I went into Altered Image today for a cut and finish with Nicole which I booked over the phone (quoted at £28 with a Stylist).
I am never one to pay hundreds of pounds for a hair cut, but nevertheless I am used to a certain standard that most high street salons adhere to.
I was welcomed in, taken over and then the stylist thrust the salon gown into my hands to put on myself rather than helping me with it. Okay, I thought, no big deal, don't be too quick to judge... the stylist then asked me what I wanted but really only spent about 15 seconds listening to me before interrupting me to give me her opinion, which is fine, but she clearly hadn't listened/watched when I showed her how much of the length I wanted cut off (a considerable amount) and she was very vague and unclear in her description of what she thought was best for my hair (I particularly dislike when a hairdresser does what they want instead of what I want; it's MY hair!) as well as having a very cold demeanour- no smiles or friendy chat at all although I did try to strike some up. No refreshments offered either at this stage- something else I would normally expect.
Next thing I was whisked over to the sink for a shampoo- and was aked to sit down and put my head in a sink which was full of somebody elses hair-lovely. It was all very rushed which was unnecessary as the salon was almost completely empty. Over the years I have now come to expect a simple head massage as part of the shampoo- but not at Altered Image. A shame really because it is a small service which makes a big difference to a customer.
We got back to the chair and my stylist starting chopping away in silence; I do feel it's important for the hairdresser to talk you through what he/she is doing to your hair, and this particular stylist was silent and left it to me to spark up conversation and ask questions. This is when I realised she had taken only half of the amount of hair I really wanted taken off. I made a quick comment asking whether she would be taking more off and she said yes, when it was dry. I made more hints about wanting it much shorter to make sure she got the message, e.g telling her that I wanted my hair to be the same length as hers was. At this point another stylist noticed I had not been offered a drink and asked if I would like one- finally, a cup of tea arrived! Not too much to ask really??
Once she had blow dried it (no complaints there, she did a nice job), she said 'how is the length' so I said 'I want it to be shorter really'. She then snapped back at me 'well this is the length of my hair, so..' (it was much longer than her hair, but I wasn't going to argue!) so I just said 'okay well please just take off a bit more'. She did that, but then didn't make any attempt to finish the haircut by chopping the ends, putting in any finishing product or going over the layers; infact she told me that again 'in her opinion' i should let my hair fall into a gradient at the bottom naturally over a few weeks because apparently 'if you've just had a hair cut, what's the point of me cutting into it when you can just leave it cut straight' funny, because I thought the whole point of a 'haircut' was for her to 'cut into my hair' so that it looks good.
It was a very half-arsed job, and I came home with a very flat hairstyle with blunt edges. No biggie, I can style it myself after I wash it. And as a hair cut it's not bad at all.
As I was leaving, she told me that really I should be charged for a re-style because of how much was taken off the end, but because I was quoted a cut and blow dry she will charge me for that. Again, the hairdresser probably should've asked me at the time of booking what kind of cut I wanted, or even at the consultation she could have told me that having that much taken off counts as a restyle which is more expensive, rather than telling me off at the end of my haircut when I didn't know better. I don't really tend to agree anyway, I mean if I was having a pixie cut or a huge fringe cut in then fair enough it is a restyle but all she really did was lop a big chunk off the bottom. Not exactly technically challenging or time consuming.
Anyway, my verdict is that although the quality of hair cutting at Altered Image in Amersham is satisfactory, the customer service (especially from my Stylist) was completely non existent, and that is a hugely important part of a trip to the hair salon for me. So I won't be returning. read more
