If you operate a beauty salon or work as a beauty therapist, your business is subject to the Australian Consumer Law. Depending on the type of service you provide, your business will be subject to specific health regulations. A list of terms and conditions will:
- help protect your business;
- address the Australian Consumer Law; and
- help prevent misunderstandings with customers.
You should provide terms and conditions to your customers, by making them available on your social media page, website or physically in-store. This article will outline key terms to include in your terms and conditions as a beauty therapist.
Cancellations
Your terms and conditions as a beauty therapist should set out how a customer can cancel their appointment and what happens if they do. You should establish a minimum notice period for cancellations, typically 24 hours. Having a notice period will help you:
- maintain accurate schedules;
- effectively manage time; and
- give you the opportunity to offer the time to another client, which means you will not be out of pocket.
If a customer cancels outside the notice period, you may choose to charge a reasonable cancellation fee. A reasonable cancellation fee must reflect the loss you have suffered from the cancellation. This fee should not be excessive or penalise the customer.
Being Late to Appointments
To prevent customers from being late to their appointments, you can include a term that requires them to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment. Not only does this help reduce the issue of clients arriving late but it is also helpful to ensure appointments can start on time. This provides extra time should you need to complete any preparatory procedures, such as completing a new-customer form.
Continue reading this article below the formPrices
Your prices do not have to be included in your terms and conditions. Instead, you can have prices in your salon or website along with a statement that your terms and conditions apply. You should also link these terms and conditions on your website or refer the customer to them in-store on any pamphlets. Your terms and conditions must outline the payment terms for your services and state that the prices and services may change without notice to the customers.
Customer Medical Issues
You should state in your terms and conditions that customers need to inform you if they:
- are pregnant;
- have skin conditions or allergies; or
- are receiving medical care from a doctor or health practitioner.
This will ensure that customers understand to disclose their medical circumstances to you before using your services. You can avoid liability for medical issues that were not made known to you by the customer. Additionally, your terms and conditions should state that while you will take all necessary precautions while performing the services, you are not liable for any side effects that may occur as a result of the customer’s negligence.
Health Legislation
Be aware that procedures and treatments involving prescription-only medications for beauty purposes require qualified professionals and clean environments. If you provide services such as dermal fillers or botox, your terms and conditions should contain:
- assurance to your customers that qualified professionals will provide the services; and
- a requirement that customers seek the advice of a doctor or health professional prior to undertaking the services.
Australian Consumer Law
Any business that provides a service must provide mandatory consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. These guarantees include providing services:
- with due care and skill;
- which are fit for purpose; and
- within a reasonable time.
Your terms and conditions should acknowledge these guarantees.
Failure to Meet the Consumer Guarantees
The Australian Consumer Law requires you to provide a repair or refund if there is a fault or failure in one of the services you provide. You are generally expected to fix any problems based on the type of failure and your prior statements. Your repair and refund policy should align with the Australian Consumer Law. Notably, your terms and conditions should refer customers to your return and refund policy.
Limitation of Liability
All businesses should have a limitation of liability to protect their business. The Australian Consumer Law requires you to refund, repair or re-do the services. Accordingly, you might limit your maximum liability to only what is required under Australian Consumer Law.
You should also set out clearly what you will and will not be liable for, such as:
- the customer changing their mind;
- the customer’s reaction because they did not disclose their medical issues; or
- any loss that is in excess of the price paid for the services.
Website Terms of Use
If your business has a website, you also need website terms of use. These will apply to every website visitor, protect your website and limit your liability for your website. The terms of use set out your copyright and intellectual property rights, as well as permitted and prohibited uses of your website, including that competitors cannot use your website information.
Privacy Policy
If your business collects, uses and discloses personal information from customers, including using the information for direct marketing, you need to create a privacy policy to comply with the Privacy Act. This is particularly important if you obtain medical information from customers. The privacy policy is an agreement between you and each person you collect personal information from. It outlines key issues like:
- what personal information your business collects;
- how you use collected information; and
- under what circumstances you will disclose the information to third parties.
Complaints Procedure
Another key provision your terms and conditions should include is a complaint procedure. We recommend that you provide:
- contract details of your business for complaints or feedback;
- internal complaints handling procedure; and
- a reference or link to the relevant state or territory consumer protection body, such as the Fair Trading website for NSW or the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.
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Key Takeaways
The Australian consumer law outlines guarantees you must provide to consumers. These guarantees include providing services with due care and skill, ensuring they are fit for purpose and delivering them within a reasonable time. Your terms and conditions should acknowledge these guarantees. Terms and conditions is a legal document that you can provide to your customers. A set of terms and conditions will help protect your business, address the Australian Consumer Law and help prevent misunderstandings with customers. If your business has a website, you may also need website terms of use.
If you have any questions about your terms and conditions as a beauty therapist, our experienced contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
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