A Toronto salon customer who got nail extensions and a pedicure ended up in a street tussle with the owner over a $165 bill as onlookers watched and recorded the incident on video.
The salon owner says the woman had just left the business without paying.
“We try our best to make money and save money for our family,” said Quan Vu, owner of Savage Nails Lounge on Roncesvalles Avenue, which has been open less than one year.
On July 7, Vu says a woman booked an evening appointment at the salon. After the services were performed, Vu told Global News the woman attempted to settle the bill with a credit card but the transaction didn’t go through.
He said she told him she was waiting for an electronic funds transfer from a friend.
But the woman slipped out of the store without paying, Vu said.
Instinctively, Vu says he ran out the front door after the woman.
Cellphone videos recorded by Vu’s brother and another staff member show the customer walking away and Vu and others blocking her several times on the street.
Walking on the sidewalk for about two minutes, the video at various points shows the unidentified woman pushing Vu from behind, punching him in the chest, and striking him on the back of his head.
Global News saw bruises on Vu’s chest. He declined to go to hospital for examination.
“And she scratched me with her nails,” Vu said, referring to the freshly dried nails that a technician had just finished inside the salon.
Vu shared his experience in an Instagram video, which was widely viewed. He says he was contacted by several other business owners and viewers, some of whom shared what they said was the woman’s name.
Toronto police responded to Vu’s salon on Friday and a detective showed up Wednesday as Global News arrived. They seized the woman’s cellphone, which had been dropped on the street during the altercation.
Police confirm they are investigating but no charges have been laid so far.
Vu says he has a loyal clientele and repeat customers and the incident hasn’t affected his perspective.
“We live in a beautiful city, people are nice here,” said Vu, who moved to Toronto from Vietnam about six years ago.
But asked if he’d pursue a customer again on the street over a billing dispute, Vu smiles.
“If it happened next time, probably not.”
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