Hello as the title says I was wondering how legitimate this is , my girlfriend made a nail salon appointment recently but couldn’t go because she woke up with Covid. They are threatening to get a lawyer to recover a 20k yen cancellation fee. Should she just pay this ? As someone from the states this seems over the top but then again I’m not from here so maybe it’s different.
Edit: Hello , I just got home so I can help clear up some questions or confusion.
So the morning of the nail appointment, she woke up sick and used a rapid home test and tested positive for Covid . She then called the nail salon to cancel the appointment the day of which was scheduled at 1300.
What was concerning is that same day even before 1300 they immediately jumped to threatening with a lawyer.
This was her first time trying out this place so she doesn’t know them, they don’t know her, there’s no relationship there.
Also this isn’t a small business it’s a full blown nail salon ? ( idk how this work)
Also it was online sign up so I’m not sure exactly what was on the website.
37 comments
That sounds bonkers to me. How much does it cost to get your nails done, surely not 20k?
This is a normal business for scheduled services. You already pissed them off apparently. All you had to do was call ahead of time and reschedule. Since this is no longer an option, then it depends.
If you signed up online, it’s likely you agreed to this and just pay it.
If you made a phone call.. then there is no paperwork.
Overall, make sure they actually told you beforehand.
Regardless you cost the business money by using up the timeslot and should pay the average customer amount. $150 seems very average that a customer might spend at these overpriced nail salons. I know plenty of people that spend $500 a month on these things.
I would simply pay the average labor cost of a simple nail job.
This happens in the states just the same. No need to blame Japan.
Sue you is going to be more expensive than the money they can collect they and their lawyer can say what ever they want only a rule can force you to do anything. If I were you I would just block them and most likely nothing is going to happen
Did they clearly disclose there will be cancelation fee? If they did, it’s only right that your gf pays. If there was no mention of cancelation fee, then fuck them. I’d just ignore it.
TIL I’m glad my partner doesn’t visit nail salons… jebus that’s a waste of money.
YTA
Yeah, legally/technically you don’t have to pay but if the cancellation fee is written somewhere then regardless of the reason you SHOULD pay. Obviously this nail artist is not your gf’s friend or else there’d be no threat and your friend likely would have paid for the loss of business.
Your gf saw the price, saw the cancellation fee, and still decided to make an appointment. Whether it be COVID or cancer ya gotta pay. If the fee was sprung up later then that’s different.
Did you or her call to cancel with the reason why given? This is important to know.
How much will a lawyer cost them? Total BS, they won’t do a thing.
If there is a provision for cancellation as part of the sales contract (or if the cancellation caused damage), then what you have done is a criminal act of obstruction of business.
However even if they do not have a cancellation policy, they can still claim damages but have to prove it in court.
There is a few things they may have to show and prove damages for, if there was no price set at the time of the reservation, the court could use the average price per customer.
They need to provide evidence that you made a reservation and didn’t try to cancel.
If you have no intention on paying it could be quite hard to make you pay.
It will likely cost more then 100,000 for them to file a claim in court and they have no idea if they can win. So unless they are very petty, they will unlikely not actually take you to court.
Honestly, I would immediately reply in writing to them and say that you (or your gf) wasn’t the person who made the reservation, depending on the method made to make a reservation just say it wasn’t you and someone hacked your account, or used your personal information to make a reservation. Tell them they need to track down the real person who made the reservation because it wasn’t you and you do not want to be continued to be contacted.
It sounds unusual to say the very least.
Even if they have a clearly stated cancellation policy, would they have preferred she went while having covid? Check their site regarding both points.
You may want to look at Google or other reviews to get a vibe of the place (previous similar cases etc)
Pay the fee.
That said.
No, they won’t sue you for 20k yen… that’s like 40 minutes of a lawyer’s time cost to them… they wouldn’t do it. If they did… wow, that sucks for you… they must be reeeeeally spiteful towards you.
No one in their right mind will hire a lawyer to recover 20,000 yen. They may file a small claims case by themselves but even that seems more work than it is worth.
Overall, I think it depends on the circumstances of the cancellation and who was being the asshole here. If your girlfriend was a no-show with no notice, she should pay at least what the appointment would have cost (or the cancellation fee if less). If she was reasonable and had called ahead, explained, and tried to reschedule, then perhaps offer a lower amount for peace of mind and put it down to experience.
It mostly depends on whether there was an agreement to compensate the business in the case of a cancellantion or no-show, and on what’s written on such agreement.
1. You should pay the fee if it’s mentioned somewhere
2. No they’re not gonna sue you for 20k
That sounds excessive, though it might depend on the nail salon (I don’t go to them so I don’t know, are there insanely high end ones which charge 20k per appointment?)
The legal answer to the question is found in the Consumer Contracts Act, Article 9 of which states:
(Nullity of Clauses Stipulating the Amount of Damages to Be Paid by a Consumer)
“Article 9The following consumer contract clauses are void to the extent provided for in each item:(i)clauses stipulating liquidated damages or a fixed penalty for contract cancellation in a total amount that exceeds the average amount of damages that the trader would incur from the cancellation of a consumer contract of the same type, as a function of the categories of circumstances established in those clauses such as the reason for or timing of the cancellation:the part of the stipulated damages or penalty that exceeds the average amount that would be incurred;”
​
(in layman’s terms it means that the amount they charge has to be equivalent to the loss they would actually suffer on average from such a cancellation and can’t be just some made up number. So if 20k is way more than what the appointment would cost, they can’t go after you for that much. Also the reason for the cancellation is important and the fact that she had Covid would I think be an absolute defence to paying any sort of cancellation fee even if it were a reasonable amount).
It would cost them more than that just to get a letter from a lawyer.
If your girlfriend called to cancel, she is in the right and any judge would immediately throw out a case like this. It’s a scare tactic. I’d never go back there again.
Hi everyone I posted an edit ? I’m new to posting a lot so if my format is wrong I apologize
No, they are extorting her. It isn’t normal at all. Don’t pay and don’t worry about it. They aren’t going to follow through.
I know that before Corona was downgraded to a Class 5 infectious disease, the government was very clear that companies should not charge cancelation fees.
But now it is Class 5, the law is not so clear. Looking at a few Chiebukuro threads, it seems that most places charge 50% of the cancelation fee if you have proof that you got Corona and the contract clearly states the cancelation fee amount. That seems the be the most common sense solution.
But hey, are they really going to sue her over 20,000 or 10,000 yen?
20k???
And threaten with lawyer?
Its ok to require a cancellation fee but this is bonkers
Leave bad review and dont contact them again unless they are sending in a lawyers notice
Lawyers are expensive here, consultation fee alone is 5x what they’re asking of you so I think this is bluff/scam. Possibly they are tired of no-shows.
I would tell them to piss off, but I am not a lawyer.
Is there anything about hair and nail salons that *isn’t* a scam?
Just ignore it. They most likely can’t track you down or the lawyer fee will eat up the cancellation fee. Just don’t go there again because they will remember and once you finish they will charge you for everything they are owed.
If your GF would like to go there again I suggest paying the fee.
I would ask the owner how much she’d lose if your GF gave her Covid and she couldn’t work for 2 weeks instead of missing 1 appointment. She’s being ridiculous, I really wonder if what she’s doing is legal. It’s beyond all reasonableness. I wonder if a judge would order to pay that ridiculous amount or that in health conscious Japan the interest of public health preservation would prevail. Being a business owner comes with risks, people get sick on days they have an appointment, if you’re not willing to deal with that then keep working for a company and let someone else take the risks.
Rescheduling instead of cancelling might have been the way to go.
If there was anything your gf agreed to online regarding a cancellation fee, then she’s SOL and will just need to pay, or face further harassment from them. Either way, I’d avoid that place in the future. They may be in the right for demanding a cancellation fee, but it’s cuntish to go straight to threats of laywers. Better to support a smaller independent business than these asshole chains.
Just tell her to pay how much it would’ve cost. That’s the most they’d be able to take in court.
And no, they won’t sue for 20k.
I own an Eikaiwa and it’s always funny how many new students ask if they can pay per lesson instead and after the lesson is over, despite explaining the system.
https://preview.redd.it/swcdqlydr90c1.jpeg?width=563&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e356b3f3864c63b498bb5adf2af7bed7c464e8b0
Nah dont pay shit fuck them
Was it a lawyer doing the threatening? If not ignore them, block their number, and be happy to never give them any further business.
The maximum cancellation fee should be equivalent to the average fees they would have expected from your GF for services rendered.
If she would have spent 10,000, then that amount, per the Consumer Law, is payable – TECHNICALLY.
Clearly, this business is tired of both no-shows and even notified cancellations, and so has gotten heavy-handed with fees.
But, your GF was ethical in cancelling to prevent spreading COVID, and their zero to 100 threat of legal action if 20,000 isn’t received, if they were fairly warned about her positive test result, is excessive.
I can’t see them pursuing the claim in court, and I think you acted in good faith, so in the balance of things, I personally would either discuss with them the reasonable amount (the above exemplified 10,000) and discuss rescheduling for another appointment IF I wanted to continue relationship with the business, or I would cease all communications and take care with future appointments at other businesses.
Ah, she should just go to the appointment then, and make sure to cough copiously while she’s there.
Sounds made up. Threatening with lawyer is something Americans routinely do, not Japanese.
First, didn’t we have a post exactly like this not too long ago? I feel like I’ve had to explain this on Reddit before.
My perspective as a woman who goes to nail salons about once every 3-4 weeks:
When you make an appointment, the salons are VERY forthcoming about cancellation procedures and fees. “No shows” are the most common situation where someone can be charged a fee — but I’ve also been to salons where cancelling less than 24hrs in advance gets you charged, where cancelling with 60 mins to your appointment gets your charged, or where being late a certain amount gets you charged.
When making an appointment on a platform like Hot Pepper Beauty, you have to acknowledge the cancellation policy before you even make the appointment. I’m talking a checkbox that says YES I UNDERSTAND and (in many cases) a mandatory text box from the salon that also requires you to type out 分かりました before you can click RESERVE.
Your girlfriend broke the cancellation policy. Doesn’t matter if she disagrees with the policy as applied to her situation or not. She accepted the policy when she made an appointment. She has to pay.
EDIT: Also, what do you mean by “full blown nail salon”? Unless it’s a massive nationwide chain like Quick Nail, it absolutely IS a small business. Small independent nail salons are the norm here; even if a place has more than one location, it can still be a small business. The place I go has two locations, one in my neighborhood and one at the next station. There’s only like 5 chairs between both locations. Small business, dude. Do you think a salon isn’t a small business if it has all the necessary supplies to do nails hygenically and properly? lmao
Men. Sometimes I beg you to ask your wives and girlfriends about these things.
Dont pay. COVID is a good reason to miss anything. Shit it was nice enough to call and let them know. At least you learned where not to go.
Posted cancellation fee or not, they can suck it. Wife had a valid reason and didn’t just change her mind last minute. Please don’t pay.
Was the cancellation fee stated? The right thing would be to pay, if you dont want to pay then its up to you.
People suggesting not to pay or informing about they are not going to send a lawyer (i do believe it too), well, then you wonder why gaijin people have a bad image.
Does the salon even know your address?