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A group booking for 35 clients, using five stylists for the entire day at the popular Dry & Tea City Works Depot salon, were not told the inner-city shop would be shutting down, leaving them to scramble to make other plans.
The woman who had made the appointment told Stuff they locked in the massive booking back in March, to host clients attending an awards ceremony in Auckland on Thursday night.
On Monday she received a confirmation text for their booking. On Wednesday they attempted to deliver champagne flutes to the venue only to find a notice of re-entry and cancellation of lease plastered to the window saying they were shut for good.
The client could not get hold of anyone on the phone at the City Works, Britomart or Newmarket salons, so she tried to find someone to talk to in person.
“I drive all the way down to Newmarket and I jump out, and I see the chain around the door,” said the woman, who did not want to be named.
Another person in her team drove to Britomart to find that shuttered as well, with a handwritten sign saying they were “temporarely (sic) closed”.
Supplied
A handwritten notice on Dry & Tea’s Britomart store says the salon in temporarily closed.
“They still have not told us (on Thursday) … it was all our senior clients across the industry ahead of a big dinner.”
The group scrambled to make alternative plans finding freelance stylists in hours, but had no idea what would happen to their deposit of $1125.
On Thursday afternoon an email was sent out to clients confirming “with great sadness” that the Auckland salons had closed.
”Please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience caused by not being able to fulfil your up and coming appointment,” it read.
”We have been delighting clients for 10 years and this situation brings us immense pain.
“…This is a very sad and stressful time for all involved.”
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Abby Damen, from Consumer NZ, said under insolvency law, customers who paid a deposit for a product or service are considered unsecured creditors.
“If a company is in voluntary administration wait to see if it decides to trade its way out of difficulty,” she advised.
“If it does reopen its doors then either try to get your deposit back or pay the balance and obtain the goods or services that you wanted.
“There’s usually not enough money to go around, so you are likely to get only a fraction back, or even nothing at all. But you still should make a claim straight away with the liquidator, or you may not get into the queue at all.”
Damen suggested if someone paid for a product or service by credit or debit card, they could also talk to their bank about a chargeback.
Stuff broke the news on Wednesday that the Dry & Tea blow bar chain had abruptly shut at least three of its four salons across NZ. There are three in Auckland, a fourth operates down in Christchurch. There is also a Melbourne outlet which were open on Wednesday.
Staff seemed shocked to hear news of the shutdowns on Tuesday while customers sat in stylist’s chairs waiting to have their hair done.
“I was sitting in the chair for my 3’o’clock appointment and I was waiting for my colour to be mixed and then my stylist comes over in tears and apologises and said they just had word that … salons were shutting,” a regular told Stuff.
During her appointment in downtown Auckland, the stylist, who was usually based at City Works Depot, stopped – “They’d just had word that everywhere was shutting, that’s it.”
“She was apologising, she couldn’t do my hair, but they just all been told that it was all over.”
Dry & Tea’s Facebook page declared their Auckland stores had “ceased trading” by the end of Wednesday, and claimed it would “be in touch with all clients who have an appointment booked in the coming days”.
A spokesperson for Dry & Tea, who asked not to be named, told Stuff on Wednesday that “no clients were impacted during their services” as staff were informed of the closures after hours.
The spokesperson said pandemic related business conditions were the reason for the closures.
“The hope is Britomart location can continue to trade as conversations continue with other landlords on what the future looks like,” she said via a message to Stuff.
She did not respond to Stuff’s request for comment on Thursday.
The limited company the notice is addressed to is AS Retail Limited, Amy Sznicer of Brisbane Australia is listed on the New Zealand Companies register as the director of AS Retail Limited.
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