What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
My parents have been running a hair salon in New York City for about 10 years and everything has been fine up until now. One or two weeks ago a customer came in for a hair straightening procedure. It's a very common procedure called 负离子 in Chinese, I don't really know its english equivalent. So anyway, she made payment after it was finished. She said she was satisfied with the result and reported no complications. Then she came back in 3 days and claims my parents damaged her hair , even though it's never happened to any other customers in the last 10 years as far as we know. She also demanded to have the money refunded (it was about $100-200). My parents' did not refund the customer's money and replied "We don't see any damage and even if there was how do we know that we're the ones responsible for the damage?". She left, then came back the next day with a police officer. The officer saw that we're running a legitimate hair salon with licenses and everything, so he left. She came back several more times throughout the following week accomplishing nothing more than making idle threats. Customer came back one last time with a camera to take pictures of the inside of the salon, without permission. Btw, isn't that illegal? It's not like there's anything shady inside to expose.
So yesterday, we got a letter saying that this person is taking legal action against us. It feels like my parents are being taken advantage of just because they don't speak English. At this rate we are about to go from poor to poorer. My question is this, what kind of counterclaims can I file against this person? and how can I best prove my parents' innocence in court without hiring a lawyer to represent us?
My parents have been running a hair salon in New York City for about 10 years and everything has been fine up until now. One or two weeks ago a customer came in for a hair straightening procedure. It's a very common procedure called 负离子 in Chinese, I don't really know its english equivalent. So anyway, she made payment after it was finished. She said she was satisfied with the result and reported no complications. Then she came back in 3 days and claims my parents damaged her hair , even though it's never happened to any other customers in the last 10 years as far as we know. She also demanded to have the money refunded (it was about $100-200). My parents' did not refund the customer's money and replied "We don't see any damage and even if there was how do we know that we're the ones responsible for the damage?". She left, then came back the next day with a police officer. The officer saw that we're running a legitimate hair salon with licenses and everything, so he left. She came back several more times throughout the following week accomplishing nothing more than making idle threats. Customer came back one last time with a camera to take pictures of the inside of the salon, without permission. Btw, isn't that illegal? It's not like there's anything shady inside to expose.
So yesterday, we got a letter saying that this person is taking legal action against us. It feels like my parents are being taken advantage of just because they don't speak English. At this rate we are about to go from poor to poorer. My question is this, what kind of counterclaims can I file against this person? and how can I best prove my parents' innocence in court without hiring a lawyer to represent us?