Hair salon refund in Australia: when the ACL is on your side

You walked in for a balayage and walked out with brassy orange streaks. You asked for a trim and lost five centimetres more than you agreed to. You paid for a keratin treatment that left your hair breaking off at the roots. Now the salon is telling you there are "no refunds on services" — and you're wondering whether that sign on the wall is actually the law.

It isn't. Australian Consumer Law applies to services just as much as it applies to goods, and a hairdresser is no exception. Whether you're entitled to a refund, a free redo, or compensation depends on what went wrong and how badly — but the starting point is the same for every service dispute in Australia.

Quick answer

When a hair salon performs a service that falls short of what a competent professional would deliver, or gives you a result significantly different from one you made known, the Australian Consumer Law gives you a right to a remedy. For a major failure — for example, severe chemical damage, a colour completely different from what was agreed that can't easily be corrected, or any failure serious enough that a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with it wouldn't have acquired the service — you can cancel the contract and seek a refund for any unconsumed part, or keep it and claim compensation for the drop in the service's value; for a completed appointment, compensation is usually the practical route, plus reasonably foreseeable corrective costs you can evidence and took reasonable steps to limit. For a lesser failure that can be fixed, you can require the salon to fix it within a reasonable time. A "no refunds on services" sign cannot override these rights. The relevant law is section 60 of the ACL, which requires every service a business supplies to be performed with due care and skill.

What the law actually says

The Australian Consumer Law is Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. It applies to services you buy from a business in Australia — and that includes hair salons, barbers, and beauty therapists. When you pay for a service, the law automatically gives you a set of consumer guarantees that the salon cannot remove by putting up a sign or adding a clause to their booking form.

The guarantees most relevant to hair services are:

• Section 60 — Due care and skill. A service supplied by a business must be performed with the care and skill you'd expect from a competent professional in that field. A colourist who applies bleach incorrectly and causes breakage is likely to have breached this guarantee. A stylist who cuts unevenly or leaves visible patchiness in a colour job has likely breached it too.
• Section 61 — Fit for a purpose or result you made known. If you made known a particular purpose — for example, "I need this to last through my wedding in three weeks" — the service must be reasonably fit for that purpose. If you made known the result you wanted — for example, "I want to go platinum blonde" — it must be of a nature and quality that might reasonably be expected to achieve that result. Section 61 may apply unless the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on the salon's skill or judgment. If the salon accepted the job without clearly warning that the result was not realistically achievable, that may strengthen your claim. Unlike section 60, it doesn't help if the failure happened only because of someone other than the salon or its staff, or a cause independent of human control after the service (section 267(1)(c)).

When a guarantee is breached, your remedies come from section 267 of the ACL. The remedy depends on whether the failure is major or non-major.

A major failure (section 268) is one where:

• a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure wouldn't have acquired the service;
• the service is substantially unfit for a purpose for which services of that kind are commonly supplied, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied;
• the service, and any product resulting from it, is unfit for a particular purpose you made known to the salon, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied;
• the service, and any product resulting from it, is not of such a nature, or quality, state or condition, that it might reasonably be expected to achieve a result you made known to the salon, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; or
• the service creates an unsafe situation.

Two or more failures that aren't major on their own are together a major failure if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with them, taken as a whole, wouldn't have acquired the service (section 268(2)). Severe chemical damage causing hair loss or burns, a colour result completely unrecognisable from what was agreed, or a cut that is visibly lopsided and unfixable without significant regrowth — these are the kinds of failures that can qualify as major.

For a major failure, or one that can't be remedied, you can cancel the contract and get a refund for any part of the service not yet consumed (section 269), or keep the contract and claim compensation for the drop in the service's value below the price you paid. For a completed appointment, that compensation is usually how you get your money back.

A non-major failure that can be remedied (the toner slightly off but correctable, or a fringe a little shorter than agreed) lets you require the salon to fix it within a reasonable time. If it refuses or doesn't fix it within a reasonable time, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or cancel (section 267(2)).

Either way, you can also claim other reasonably foreseeable loss (section 267(4)), if you can evidence it, took reasonable steps to limit it, and don't claim the same loss twice.

One important nuance: section 64 of the ACL makes a term void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify these guarantees or your remedies. "No refunds on services" is not a legal position — it's a store policy that can't take away those rights.

For a deeper look at how service failures work across different industries, see our guide on services that go wrong under the ACL.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The consumer guarantees apply when:

• You acquired the service as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: the amount paid or payable was $100,000 or less, or it's a service of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use (either is enough).
• You paid a business for a hair or beauty service. A free favour from a friend is different, but paid services — including lower-cost training or student-clinic services — can still attract ACL protections, although the context may affect what level of care and skill is reasonably expected.
• The service fell short of what a competent professional would deliver (section 60), or didn't meet section 61 for a purpose or result you made known.
• You're claiming because something went wrong — not simply because you changed your mind about the style once you got home.

The guarantees generally do not apply when:

• You changed your mind. If the salon did exactly what you asked and did it competently, but you've decided you don't like the result, that's not a consumer guarantee breach. Salons are not required to offer refunds for change-of-mind outcomes.
• You contributed to the problem. If you provided inaccurate information — for example, you said you'd never coloured your hair when you had — and that affected the result, your claim may be reduced or defeated. The salon's obligation is to perform competently on the information they had.
• The result was disclosed as uncertain. A good colourist will sometimes tell you that achieving a particular result in one session isn't guaranteed, especially on previously treated hair. If you agreed to proceed knowing the outcome was uncertain, that affects your claim — though it doesn't eliminate it if the service was still performed carelessly.
• It's a private arrangement. The guarantees apply to services supplied in trade or commerce, which includes most sole traders. A friend who does your hair as a favour, not as a business, isn't covered.

If you're unsure whether your situation crosses the line into a genuine ACL claim, the framework in our general refund guide explains the major/non-major failure distinction in more detail.

What to do today

If you believe the salon has breached a consumer guarantee, here's the approach that gives you the best chance of a resolution:

1. Document everything immediately. Take clear photos of your hair in natural light — the same day if possible, and again over the following days if the damage becomes more apparent. Note the date of the appointment, what you asked for, what the stylist said they would do, and what the result actually was.

2. Get a second opinion in writing. Visit another salon or a trichologist and ask them to assess the condition of your hair and what caused it. A written assessment from a professional is powerful evidence if the dispute escalates.

3. Contact the salon in writing. Email is better than a phone call — it creates a record. Describe what you asked for, what you received, how it falls short of the section 60 due care and skill standard, and what you're asking for (a free corrective service, or compensation for the drop in the service's value, up to the full price, plus any reasonably foreseeable loss such as corrective treatment, depending on the severity). Attach your photos.

4. Give a reasonable deadline. Seven to fourteen days (a practical default, not an ACL requirement) is common. State clearly that if you don't hear back, you'll escalate to your state or territory consumer body.

5. Keep all receipts and records. Your booking confirmation, payment receipt, and any messages with the salon are all evidence.

If writing the demand letter feels daunting, fairgo can generate one for you. It identifies the relevant ACL sections automatically and produces a letter you send under your own name. Start your letter here.

What if the business refuses

If the salon ignores your letter, offers a token gesture, or flatly refuses, you have real escalation options:

• Your state or territory consumer body. Your state or territory consumer protection body may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies.

• A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more.

One practical point: you may be able to claim not just the cost of the original service but also the reasonable cost of corrective treatment elsewhere. For a non-major failure, that usually depends on first giving the salon the chance to fix it (section 267(2)); otherwise it must be reasonably foreseeable loss you can evidence and took reasonable steps to limit (section 267(4)). Keep those receipts.

Common mistakes

These are the errors that most often weaken an otherwise valid hair salon claim:

• Accepting a credit note when you may be entitled to money back. If the failure is major, you may be entitled to cancel the contract and get a refund for any unconsumed part, or keep the contract and claim compensation for the drop in value instead. You don’t have to accept a voucher to return to the same salon that caused the problem.

• Waiting too long to document the damage. Chemical damage can worsen over days. Hair that looks bad on day one may look significantly worse by day five. Document early and often.

• Letting the salon do a corrective service before you've assessed whether you want one. If the failure is major, you don't have to accept a redo: you can cancel, or keep the contract and claim compensation for the drop in value instead. Once you let them attempt a correction and it goes wrong again, the situation becomes more complicated. Decide what outcome you want before you go back.

• Framing the complaint as a preference dispute. "I wanted it lighter" is weaker than "the stylist agreed to achieve a level 8 blonde and the result is level 5 with visible banding, which a competent colourist would not have produced." Be specific about what was agreed and how the result falls short of professional standards.

• Going straight to the ACCC. The ACCC investigates systemic industry conduct, not individual disputes. For your specific case, your state or territory consumer body and a tribunal or court with jurisdiction are the right places.

• Assuming the "no refunds on services" sign is the law. It isn't. It's a policy. The ACL overrides it. Politely but clearly tell the salon that the Australian Consumer Law applies to services and that section 60 requires due care and skill regardless of what their sign says.

For a broader look at how these mistakes play out across service industries, the personal trainer dispute guide covers very similar territory and is worth reading alongside this article.

Related reading

• Services that go wrong under the ACL — your rights explained
• Can you demand a refund? When Australian Consumer Law gives you the right
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next
• Personal trainer didn't deliver — how the ACL applies
• Dry cleaner ruined your clothes: what the ACL says
• Tattoo gone wrong: your rights when the work is not what you agreed

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, the ACCC), whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.