Re-location of service provider

Ihaveaquestion_2

Hello everyone,

I was a bit unsure about something and was hoping if you guys could offer some advice.

In Dec 2010 I paid £400 to a beauty salon located within a fitness complex. This payment was towards a series of 6 beauty treatments that would need to take place a minimum of 6 weeks apart of each other. At the time of paying, I was only given a receipt. No official contract was signed by me or provided by them.

Now, 6 months later, I have only had time to undergo 3 out of the 6 treatments. Partly, due to my busy lifestyle and partly, due to their lack of availability.

When I recently called up to arrange an appointment, I was told the salon was re-locating to a city approx. 1 hours drive away. This was due to the whole fitness complex (where they rent a few room in) was closing down. I was given the option to take on a free additional treatment, but this is no good to me as I cannot afford to travel so much!

I requested to get a refund of £200 which only seemed fair to me for they changed terms of their service without prior notification. When I mentioned this, the salon assistant became quite argumentitive and clearly said they did not offer refunds.

Where do I stand with this?? Surely they need to provide me with some form of notification or terms & agreements if they do not wish to offer refunds? Also, where can I go further for help? In how far is the liability of the actual fitness complex?

Thank for your help in advance! :j

pcombo

Partly, due to my busy lifestyle and partly, due to their lack of availability

What does your lifestyle consist of.

I cannot afford to travel so much!

two things in quotation seems abit contradictory to me.

The salon kept to the side of the verbal contract, you didn't because of your busy lifestyle, they offered a free treatment.

They have the right not to refund you, It's up to you to free up time and make an appointment.

Ihaveaquestion_2

pcombo wrote: »

What does your lifestyle consist of.



two things in quotation seems abit contradictory to me.

The salon kept to the side of the verbal contract, you didn't because of your busy lifestyle, they offered a free treatment.

They have the right not to refund you, It's up to you to free up time and make an appointment.

I think you may have misunderstood me.
Busy lifestyle means, working on rotational shifts, making it hard to arrange appointments in line with their working hours. They were quite clear every time I called that 'the next few weeks are already fully booked'.

Also, not once at point of initiation did they mention I had 'x' amount of time in which I needed to have taken up the treatments. I mentioned 'minimum of 6 weeks apart' not a maximum.

Lastly, when I said I cannot 'afford' to travel. I did not mean necessarily money wise. I cannot afford to loose out on the time involved. Also, I rely on public transport. The main reason I went for THIS salon as opposed to many other, is due to its location. It was within my own gym! Am I still being unfair?

Hintza

Don't be too greedy here, ask them for say £100 back. I know that is not half but they might just go for it. These things from a cost point of view are mainly swallowed up by admin costs. The cost to deliver the treatment will be marginal.

If you really want to fight this it is going to be a lot of hassle (cost?) but if I was being pig headed would be looking at when they knew the original site was closing down and possibly arguing they misled you when they sold the treatments, if they knew the site was closing down.

arcon5

Op, did you get a discount for getting 6 treatments? If so find out what the price would have been if you only purchased 3 treatments then ask them if they will refund whats left.

hcb42

i would just go, an hour is nothing, better than losing this cash

ThumbRemote

I get the feeling that a lot of people posting on this board must be real pushovers, or get ripped off continually. The OP has done nothing wrong. The Salon has moved, to the detriment of the customer. It is incumbent on the salon to put things right.

It is irrelevant what the OPs lifestyle consists of, or how long ago they paid for the treatments. There was no timescale for taking them stated. If the salon required them to be taken in a particular timeframe they should have contacted the OP.

However, there was an implication that the treatments would take place in the salon where it was arranged, given that this was (as far as we know) not part of a chain.

The salon have tried to substantially changed the contract to the detriment of the OP. They should either provide a refund of the unused part - £200 - or come to some mutually acceptable compromise (eg they travel to carry out the treatments at the OPs home). There is no reason the OP should accept less than this, since they have done nothing wrong.

If this were me, I would write to the Salon recorded delivery to state that they have changed the terms of contract and demand a refund of £200. If they fail to agree, I would send a letter before action and take it to the small claims court.

I reiterate - the OP has done nothing wrong. The Salon has moved, to the detriment of the customer. It is incumbent on the salon to put things right.