BUYERS BEWARE! My experience with Altered Ego was terrible EVEN BEFORE MY HAIRCUT. I scheduled an appointment here to get a curly cut from Terri because I was told she was a master hair stylist and specialist with curly hair (ahem!). My appointment was booked a little more than a month out; the wait was dreadful, and I got really impatient.
Then that week came around, and I couldn't make it to my appointment! So sad because I was so looking forward to it. I called to reschedule, and I was told that I WAS NOT ON THE SCHEDULE. WTF. WHY? So I was rescheduled I think a couple weeks out.
The day finally arrived and I was supposed to go in at 6:30 pm. I had a long day, so by the time I got home, I wanted to relax until I left for the salon. My fiancé suggested that I call to make sure we were good to go because of the weird scheduling that happened before; it was almost 6. I called, and I was told AGAIN, I WAS TAKEN OFF THE SCHEDULE. You wouldn't believe how pissed I was at this point, and I should have taken it as a sign: DO NOT GO HERE. I was even told that Terri had already left. I was put on hold while they sorted out their sh*t, then all of a sudden, it was like, "Oh, come on in! Terri can see you, no problem!"
When I got to the salon, I was greeted by a man named Chad. He didn't make it clear that he is one of the owners of the salon, but he did say that he was sorry about the scheduling. He told me some elaborate BS story about how I kept getting kicked off Terri's schedule--that I was being mixed up with another person by the same name with the same phone number. Uh-huh. Sure. That makes zero sense. So Chad offered to discount product for me as a way to make up for it. I thought that was nice, except I found out after my cut that I either really dislike or simply don't use any of the products they carried.
My consultation with Terri went well, I thought. I thought we were on the same page, so then she started with a dry cut, washed it, and styled it--NOT according to what we talked about, which what we were going for was an elongated curl, NOT diffused-from-the-bottom tighter curls. And I hated it. But I went with it, I thanked her and I was pleasant. I figured, I'd go home and rewash it and style it properly the next day.
By the next day, I did all the things. And even though I did all the things, my hair still smelled of the stinky (and I mean, STRONG STINKY!) products she used in my hair. Regardless, my $100 haircut was terrible, and I was devastated. Terri chopped off way too much hair on my right side, so there's an ugly gap, and the lengths on both sides don't even match. (See photo)
I called the salon, and tried to work with Terri on a solution. I met with her a week later to discuss filling that gap with extensions. Mind you, Terri doesn't acknowledge that there's a problem; she defends her work with, "So you don't like layers." There at the salon, I decided, "Yes, let's go with it. You can do extensions; I trust you." And Terri's response was, "Ok, but I don't want you to blame me for any damage that might occur from wearing extensions. Will you sign a waiver?" I was even ready to sign the waiver!!
After the consultation, I told my fiancé how it went. Thankfully, he helped me to see that she does NOT want to work with me, and I should just take the refund that was offered instead of the free extensions.
Even getting a refund was a pain in the butt. And I wasn't refunded the full amount ($85 cut + $15 tip). I was refunded just the $85. Today, I called and asked if they'd gotten Denman brushes in stock, so I could cash in on my discount from the scheduling issue, and the receptionist insisted that they will not be getting any in (even though Chad said they would) and that I should find another salon. "Oh, I have!" Everyone I've interfaced with there is unprofessional.
Take it from me, DO NOT GO TO ALTERED EGO. read more