I need prof. help with a bad perm?

Question

I got a perm a week ago today. I was told i was getting a spiril perm but found out they gave me a gemini perm. My hair is 25" long. Very thick. They said on wednesday when i got it done to wait til saturday to wash it. I waited and washed. By monday, from the top of my head to the bottom of my ear, i have no perm. I also have a patch about 4" by 2" where the hair broke about a centimeter from my head. I pretty much have destroyed hair. Any advice for going after the company. They want me to come in tomorrow night to take a look at it buy i dont want them to fix it. I found another pro. salon that will fix it. They are fighting with me about my refund. They said since it was my first time getting a perm that they shouldnt be held liable for the damage. I never signed a waiver. And if thats the case they should have denied me based on the fact that they didnt know how to perm my hair

BTW: they used curler looking things not the long rods. PS-everyone has been very helpful so far!!!

Answer 1

I wouldn't get another perm just yet. You'll need to let your hair have a break from the chemicals for a week or two. If you didn't sign a release and they don't have a sign up stating no refunds, then they should give your money back, but of course that's their own decision. I have been in the business for 21 years, and a woman tried to sue one of my co-workers once for a similar problem. She didn't get anywhere because the company had tried to reconcile the problem (offered conditioning treatments and offered to re-perm) but the client turned down the offers, so the case was thrown out of court. You really have no claim against the company itself, only the stylist who did your hair. You can try taking her to court, but it probably won't do any good since they've offered to re do it for you. You can file a complaint against her with your state board of Cosmetology - check online for your state. I would encourage you to allow them to fix it if at all possible. We cosmetologists take our work very seriously, and we appreciate any opportunity to "right a wrong". Sometimes things happen that are out of our control - the chemicals may not be up to par (for example, a bad perm from the manufacturer)... We would never purposely do a "bad" job on someone's hair. Our reputation is at stake with every head that leaves our salon. If you had a problem on your job would you want the opportunity to fix it, or would you want everyone to go around talking bad about you and not even giving you a chance? Just something to think about.

Answer 2

I will give you the honest truth. This could have been prevented. But, A gemini wrap is the same as a sprial wrap. It's sort of like bread...there is white bread, wheat, baguette but they are all types of bread...There are several types of spiral wraps for different lengths of hair. They did pick the correct wrap for your style of hair. A spiral perm is indicated by how the hair is wrapped on the rod. There are piggy back perms, rail road perms, gemini, and several others that all fall under the category spiral. The reason a plain spiral perm wouldn't work on you is because your hair is too long to wrap on one strand. The solution wouldn't make it to the hair closest to the rod. So they used two rods and wrapped your hair at mid shaft (leaving out the end) to your scalp and then wrapped the rest on another rod...It is like wrapping 12 inch hair instead of 25 inch hair...but they are wrapped in a spiral fashion. (that is why it is called gemini, because they use two rods). If they hadn't done it with two rods you would have had breakage brought on by too much weight and you would have had no curl on the ends.
This is what they should have known...your hair is dangerously long to perm. When there are chemicals and water and rods on even mid-length hair it makes the hair very very heavy...and then it pulls. The same thing the chemicals do to make your hair curly will make your hair break if there is too much weight at the scalp. Now you have two rods plus all the other things I mentioned and extremely long hair. The only way to prevent breakage is to make sure any rod formation that is drooping gets pinned up with a plastic pick. You still never know if there will be some breakage.
The reason there is no perm from the top of your head to the bottom of your ear is either A. Because the perm solution couldn't make it to the scalp because there was too many rods and too much hair (maybe to little perm solution). or B. Because your hair is too heavy to support the curl and pulled the curl out.....or a little of both.
They should have talked to you about layering or the importance of taking some length off to insure a good perm outcome. If you said to me that you didn't want to cut any length or put any layers I would have asked you to go to another salon. Other hairdressers would have asked you to sign a waver.
If you were allergic to something I would have said there was no way they could have known since it was your first time...but this could have been forseen. A good hair dresser can look at length of hair, thickness (if it is thick or thin) of hair, density of hair (how much you have) and almost "see" how the perm will turn out. If they can't forsee any possible problem with perming 25" hair they are rookies, dishonest or just plain 'ol not paying attention. I think you should let them look at it. If you go to court it might look better if it looked like you were co-operating too. You DON'T have to let them do ANYTHING.
Please, don't as a matter fact.
Good luck. I am sorry about your hair. I hope the other salon can fix the drag at the scalp. Please consider layering.

Answer 3

I would post this question in legal, I think you will get people in that section who know a lot about the process of fling any kind of claim. My limited experience suggests what you have probably already done, ask to speak with the salon manager, and be polite but firm in letting him/her know what you want which is a full refund. Depending on your position you can negotiate, for example if you are willing to take a full refund and not sue for damages, let them know that you would sign a release upon receiving the refund.

In case you need to file in court, take pictures of your hair now, and if the condition changes (for example more breaks off) keep taking more pictures. My motto: document everything.

For your hair I agree, don't let them touch your hair again, go to someone else and just have them repair it, don't try to perm again. Get more than one opinion and use the salon that is the most conservative, if you're not careful you could end up losing all your hair.

Good luck and hang in there!

Answer 4

You can sue in small claims court but good luck on that! My mother gave perms for 53 years and I have for 14 and believe me your hair cannot be fix right now and if it was a good spiral perm you could wash your hair the next day! The burned and broken hair shows they didn't roll it right! Each section should have been rolled with no more than the size of a dime from bottom to top, solution on no more than twenty minutes, the broken hair proves they pulled it too tight rolling it and left the solution on too long! The straight section from the root shows they rolled it the usual way for a regular perm! To save what hair you have, find someone who can cut it in layers to save yours length then buy you some Biolage Detangler Conditioning Cream preferable a liter size. This will save your hair from any more breaking! You will have to let the burned hair grow out before it will be strong enough to perm again, go every month for a trim!!! 1/8th of an inch, this will help it grow faster and healthier! Then go to the shop who fried your hair and yell at the owner , if she doesn't give you your refund immediately then you will stand in the middle of the malls around them and yell "Get your hair fried dried and hanging on the side at her salon and take pictures and put it on the Internet, myspace, and even put it on a billboard! I bet she will promptly give you your money back :)

Answer 5

You deffinately need an attorney and you do need to go after the company. First of all they are required to do a strand test and should be able to know how much to perm your hair if they are licensed. I would not go and get another perm. You could end up bald.

Answer 6

You already got a new professional salon. Demand your money back and go on Judge Judy. A girl had the same problem and she won her case.

Answer 7

You should come up with a hair style to help it. Like Two ponie tails. that will look cute!

Answer 8

if nothing else works you should try and do a half ponytail because that would be able to hide the "spot" and it would look fine with curls!!!

Answer 9

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO, DO NOT LET THEM NEAR YOUR HAIR AGAIN..... DO NOT LET THEM RE-DO YOUR DO...IT WILL PROBABLY ONLY END UP WORSE.