Dealing with London Brows & Lashes was a comedy of errors that started with me mistakenly booking an appointment for the following day--a time and date that I was out of town.
When I looked at my text messages the following morning and saw the auto-text confirmation, I realized what I had done and called them right away to avoid a no-show and pay them if needed.
"Hi! This is Laura and I accidentally booked an appointment last night for 11:45 am today. I apologize, and need to cancel!" "We have a 24 hour cancellation policy or you will be charged." "I understand." "I have to call and see what [the aesthetician] says. I'll call you back." "Great. Thanks." "It also looks like you are booked for next Tuesday. Can you make that?" "Yes, that was me rescheduling for a day that I will be back."
I didn't get a call back, but I received an auto-text that the salon had cancelled my 11:15 appointment. I wasn't sure if they intended to charge me or not.
Later that afternoon, I received a text from someone there asking me to call and give them some information prior to my appointment. I called and got Kim.
"Hi! This is Laura and I received a text that you need some things from me." "Yes. We need to put your credit card on file." Right out of the gate. No welcome to our services, no prelude of any kind. I gave her the number. "Thank you. Now are you going to show up this time?"
I was taken aback.
"Sure." I said, "I will be back by then." "Well I'm just asking because [your aesthetician] drives an hour and a half to work and she's 6 months pregnant." Ok, I thought, but ouch! I just got shamed for my earlier booking error.
"I'll be there!"
And I was. When I got to the building with the big London Brow sign on the side, I looked around to figure out how to get in. The lobby directory indicated that London Brow had its own suite entrance accessible from the outside.
Hmmm, I thought. Most businesses, when they get your information and there is something potentially complicated about finding them, will say something along the lines of, "I see it will be your first time here. We have a separate entrance on the west side of the building."
After the shaming on Friday, and no communication regarding the entrance location, I'm beginning to wonder about the business acumen of the place.
I walked around the building reading business signage on exterior suite doors and found what I was looking for, clearly marked with the business name and number. No other signage of any kind. I tried the door and it was locked with a key safe mounted next to it.
Well, she's pregnant, I thought. And a lot can happen in an hour and a half commute. And it's covid. The key safe looked like something employees used to let themselves in. If she's already late, she's probably a bit frazzled. I waited a couple of minutes, then called the number painted on the door.
A woman answered. "Hi! This is Laura. I have a 1:15 appointment today and I just wanted you to know that I am outside." "OK." "Are you my aesthetician?" "No, I'm the receptionist."
Receptionist? Uh oh. I started to get a sinking feeling that I was at the wrong London Brow.
"Uh, where are you located?" I asked. "Highway 9." "Oh! I'm in front of a London Brow in Mill Creek. Are there two London Brows?" "No. We moved a year ago." "Oh! What is your cross street?" "Highway 9," she repeated. "Ya. I got that. What is the cross street on Highway 9?" I am trying to gage how long it will take me to get there and how late I will be. "Do you want our address?" "Sure." She gave it to me. "Well, you know what? I am going to be pretty late if I try to make it there. Why don't you just charge me for the missed appointment and we'll call it good?" "Ok. That's fine. But we don't have your card number."
I wanted to offer her a job. And say something like, "Gee, do you ever feel like you are not meeting your boss's expectations due to poor communication? There might be some better opportunities out there for you."
Instead, I thought, interesting. There was a phone call that took place Friday that's sole purpose was to get that very same card number and guilt/shame me into making sure I didn't miss this appointment.
"[Here's the #]", I said. "And will you put an additional 20% on there for a tip? It's not the aesthetician's fault that I missed the appointment." And then I added, "And maybe you could tell the owner that she could have mentioned that you guys had moved" (along with over-sharing about the pregnant employee with the horrific commute). "Well, we sent you an email." "Ah. I didn't know to look for it. It must have gone into my junk. " So clearly, from photos and several reviews, these gals do solid work. But there were a lot of missed opportunities here for good communication-everything from tone and messaging, on down to posting a simple "We've moved" sign on the door. And, as we say, where there's smoke, there's fire. There's something going on with this place that I don't need to be a part of. read more