She sent you these wigs, but she doesn't have any money.
She didn't want to reply, and she just blocked me.
Like, you're messing up my business.
- I don't care. - If I pulled up...
Nobody is listening to you.
Okay, well, can I leave?
No.
[narrator] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Fatoumata Diallo is suing salon owner,
Kaniyah Taylor, for five wigs.
[bailiff] Court, come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, please.
Hello, Judge. Case #2008, Diallo versus Taylor.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Briefly, and then I'll get into specifics.
- You sold over the Internet some wigs. - Mm-hmm.
You claim you sold them to the Defendant.
[Judy] They were charged on a credit card.
According to you, it was the Defendant's credit card. You shipped the wigs.
The Defendant, according to you, received the wigs,
then challenged the credit card charge,
and the charge was reversed so that you did not get your money.
and Miss Taylor kept the wigs. It's Miss Taylor's claim
that you never sold her the wigs, that you sold the wigs to clients of hers,
and if they didn't pay you, that's not her problem.
Is that your defense?
Yes, Your Honor.
Okay. Yes, ma'am. Stop jumping up and down because it makes me seasick.
Okay.
[Judy whispers] Stand still.
[whispers] I can't.
[Judy] You can't. Do you want a stool to sit on?
- No. - You sure?
I just have anxiety.
Okay. Miss Diallo, how long had you been in the Online wig business?
Three years now.
And on what date did Miss Taylor contact you?
[Fatoumata] October 1st of 2021.
[Judy] Had you ever dealt with her before?
I haven't. A customer of mine actually referred her to me.
You had not dealt with her before?
- Correct. - [Judy] And her first order was for what?
A 34 inch deep wave wig unit.
I don't know what that is. Tell me how much it cost you.
$391.00.
[Judy] And how much did you charge Miss Taylor?
$491.96.
- [Judy] And you shipped it to her? - [Fatoumata] No, I didn't.
[Judy] Where did you ship it?
Right now I didn't ship anything, at the moment.
Okay, so she ordered the first one for $491?
Yes. And then after that, I shipped after.
[Judy] How many did she order, all in total?
In total, five.
Within what period of time?
In the span of four days.
Okay. And Miss Taylor, you do not deny the fact that five wigs were ordered
in a conversation over the Internet with the Plaintiff.
Mm-hmm.
- [Judy] Uh-huh is not an answer. - Yes, ma'am.
Do you have a copy of those orders?
- [Fatoumata] Yes, ma'am. - I'd like to see them, please.
- Who's Joyce? - One of my clients.
- Your Honor, that's her. - [Judy] Ssh!
- Do you have a Mastercard? - No, ma'am.
- [Judy] Did you ever? - No, ma'am.
- [Judy] Do you have any credit card? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] How long has Joyce been a client of yours?
Probably about a year.
When you say she's a client of yours, she comes to your salon?
- Yes, my apartment. - [Judy] You have a salon?
No, I do hair out of my apartment.
- So she comes to your apartment? - Yes, ma'am.
And how do you know when she wants to come for an appointment?
She'll text me, she'll DM me.
Okay, so she texts you, which means she texts you from a phone.
Right.
Which means that you have your phone, which shows her text messages.
- Not-not... - [Judy] What do you mean "not-not"?
If she texts you for an appointment, then you know how to contact her,
and she knows how to contact you.
I want to see that, I want to call her.
- I don't have that phone anymore. - [Judy] Get it.
You have to understand where I'm going. Do you understand?
- Yes, I understand perfectly. - [Judy] You understand.
- Who is that? - My boyfriend.
[Judy] Your boyfriend? What does he have to do with this?
Because he was at the house when her and someone else came to the door.
- [Judy] I don't care. - Okay.
If I were coming to court today, and I knew that there was gonna be
a certain amount of proof that involved some person who is named Joyce.
And order confirmation email was sent to Joyce at your email address.
[Kaniyah] Right.
[Judy] Right. And Joyce is somebody who was a client of yours for a year,
not too long ago, who's no longer a client of yours.
Mm-hmm.
[Judy] Not uh-huh. Uh-huh isn't an answer.
- Yes is an answer. - Yes, ma'am.
But you can't give me her number to call because you lost your phone.
Yes, and she blocked me after I started asking her about the dispute.
Just a second. Well, that's two different things.
She may have blocked your number. She won't block my number.
That's not what you told me. You told me you don't have that phone anymore.
- I don't. But she blocked me. - [Judy] Just a second.
- How do I know that? - [Kaniyah] I don't know.
How do I know that? Yeah, right. Okay.
Dora Dynasty. Is that your...
Yes, that's my business name.
Well, these wigs were sent to Dora Dynasty.
- Right. - [Judy] Right. I know right.
And who is ...?
A client.
[Judy] And is ... still your client?
- [Kaniyah] No. - [Judy] No. Okay.
You seem to be having a lot of trouble in your business.
How? I've been having this trouble ever since the wigs have got delivered,
and she hit me about a dispute.
[laughs] Let me explain something to you.
You purchased the wigs. Based upon her conversation...
Just pay careful attention to me. They were all delivered to you.
Right.
That means you bought them. If somebody stiffed you, that's not her problem.
But according to her, and you acknowledge, that she sent you five wigs.
- Mm-hmm. - [Judy] And the...
Uh-huh is not an answer.
- Do you understand? - Yes.
You're following me? Okay.
What was the total value of her purchase?
$2,196.
[Judy] And can I see the reversal of that charge on your credit card?
Yes, ma'am.
Now, at some point, your credit card was charged.
At some point, your credit card was charged. That's either a yes or a no.
No.
[Judy] Whose credit card was charged?
- My clients. - Which client?
I'm not sure. Whichever wig she said was disputed.
You said in your answer you kept all the wigs.
No, I didn't. I didn't keep all the wigs. They got delivered to my house.
Two of them I installed, and the rest they picked up.
"The wigs got shipped directly to my salon."
The wigs shipped to my apartment 'cause I was gonna do their hair.
I told them about the vendor.
Are you trying to tell me that despite the records that she has,
that you were the contact person on all of this?
- Right. - [Judy] Nobody else.
- Right. Right. - [Judy] Just you.
That you gave these wigs to somebody else?
- Four other people. - They paid for 'em.
- They paid who? - [Kaniyah] They paid her.
They paid for the wigs, and they got them shipped to my house.
Were four different people charged for the wigs?
- Yes. Yes. - [Judy] Four different people?
She did five different transactions.
Are you telling me that the five different transactions were all her?
- All her. - That makes my life easy.
So what you're saying to me, she charged it on five different cards?
- Yes. - [Judy] But she is all of those people.
- All of them. - [Judy] I'd like to see it.
Please.
And Your Honor, she also admits it on Twitter.
She doesn't actually know I have her Twitter account.
And this is how she gets them. She orders, she...
May I just see it, please?
See how you're smiling? Bad. She should have left you home.
- Ma'am, please. - Do you understand?
She should have left you home.
No, they're just not communicating right.
They ain't communicating right.
Still, not a good look from you.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Fatoumata Diallo claims salon owner,
Kaniyah Taylor, owes for the cost of five wigs.
- What's Beauty? - That's her business name.
Business Twitter.
- I don't have a Twitter. - Right.
I have an instagram. Two of 'em. And a business page.
That's what I have. I don't have a Twitter.
- Do you have my instagram? - I do.
Don't talk to each other. Don't ask her any questions.
- That's so interesting. - What?
From Dora Dora Salon. Is that it? Or Dora Salon?
- [Fatoumata] Yes, ma'am. - [Kaniyah] No.
- I have her LLC... - [Judy] Just a second. Yeah.
- Can I see that? - Yes.
It's Dora Dynasty.
And here's her LLC. It matches.
I'd like to see it.
[Fatoumata] And here you go as well.
Well, this is from Beauty at Dora Salon One.
No.
What do you mean, no?
No, my business name is Dora Dynasty.
Yeah. Dora Salon One Beauty. Dora Dynasty, LLC. Dora's Dynasty.
And about the same time the Tweet is, "Over $2000 in wigs. I'll smack those ...
On the 13th, you write, "My wigs come tomorrow."
And then, on October 11th,
"I'll be wrong if I dispute it once I get it."
And then, I don't know what are... What is... Just a second.
- I'm reading something. - Mm-hmm.
Uh-huh is not an answer. I didn't ask anything.
What does that mean, Sarah?
It's just an emoji. Like a, "So what?" "I don't care."
Oh. "I'll be wrong if I dispute it once I get it." So what?
"But ... was so rude. I can't even ask them questions.
Telling me I didn't read it."
And then she writes... See how you're smiling?
Bad. She should have left you home.
- Ma'am, please. - [Judy] Do you understand?
- She shoulda left you home. - Nah.
- They're just not communicating right. - She shoulda left you home.
"I paid all this money for these wigs and these slow rolling. Wow."
I assume that those people were the clients
that you were talking about was slow rolling.
Would that be a fair statement? I'm not familiar with all of this.
And then you show me in these tweets, or whatever they call them,
a picture that was put up by Boo. Is that a name?
- [Fatoumata] Yes. - Now, what is that?
That's her client actually contacted me and telling me that she's charged her
for the wigs and that she was never a stylist to begin with.
How did I upcharge the fee when they paid for their sales?
[Judy] Nobody hears you, madame.
Okay, so you acknowledge you got them.
Your statement is you no longer have them. She didn't make a deal with you.
She made a deal with four other phantom clients,
two of whom, either you lost your phone, the dog ate your phone,
you don't have the number anymore, you don't have the contact anymore,
but we don't know how to get in touch with them.
And then, there was somebody that actually was wearing one of the wigs
that she didn't get paid for, that she got from you.
That's not true.
Could I see the invoice and the chargeback, please?
[Fatoumata] Yes.
Still not a good look from you.
- [mutters] - Yeah, not a good look.
[Kaniyah] It's funny because it's not true.
[Judy] Not a good look.
You the boyfriend?
[Bralin] Yeah.
Stand up for a minute. Just have a couple of questions.
Tell me your name.
Bralin Wright.
What do you do for a living?
I'm a barber.
- [Judy] Do you live together? - Yes.
How long have you lived together?
Going on a year.
So, you were living with her when these wigs were delivered?
- Yeah. Yes. - [Judy] Yes, would be an answer.
Were you there when she opened the wigs?
One wig she had to put together for a client.
That she opened. She told me she was doing I won't be in her business like that.
So the answer is, you were only there when one wig was delivered.
I was only there when she opened one wig.
When she opened one.
And I took her to go pick up a wig from her.
- Did you drive her there? - [Bralin] Yeah.
[Judy] Did you go in with her?
No, she came outside. She walked across the street and got it.
- Your Honor... - [Judy] Don't speak.
She walked across the street and got it.
From her, yeah. downtown.
Your Honor, she was actually driving. 'Cause...
[Judy] Do you work out of the apartment as well?
- No. - [Judy] You work out of a shop?
Yes.
Are you ever there when your girlfriend is working on clients
in your house, in your apartment?
- Yeah, I've been there. - Often?
Not really, I'd be gone. Working hours, I'm working.
She worked at the house, I'm working at shop.
How many rooms are in the place where you and the defendant live?
At the time, we were in a two bedroom apartment.
And who was there? Just the two of you?
No, we had a roommate.
[Judy] So, you had one bedroom for yourselves.
You had a roommate, and then there was a common area, kitchen, living room.
- Right? - Yes.
Where did she conduct her salon business? In what room?
What would be like the dining room area.
- [Judy] In the dining room. - Yeah.
- Is that where she kept her equipment? - Yes.
- Is that where she kept her materials? - Yes.
How many wigs did you see in that dining room area at any one time
during the time you were living there?
Maybe one she was working on [indistinct]. Two, maybe two, at the most.
You paid rent in the apartment?
Did I pay rent? No.
[Judy] Did she pay rent?
- Yes. - [Judy] How much?
It was like, what, $1,200?
Don't ask her anything.
$1,200 I don't pay the rent. $1,200. [chuckles]
I don't pay it so I don't know.
Why don't you pay anything towards rent?
I don't have to pay the rent if I pay the bills,
I pay car notes. I pay different stuff. We're 50/50.
Well, if it's 50/50, then you would also pay part of the rent.
Not if you add up to both our car notes, rent, which really be a little bit more.
Okay, so you pay the other bills, she pays the rent.
I moved in with her. I ain't living there the whole time.
I told you, it was only like a year. She was already staying there.
I moved in.
With what did you pay the car note? With a check?
No, I pay with either a card or my money.
Your girlfriend, does she have a car?
Does she have a car?
[Judy] Yes, that's a yes or a no.
- Not right now. She did. - Did she?
- Yes. - What kind of car did she have?
[Bralin] Chevrolet Sonic.
[Judy] And what happened to that car?
It got, um... Whatever, repo...
[Judy] It was repossessed.
They was scamming me on my insurance.
Just a second. I didn't ask you anything. I'm asking your witness.
- Okay. Right. - [Judy] You brought him.
I'm not the only person she's suing.
- If I put up... - [Judy] Nobody... Nobody...
Nobody is listening to you.
Okay, well, can I leave?
No.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Fatoumata Diallo has accused salon owner, Kaniyah Taylor,
of stealing five wigs. Kaniyah says Fatoumata was trying to scam her.
So the car was repossessed. When?
Don't look at her. Give me a month. Give me a year.
Was it recent? In the last three months, four months?
It was... I can't give you the month.
So it was repossessed because of non payment of whatever the note was,
'cause that's the only basis to repossess a car.
Okay, now you say you're not living in that same apartment anymore.
You were living in this two bedroom apartment with a roommate?
- Mm-hmm. - [Judy] Uh-huh is not an answer.
- Yes is an answer. - Yes.
And you're no longer living in that apartment?
- [Bralin] No. - What happened to that apartment?
I moved. She moved with me.
Okay. You moved when?
November.
- [Judy] November of 2021? - Yeah.
Just about the time of all these disputes over wigs.
Did your roommate remain in the apartment?
[Bralin] Yes.
[Judy] Did you have a lease in that apartment?
- [Kaniyah] Yes. - [Judy] Was your lease over,
or did you move out during the lease?
It was over and I renewed it for my roommate.
Now, the lease was in your name.
- Mm-hmm. - [Judy] Uh-huh is not an answer.
- Yes is an answer. - Yes.
And you renewed the lease even though you moved out?
- Yes, ma'am. - Where are you living now?
- In Conyers. - [Judy] What kind of place?
House. And I pay all the bills.
And what does your girlfriend do?
- She works. - What does she do?
She does lashes, she does hair, she does nails.
She's an entrepreneur.
- Does she have a website? - [Bralin] Yes.
[Judy] What's the name of her website?
- I think Dora Dynasty. - [Judy] You think?
Yeah, I think. I don't be on it. I don't shop there.
Got it?
Looking.
Did you have a conversation with Miss Taylor about these five wigs?
Did you have a conversation with her?
Yes.
[Judy] Do you have a cell phone?
- [Bralin] Me? No. - [Judy] Did you ever have a cell phone?
- Yeah. - What happened to your cell phone?
I broke it, so I went on another one.
And you didn't get another one?
It has to get sent to the house. I just broke it.
- Like I just broke it. - [Judy] You just broke it?
Yeah, last week.
Tell me how you broke the cell phone.
I got real angry and I threw it.
- [Judy] You got angry with somebody? - Yes.
And tell me how your girlfriend lost her cell phone.
Oh, she gave it to me.
When did she lose her cell phone?
She gave me that phone. I bought her another phone.
- She gave me that phone. - [Judy] She gave you... Just a second.
So, she gave you the phone that she had been using,
[Bralin] Yes.
which had Joyce's information on it. That was the phone she gave you?
I guess. I don't know Joyce. I don't know who Joyce is.
Sit down.
[laughs]
Miss Taylor, you want to be in business, you have to pay for what you ordered.
It's absolutely... I'm not speaking to you.
It's absolutely outrageous that she sent you these wigs,
they were delivered to your house.
And she not only doesn't have the wigs, she doesn't have,
not only her profit, she doesn't have any money.
And you've got a lot of clients that you can't identify
in phones that got lost and information that you don't have.
And information that you don't have, that you don't have.
Clients that are no longer... Clients that blocked you.
People who block you after you work for them for a year,
that means that you're either doing a lousy job or...
No, because the way she came at me, I actually chumped them off
'cause I feel like you're messing up my business.
So I chumped them off, and I guess she didn't want to reply
and she just blocked me.
[Judy] $2,196, judgment for the Plaintiff.
Your Honor, I have other text messages.
- She- - I was out of business for...
I have to tell you something. I can't discern
whether you lost business or not because of this.
I cannot discern that. I can give you back the money
that you lost as a result of shipping her five wigs
and not getting compensated for it.
And I also have court fees, and I ordered a PI as well.
[Judy] That, I will... Just a second.
That I will hear. What were your court fees?
[Kaniyah] I'm not the only person you suing.
- If I put up... - [Judy] Nobody... Nobody...
Nobody is listening to you.
Okay, well, can I leave?
No.
[Judy] Court fees.
And I also have my incident report.
Just a second. Would you please just give me the court fees?
You said you had court fees and you hired an investigator.
Yes, I did.
And I'd like to see that invoice, because that, you're entitled to.
I have to text messages with my PI.
I don't know what this is.
I don't know what this is that you handed me.
I asked you what the court fees were.
[Fatoumata] I have my PI phone number.
I didn't print out my court fees but I do have my...
Do you have an invoice from the investigator that you say that you hired?
- Yes. - And the work that they did?
Yes, I have all the messages.
I don't want messages. I need an invoice, a payment...
I did a payment, $400.
And we have the text message trying to find her, everything.
[Judy] Can I see it, please?
It was $250 for skip tracing and $150 for service.
My sales went down...
Just a second. Did this person serve her?
Yes, they did.
$2,196, judgment for the Plaintiff. That's it, we're done.
[bailiff] This court is adjourned.
I never did it. You know, I just got it sent to my house.
We went through everything. We had to go through birthdays.
It's like saying, oh, um, I know a friend. They know how to cut hair.
Text messages, everything.
Then, you don't like your haircut?
You want me to pay for your haircut? Like, girl.
We literally hawked her down for the information.
She honestly messed up my clientele.
It would be easy to be forthcoming with me and say,
these are the clients who I sold it to.
I gave her the information. They were supposed to pay her, whatever.
- But she didn't. - Lot of running around so close to work.
And there's no question that the plaintiff sold her those wigs.
She made a markup. She made a 25% mark up. That's okay.
And I'm certain that she put in the wigs and made her own markup.
- Yep. - You know, that's commerce.
But this ability to reverse charges on a credit card and to have somebody,
and it's usually just a person, we're not talking about a committee
or a tribunal that determine whether or not the charge was legitimate,
just to reverse it and then where are you?
You left without your product. Very frustrating.
It's a double edged sword. It can be very useful.
I've had to do that on a few different occasions,
and the process is very hidden and sort of behind the curtain.
And I fear for people like the Plaintiff who run their own business,
hard working people who make the best money on the Internet
because there's no overhead fee of running a store.
But these are some of the risks and things that you have to ensure
before you get into business.
Well, too bad. Too bad people don't do the right thing.
If they did the right thing. We'd be out of business.
[narrator] Want justice? Go to JudyJustice.tv.