His partner received a text message last week confirming the booking and she arrived to find an empty shop.
Another received a text reminder of an appointment and booked a babysitter so his wife could enjoy a treat but she got the complete opposite.
“We had no idea so she got all the way there and then had to turn around and go home, she was really upset and we wasted a whole lot of money.
“And that’s not including the cost of the gift voucher.”
Dry & Tea management - via a statement from Amy Sznicer, who is listed as the director but says she stepped away from the business two years ago - told the Herald the online booking system was turned off as soon as the salons closed, “however the automated appointment reminders unfortunately continued for a period of time as it was an automated setting”.
“This has all been rectified. Communication was sent to all clients with future bookings advising the salons had closed,” management said.
“Dry & Tea management is extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused to clients through what has been a very difficult time.”
The Auckland salons were in Newmarket, City Works Depot and Britomart. A salon in Christchurch also closed. It is understood Dry & Tea in Melbourne has also recently ceased trading.
Staff at Dry & Tea in New Zealand said they were still owed thousands in wages and holiday pay - some from before the sudden closure.
“The whole situation was really unprofessional and handled so badly,” one staff member, who did not want to be named, said.
“Staff working at City Works Depot were told they were being moved to Britomart because of maintenance but this simply wasn’t true.
“They had to call customers late at night and tell them they had to go to a different salon.”
The employee said staff had rent and mortgages to pay and children to feed and were out of pocket by thousands.
“It was an unfair situation.”
The Dry & Tea brand started in 2014 and was a huge success before Covid, trading under the name AS Retail with Amy Sznicer listed as the director.
Sznicer ran the business with then-husband David Mullen until two years ago, when she stepped away from the daily running and took up the role of chief retail officer at Michael Hill.
It is understood Sznicer and Mullen broke up soon afterwards and Mullen stayed on in the role of CEO.
In June the stores ceased trading abruptly, leaving staff in tears at work.
Group bookings were cancelled on the day and stylists said they were told mid-shift they had no job.
Staff said there was very little communication from Sznicer and Mullen about the closure.
“They were both saying the other was responsible and we were getting no information about what was happening.”
The staff member said Mullen had told them Sznicer flew from Australia to Queenstown on holiday a week after the closure.
“That was upsetting because we were being told to get in touch with Winz for support and the management was still heading away on holiday.”
The Herald understands the trip had been prearranged.
Liquidator Bryan Williams of BWA Insolvency asked for staff and customers owed money to get in touch with him.
“I have received claims filed by employees that are still owed holiday pay. Meeting these obligations is my priority in any liquidation but I am only able to if there are funds available to do so,” he told the Herald.
“Sadly, the end of a Dry and Tea brand is something of a fall from grace given its abrupt end to trading. The company had arrived at a credit crunch and services, supplies and support from staff all came to a decisive end.”
Williams said all parties that remain unpaid because of the liquidation or before should file a claim with him.
But he warned this might not have a positive outcome.
“Payment of a dividend will always depend on funds being available. Currently, that potential does not look hopeful.”
Williams had tried to find a buyer for the business and had someone interested in buying two of the Auckland stores but the cost of the Dry & Tea model made it difficult.
“Hairdressers have become in short supply and were able to demand quite high wages and that pushed the model out of kilter,” he said.
“That was a significant factor.”
He said the demise of the brand was partly because of employment costs but he also believed management “could have been closer to the issues and responded earlier”.
“It got to the point it was a dwindling spiral and irrecoverable.”
“It was a sad situation for all concerned.”
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.
