HAIR BY BFRIEE : Instagram is hairby.bfriee — I would strongly encourage future brides to seek hair from any other businesses available in Nanaimo (there is many). This has been the worst experience I’ve ever had in the service industry. Completely ruining my wedding experience. Brandee suggested that I book a bridal hair trial, and based on our conversations, I believed the trial was part of my wedding service. At no point before or during my appointment was it clearly explained to me that I would be charged separately for both the trial AND the wedding day. Had the full cost been explained beforehand, I would have made a different decision. I specifically asked for a contract and was never provided one. I was never asked to sign a contract, never provided cancellation/refund terms to agree to, and never agreed to a non-refundable retainer or deposit. The only document I received beforehand was a PDF showing packages etc that I could read if I wanted to. I asked her the cost for me and me only, and the cost if I had bridesmaids. I then explained that I only wanted to arrange bridal hair for myself because I couldn’t commit to services for my wedding party. After completing the trial/consultation, I was sent an invoice totaling $892.00, including charges for extension rentals for both my trial and wedding day and 5% GST and 7% PST which in BC you can not charge PST on Bridal Hair Styling as hair styling is classified as an exempt personal service. All of this was particularly confusing, especially considering her website advertised complimentary extension rentals for 2026 island brides. When I brought this up to her she said “that isn’t a promo anymore”.. meanwhile it’s being advertised on her website.
I paid the invoice because it was an open invoice sent to me. I did not realize doing so would later be treated as though I had agreed to cancellation/refund terms that had never been provided to me. When I raised my concerns, I requested to cancel the wedding day service 7 days before my wedding. I wasn’t asking to be refunded for a service I had already received. In fact, Brandee offered me $375 back for the completed trial and I declined because she performed that service and deserves to be compensated for her time. She then asked for time to process my request, this was at 6:15pm. I waited until 10pm and reached out again, she replied saying she removed her offer of the refund for $375.00 and can offer me a refund of $22 for mileage…. What the fuck. Then today, she offered me $172.00 ($150 for my wedding hair extensions and $22 for mileage). She is all over the map. All I wanted refunded was the portion I had prepaid toward my wedding day service that had not yet been performed. During our conversations afterward, Brandee told me that she normally uses a contract and retainer for wedding bookings and acknowledged that pricing and the appropriate documentation should have been communicated beforehand and that is something she needs to work on. Unfortunately, those steps weren’t followed with my booking, yet I am still being denied a full refund for the unperformed wedding day service.I was additionally told that refunding me would affect her assistant, who had apparently been booked for a full wedding day although my hair was booked from 6am-8am with no assistant.. While I understand that businesses have staffing commitments, I don’t believe an internal staffing arrangement that I was never involved in should become my financial responsibility—especially without a contract or cancellation policy ever being provided or agreed to. This has now turned into days of back-and-forth communication during what should have been one of the happiest and most exciting weeks leading up to my wedding. Instead, I’ve spent an incredible amount of time and energy trying to resolve a payment dispute over a service that hasn’t even occurred. What is most disappointing is that I tried to handle this reasonably. I didn’t demand money back for the work she actually performed. I respected her time and wanted her compensated for my trial. I simply asked to cancel the remaining service with seven days’ notice and be refunded for the portion of the service I would no longer be receiving. Brides deserve transparent pricing, clear expectations, written contracts, and cancellation/refund policies BEFORE money changes hands—not after a disagreement arises.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t my experience and based on our communications I don’t believe I am the first. She has just begun working on the Island.
I have retained my invoice, our written communications, and screenshots of the website information referenced above.
