a refund to her friend, who wasn’t happy with the results of a complex color correction job. Despite clearly outlining the multiple-session process beforehand, her friend expected immediate results after the first session, even disregarding the advice given.

After the appointment, her friend became upset, asked for a refund, and filed a complaint. Now, the Redditor is facing backlash from mutual friends and the threat of a lawsuit. For a more detailed account of the situation, read the full story below…

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‘ AITA for not giving my friend a refund ?’

I (26) female is a hairstylist that specializes in color correction. My friend (28) female booked an appointment with me that took place yesterday. A week before the appointment we meet and did a consultation.

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During the consultation she told me what she wanted and I informed her that doing a color correction this complex will need multiple sessions. After the consultation was over, I sent her a follow up text of everything we discussed.

She texted back basically disregarding everything and preceded to send me a tiktok of what she wanted me to do to her hair. I told her that in that video the client and her have completely different hair I explained to her that I am going to do what she wants but I am going to do with the best interest of her hair health.

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She agreed so I sent a email of the agreement for her to sign. The day of the appointment everything went smooth until it was time to show her the end result of session one. She looked slightly disappointed and stated back to the tiktok and I had to explain she in the video those are clicks of multiple sessions put together.

She payed and left. When I got home I got a call from another friend telling me that my friend was sobbing on the phone about how I ruined her hair. Soon after the phone call I get a text from her asking for a refund and a free appointment to correct her hair.

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I redirected her to the email she signed and informed her that she still requires sessions to get her desired look. She hung up. Fast forward to this morning, my boss called me to let me know that my friend called to file a complaint against me and has tagged me in a facebook post of her bad mouthing me and my place of work.

I am now receiving text messages from our mutuals telling to me to just give her a refund because she is threatening to sue for pain and suffering due to this causing her to have low self esteem and anxiety.

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See what others had to share with OP:

Olthar6 −  NTA Let me be clear on this, she is not your friend. That said,  you have learned a valuable life lesson,  don’t mix work and friendships. One will have to give. In this case,  the damage to you is mostly already done.  Giving her a refund will just mean your reputation is damaged AND you got no money. 

WickedAngelLove −  NTA. Let her sue you. You have the paperwork she signed, you have the texts were you told her that the new style will take multiple sessions. If she wasn’t being so messy, I’d suggest trying to find a style that works for her in the interim.

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But I’m going to be honest- it doesn’t seem like she fully understood the step by step process (did you also document that in the text? Did you tell her what color she would see on the first step?) But let this be a lesson not to do just do what a client wants when you know it won’t be like they want it- you can tell people no and let them go elsewhere

holden4ever −  NTA. “I spoke to my boss and showed him the email stating exactly how this would go and that you agreed to those terms and he says you aren’t getting a refund. Sorry. He also said if you don’t remove your post he will sue you for defamation. Have a nice day.”

Fresh_Process6822 −  NTA. You did your due diligence in providing information and having her sign the agreement. She has no grounds to sue you if the service you provided was according to the agreement. (Plus—pain and suffering? Please.) If your salon has social media,

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someone (doesn’t have to be you) could do what many business do: address the poor review with their own statement about what happened. If she wants someone to perform the service to her liking (and at the risk of her hair’s health), she will no doubt be able to find someone willing and then the fallout will be their problem.

Aggressive_Cattle320 −  NTA You informed her that it would take multiple sessions in order to get to the look she wants. You are doing it in steps because you do not want to compromise the health and condition of her hair in the process.

That is the professional and right thing to do. You did the first step. She paid for it and left. If she wants to go to someone else to have her style finished, she can do that. But you are not refunding for what she’s paid for, as it clearly states the procedure in the contract.

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Just make sure to keep the contract she signed, receipts, and save any text messages or emails in case she decides to try and sue.
You did not cause her distress or suffering, because she did not allow you to finish the sessions.

tired_and_cute −  NTA, you told her it was more complicated than a single shot Tik Tok, she ignored you, she found out you weren’t joking and threw a tantrum.

Caserooo −  NTA. It blows my mind the number of people who think they can reach certain results in one session because of something they saw online. You warned her, and she signed your agreement. She wants to sue you for pain and suffering!? 😂 Don’t refund anything.

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I had been getting my hair done by a friend for several years. Last time, she legit gave me the worst haircut I’d ever had. I figured she was just having an off day. She’s going through some personal stuff, etc. I couldn’t imagine bashing her online. It’s just hair.

Impossible-Most-366 −  I’m just thinking how smart you were for having everything in writing, even with a friend! I think you are good protected and I would go to reply her on Facebook too. 

Waste_Junket1953 −  Go public with the contract and DMs.

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LexDee09 −  Nta – you explained everything to her, how it would be a process and to keep hair healthy it has to be done in stages.
I recently went through kinda the same situation.. box dyed red head for over 10years and I wanted to go blonde..

my hair stylist explained that it will be multiple sessions to get what I wanted while keeping my hair healthy. I came home and cried after my first appointment, I wondered what I had just paid all that money for as to me my hair looked the same.

But after calming down and speaking with my sister I realised it did look very different and after my second session I was in love. I can understand the original shock for some, but to carry on like this after you’ve literally explained everything and trying to tear down your work is completely out of line.

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Do you think the Redditor handled the situation fairly by sticking to the agreed-upon plan, or was she too rigid in her response to her friend’s dissatisfaction? How would you approach a similar situation in your professional or personal life? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

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