Woman charged extra $5 for being overweight

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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Michelle Fonville charged extra $5 for being overweight | News.com.au

A NAIL salon in Georgia has charged a woman having a manicure and pedicure an extra $5 because she was overweight and could damage their chairs.

Michelle Fonville, 40, of Lithonia, said she was at the Natural Nails salon getting a burnt orange color applied to her fingers and toes, along with an eyebrow wax, when she was presented with what seemed like an excessive bill.

“I said to the clerk I thought I had been accidentally overcharged, I honestly thought it was an error,” she told ABC News.

But then, Ms Fonville said, “when she came over and wrote out the prices she then said, 'I charged you five dollars more because you're overweight'."

Kim Tan, the salon manager, told ABC News' Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV that the chairs in her salon can only hold 200 pounds and cost $2500 to repair.

"Do you think that's fair when we take $24 dollars and we have to pay $2500 in repairs?" Ms Tan said.

"I said to her I'm sorry, but next time I cannot take you."Ms Fonville said she plans to protest outside the salon later this week.

Ms Tan returned the extra $5, ABC reported.


That's a tad lame and discriminatory..... besides, if they cost $2500 and can only hold 200lbs, I doubt that $5 extra charge would cover the cost of repair if the chair was actually damaged..... sounds like a piss poor excuse to charge people extra, which I'm sure they did to many other people without them paying attention to this extra fee.

And who is stupid enough to spend that much money on a chair that can only support 200lbs?? I'm around 220lbs. and still not considered overweight based on my height.... I'm close, but not considered overweight.... they couldn't charge me the extra $5 or I'd sue..... and who are they to determine who's over weight or not?

Then again, I probably wouldn't be going in to get my nails done anyways :p
 

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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I would say the salon simply needs to post a sign that their chairs only hold 200lbs, and anyone heavier than that cannot be served for safety reasons.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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If I were that woman I'd go in, pay the $5 surcharge, and slam my fat ass into that chair so hard it buckled. Then I'd sue, because they clearly knew that they were violating the weight rating, at my risk.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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Speaking of insurance - they should be able to get their insurance plan to cover business losses. Actually, that's typically a standard practice if you have a corporate insurance policy on the property. Unless they're insured under a residential insurance policy - in which case that could constitute misrepresentation.
 

shadowshiv

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May 29, 2007
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If I were that woman I'd go in, pay the $5 surcharge, and slam my fat ass into that chair so hard it buckled. Then I'd sue, because they clearly knew that they were violating the weight rating, at my risk.

Actually, wouldn't it be better if you(meaning her, since you are not even close to being fat) plopped into the chair, jiggled it a little, and then hope the chair did break? That way you could sue for emotional and physical damages.;)
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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Actually, wouldn't it be better if you(meaning her, since you are not even close to being fat) plopped into the chair, jiggled it a little, and then hope the chair did break? That way you could sue for emotional and physical damages.;)

lol... that's what I said shadow.
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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must be some chair if it costs 2500 just to repair. I bet you could buy a new one for less than that. Half the hair salons would be out of business if their chairs could only hold 200 lbs. 200 kg perhaps?