JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local business closed its doors leaving customers with questions about how they will get their prepaid money back. Prose Nails Mandarin Boutique closed, but still owes hundreds of dollars in services.
News4JAX talked with one of the owners who said he is working to refund customers. Stephen Hixon said his business couldn’t recover from the pandemic, but he plans to refund customers the money they paid for services they never got.
“I want my money back,” one customer told us. “I want to be refunded for all of those credits that were accrued.”
News4JAX first learned about this through a Prose customer. She told us she prepaid every month for a manicure/pedicure package and continued paying while Prose was closed during COVID-19.
She showed us proof of her transactions -- she had a balance of more than $600 for prepaid services but when she went in last month to the salon, she was told their policy had changed and her credits didn’t count anymore.
“She said you are no longer allowed to use those credits. We changed the terms of our agreement,” the customer told us. “She said you were e-mailed a copy of that. Well, I never received an e-mail.”
When she tried to set up an appointment, she told us their app no longer listed the location. But her account still showed she had $600 in credits. She then found a post on Instagram that said the business had closed.
According to state records, the business opened in 2019 before the pandemic and was managed under “business partners and an LLC” registered to Stephen Hixon.
He told News4JAX in a statement, “Unfortunately, PROSE Nails Mandarin boutique had to make a difficult business decision to close operations due to COVID and the economic environment. As a small business, we were unable to recover.” The statement continues, “We are working as expeditiously as possible with all members to refund memberships for the month of June and any prepaid amounts. We appreciate our customers patience during this difficult time.”