Tanning Salon Tells Woman She’s Too Fat To Bronze, Won’t Give Refund

(WKYC)

(WKYC)

No one can escape the laws of physics, but businesses should at least try to follow the rule of “don’t sell people things that you have no intention of providing.” An Ohio woman claims that a local tanning salon sold her a monthly package for $70, then told her that she wouldn’t be allowed to use most of the beds because she’s too fat.

It’s not because the shop’s owner has some bias against middle-aged obese people in bikinis. No, like we said: no one can escape the laws of physics. The owner claims that larger people lying on the clear acrylic that covers the ultraviolet lights on the tanning beds wears it out more quickly, leading to cracked acrylic that has to be replaced. and larger people are relegated to stand-up tanning beds. That’s cool, said the customer, but that wasn’t mentioned during her tour of the facility. She asked for a refund so she could go somewhere else. The store manager refused, and suggested that perhaps she file a chargeback with her credit card company.

“We do have a lot of bigger people that came in here and they know that they can’t go into the laydown beds because they are so, you know, they are bigger,” a store employee helpfully explained to local news station WKYC. That’s fair, but what’s the cutoff for “bigger”? The news station checked with other local tanning facilities, and they either don’t impose weight limits or make it clear to customers of size which beds they’re allowed to use.

The customer claims that she wasn’t told about this limit, which is 230 pounds, when she looked at the facility and signed up for a month of tanning.

Akron: Woman told she was “too fat” to tan by salon [WKYC]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.