Problem with a customer, need advice please

Nicole85

BorisThomson wrote: »

Evidence here would be relatively simple.

Can she simply change her claim and instead of damages to her emotions ask for loss of income for attending court? In her initial court letter she never mentions that any of the amount claimed is for her income, but says it's all for hair and emotion damages.

Nicole85

BorisThomson wrote: »

I'd be interested in what the treatment is, OP?

It's a tinting/colouring treatment, it doesn't cause hair loss at all!

unholyangel

I suspect in addition to proving the cause of the damage was the tinting, she would have to prove that you were negligent/failed to carry out contractual duties with reasonable care and skill and the damage was not too remote (assuming action founded on contract - if tort it will be pretty much the same though, that you were negligently in breach of a duty of care, the breach caused the damage and the damage was not too remote).

I have a suspicion her claim isn't genuine. If someone truly were that distressed/psychologically distraught over the hair loss that they didn't want to go out, surely you would see a doctor and not have more beauty treatments. She also seems to have failed spectacularly at mitigating her loss - which could have been done with an eyebrow pencil or semi-permanent eyebrows.

Nicole85

Fosterdog wrote: »

Is it possible she had an allergic reaction of some sort to the treatment? Did she contact you at the time and give you the opportunity to rectify the problem?

It wouldn't be possible as she confirmed that she had done tinting in other salons before. She did contact me two days later and wanted a full refund and compensation for damages to her emotions! I asked her to come in so that I could see the problem, but she said she's too busy and can't do that. After like two weeks she sent me some pictures but tbh it seemed like she had cut the hair herself.

BorisThomson

Nicole85 wrote: »

It wouldn't be possible as she confirmed that she had done tinting in other salons before. She did contact me two days later and wanted a full refund and compensation for damages to her emotions! I asked her to come in so that I could see the problem, but she said she's too busy and can't do that. After like two weeks she sent me some pictures but tbh it seemed like she had cut the hair herself.

It is up to you to do a patch test, it's standard practice and failure to do so leaves you open to claims for negligence. Whether she has had it done elsewhere or not in the past is irrelevant.

You've still not told us about your insurance and what they have said about this.

Fosterdog

Nicole85 wrote: »

It wouldn't be possible as she confirmed that she had done tinting in other salons before. She did contact me two days later and wanted a full refund and compensation for damages to her emotions! I asked her to come in so that I could see the problem, but she said she's too busy and can't do that. After like two weeks she sent me some pictures but tbh it seemed like she had cut the hair herself.

Not all salons use the same brands of dye and some people develop reactions to things that have previously been fine so if you get a new customer or one who hasn't had the treatment for at least six months you have a duty of care to perform a patch test. What if it had been a while since she had it done and the dyes ingredients had changed? What if it was a different shade to what she had previously used?

I agree that she sounds like she's putting it on, but you have also been negligent in offering the treatment with no testing. I've just done a quick search and there are pages upon pages of people complaining of hair loss after tinting treatment so when you previously said it was impossible it actually appears to be perfectly possible.

Nicole85

unholyangel wrote: »

I have a suspicion her claim isn't genuine. If someone truly were that distressed/psychologically distraught over the hair loss that they didn't want to go out, surely you would see a doctor and not have more beauty treatments. She also seems to have failed spectacularly at mitigating her loss - which could have been done with an eyebrow pencil or semi-permanent eyebrows.

I have the same suspicion, simply because she contacted me only a few days after the treatment and was already demanding compensation for damages to her emotions as well as a refund, she was also refusing to come in for me to see the damages at first.

unholyangel wrote: »

I suspect in addition to proving the cause of the damage was the tinting, she would have to prove that you were negligent/failed to carry out contractual duties with reasonable care and skill and the damage was not too remote (assuming action founded on contract - if tort it will be pretty much the same though, that you were negligently in breach of a duty of care, the breach caused the damage and the damage was not too remote).

She hasn't mentioned any evidence except that she believes I didn't do the job properly, no notes from a GP or a hair specialist, the only evidence she has provided is the receipts from other salons which actually don't even show the treatments were for her.

Nicole85

BorisThomson wrote: »

You've still not told us about your insurance and what they have said about this.

My insurance said that I don't have legal protection included in the package. I'd like to focus on the small claims court rather than insurance as I only have two months to prepare for the court.

unholyangel

BorisThomson wrote: »

Indeed. I was responding to the earlier suggestion that OP could simply state "nothing you did could possibly have caused her problems". She needs to do far more than that.

I'd be interested in what the treatment is, OP?

Out of curiosity, how would you personally go about trying to prove something didn't happen?

Also, why would they take what the claimant says at face value but not the OP? Especially when if the tinting causes the hair loss, why did it only partially fall out when the whole thing would have been tinted? Why is the tinting the likely culprit and not (for example) hypothyroidism?

DoaM

Nicole85 wrote: »

Can she simply change her claim and instead of damages to her emotions ask for loss of income for attending court?

Except in extraordinary cases (and which the judge must approve) my understanding is that costs can only be claimed at the Litigant in Person rate, which equates to about £95 per day. The fact that she's paid far more (allegedly - she'd need to provide evidence to the court) is irrelevant. I don't think you can make "costs for attending court" part of the claim.