Michelle Fonville Charged Extra By Georgia Nail Salon For Being Overweight (VIDEO)

Natural Nails in Dekalb County, Georgia added a rather interesting and apparently discriminatory surcharge onto one client's bill: $5 for being overweight. WSB TV reports that salon manager Kim Tran told customer Michelle Fonville that the extra money was to pay for the $2,500 pedicure chair should it break, since it has a weight capacity of 200 pounds. Ultimately, Tran waived the $5 fee...and also told Fonville not to come back.

(Via Jezebel)

WATCH:

Comments

[miketothad]

05:40 PM on 10/12/2010

What the!?

[Kifi Lobendahn]

10:12 PM on 08/27/2010

If the world had a poll for this, I believe it would be drawn down the middle. Sided with stereotyped people fitting thier respected beliefs. This being said, how can anyone agree who is morally right, or wrong ? At the end, it's the law that governs the outcome. But at the beginning, it starts with all of us. Mankinds history drove us to this point. If it wasn't a dog eat dog world out there, maybe the owner would of been kinder. Maybe if the customer found a gym, she wouldn't have been ostracized. Maybe if the earth was running on green energy, and we worked together to achieve common goals, we wouldn't have to care about any of this. Maybe...

[Tresco]

04:41 PM on 08/27/2010

$5 buys alot of bad PR in this case. What was the nail shop thinking. They need sturdier chairs. If you have any kind of accountant affording it won't be a problem. I hate to see a small business go under and people lose their jobs but this might not be survivalble.

The woman needs to take this as a wake up a call. When a nail place worries about their furniture it's time to make some changes. I don't get all the hate out there directed at fat people, asians, blacks etc. We all have bigger problems to worry about. Just let people be.

[allengoldchain]

03:30 PM on 08/25/2010

You can't charge someone extra for the "possibility" of it breaking. What the owner probably should do is put up a sign stating the weight capacity of their equipment (similar to elevator systems) so that all customers understand that if they break the furniture they will need to pay for it. If this lady would have seen such a sign she may have left right away.

[Beth Boyle]

12:19 AM on 08/25/2010

This anti fat thing is getting way out of control.

[jabreal00]

10:16 PM on 08/24/2010

Horrible customer service. That is no way to treat someone and is discriminatory. I doubt there is any standard operating procedure on weight. She arbitrarily charged an extra $5 without even alerting the customer. What a disgrace.

Some from overseas, especially southeast Asia are notorious for awful customer service.

[Josh Graston]

06:49 PM on 08/24/2010

I would pay the $5 surcharge that was put there "in case the chair breaks" and then purposely break the chair. Then I would cite the $5 charge I paid "in case the chair breaks" as I walked out the door laughing my tush off.

[Sharon Odom]

06:33 PM on 08/24/2010

Ms. Tran is operating a nail salon in the south with chairs that can only hold up to 200 pounds? Is she new to the area?

[srose74]

02:04 PM on 08/24/2010

Ha! I wouldn't stop going to that salon. I would go every other week and pay the $5 extra. I would call that "the tip."

[seachild]

12:48 PM on 08/24/2010

what is 'decrimination'...lmao!...

[BlueZoo]

12:30 PM on 08/24/2010

Regardless of whether this was a morally right or wrong decision, a privately owned business can refuse service to anyone for any reason. I've walked into many a business that has a prominently displayed sign that says they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. I would ask, however, if I would get $5 off my bill, since I am 4'11" and underweight!

[Pema]

01:02 PM on 08/24/2010

if the woman was over the weight the chair would hold, then she cant sit there but to charge her a fee in case she broke it is wrong. its pocketing money when there is no issue. 5 dollars wont cover the price of the chair. its a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Chris Moody]

06:04 AM on 08/25/2010

i think its a fee to cover the gradual breaking down of the chair from multiple overweight customers using it, not to cover a catastrophic chair failure.

[Atchka]

02:40 PM on 08/24/2010

This woman wasn't refused service. She was provided a service and when it came time to be charged, she was charged more than the posted price because she was overweight. The business absolutely has the right to charge what they want, how they want and serve who they want, but this went beyond those rights. You can't charge certain people more than others without clearly explaining the pricing differences up front.

Peace,
Shannon
FierceFatties.com

[Ian Gonsalves]

03:09 PM on 08/24/2010

The article is short on the actual details of the pricing and signs in the shop, it's just as likely that the salon has a small asterisk next to their fees with some fine print detailing additional charges that may apply (like airlines who charge fat people for an extra seat)

Bottom line is, you don't know. It's possible that no rights were violated and the business acted in a perfectly reasonable manner.

[Sbyahoo]

12:21 PM on 08/24/2010

Shut the shop down.

[imaginaryfriends]

12:48 AM on 08/24/2010

If this woman really did spend 2500 bucks for that salon chair and it only holds up to 200 pounds then I would say she got ripped off pretty good. I don't know anyone who would be stupid enough to spend that kind of $$ for a chair that can't hold more than 200 pounds.

Personally, I think the owner resented having an obese woman in her store and thought this would be a good way to make it clear that she didn't want the woman to come back. She did waive the fee but told her not to return. What does that tell you? I hope this woman's business goes under since she only wants a certain kind of clientele.

Honey, in America you just can't do things like that and not expect someone to get in your face about it.

[Nichole Boultas]

07:36 AM on 08/24/2010

Here here!!! I'm a thousand per cent behind you on that one!!!

[Lucyfur88]

11:08 AM on 08/24/2010

My guess is the customer gave the owner a hard time, maybe criticized the quality of the work or something. There is more to this story that is not coming out. I'm sure the customer will sue the owner, put her out of business and feel really good about herself after that.

[Atchka]

02:41 PM on 08/24/2010

Really? You're going to just add context to this story that isn't included? What a convenient way to filter out stories that you find disagreeable.

Peace,
Shannon

[jabreal00]

10:25 PM on 08/24/2010

Sounds like you are making up the details as you go. Get off your soap-box.

[AnnaMolly]

10:39 PM on 08/23/2010

The salon owner insists that the reason for the $5 extra charge is because of the possibility of the chair breaking at weights over 200 lbs. So I'm assuming that a guy who's 6'3" and 200 lbs will also pay that charge? And whatever happened to the concept of INSURING your business equipment? Do establishments charge handicapped people extra in order to recoup the expenses for providing wheelchair access? This is just sickening. I hope their business slacks off enough for them to close.

[ECB]

10:09 PM on 08/23/2010

That's Cold !