Rights of beauty salon clients

Elena Babich, lawyer, managing partner of the law firm “Babich and Partners” (Ukraine, Kiev)
Irina Sysoenko, lawyer, partner of the law firm "Babich and Partners", patent attorney of Ukraine (Ukraine, Kiev)

Today, in cosmetology medical centers and beauty salons, the experience and knowledge regarding respect for the rights of clients is not great enough, and conflict situations between the client and the beauty salon related to violation of the client’s rights are becoming more common in practice. Therefore, it is first of all important for the administration of a beauty salon to know what rights clients have so as not to violate them in the future, thereby minimizing possible conflicts that could have negative consequences for the salon.

Legislation

The main legislative act regulating the relationship between consumers of services and providers is the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” (No. 1023-XII of May 12, 1991, as amended by Law No. 3161-IV of December 1, 2005), which establishes the basic rights of consumers and determines the mechanism for implementing state protection of their rights.

The Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemic Welfare of the Population” (No. 4004-XII dated 02.24.1994) regulates the relations that arise in the field of ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being, defines the corresponding rights and responsibilities of government bodies, enterprises, institutions, organizations and citizens.

The Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the rules for consumer services to the population” (No. 313 of May 16, 1994) regulates the specifics of providing household services to the population, which include the services of beauty salons, the responsibilities of performers, including some rights of consumers of household services.

Service information

First of all, it should be noted that the client of a beauty salon has the right to receive complete information about the service he is going to use. In response to such questions from the client, the beauty salon, represented by its employees, is obliged to provide comprehensive information about the service provided, sufficient for the client to be able to make an informed choice and give his consent to its implementation. Such information may include information about the procedure itself, drugs and equipment that are used during the provision of this service, and information about the manufacturer.

Often in beauty salons you can find cosmetics or other goods displayed for sale, which do not have any information about the price of these products. So, this can be interpreted as a violation of the rights of the consumer - a client of a beauty salon

In addition, it is necessary to inform about possible side effects from the use of drugs, contraindications, and also provide quality certificates for these drugs and equipment, if the client insists on this. In turn, the client has every right to check the expiration date of these drugs.

Safety

The client has the right to demand that the institution comply with the requirements of the sanitary and epidemiological regime, which are prescribed in state sanitary and hygienic norms and rules. So, in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemic Welfare of the Population” , citizens have the right to safe living conditions, in particular to household services provided by beauty salons. Therefore, when coming to a beauty salon to receive services, the client has the right to demand information from employees regarding:

• are they familiar with sanitary and hygienic standards, rules for taking measures in case of injuries, contact with blood and preventive measures;
• do employees undergo a preventive medical examination and are they vaccinated against infectious diseases;
• Is there a first aid kit in the beauty salon with all the necessary medications for first aid?

In addition, the client has the right to demand from the beauty salon that during services such as piercing and tattooing, the master performing the procedure uses sterile rubber gloves individually for each client. It should also be remembered that all instruments used for manicure, pedicure, piercing and tattooing must be properly disinfected, cleaned and sterilized after use. In case of contact that is accompanied by a violation of the integrity of the skin (injections, cuts), the affected area must be treated with disinfectants, and the technician must change gloves and wash his hands with soap.

When using cosmetics and preparations, the specialist must conduct a test for the sensitivity of the client’s skin and find out whether he has contraindications to the use of substances included in the preparations. If the procedure results in any complications (allergic reactions, deterioration of health), and the client was not warned about the possibility of such body reactions, then the consumer has the right to make a claim to the cosmetologist or the head of the salon and even go to court.

During the procedure, the client, on his own initiative, has the right to refuse the service provided at any time, but at the same time he must pay the beauty salon in full for its cost.

Cosmetical tools

I would like to draw special attention to cosmetics that are sold in the beauty salon and displayed in the appropriate display cases. The beauty salon is obliged to provide the client with the necessary and reliable information about the product offered for sale, including its price. Such information must comply with legal and retail regulations regarding its content and manner of presentation.

In the case of providing services such as medical massage, therapeutic cosmetology, procedures using an invasive method of treatment (for example, mesotherapy), the beauty salon must have a license to carry out medical practice

Often in beauty salons you can find cosmetics or other goods displayed for sale, which do not contain any information about the price of these products. So, this can be interpreted as a violation of the rights of the consumer - a client of a beauty salon. And if the buyer is not given the opportunity to immediately obtain complete and reliable information about the product at the place of sale, he has the right to demand compensation for losses caused by unjustified avoidance of concluding a contract.

Permits

It should be noted that in addition to the requirement to present the above-mentioned documents, the client also has the right to verify the legality of the beauty salon by familiarizing itself with all permits on the basis of which the company operates. Thus, in order to ensure compliance with the rights of clients, it is necessary to place in a visible place in the beauty salon the so-called “Consumer Corner”, which, in particular, should contain the following points:

• extracts from the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Consumer Rights” ;
• information about the full name of the institution, its address, full name of the director, information about the owner (founder), contact phone numbers;
• copies of state registration certificates (copy of extract from EDRPOU);
• approved price list for services;
• list (classifier) of consumer properties of the services provided;
• information about the materials, preparations, equipment used (with reference to the fact that certificates and other information about quality and characteristics are held by the administrator or other person);
• quality standards for services provided (if approved);
• telephone numbers of local executive authorities, territorial bodies of State Consumer Protection;
• information about current discount programs;
• a book of statements and proposals;
• internal regulations of the beauty salon (if any).

In the case of providing services such as medical massage, medical cosmetology, procedures using an invasive method of treatment (for example, mesotherapy), the beauty salon must have a license to practice medicine.

Protection of rights

If for any reason the client is dissatisfied with the service provided or his rights as a consumer have been violated, he has the right, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Consumer Rights” , to:

• free elimination of deficiencies in the provided service within a reasonable time;
• corresponding reduction in the price of the service provided;
• free re-provision of the service;
• compensation for losses caused by eliminating deficiencies in the service provided on our own or with the involvement of a third party;
• refund if the result of the service provided does not meet expectations and its correction is impossible (in particular, if the hairstyle that was done to the client does not completely correspond to the one that the client asked to do);
• compensation for harm to health caused due to the lack of information regarding possible side effects of the service or drugs that were used as a result of poor-quality services performed, non-compliance with rules and sanitary and hygienic standards.

The above circumstances entitle the client to compensation for material and moral damage. In case of provision of a poor-quality service or a service resulting in harm to health or appearance, the client has the right to protect his rights as follows:

• contact the administration of the beauty salon with a complaint or request to correct the deficiency;
• file a complaint with regulatory authorities, in particular the consumer rights protection organization or the sanitary-epidemiological service;
• go to court to demand protection of your violated rights and recovery of material and moral damage from the beauty salon.

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As a conclusion, we can say that managers of beauty salons should not only take care of timely purchases of equipment and cosmetics developed on the basis of the latest technologies, and professional development of the masters, but also remember that one of the main conditions for successful work and Good reputation of the enterprise, as well as customer trust, is due to proper respect for the rights of consumers of salon services.
Ignorance of the client’s rights will not relieve the beauty salon from liability in case of their violation.

First published: KOSMETIK international journal, No. 1/2012