I would never normally write a negative review - even when I've had bad experiences elsewhere, I usually just forget them, but this salon essentially STOLE money from me, so there is no way I won't do my best to warn future patrons.
I received a gift certificate to this salon, for a manicure and a haircut, for some charity work I did back in 2016. When I initially called, I spoke with the salon manager, and I asked if I could use the value of that gift certificate towards hair coloring. She told me over the phone that yes, that was fine - that the value would then be $95, and color services started at $65. I even stopped in later that day for a quick consult with the stylist who did my hair - she was aware I had the gift card, and we spoke quickly about what I was looking for. No problem.
When I arrived for my appointment, in discussing what we would do that day, I showed her a picture of what I, as someone who is NOT a stylist, and has no idea what goes into achieving a specific look, thought was fairly simple. I had figured the cost would be more than the $65 the salon manager had quoted me on the phone, which is why, when the stylist asked if I was okay with an extra $30 treatment, I said pretty much verbatim, "I'm not looking to spend much more than the $95 gift certificate, but yes, a $30 treatment is okay". By telling her I only wanted to spend $30 extra, I was telling her EXACTLY how much I expected/wanted to spend. I had even told her I would blow dry my hair myself instead of paying extra for her to do it - a fair indicator that I am not looking to spend any extra money. I didn't ask how much anything was, because I had fulfilled my end of the verbal agreement by telling her the EXACT AMOUNT I wanted to spend that day.
She then proceeded, without communicating to me what she was doing or how much it would cost, a series of hair colors and treatments that vastly exceeded the amount I had explicitly told her at the beginning of the appointment. When it was over, I was left with hair that was fine - not great, not awful, but pretty much the same as it had been before, with slightly darker roots. However, this is irrelevant, because when I approached the front desk to pay my extra $30, I was told the final bill was $315! You can imagine my shock - again, I had expressed to my stylist exactly how much I was looking to spend, and even if it had been slightly over that, I think I have a fair right to assume it wouldn't have been literally 150% more! ESPECIALLY WITHOUT BEING TOLD.
Of course I protested this with the lady at the front desk, who was pretty rude about it and basically told me I had no other recourse than to speak with the owner. So I paid, because what else was I going to do? In fact, I had to split the charge on two different cards because, as a pregnant lady who just recently bought her first home, I of course did not have the money for this (unlike probably most of the clientele who frequent this salon, which I'm sure is part of the issue).
The next day I called the owner, Ryan, and I explained the situation - and I asked for a refund because the only charge I had agreed to was the extra $30. He was vaguely understanding and basically told me he "would make this right", but just needed to speak to the stylist first, and would call me back by the end of the day at 5PM. Well, guess what? He definitely did NOT make it right, nor did he call me back by the end of the day - in fact, when I called back at 4:45, I was told he had LEFT for the day, and then when I called back the next time he was in (which was a full three days later), he again REFUSED to speak with me. Instead, he had the manager speak to me through him, and I was basically told that it was MY responsibility as the customer to have asked how much things are. Normally I would agree with this, BUT I LITERALLY TOLD THEM EXACTLY HOW MUCH I WANTED TO SPEND. I fulfilled my part of the verbal agreement, and they violated theirs.
I'm not sure if this was a true misunderstanding, or if this is their way of manipulating money out of their wealthy clients who don't care how much things cost, but it was a CLEAR violation of my trust as a customer. I am pursuing this with my bank, but they essentially stole $190 from me. All I can say is, unless you are a rich Fairfield lady who can drop an absolutely absurd amount of money on a completely mediocre hair service, just don't go here - it's not worth getting potentially taken advantage of OR having to endure such a horrible customer service environment. read more