3 /5 Karling Bennett: Initially, we provided the wrong date, which is on us. The makeup artist kept our down payment and didn’t seem interested in helping us reschedule. The experience was a lesson in clarifying the financial aspects of services for both the customer and the business owner. My family member paid the artist half of the total payment up front and was not given any money back. The makeup artist stated online that a deposit was needed and no refunds would be given, which is something we understood. However, it was not clear what was supposed to be a deposit versus a down payment. We felt that there is a significant difference between a deposit and down payment of half the total amount. The deposit amount is not stated online, nor was the deposit amount clearly given when the financial aspects were discussed informally through texts. A written contract and clear financial expectations would have helped clarify any concerns, expectations, and questions. This experience was a lesson for the consumer to be more aware of the financial aspects of services and for the owner to have clear financial expectations for their customers to avoid furture confusion.
