OT Legal advice

Ok so I'm not sure it's a legal consult I'm asking for but more or less different opimions on how to handle this...

One month ago...a cliient came to me for a hilite. I dropped lightner/blech on her shoe. Wipped it off immediately and continued to do my thing. She left, an hour or more later, no stain.

She calls ONE month later demanding I replace her shoes because I ruined in brand new shoes. I apologize tell her to bring her shoes in and we could come to a resolution.

Well she brings me in some stank nasty shoes, has no receipt...and it gets better! I can tell where she has removed the clearance sticker from over top the original price.(I called the store she purchased them from and indeed they had been marked down...but they no longer carry that shoe b/c it was long ago clearanced)

So, I made an attemt to stain the shoe to match the best as it could. I called her to explain I did not feel responsible to replace a shoe in "fair" condition with a new shoe. She had neglected to bring this to my attention in a timely manner and I can't be certain what has been done to the shoe in a months time. She was not happy and again demanded I replace her shoes and ended the conversation buy informing me she would be contacting her mothers attorney.

Let me end by saying I'm a fair and resonable person and in no way would try and get over on someone.

Here's (3) pics of the shoes

I'm sure this girl can't afford to get a lawyer to argue over some stinky old sneaker.  And if she did, I don't believe you would be held accountable, because you made a reasonable attempt to resolve the problem and she waited too long to bring it to your attention.

She's just bluffing.

How much does it cost to replace the shoe?

I do think you have some responsibility.  I mean you did drop the bleach on her shoe.  I think you should have offered her 20 or 30 bucks off her service at the time.

You said "Let me state that if you did wear nice jeans, shoes, a handbag...etc and I damaged it... I would replace/refund it in the most fair way. I'm just nice like that."

These shoes may be nice to your customer, I don't think it's fair that you're willing to replace items based on what you deem to be nice. 

I don't think you should have to replace the full value of the shoe though, I mean it's just like a car, the value depreciates and these shoes after all aren't brand new. 

I personally would take responsibilty for my error and offer the girl like 20 or 30 bucks and be done with it.  She sounds like a teenager and would probably be satisfied with 20 buck to go buy some lip gloss. 

I have accidently dropped color on someone's shirt before, and I offered to have it drycleaned for them.  They said, no, it was an old shirt anyway, no big deal.

I think in this case Gina is not obligated because this girl waited too long to bring it to her attention.  If the girl called in the next day or two, then  it would have been different. 

 Gina handled it properly, first trying to repair the damage to the shoe, not just going out that replacing stinky sneakers with some brand new ones.  By the way, I don't see any bleach spots on the shoes.  Plus, aren't they leather?  Is it possible to bleach leather?

Hey Gina! I think you did the right thing as you did check her shoes before she left the salon and they seemed okay then.  To be honest, the trainers look pretty done so she may be doing this to get a free new pair.  Regardless, I will find out legally (from a Uk view) on what you are obligated to do in a situation like this and what your rights are.  I'll post the info up here in a few hours.

xx

If it was me I would offer to find the exact same shoe,color,style etc to give to her as a replacement...but the "new" pair MUST be in the same shape as the original ones, that means worn for at least 6 months,24-7 ,looks like she walked through mud constantly,did she sue the owner of the property that made them muddy? how dirty can your feet be to make the interior of a shoe that dirty?yuck! They also look like they were dropped in the middle of WWII for a month of the heaviest battles Earth has ever seen....but I would make sure there was no tiny little stain of hair dye on the shoes for her.

What a total loseeer! Dont worry, the police,lawyer judge and the rest of the world would laugh at her if she tried to sue you for new shoes.

Good luck! ;-)