Vancouver hair salon victorious as small claims court dismisses suit over unwanted 'frizzies'

A Vancouver salon owner says she's pleased a small claims tribunal sided with her against a customer who sued over what she claimed was a "lopsided" haircut.

But Lorri Dar says she can't help but feel the woman's complaints about unwanted "frizzies" never should have wound up in court.

B.C.'s Civil Resolution Tribunal dismissed Sapanjit Chohan's lawsuit against Dar's East Vancouver Kokopelli Salon this week for a lack of evidence, concluding that "it is common experience that some haircuts are better than others."

"This is what we deal with in our industry," Dar told the CBC.

"As well as being mixologists and chemists and artists, at the same time, we're dealing with the mind as well. I can tell you that you look beautiful. But you may not feel that way. I can give you the best cut that you ever had, but you still may not feel that way."

The small claims case highlights the perils of suing over a haircut — a tangled legal history that touches on the need for expert witnesses, "obsessive" pampering and the male perm.

Chohan went to Kokopelli on June 1, 2021 to have her hair cut by an employee identified only by the initial L.

She messaged L to complain later that night, and spoke by phone and text with Dar, who invited her to return so they could "try to fix her hair to her satisfaction" — an offer Chohan refused.

"She says the haircut was lopsided, there were clumps rather than curls at the bottom, and she had 'more frizzies' and wispy bits," wrote tribunal member Micah Carmody.

"In terms of technique, Ms. Chohan says L 'dry cut' her hair and 'snipped away randomly here and there', 'razor cut' her bangs, seemed distracted by another client, and failed to trim Ms. Chohan's split ends."

Dar argued that Chohan had "unreasonable expectations."

She said hair cells change over time, forcing stylists and customers to "do the best they can to work with what the client and the hair allow them to do."

"She also says split ends cannot be entirely removed without cutting a lot of the old hair off," Carmody wrote.

"I accept these undisputed statements."