The complex battle between Black hairstylists and their clients

Joanna Georges, 22, of New Jersey, was excited to get her hair done. She had contacted Alexis Antoine on social media to get box braids, and paid the $100 deposit to secure her 6 a.m. spot on Antoine’s schedule for Sept. 2. But the night before, Georges said, Antoine pushed her appointment, first to 8 a.m, then 9 a.m., then to 10 a.m.

“I had a feeling after waking up and seeing my appointment was pushed back that it just wasn’t going to work out,” Georges told NBC News. Still, she said she made the 20-minute walk to Antoine’s home for the appointment, only to get no response from the stylist.

“I’m just waiting outside her house for an hour,” she recalled. “I finally made my way home and she texted me, like, ‘I’m so sorry. I fell asleep.’”

The botched appointment set off a monthslong ordeal, with Georges urging Antoine on social media to return her security deposit. Georges said Antoine repeatedly gave excuses for not sending back the money and continued to put it off. Unsuccessful, Georges ultimately decided to sue Antoine in small claims court in Hudson County’s Superior Court of New Jersey. Georges said it wasn’t about the money, but the principle.

“I really just want people to stand up for themselves,” Georges said. “I felt I had no other choice.”

Georges is one of countless Black women who have taken to social media in recent months to complain about the state of the Black hair industry. From TikTok to Instagram, clients have detailed situations where stylists have canceled on them at the last minute, failed to finish their hair, overcharged for services, and subjected them to rules and policies they deemed inappropriate and unreasonable. The complaints represent a seeming shift as more amateurs become unlicensed