Hair Salon Threatening To Sue Over Negative Google Review

My wife went to a hair salon that offered student services looking for a cheaper option to get a trim. They had her sign a waiver supposedly stating that negative (or 1 star) reviews aren’t allowed for “student services.” After signing she was told that student services can’t do the haircut and offered to have a stylist do it for 3x the price. She refused and no service was done, no money exchanged. We then left a review warning people with hair similar to my wife to avoid booking student services since this location will not provide them and will try to sell expert services for a higher cost. That’s it, no false info or extra context.

We received a call today from the salon threatening legal recourse. We have since taken the review down but are contemplating reposting an extended version that includes their threats. We have legal counsel services for personal cases through work, looking into if that will be needed and its accessibility.

Here’s the review we’re looking at potentially posting:

> Threats of legal action by the salon

> Initially we left a review warning people with curly hair to not book a student haircut at this location since they refuse to do the haircut, pointing to lack of training and tried to upsell a $95 master stylist haircut.

> We have since received a phone call from the business threatening legal action for the review. They claimed that the review violated the signed waiver prohibiting negative reviews for student services.

> We initially took the original review down, but after evaluating the text and discussing our options with counsel decided to repost and are open to reporting this establishment to the FTC and the Virginia office of AG for potentially violating the CRFA. Even based on the text of the waiver, the original review was not concerning a service received from a student but the refusal of service and the attempt to sell a more expensive service. This review is factual and honest, meaning the bar on negative reviews enforced by the waiver would be void regardless by the CRFA.

> If the salon follows through on their threats of legal action for a factual and honest review, cautioning individuals with curly to avoid signing up for particular services at this salon, we are confident that FTC protections would side with us in the case.

> The salon can fully resolve the situation by contacting us and apologizing for the threats and by including disclaimers in their website that student services will not be performing cuts on curly hair.

A bit concerned with how much of a headache this could turn into. Would appreciate advice.

Location: Northern Virginia, USA