On October 31, my fiancée and I purchased tickets to the 2007 Marian Anderson Awards; the tickets were $500.00 for the both of us. Dress code was a mandatory gown for the ladies and tuxedo for the gents. The event was to take place on November 12 at 5:30 pm at the Kimmel Center.
On November 12 my fiancée went to Toppers for a 4:00 PM appointment, to have an up-do done - she requested simplicity and elegance. After sitting in the chair for over an hour, she was finally allowed to see the results: a goofy looking high school up-do. She was mortified, and didnt say anything right away to the hairdresser for the following reasons: #1 she was in a rush to get to the event (he also did not show her the behind until the very end), #2 she was just too shocked to speak, and lastly, #3 she felt she could go home and fix it (she could not with the amount of product in her hair).
At 5:15 PM she called me at home, as she was in route to the apartment hysterical of the job that was done. We spoke for six (6) minutes regarding the situation. She then called Toppers to express her frustrations, and was hung up on. I then called Toppers using her Phone and spoke with Frank Rueter, Spa Director, about the situation. He explained that all hairdressers had gone home, and advised we try and find someone else to fix the hair and we would be reimbursed. He also said that should we miss the event, we should present expenses to be reimbursed.
There were no salons open, and there was no way, given the amount of product and bobby pins in her hair, that it could have been re-done in time for the event if she had said something at the location (as Toppers said she should have), or 15 minutes later (as she did). Any reasonable person (within the confines and definition of the law) could see this is so. She was also unable to find an alternate, emergency establishment open, therefore we did not attend the event.
I sent a letter on November 14 via fax, email, and certified mail to Mr. Rueter at Toppers and received no response until November 26 from Judi Little, General Manager. Her email blames my fiancee for choosing not to attend the event, and merely offers her a chance to come back for a free hairdo-well who would want to? I responded to her email, and I called her to discuss the situation that same day. She said she would get back to me.
Eighteen days later, on December 14 I sent a letter of demand to Ms. Little via email, fax, and certified letter return receipt.in it, I specially described it had been one month to the day of our first complaint and letter for reimbursement to Mr. Rueter (attached). This letter was ignored, and to date it has been seven (7) weeks and two (3) days since the initial complaint occurred.
The company has continued to evade responsibility and has had the tenacity and laughable audacity to say "she did not have to pay for her hairdo" and to offer my fiancee a return visit to Toppers. They are missing
The fact that ruining someone's hair and causing them the trauma and expense of missing an event, along with all the wardrobe, accessory, and ticket costs has gone unaccounted for.
We are seeking the reimbursement is for the $500.00 cost of the Marian Anderson Award tickets, an event that my finacee and I were indirectly forced not to attend because of sloppy, unprofessional and utterly incompetent craftsmanship at the hands of a Toppers Spa hairdresser which occurred, literally, just prior to our event.
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