First, let me start off by saying that I really did not want to have to write this bad review. Despite being bullied and receiving poor customer service, I gave my stylist and the salon manager 3 tries to resolve the situation. This is unfortunate because, I think my hairstylist, Mia, was a brilliant hair cutter. I have searched for someone like her for 3 years in Boston and am very sad that I don't feel comfortable going back anymore.
I had to write this review, so people would know how this salon can treat customers and that they be warned before seeing Mia for color.
The story begins when I wanted to change things up and add some dimension to my light brown undyed hair and Mia shared that she also does color. I made an appointment and showed up with a picture of something I really liked like that was basically heavy highlights on the bottom 1/3 of the hair. She got to work and made me feel really comfortable along the way, explaining what she was doing, so I didn't think to worry or second guess her work. By the time that it was washed out, the bottom 1/2-2/3's of my hair was a very brassy orange AGGRESSIVE ombre. I was starting to feel a bit nervous, but I thought I probably just needed to see it at home to get used to it.
After the appointment I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and almost burst into tears at how awful it looked. I wasn't far from the salon, so I made my way back to say that I was unhappy with the color and mentioned that it was very intense and not what I asked for. Mia promptly sat me down and added a toner to the color which she said would help adjust the color that was so blaringly bad to me. The toner was applied and it didn't do much, and I think Mia could sense that I was not happy, and asked me to come again to fix things when I was ready. I was really unhappy, but I was also exhausted with the situation and hoped that I would like it (even though my wallet did not).
Fast forward 4 weeks, which happened to be a 5 days before my engagement party in California. I did not grow to like the heavy handed ombre and wanted to look like myself in pictures and revert my color back to my natural look. I figured that since Mia knew I was unhappy the first time, that she would do everything in her power to make sure that I loved the new color. She recommended that I color my hair semi permanent all over one shade darker. I wasn't in love with the idea of dying all my hair, but it didn't seem like there was any other option available so I trusted her. Mia applied the color and washed it out and started to dry some sections to see the color.
I wasn't sure if it was the lights in the salon, but it looked DARK. My hair is typically called a strawberry blonde or light brown and it looked like a very dark brown. I wasn't really sure what to think and didn't want to freak out before I had to see it in normal light (and I had a plane to catch later that afternoon) so I paid and left. Once I got home, I was able to confirm that my hair was indeed nearly black. HOW does one shade lighter from light brown mean dark brown/almost black?
I was horrified.
The reason I had gone to get my hair fixed was to look like myself and now I looked like an entirely different person, with only a few days to fix things before the party.
The next day I called the salon, to share my story with the manager and ask for a refund since I would be unable to go to that salon to have it fixed. I mentioned that I felt awful calling, since I like Mia so much, but that this was the second time that I was disappointed with the color and that being told one shade darker took me from light brown to almost black.
The manager (male) listened to my story, then said "there are two sides to every story" and said he'd call me the next day after he spoke to Mia. I was really shocked that he would say something like this being in the customer service industry, but thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt to resolve the situation.
The very next day I got a call from Mia, the last person I'd want to talk to regarding this situation until it was resolved. She asked me why I didn't tell her that I didn't like it and to send her some pictures, to which she replied that it looked way darker in the picture than it did in the salon (ummmm, why don't you tell me how this happened!?). The whole exchange with her made me feel very uncomfortable and it was super unprofessional to be bullied over text message as to why I didn't go back for her to fix it.
Then I waited to hear from the manager. Nothing. Called and left one message for the manager. Nothing. A few days later, I text Mia and she said he was very busy and would get back to me soon. More time passes, leave another message for the manager. Nothing. A few days for by, text Mia again for help to get an answer from them--radio silence.
I'm really shocked at the situation and disappointed because I really wanted to like this place. read more