My regular barber was on vacation until mid next week, and I desperately needed a haircut, as my hair was starting to grow over my ears and my shirt collar. I did a search on Yelp for barbers in my area and sorted them by rating. After reading a few reviews and information about the business, I opted to go to E&C for my haircut and beard trim.
Estephan was a really nice guy. He took several opportunities to get to know me and crack a couple jokes to keep the mood light. I'd like to go back to E&C just for the interaction with Estephan.
Unfortunately, when I go to a barber shop, it's to get a haircut. I'm not sure if I wasn't clear about what I wanted, or if it was just because I caught him ten minutes before he was closing, but I am not happy with the way my haircut turned out. There are clumps of hair longer than the rest of the surrounding hair, and there are areas where it seems like the hair was cut shorter than the surrounding hair. I also think the neck line on my beard is a little uneven, and I may end up having to just shave it all off and start over again.
The real kicker is that I asked him to just trim around the edges to clean up the hair around my ears and back of my head, around the neck area. I also asked him to keep my facial hair the same length it was, and to just shape it so it looked neater (I had no defined neck line yet). He made my beard hair really short to the point of being little more than an exaggerated stubble. It was too late to say anything once he already started; it should have been a dead giveaway when I told him I wanted the length of the hair on the side of my head, around my ears, etc. to be the same as the current length of my beard hair, and he said, "No, we'll clean that up. Make it look nice."
After cutting my hair, he made me style it. I've never had to style my own hair after getting it cut in a professional setting. I left the barber shop with sticky hands and wondering what had just gone wrong. I didn't fully realize how bad of a haircut it was until after I showered, with all of the product out of my hair. I now have no choice but to put a strong-hold gel in my hair if I don't want to look like I cut it myself without a mirror.
I really wish my overall experience would have been better. I really liked Estephan. Enough to give him a good tip. This would be a two-star rating if it weren't for the fact that Estephan was such a nice guy and that it seemed like he genuinely knew what he was doing. Usually, when I have a bad experience, I say "better luck next time", but after dealing with my hair this morning, I don't think there will be one. read more
