Any of the above will hopefully be a rare occurrence in your salon, however, it will likely still occur
at least once in your career. But how do we and how should we handle client complaints and
refunds on our services? After all, we can’t get our time and product back so where does
everyone stand on this legally, emotionally and professionally?
I’ll start with the basic legalities and your rights and obligations of refunds on services;
You have the right to o ff er a re-do ( to make right the service) within a reasonable amount of time.
Personally, I’d find a time within a week or two at very the most.
Legally, if you offer a re-do and the client refuses this, then they have little power to take this any
further (unless you’ve caused serious injuries like a rash or a burn)
In the case where you offer a re-do and the client takes it and still isn’t happy, then we are now on
refund territory for both parties. My advice here would be to just do the refund, apologise (if it’s a
situation you know is genuine and you just couldn’t get right ) and let each other part ways
amicably.In some cases, we can end up with bad clients or sometimes we can fall victim to professional
hair and beauty thieves. These are the kind of people we need to know how to handle when it
comes to refunds and also we need to be fi rm with our boundaries and policies.
Unbelievably there are people out there who make stealing hair and beauty services a pastime
and this is how they fund their personal grooming. The good news is if you know your rights and
you enforce your policies and boundaries, they’ll only ever try it on once and then they will never
be seen again.
But how do I know if this is a genuine complaint or a scammer;?
When you experience a complaint from a genuine client, they will come at the complaint from a
kind place, not aggressive. Usually they will also be more than happy when you o ff er a re-do and
they will be chomping at the bit to come back in as soon as possible to have it recti fi ed.
When they do come in for the re-do, take the chance to sit down with the client again and have a
really open conversation about what went wrong or what they don’t like about their service. Pop
your own ego to the side and listen to everything the client is saying to you so that you can really
understand them. Sometimes the original consultation is where we just didn’t quite listen enough
or ask enough questions to fully understand what the client was asking for.
During this second consult what you need to fi nd out is this;
1-was this something that is your fault?
2-Is this one of those cases where a client tried something new and just didn’t like it?
3-Is this client just trying to find a reason to get a free service
If its number 1 then this is your chance to get it right, make the client happy and learn from this.
And so this re-do should be free of charge. Hopefully after this second go, you will get it just right
for them and you’ll have a client for life.
Clients don’t complain to stylists easily so if they’re met with no ego and openness and kindness I
can guarantee you they’ll be very likely to continue to choose you.
If your client is option 2, then take the same openness and understanding but gently
communicate that you are happy to re-do their hair, however as it’s just a case of they tried
something and they’re not keen; they will have to pay for the ‘re-do’ service. You could, if it’s as a
simple solution do it for free, I would advise against that though because this could enable a trend
that you may want to stop in the future. Always start how you mean to go on.
Personally, client, no 2 would be a red fl ag for me and I’d be deciding whether I gave her another
appointment or not.
We’ve all had that client who came in wanting to go super blonde and halfway through the
appointment she tells you her husband hates her being blonde and then you know she’s going to
be back in saying she feels to blonde. That is exactly why I urge you not to enable any behaviour
like that because you’ll lose money whenever that client has a marital tiff .
If you’re dealing with client 3-Stick to your policies, offer what you’re legally obligated to and
nothing more. No matter what they threaten, do not back down. Still act with grace and
professionalism but never bow down to them. They may threaten all kinds, they may write a bad
review online even. But one bad review amongst hundreds of good ones isn’t going to matter. If
you do bow down to this kind of ‘client’ then you will come across more of them and regardless of
what you do for these kinds of people, one thing is sure-they will never be happy because that
would mean paying for something.
This kind of person is usually known in the area to other hair and beauty salons too, so we all owe
it to each other to know our policies and enforce our boundaries. The more of us that stand our
ground with clients like this, the less it will happen.
In a situation where you are dealing with a genuine case and you feel as though you can’t do
what’s required then this is where o ff ering a refund, full or partial will gain you respect from the
client. You’d be surprised to know that being honest and upfront will make people remember you
and it’s a surprisingly rare thing. Refunding one client doesn’t mean that you are a failure or that
you are no good at your job. It may be time to invest in some education to up skill and maybe that
was the lesson to be taken. There’s no shame in that and you will not suddenly lose your business
and all your clients overnight. You won’t wake up to a terrible reputation and no more clients
wanting to work with you.
Sometimes things just go wrong, we have a bad day or there was a communication misfire.
Ultimately refunds and re-do’s are a chance to learn and grow. It’s true, that it’s never a failure it’s
always a lesson. You just have to see the lesson in it.
Ruth Lundstrom
@5Figure_stylist