Woman wins £9,000 compensation after £150 ‘nightmare’ haircut left her with depression
Air hostess Donna Smith had to take six months off work after the salon chop left her 'a wreck'
A WOMAN who suffered depression after a “nightmare” haircut has won £9,000 damages.
Air hostess Donna Smith’s waist-length locks were cropped around her ears and bleached and matted so severely she had it shaved off and bought a wig.
She told the stylist she wanted her brown hair lightening, with a fringe and layers.
But the £150 chop, which took seven hours, left her so distraught she took six months off work and was on anti-depressants.
Donna, 37, said: “It is every woman’s worst nightmare.
“When it took so long I started to ask what was wrong but they wouldn’t let me see in a mirror.
“When I finally saw it, my hair was a melted, matted mess.”
She said working as a cabin crew manager for Thomas Cook made it even worse because she needed to look “immaculate”.
“In my job, appearance is everything. I have to look pristine at all times.
"I’m representing my company and I feel I have to look good.
“Everyone knew me as having long hair and when I went in the next day for an assessment, people were like ‘Oh my God, you’ve cut all your hair off.’
“I just burst into tears.
"People were saying that I’d had a bad haircut but it wasn’t just that. My hair had been completely destroyed.
“I was a wreck. I couldn’t stop crying.
"I went to see my bosses and they were fantastic and said to take off as much time as I needed.”
Donna contacted solicitors after the cut at Ed’s Hair Salon in Bramhall, Greater Manchester, in November 2015.
Donna opted for a new £150 look for Christmas and explained to the stylist that she wanted her brown hair lightening and fringe and layers putting in.
Donna recalled: “I thought it was a lot but I figured it was a treat and worth investing when I wanted a bit of a change.
“I sat down in the chair at 1.30pm and she started by putting a colour on my hair from root to tip, and explained it was because she needed to take it back to one colour.
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“I sat flicking through magazines for what seemed like a long time - it was actually 90 minutes - before she took me to the sink at the back of the salon to have it washed off.
“I heard her with a pair of scissors and I remember thinking ‘what’s she doing?’ It turned out she was cutting away my melted hair.
“The bottom of my neck started to sting a little and that’s when I started thinking ‘Something isn’t right here.’
“She kept saying, ‘I’ll show you at the end. I’m a perfectionist.’
"Then, finally, she let me look in the mirror. I was just stunned and said, ‘Where the f*** had my hair gone?’
And when Donna washed it at home, it carried on falling out in chunks.
A hair and scalp specialist told her to have it shaved off.
She said: "“I was devastated and in floods of tears but I knew cutting off my hair was my only option.
“It had been 45cm long so would take 45 months to grow back. I even bought a wig for £1,000.
“It was also an ordeal for my boyfriend and my two children who saw how low I was.”
She got £9,100 from the salon, which said the stylist was “removed” from the job.
Donna said: "I would have much rather had my lovely hair and for it never to have happened. It wasn’t about the money at all for me.
"I just wanted lessons to be learned. It robbed me of six months of my life.”