I have recently left the salon I was at for 2 years and began booth renting. The salon I left was not very happy to hear I was leaving and gave me some grief about it. ( good way to make me stay, huh?)

Anyway, I went in to get my last paycheck and the owner pulled me aside. She said that she had to take some money out of my paycheck ( it was a commission-based salon) because on of my regular clients wrote her a long e-mail. In it she said that I had done her hair ( I did an all over color on regrowth only) and she was very happy with the way it looked. When she left the salon, she went shopping, and after about an hour or so, her head started to itch. She said when she reached back, that there was still color on the nape of her neck. ( AS a side note, I did not style her hair, per the clients request that day, so she left with it slightly damp.) She went home and rinsed out her hair, and she had developed a rash that was red and very itchy where the color had been.

The owner also said that in the e-mail she said she would never be coming back to the salon and she was just very nasty. I was very surprised to hear this. This client was a pretty good client of mine, very sweet, and I really enjoyed doing her hair. I just have a hard time imagining her being nasty. But I am sure that if someone left color in my hair and I got a rash from it, I would be unhappy too.

Well, when I switched to my new salon, I sent out postcards to all of my clients informing them of my move, including this client. I also wrote a little note on hers because I knew she already had appts. booked at my old salon and it just said that I would be happy to switch her appts over to the new place. This was before I knew of the e-mail.

Now I am unsure of what to do. I would of course like to keep this client. Like I said, I really did enjoy her company, and she was a very regular client. ( cut, color, and every other time highlights every 5 weeks.) I am not sure if I should try to contact her to apologize for the mistake ( if this really happened I feel horrible about it!) or if I should wait to see if she contacts me. My other worry is, my former boss was a little malicious. I would not be surprised if she told me this just to kind of "get to me" one last time. That is another reason I want to call, I want to know if this really happened. The last thing that my former boss said to me before I left that day was " I hope she doesn't sue us." Which makes me a little suspicious. I also thought about instead of calling, just writing a little note of apology and offering a discounted service as compensation for the mistake, and hope that she can understand that it was just a slight mistake, and it happens.

I do fear making a phone call because it would be so uncomfortable , but I also know this is something that as professionals in the service industry, we have to deal with sometimes.

What would you do? Should I just suck it up and take the loss of this client? Or should I make the call?

Thanks for any advice you have!

I definitely needed advice from someone who has been in the business longer than I have and have experienced situations similar like this before. I am still learning to try to not take things so personally when it comes to clients.

I am so excited about the new salon and have already made a very conscious decision not to bad-mouth my old salon. Although I do have some bitter feelings, that are being replaced everyday when I enter my new salon with feelings of excitement and joy for my job again.

I guess I will have to bite the bullet and lose the client. I guess I was having a hard time because as a new booth renter, I am much more aware of every client I have and one loss, is money loss to me. But I am working hard to gain new clients, so although I am sad to see her, I know she will soon be replaced.

Russnyc, I always look forward to reading your replies. I feel like you are always very insightful and honest without being rude or too harsh.