I've been ripped off by a beautician. What are my rights?

Spidernose

PLong story short. I paid a beauty therapist for some treatments upfront totalling £350 and she has not delivered what I paid her for. She has part refunded me £150  under duress & basically go forth and multiply for the rest. She has charged me £50 for re-arranging an appointment when I was I'll, she didn't tell me this at the time and only told me 4 weeks after because I complained and asked her for a full refund.  She didn't arrange any further appointments with me and ignored my messages. Her attitude towards me because I asked for a refund has been disgusting and has caused me a lot of anxiety. I've contacted citizen advice consumer  line and they have advised me to try and sort this out using a mediator but she has refused. I've contacted my bank about charge back but they said I need a copy of the T&C's that I signed before they will consider it but she's refusing to give me a copy.  I'm at my wits end what to do. The next stage is small claims court. Can anyone tell me the process and what to expect. How much will it cost me and is it worth it for £200? I feel so angry that she can get away with ripping people off. Apparently the beauty industry aren't regulated.

elsien

I think it all depends on what you mean by  she hasn’t delivered what you paid her for.
 I don’t think realistically you can expect a full refund for treatments that you have already had which  you consider may have fallen short in some way. 

It’s unclear from your post whether you’ve had any appointments or not, and how much notice you gave for the appointment you missed. 

Does she have a website or social media page with any terms and conditions on it?

Emmia

It is normal for the fee for an appointment to be retained/required to be paid if you don't cancel within a certain time - my hairdresser for example requests 48 hours before, if you can cancel within period the cost of the appointment is due.

The gym I go to requires class cancellation at least 12 hours before, or the cost of the class is lost(you pay upfront for classes). If you just don't turn up, it's the class cost plus £15 debit off your card. 

I aso agree with Elsien, you can't expect a refund for sessions you've had, even if you were less than delighted with the outcome.

Grumpy_chap

Spidernose said:

PLong story short. I paid a beauty therapist for some treatments upfront totalling £350 and she has not delivered what I paid her for. She has part refunded me £150  under duress & basically go forth and multiply for the rest. She has charged me £50 for re-arranging an appointment when I was I'll, she didn't tell me this at the time and only told me 4 weeks after because I complained and asked her for a full refund.  She didn't arrange any further appointments with me and ignored my messages. Her attitude towards me because I asked for a refund has been disgusting and has caused me a lot of anxiety. I've contacted citizen advice consumer  line and they have advised me to try and sort this out using a mediator but she has refused. I've contacted my bank about charge back but they said I need a copy of the T&C's that I signed before they will consider it but she's refusing to give me a copy.  I'm at my wits end what to do. The next stage is small claims court. Can anyone tell me the process and what to expect. How much will it cost me and is it worth it for £200? I feel so angry that she can get away with ripping people off. Apparently the beauty industry aren't regulated.

What did you pay her for?
What have you received so far?
The charge for short notice cancellation is common - the Beauty Therapist has booked that time to treat you and if you simply do not arrive, or cancel at very short notice, it is not practical to fill the gap with another Client.  You may say it is not your fault that you were ill, but it is not the Beauty Therapist's fault either.

Spidernose

Ok some clarity on the situation. I paid her for microblading and semi permanent make up which was lips and eyeliner. I had 1 session of microblading with her and the next session I had to cancel due to illness, she said this was fine and re-arrange the appointment.  She then cancelled the appointment without re-arranging. I was contacting her for 4 weeks to try and get my appointments booked but she was not responding to me so I messaged her to say enough is enough I've paid upfront for treatments that she's not done she is ignoring me so I want a refund and I will go elsewhere. She then started to respond and was rude and arrogant and said that she would charge me £50 for the re-arrange appointment from 4 weeks ago and would only refund me £150 of the £350. 

Can she suddenly decide to charge me for this re-arrange appointment 4 weeks down the line? She has no website so no T&C's and despite originally saying it was fine. What about the appointment that she cancelled on me? I did sign something on my 1st appointment but she won't let me have a copy. 

She then said that she would complete my microblading but at this point all trust had broken down and there was no way I was letting this person loose on my eyebrows to do an invasive treatment when she'd been so rude and arrogant towards me

So she still has £200 of my money and has told me basically to go forth and multiply. She said £50 she's keeping for the re-arrange appointment and £150 for the microblading.  Even though she only did 1 session that I was dissatisfied with. I have agreed she can have £75 for this session but I want the rest back.

I've asked her if she'll do mediation and she refused. My bank won't do a charge back until I have a copy of the document that I signed which she refuses to give me

Where do I stand?

born_again

What is the actual breakdown of costs & how many appointments was this over.

Was this a debit or credit card you paid on?

As given it is you that is you cancelling contract asking for a refund, I can't see a chargeback option.
Even if you did one, it would not be for £350 you paid.

elsien

You also haven’t said why you were dissatisfied with the one session that she did because you then go onto say you only cancelled the second section due to illness, and requested a refund due to her messing you around. 

You really need to be consistent in what you are asking for and why.
I agree with Born again, how many sessions did your £350 cover?