Wednesday, August 25, 2010
News DeKalb Co. nail salon charges extra for being overweight
Posted by Alexandria Jud on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 12:16 PM
A DeKalb County nail salon is making national headlines after charging a customer an extra five dollars for being overweight.
40-year-old Michelle Fonville says she was outraged by the added fee and has planned a protest outside the salon later this week. But, while Fonville is calling it discrimination, salon owner Kim Tan who issued the surcharge says it covers the cost of damage done to their pedicure chairs by overweight clients. The chairs in the Natural Nails salon in Lithonia, Ga. can only hold 200 pounds and cost $2,500 to repair.
Tan has made no apologies and told reporters the additional charge was justified: “Do you think that’s fair when we take $24 [for manicure and pedicure] and we have to pay $2,500? Is that fair? No.”
With more than a third of adults in this country overweight, it just doesn't seem logical for a salon to install chairs with such a restrictive weight capacity in the first place.
Tan also admits to charging Fonville more money because it took longer to do her nails, which has no correlation with a person's weight.
The salon did ultimately refund the money to Fonville but told her not to come back in the future. Now, as Fonville and the media spread the word about her humiliating experience, it looks like she won't be the only one taking her business elsewhere. The negative publicity that's ensued will probably end up costing the salon much more than a few repairs to a pedicure chair.
“The word has to get out there that these people are discriminating against us because of our weight," Fonville said. "I mean come on, we’re in America. You can’t do that.”
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
is it wrong to assume that the overweight lady who planned to protest outside the store will probably just stay in the air conditioning and snack instead?
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i mean, i know that it's not nice to say that out loud, but would it be incorrect?
It probably cost more for the lotion to rub on her big, obese feet. And takes more time to chisel away the crust between her fat toes because they never get to breathe. An extra $5 is justified.
Look, I've been on the heftier side of the scale at 319. Then I went down to 160 something and I'm back up to 221. All being said, if I'm too heavy for a chair, I'm too heavy for a chair. This is a free country and girlfriend can bitch all she wants about it -- it won't do her a damn bit of good.
While I feel for those who are larger, dammit, eat some carrots and get on your walking shoes.
Losing weight is one of the hardest things in life to do maybe this will be motivating.
I don't see how this experience could be any more humiliating for Miss Fonville than the every-day experience of being obese and visible to the rest of society.
"The word has to get out there that these people are discriminating against us because of our weight," Fonville said.
what does she mean "these people"???
If she continues to be charged for being too heavy this will lead to feeling less humiliated as the weight issue is pointed out more often.
pete, i question your logic here (as in many other areas, actually).
if her weight is point out more often, she will feel embarassed more often.
and likely, eat more often.
I think over time that dealing with the consequences of weight more often might turn into something other than humiliation.
How is it acceptable that you all feel free to question the hygiene of this woman, the application of amount of lotion, the amount of food she does or does not eat, and yet the issue is about a service provider charging extra to be prejudicial?
Would it be acceptable if someone said these things to your mother, your sister, your girlfriend or wife? Would you be such a raging jackass to say these things to people's faces, or is it just the anonymity of the internet that allows you to feel superior? Guess what?- your ignorance doesn't make me or any other fat person feel humiliated. It gives us another rallying point to prove that we are discriminated against, and provides solidarity.
Here's a different solution. Ms. Tan should buy better quality chairs. A chair rated for only 200 lbs is substandard equipment, which makes me wonder where else the little size Nazi is cutting corners. Formaldehyde in the nail polish, perhaps? Sub-minimum wage for her workers? I wouldn't doubt it.
Good for the Salon.
I hate fat people. Look in any parking lot. The vast majority of disabled parking spaces are not used by the truly disabled. They're used by fat lazy people whose knees and ankles have given out from all the weight placed on them every day. These are the people who should be parking at the end of the lot and walking across the lot. Probably the most exercise they'd get in a year.
How can we ask someone to accept responsibility for their actions? When we should ask oursleves how can I appease people more. I will do as I please and everybody will pay because of it.
Can we ever get a loser pays law in our court system? HS!
Well I think this story is hilarious. Perhaps I should take a side, but as an attractive gentleman at a healthy weight who doesn't get his manis and pedis at fly-by-night nail salons, I'm finding it hard to be sympathetic to either party. All I can do is laugh, and I'm comfortable with that.
This is ridiculous. She needs to get better chairs.
Good on Alexandria for covering this, and I'm glad they are getting the publicity they have earned themselves.
I'm not sure why the name isn't mentioned, but it's Natural Nails on Covington Hwy - http://www.yelp.com/biz/natural-nails-lith…
The obese are not discriminated against because the jokes are funny.
They're discriminated against because they require and consume more resources (food, space, energy and health care expenditures, which EVERYONE must share the burden of) than a normal-sized person. That may not justify discrimination, but it is also no reason for society to coddle the obese and cater to their mass.
Solidarity in obesity...that's rich.
@WWW: Part of it was having a near-fatal bout of clostridium difficile, causing me to lose my appetite for a while, then deciding to use that as a boost for me to start working out intensely and doing cardio for 60 min 7 days a week, and eating fewer calories.
@Pete: Unfortunately no one but the person his/her self can accept responsibility, which leads me to believe that idiocracy will reach critical mass in 2015.
Should the Bill of Rights be amended to protect over weight people? No discrimination based on weight? Solidarity in Obesity! Celebrate Obesity!
$30.00 for the service is very fair so pay it
go somewhere that dont charge afee
But rptrcup - can't society at least help to contribute our money through taxes or higher fees paid for services because said services are having to accomodate larger people that will mean they have to expend additional capital dollars on larger folks needs like larger chairs etc...?
Wouldn't/Can't we all chip in a little extra to provide for obese people and their larger chair needs and their other needs?
first of all, the idea of getting your nails done is to look good. obviously her fat cells are blocking up her logic so she couldnt see past the irony there
just because your miserable and exceed weight limits doesnt mean you need to make like godzilla (um no pun intended) and spit fatfire on everyone
at least the salon had enough balls to tell her what they really thought."you fat, we charge you five dolla". aannnd they had a solid business reason. no business person would let that shit slide. i think every woman that goes into a nail salon can admit that the manicurist are talking about you in a different language anyways.
God what kind of world are we living in for this to make news?? ohh yeah, America-the most OBESE country in the world.
Resputia called, she wants her 5$BACK Too.
They charge me extra for pedicures at the nail salon because I wear a size 12, something like $2 more. I feel the cost is justified because my foot is as big as those little Vietnamese ladies' torso.
Hateful comments aside--and as a woman who works out religiously and is committed to a healthy lifestyle, but is 5'9", 6 months pregnant, and weighing in at over 200, some of the comments were pretty damn un-funny--it does seems as if they should invest in some sturdier equipment. The obesity epidemic is a real problem, to be sure, but so is the economic crisis and it does not behoove a small business to implement a policy that is bound to alienate its customers.
A small business like this probably does not have the luxury of "investing in sturdier equipment." If it is clearly posted in the store that overweight/heavy/large people are subject to additional fees, I have absolutely no problem with it. It should be clear for consumers though.
@ DrivebyTrucker--Apparently it's not posted. The customer had patronized that shop before and had never been subjected to a fee. And why would the owner tell her about the surcharge AFTER the fact? That's shady as hell...
I really could care less and the customer should feel the same way. There are ignorant people everywhere. Just look at the some of the comments on this post. There will always be people who hate/dislike you because of who your are, whether it be your weight, your religion, your race, or your beliefs. Sometimes those ignorant people come in the form of business owners. When that's the case, the best way to combat their ignorance is to just not patronize them. Besides, Natural Nails is a crappy place anyway.
I'm not against extra charges for people with more mass when that additional mass costs the business more to deal with, but I don't understand the animosity in the comments that seems to extend far beyond this story to fat people in general. There's a disturbing inclination for a lot of people (not just in the comments here) to see obesity as a moral failing.
Back when Creative Loafing began, I was a young, slender, red-haired, professional woman. Readers back then were intelligent, thought-provoking movers and shakers against the "establishment", hippies, so to speak; we integrated the South, we sat down to learn about one another and made sure everyone was treated with humanity...today, as I read the above comments, I am stunned and so disappointed that this CL readership is so childish, unschooled, ignorant and apparently racially- and socially-biased. Had this been a "fat" caucasian woman, I can't imagine the same rancor and bitterness being spewed.
This salon, from its grand opening, has a history of brazenly overt racist tactics; they sell fairly expensive gift certificates for specified nail services, but refuse to give recipients/customers those specified nail services (and always try to change the terms of the certificate - I'm a lawyer, so that in itself is illegal) and will curse you out if you ask for exactly those services. They refuse to refund certificate monies (which is an act of bait-and-switc - or as you need to learn - fraud), and leave a terribly bitter taste in your mouth.
Let me ask you, if this happened to your mother if she were fat, what would you feel and do? Read further: As a professional woman, I am required to "look good"; I get regular massages, and have fairly beautiful feet (I was once a model); however, when I went to get a pedicure there a while ago, after the pedicure, the technician sprayed the tub with OVEN CLEANER as I stood there and waited to get my nails done. I left without paying and told all my friends to boycott.
I went to another salon and, because I objected to the cheap nail tips she tried to substitute, instead of the ones I requested, the technician angrily TORE the one nail off that she had applied, which damaged my natural nail. Both businesses went out of business and popped up at other locations in DeKalb and Cobb counties; they just pick up, move somewhere else, and change the name!
The majority of their customers are black women, and, unfortunately, these ignorant non-English-speaking immigrant women have learned (from people like those who made ignorant comments above) that it's okay to denigrate black women, professional or not, even though probably 90% of their business is with black women.
I now have my nails done by a very pleasant caucasian woman in Marietta who treats me well - especially since I am a great tipper! She may hate me, but she never lets on until I leave the salon.
I think it's time for us to learn the trade for ourselves and put these racist people out of business! We put Rich's (Federated Stores) and Macy's (Davison's) out of business in the late 60s because of racist tactics, and we can do the same ANYWHERE just starting with a small, powerful BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT! Something you young folks don't know anything about and never experienced.
Be nice, young people, stop hating...one day soon, you or your fat mama may need a fatter person to hide behind when..."they" begin "the persecution". Remember I said this.
Maybe i missed something in the article but i never got the idea this woman in question was black.
@RedCarolina: The last time I checked, Macy's was still in operation, and Rich's doesn't exist in name anymore because Federated decided to remove the nameplate.
As a Professional Barber with both male and female clients has owned my shop for 30 Years in the same location and very successful.I have 5 chairs aLL constantly full from opening to close and all equipped to seat obese people comfortably. If I charged my customers for being over-weight I would'nt have lasted 30 years in the business. I was over-weight at one time weighing 232 lbs at the height of 5"2 but now weigh less than 130 lbs but during my over-weight period I was always well dressed with nails and toes groomed. I never felt comfortable in the Asian shops due to the fact they always spoke to each other in their native language with no regards for their customers feelings even when you knew they were speaking about you by their body movements and expressions. So I took a nail tech course and now do my own manicure and pedicure or have one of the cosmotologist in my shop provide the service. I would never humilate a client by suggesting they pay an additional charge for being over-weight. That makes as much sense as charging a customers higher rates for having large heads now who has control of a person head size. God!!! Should I ask him? As a female barber it was hard to build a male based clientele 30 years ago and I would never have made my business a success if my customers has to pay extra for being a big-man.
Sounds like bad business. Takes 500 "fat" people to pay for 1 broken chair. Buy some sturdier chairs. Does the extra 5 apply to men also?
Being an overweight person myself, I would take an offense to this also, as well as some of the comments on here. Do you even know why the woman is overweight? It could be that there is a medical reason she is overweight, you don't know her or why she is the way she is. DO you? You are judging her on what you believe to be that this person eats all day and does nothing but sit around. Also as far as the owners of most nail salons being Asian, Did you know that they see being overweight as a crime in most of the countries. One of the reasons South Korea has a high suicide rate. Guess that didn't occur to all you who like to spew hate. The owner knowing that the chair had a weight limit yet still seated the woman in the chair, that's the owner taking the risk of the chair being broken. If you know something has a weight limit why sit someone who is over that capacity in it?
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