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An obese woman was charged a $5 surcharge for being overweight at an Atlanta area nail salon. She feels this charge is discriminatory. The nail salon owner states the reason for the surcharge is that the chairs cost $2400 each and are costly to repair when damaged by customers exceeding the weight capacity of 200 lbs.
My question is: Should this surcharge be considered discriminatory or a legitimate cost of business increase?
"Woman Charged More by Dekaulb County Nail Salon for Being Overweight"
Seeded on Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:29 AM EDT
Article Source: WSBTV- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (3)
I don't believe this charge is any more discriminatory than the airlines charging for the extra seat needed to accomodate obese customers. If the cost of doing business is increased by taking on an extra risk factor or adds to the amount of effort (e.g. lifting and supporting heavier limbs), then the supplier of the service should be able to charge more to cover the increased costs. You would not go to the car wash and expect to pay the same for a detail on an Escalade that another customer is paying for his mini-cooper. Or pay a towing service the same amount to pull a vehicle 10ft out of a lake as would be charged to pull the same vehicle 10ft out of a 2ft deep ditch.
- 1 vote
#1 - Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:36 AM EDTHer nails were overweight? Huh?
Oh, the chairs they use in their nail salon have a max weight of 200lbs? That's dumb. Here in America although 200lbs is big for a woman, there are a lot of them that big around and I would expect a few to get their nails done. If she broke their chair it might be reasonable to ask her to pay for damages, but even then its a stretch as they should be properly equipped to handle their (probably somewhat diverse) clientele. I would also venture to point out that a man over 200lbs might not even be overweight and men do get their nails done too (not many, but some)
#2 - Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:43 PM EDTI don't think they are charging anyone who just looks like they might be 200+. This woman looked to weigh about 370+. I weigh 205 but most people would be surprised to know that. Think it perfectly reasonable to charge for the extra labor of lifting and manuevering a ++++ size leg, at the very least.... even if they did not charge for the extra wear on the chairs.
- 1 vote
#3 - Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:49 PM EDTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
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