Overweight Charge: Is it fair?

[Magic Wand]

from The Consumerist

Nail Salon Charges Overweight Customers $5 More
By Chris Walters on August 23, 2010 9:30 AM 0 views

A Georgia woman says a local nail salon padded her bill by $5, and when she asked what the charge was for, she was told it was because she was too fat for their fancy-fragile salon chairs: "[The salon manager explained] the surcharge was due to costly repairs of broken chairs by overweight customers. She said the chairs have a weight capacity of 200 pounds and cost $2,500 to fix."

The woman told the local news that she was humiliated by the experience, but the salon owner says she tried not to make a big deal out of it (except for the "you're too fat" part):

    [The manager] said she refunded the $5 surcharge, and told [the customer] to take her business elsewhere.

    "I didn't want to argue with her about $5. I wanted to make her pleased with her service," [the manager] said. "I whispered ... I said, 'I'm sorry, next time I cannot take you.'"

[BmoreAkuma]

from The Consumerist

Nail Salon Charges Overweight Customers $5 More
By Chris Walters on August 23, 2010 9:30 AM 0 views

A Georgia woman says a local nail salon padded her bill by $5, and when she asked what the charge was for, she was told it was because she was too fat for their fancy-fragile salon chairs: "[The salon manager explained] the surcharge was due to costly repairs of broken chairs by overweight customers. She said the chairs have a weight capacity of 200 pounds and cost $2,500 to fix."

The woman told the local news that she was humiliated by the experience, but the salon owner says she tried not to make a big deal out of it (except for the "you're too fat" part):

    [The manager] said she refunded the $5 surcharge, and told [the customer] to take her business elsewhere.

    "I didn't want to argue with her about $5. I wanted to make her pleased with her service," [the manager] said. "I whispered ... I said, 'I'm sorry, next time I cannot take you.'"

Hmm I don't what to think about this. Should they change their entire outlook to appeal to more overweight woman? What if they don't have as many "overweight customers"? Also how do they know she is "over 200"? Does each customer have to use a scale? I guess the woman looked husky/big or whatever.


NINJA EDIT: I stand corrected



Now how do they know that chair need repair based on the overweight customer? It could be that the chairs are iunno crappy to begin with. Now how does $5 dollars cover for chairs that cost $2500 for repair? One point that was brought up was "undisclosed fees". Come to think of it they are charging extra for something that isnt disclosed prior to the customer knowing.

[jefferson L.O.B. sergeant]

If someone is selling bootleg P90X DVD's oustide/inside the salon; then you know it is a scam!

[Magic Wand]

How much would you charge these ladies?