A livid beautician has been left counting the cost after two ‘botox bandits’ fled her clinic without settling their bill.
Jade Adams is out of pocked by more than £500 after the brazen mum and daughter scarpered following their treatment.
The businesswoman, who runs Jade Louise Aesthetics in Coventry, fell victim to the scammers on Monday afternoon.
CoventryLive report the pair contacted Jade via Instagram requesting botox and lip filler treatments costing £510.
They "made excuses" about paying a deposit upfront but the owner decided to proceeded with the booking anyway. She claims they faked a phone call to step outside and didn't return to settle the bill.
Jade, 28, who has run the business for 18 months, said: “They were two ladies, a mum and a daughter - at least they claimed to be a mum and a daughter - and booked through Instagram and kept putting off paying a deposit.
“The daughter had her treatment first, she had lip filler. Afterwards she said she needed to go out to call a nail lady her mum had an appointment with saying she was going to be late. Then the mum had her treatments - botox and lip filler.
“Afterwards she said she just needed to go outside to grab her daughter as she had her phone. I didn’t think anything of it as she had left her coat on the chair.”
Jade did go out almost immediately after and said the woman was gone. At that point she knew they had done a runner, literally.
“Within 15 seconds she was gone,” said Jade. “She must have run from my door to the end of the car park and was gone.”
West Midlands Police have confirmed an allegation of theft has been reported.
In the wake of the incident Jade had an ace up her sleeve. She had taken photos of the older woman, as she does with most clients.
She then posted on Facebook regarding the incident, along with the photo of the woman.
Her post has been shared 600 times and it elicited responses regarding the older woman with a number of people saying she had targeted several beauty businesses across the area and allegedly carried out similar scams.
Jade said the incident had upset her and that she would be more strict in taking deposits in the future. She said: "I felt upset. It’s a lot of money to lose when you’re running a business on your own. I think I will also make sure I take deposits.
“In the past I have been very lenient. You don’t want to turn people away.
“But I think I will always have to get a deposit now, unless it is a regular client.”
However, the interest generated in the wake of her Facebook post and publicity surrounding it means Jade has had an influx of new customers.
“There is a silver lining,” she said. “I have got a lot more business because people have seen the story so I take a positive from it.”
