Mum refused a refund after piercing was put through her lip

than a centimetre away.” Justine returned to the shop to complain and now intends to report the piercer to watchdogs.

She said: “I called to complain but when the manager told me to leave it a week I went in to see them the next day and asked for my money back.

“The woman just refused. She said ‘giving you your money isn’t going to fix it’ and told me to wait and she would do it again.

“I said I just wanted a refund but she refused.”

When the Record contacted Savoy Beauty about Justine’s claims, the manager responded by email to defend the store.

She wrote: “The piercing was done correctly and as with any type of piercing there will be swelling and it takes time for the swelling to subside and also for the piercing to heal.

“Only then you will see that it’s in the correct position.

“We explained to her about the swelling and that it would best to keep it in until this had subsided.”

The salon said that Justine had not followed their aftercare instructions and added they had attempted to contact her by telephone “several times”.

But Justine insisted: “No-one has tried to call me.

“I have had no voicemail messages. Not one single phone call. Despite what they may say, no amount of swelling is going to move a piercing. It has gone through my lip not underneath it where it should have been. You can’t hide that.”

After the Record began investigating Justine’s claims, Emma Williams, 14, told us a navel piercing she’d had done at the same salon in July 2016 had left her scarred for life.

Emma, 14, from Kirkintilloch, said: “I went to Savoy Beauty with my mum and a lady did the piercing for me. It was one of the first ones I ever had done but instantly I knew something was wrong. There was swelling and it was painful.

“Another piercer I went to for advice said they had put an 8mm bar rather than a 12mm bar in, which was far too short and it was becoming embedded in my skin.”

Emma claims her requests for a refund from the shop were also refused. She said: “I went to complain and the woman told me they hadn’t done it there, which of course they had.

“The whole thing was a mess and had to be removed. I’ve been left with a scar.”

In response to Emma’s claims, Savoy Beauty said they had no record of Emma on their books.

In an email, the manager said: “We are now receiving this information about the complaint after a year through you, but nothing from the individual.

“It seems that people are contacting you with ambiguous or untrue claims on which you are trying to base a story.”

The woman said ‘giving you your money back isn’t going to fix it’ JUSTINE LENNIE