Jenni Gilbert Although an overly dramatic analogy, it has a similar outcome to being held at gunpoint and forced to hand over your takings – that is, when a client does a “hit and run”. When they have a treatment or other service and manage to disappear without paying.
A Brisbane customer (for want of a better word) will be rueing the day she had $750 worth of services at Uniq Hair salon – including a full head of hair extensions and colour correction – then did a runner on the pretext of popping out to move her car to avoid a fine.
Mia Buchanan, owner of Uniq Hair, waited 20 minutes for the woman to return before she realised she’d been duped – and then that she’d been given false client details.
After 45 minutes, Mia went to management of the mall where the salon is located, in Brisbane’s Kelvin Grove, to get access to CCTV footage. It clearly showed the customer walking to her car and driving out of the village centre carpark.
So Mia took to Facebook to shame in the absence of a name, and ask the local community help to identify the “thief”, whose “before” photos accompanied the post (Mia typically takes before and after pix of the work she does, for hers and the client’s benefit).
The response was more than she could have hoped for. Hundreds have shared and commented on the post and at least 20 people to date have provided the same name for the woman. Not only that, the story has been picked up by major national news websites. Uh oh …
Mia has reported the incident to police but says she won’t press charges if the woman returns to the salon to arrange payment by COB Friday [last week, July 15; we are yet to get an update of the outcome].
“I’m a small-business owner and a single mum with two kids,” Mia told the local Courier Mail newspaper.
“I don’t know how they can spend four hours in a chair, be so personal with someone and then just do that.”
Mia also told the Daily Mail Australia website: “She was even saying to me: `Oh my god, I love it. I’ve found my new hairdresser’.
“When it happened, I had blood rush to my cheeks. I can’t afford that.”
Apart from recouping payment for half a day’s work and the consumables involved, Mia added that she wanted to prevent the woman from scamming other businesses.
She wrote on Facebook:
PLEASE SHARE AND HELP US FIND THIS THIEF WHO STOLE $750 WORTH OF HAIR SERVICES TODAY FROM OUR SALON!
She spent 4 hours in salon today getting full head of hair extensions, colour correction & more! She then ducked out a second time to `quickly move her car again’ and didn’t return! She provided false client data and cannot be contacted. Nothing but a thief!
If the person in the picture is reading this, you best be contacting the owner of the salon (Mia) by close of business Friday to arrange payment prior to formal charges being laid once your identity is revealed.
Has this ever happened to you or the salon, spa or clinic in which you work? How did you deal with it? Do you have any measures in place to avoid such incidents occurring?
For instance, do you take a deposit with the client’s credit or EFTPOS card, or at least their card details ahead of a service (as is standard practice with hotels when guests check in)?
After all, many businesses are now seeking to minimise the number of “no show” appointments by asking for card details and/or deposits when a booking is made.
Do you make a practice of taking “before and after” shots, as Mia Buchanan does and is common practice in medispas when procedures such as facial rejuvenation and body contouring are performed? These of course are intended to showcase the results of a treatment or procedure, not to guard against thieves, but it certainly paid dividends for Mia!
Would you even go so far as to ask for a new client’s formal identification before accepting their business?
We’d love to hear your stories. Please contact us at editorial@3.106.143.225 and we’ll share them with your fellow readers on this site.
