I'm not gonna lie...I'm starting to think a lot of these "salon horror stories" are made up for attention. I know it's not coming from you OP, but one of your readers and you are simply re-posting, but I just don't believe that a stylist would risk her license to relax someone's curl without her permission. Now, heat damage I can believe, even though some of those stories are shady, too.
I was a faithful salon goer for so many years and I never heard any of these crazy stories until I joined LHCF.
I'm sure there are some which are made up or in the very least, exaggerated, but that goes with everything. It's almost one of those "given" type of things that doesn't really need to be mentioned.
No offense to you whatsoever, it's great you have faith in general, but people are out for themselves. Sadly, if someone thinks taking a shady underhanded shortcut can make THEIR job easier, they're going to do it, especially if they think they're not going to get caught. And this isn't even just stylists (think cashiers or bankers who take money, etc., etc.). It's really not that far-fetched, especially once you see these shady practices going on with your own two eyes. For example, I know for a fact, at the salon I used to frequent, two of the girls there posing as "assistants" to the stylists (supposedly they were supposed to ONLY wash their tools, prep clients by putting moving them from station to station, etc., etc.) who DID NOT have official license to practice hair, were in fact DOING HAIR. If the stylist was busy but ended up having walk in's, rather than turning them away or making them wait, they'd have the assistant start doing their hair. And I mean, relaxer mixing/application, blow-drying, braiding, etc. I'm not saying by any means this goes on at every salon (or nearly every salon), but it's one of those things that are very real and DOES happen. Sort of like how restaurants and fast food secretly treat the food when they think no one is looking.
I'm just saying, I hate to seem anti-stylist, but I think anyone going to a salon/stylist should pay super close attention to everything, absolutely everything, going on, and make certain the person you're putting your hair in is not just in it for all the pretty pennies. I know I NEVER used to know what was going on in terms of my hair (unless a stylist, assistant, etc. was so blatantly awful it was obvious they were ****** up, i.e. small example, one lady who kept burning me when flat ironing my hair, etc.). I used to just assume the stylist would handle it, and at the time so long as my hair looked pretty in the reflection of the mirror at the end, I was happy (stupid of me). Little did I know.....
K...back to the righteous anger now ladies.
thanks!!!!! that just made my day!!!!! 
That is exactly what I thought when I read the part about the stylist cutting the woman's hair just so she woudn't have to detangle it. Well, maybe not quite as long, but close. 
