I ordered a £3,000 wig but it’s the wrong colour and slips. Why can’t I get a full refund? SALLY SORTS IT
A reader ordered a bespoke £3,077 wig from London wig maker Raoul in August 2025, paying a £1,455 deposit upfront and the balance when it was completed in November. Despite three rounds of adjustments, the wig remained the wrong colour and continued to slip, so the customer rejected the salon's offer of further alterations and requested a full refund instead. When NatWest processed a chargeback, it initially returned only £1,622, ruling the original deposit ineligible because it had been paid too long before the claim was raised, prompting the customer to seek help from the Daily Mail's consumer champion.
Money Mail intervened, arguing that the customer had a strong case since chargeback time limits can be flexible when goods are paid for well in advance of delivery, and asked NatWest to reopen the dispute. The bank admitted its original refusal was an error, refunded the remaining £1,455 in full, apologised for falling short of expected standards, and sent a goodwill hamper. Raoul said it had made reasonable efforts to resolve the fit and colour concerns and had offered further salon visits, which the customer declined.
- Customer denied full refund on faulty £3,077 bespoke wig via NatWest chargeback.
- NatWest initially withheld £1,455 deposit, citing timing rules.
- After Money Mail intervened, NatWest admitted error and refunded in full.
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Wig maker Raoul is a London firm that produces bespoke, custom-fitted wigs to order, a process that typically involves an upfront deposit followed by a balance payment once the piece is finished and fitted. A customer commissioned one such wig in 2025 but was left unhappy with both its colour and fit, even after the salon made several attempts to correct it, leading to a standoff over whether the customer was entitled to their money back.
When a purchase goes wrong, UK bank customers can sometimes recover payments through a "chargeback," a process where the card-issuing bank reverses the transaction with the retailer. These claims are subject to time limits, but banks have some discretion, particularly for goods paid for well ahead of delivery. In this case, NatWest initially refunded only part of the money, deeming the earlier deposit outside the eligible window.
This is one in a long-running series of consumer disputes handled by the Daily Mail's Money Mail column, in which readers ask for help resolving problems with retailers, banks or service providers after their own attempts have stalled. It illustrates how disputes over bespoke or custom-made goods can be harder to resolve than standard retail purchases, since dissatisfaction can be subjective and refund rules are not always straightforward.