Buyer Beware
Booked a first time appointment with a master stylist because I have coarse, thick, curly, short hair. I'm very cautious about my hair because I've had it messed up so many times. When I booked my appointment, I explained WHY I needed a master stylist and explained the exact style and cut I wanted in great detail.
Day of appt: I walk in and am introduced to someone who isn't who I booked the appt with as my stylist. This isn't told to me prior or upfront; they wait until I'm in the chair. The master stylist got stranded at an airport flying in. No problem, I say. I begin to explain what I'm looking for. I'm told then that this girl is doing my color, but they're having a student do my cut.
This makes me very nervous. I don't want to make a fuss because they're extremely friendly. If I'm feeling anxious, I think, I can always say just forget the cut after my color.
The problem was I never got my full color appointment either. After the color was applied, the girl rushed to another client, and left the student to rinse my hair and sit me back in the chair.
Student asked if I liked my color, to which I replied, "I can't really tell because its wet". "
Is it going to need toned?"
At this point in the service it was pretty evident to me that they are only really concerned with slamming in as many people as they can into the book to compensate for the missing stylist, when they should have just cancelled her clients for the day. They seemed annoyed at my questions.
Then the student jumped into my cut. She was sweet but visibly nervous. I asked her to barely trim what I had (length to my collarbone) and cut in on diagonal/ layer at random for my curl pattern. I just wanted it a little cleaned up and shaped. She cut it horizontally (straight across) and chin length with section layers (a mom/ news anchor bob). The cut wasn't awful, but awful for me & my curly hair. Everything I specifically said I didn't want. She put scrunch gel on it, rushed me out of the seat, and sent me on my way with wet hair. I waited for my boyfriend at a nearby restaurant, who was also patroning the salon, while it dried.
By the time it dried it was evident that I had just had a pretty awful salon experience and my hair was looking more like an oompa loompa 'do then a kylie jenner lob. I walked back and asked to talk to the manager. She offered to fully refund me and redo my cut with the owner for free. That would have been ok, but my hair is so short there was no way to fix it. So I simply asked for refund and said I would consider coming back to take up the offer when I had availability. I was super grateful and chalked it up to things happen and its just hair.
I walked in a day later to claim my refund after cc processing had issues. The girl at the desk was rude, indignant, and extremely unhelpful. I explained who I was and that I had spoken to the manager. I suggested maybe there was a note, and that I had a voicemail on my phone from the manager from that morning confirming this info if she would like to hear it. She said the manager wasn't there, didn't offer any alternatives, and was visibly annoyed. I asked if there was anyway I could know the manager's schedule, to which she told me she had no clue. (Ok?) She eventually offered to call the manager & after handed me a portion of what I paid & abruptly said goodbye. Never even tried to rebook me.
I initially walked out with the petty cash, but then walked back in after I played the voicemail twice to make sure I heard the manager correct in the voicemail. She said full refund.
Please note: Had I not been offered a full refund, I would have respectfully declined and walked away and never looked back. I don't care about $35 at all. It was about the principle and the business etiquette, not the money. I have no problem shelling out money and compensating people for their hard earned time. If the master stylist had messed up my cut, I still wouldn't have complained. It was a bad cut, AND it's how my service was handled that prompted me to say something and in turn be open for a refund and redo.
When I explained that I received a different amount than I had been told, every girl in the place copped an attitude trying to get me to leave quickly. The manager (IMO the only professional there) was put back on the phone again and apologized and gave me a full refund, but it was still the last straw for me.
I'm writing a bad review because all around- from being sneaky and not telling me upfront about the stylist change (from master to a student when I requested a master specifically) , to rushing my service, to the bad cut, to the terrible attitudes, this was poor business practice and a poor end result with my finished style. I don't care about how "nice" and swanky you are, its about integrity as a business and the quality of your work.
I'll be trying to hide my hair until I can get my hair corrected by a trust worthy professional. read more