Woman loses chunks of hair after suspected thermostat malfunction with ghd straightener

The woman's hair before and after she burned it curling it with her ghd straighteners. Photo: supplied

A woman who lost large lengths of hair after a suspected thermostat malfunction with her ghd hair straightener was fuming at the initial lacklustre response from the haircare giant.

The woman, who does not want to be named, said she was mortified when she went to curl her hair back in June and a large amount burnt off in her hand.

“I went to curl it and when I was doing the first section I noticed it was burning hot in my hand,” the woman said.

“I swapped hands and tried to uncurl it and big chunks came away.”

The woman said there was no warning and the unusually hot appliance burnt the fingertips of both hands.

The straightener also left scorch marks on her dresser.

“The smell of burning hair was awful and it came back every time I washed it for a few weeks after,” she said.

“More hair would fall out in my hands every time I washed it for a few weeks after. It was so burnt and damaged.”

Large chunks of the woman's hair burnt off immediately and more fell out for weeks each time she washed it. Photo / Supplied

She said the straighteners had worked perfectly in the more than five years she had owned them.

The woman contacted ghd immediately concerned about the safety aspect but said after an initial couple of offers she was ignored.

The company initially offered her a 15 per cent discount on a replacement pair of straighteners.

“I went on the website to purchase and saw they are having a 15 per cent off sale at the time anyway.”

She then went back to the company and said she was offered 30 per cent off.

“I went online again to order and tried to use the 30 per cent off code and that didn’t work.”

She claimed all other correspondence had been ignored and she said an Instagram post she made on the company page was removed.

“I thought they would be all over it because it was so dangerous and so unexpected,” she said.

“I think if they had come back and showed concern I would have been happier but there was nothing. I was just ignored.”

When contacted by the Herald senior staff at ghd immediately contacted the woman and apologised for her experience and treatment.

“Her experience certainly fell short of our high standards,” ghd said in an email.

“We have asked for the tool to be returned to us for diagnostic testing (at our cost) so we can better understand what happened and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The company said it had been affected by staff shortages and had to hire casual staff in consumer-facing positions.

“In reviewing all the communications this afternoon, ghd have lacked empathy and adequate support, and for that we apologise.”

The woman was then offered an opportunity to meet with an expert to check on the health of her hair and was gifted a new-model replacement tool.

The company was reviewing internal processes to manage customer feedback.

“We will review to put steps in place to ensure we improve going forward.”

The woman said she has managed to hide the damage by wearing longer layers over the damage.

Abby Damen from Consumer NZ said because the product was marketed as top-of-the-line it was expected they would be able to be safely used for more than 5 years.

“Given they’ve stopped working properly, we think the consumer is within her rights to ask the seller for a full refund or replacement,” Damen said.

The woman could also claim any losses suffered because of the incident.

“She’d also be within her rights to ask for any other losses she suffered as a result of the ghd’s burning her hair. For example, if she had to pay for a haircut to trim her burned hair, she could claim this back too.”

Kirsty Wynn is an Auckland-based journalist with more than 20 years of experience in New Zealand newsrooms. She has covered everything from crime and social issues to the property market and has a current focus on consumer affairs.