Hair Hall of BLAME!

BRUCE, Miss. (WTVA) -- A trip to the hair salon leaves one customer partially bald. Now owner of the shop and the power provider are in a debate over who is to blame.

When a woman goes into a salon, the last thing she probably expects is to come out partially bald .

"I was getting color put in and the lights went out and there was no way to get it out of my hair in time," the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, said.

Tessa Mingo, the owner of People's Choice Hair Salon said her customer's hair is the end result of her salon's power being cut off by mistake without warning.

"I know I just paid my bill on the 19th so there was no reason for my power to get cut off," Mingo said.

Mingo showed WTVA News the papers to prove she paid, but she said the money she gave the power association was applied to her residential account rather than her business account. That led to her power being disconnected, and she said it leaves her credibility in question.

Mingo said, "If she goes home to try to explain it to her friends and relatives and family, will they come back?"

WTVA went to the Pontotoc Electric Power Association to get the other side of the story.

WTVA News reporter Kalisha Whitman said, "We received a complaint from a customer saying that her power was cut off at her beauty salon by mistake. Do you have a statement regarding that?"

Bob Wells, the district manager of the Bruce location of the Pontotoc Electric Power Association said, "Only that the fact that we can't discuss customer accounts because a privacy act is involved that would be as far as I can go. I'm sorry."

For the customer the issue is not about who is at fault, but rather the price she had to pay.

"I feel terrible about this situation because I came in and I wasn't expecting to leave out like this," the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, said.

The power has been restored, but the debate over who is to blame has yet to be resolved. However, the customer said the price she had to pay drastically changed her life.

Pontotoc Electric Power Association does not service the water, however the owner of the salon said she needed the hot and cold water properly remove the chemicals from her customers head. The owner said the hot water did not work as a result of the power being disconnected.

photo: Alvin Ivy, WTVA./Story by Kalisha Whitman, WTVA.