At the end of May I decided I wanted highlights. I haven't had any in eight years, so I needed a new person. I asked a couple of people with nice highlights who they went to, read some reviews and saw some great pics online, and decided to try Bella Salon. I was offered an appointment with Blair for eleven days from the day I called. In the meantime, Blair confirmed via voicemail, I think. So I arranged that morning as one of my work-free mornings and arranged childcare. Kind of a big deal.
So we know Blair was aware of the appointment and had plenty of time to cancel it if she didn't want it (even though she had never seen me before), but she texts me at the last minute saying she had to cancel because her young son had an incident with a skunk. I told her I was sorry to hear that, and was very polite. She offered to text me immediately the next day when she could check on her future availability. I let her know I wanted her to do that as I had seen some of the work she had done and am looking for a permanent person, but I would have to look around in the meantime as I am also a working mom. The last thing she said was "I'll text you as soon as I have my books."
And I haven't heard from Blair since.
I ended up getting my highlights done elsewhere and am happy with the results. But after maybe two weeks went by I wondered if something had happened to this woman, so I did a little internet search, and sure enough, there were very recent pics being uploaded of Blair's awesome work! I decided to call Bella Salon and try to speak to a manager. The friendly and helpful receptionist told me they had no true manager- all of the stylists rent chairs and work for themselves. Still, she'd try to let Blair know I was not pleased. I had a feeling I'd never hear anything from the salon or Blair.
The thing that surprised me is that she is a mom working for herself. I am a working mom who schedules childcare to sometimes work independently with accounting and bookkeeping clients. I take it extremely seriously. And you can bet your life that if a new client was understanding about a mom-emergency when I cancelled at the last minute, I would text or call the next day, especially if that's what I offered to do. Moms stick together and respect our use of the Mom-card. We appreciate it when other moms "get it." Professionals value each other's time. You advertise yourself as both of these things, Blair, and you're neither. And Mom/professional or not, isn't it outside of decency to not do an easy little thing you said you were going to do AFTER you've hassled an understanding person and wasted their time?
If your opinion is I read too much into this, keep in mind how easy it would've been, without a thank you or an apology, to just say "Oh hey, I guess I don't need any more clients right now." This was three months ago now.
This is not a reflection of anyone else at Bella Salon. But if you are doing any of the advertising for Blair's work, maybe you should stop until she wants new clients and/or grows up. read more
