I have never written a review, but I am so disturbed by this place that I felt I needed to share. I have been seeing the owner jinny for the past few years to do Japanese straightening. I have done this treatment for a total of about 13 years now...and began seeing Jinny when I moved from NY to NJ. I have never had an issue until now.
My hair is extremely curly and usually takes longer than the norm. Jinny wrote down the times in order to keep it consistent from year to the next...Well that only works if the technician is actually there for when the timer goes off. Once this happened, Jinny was no where in sight. I waited a few minutes, and then said something to another woman who said she would find her. A few more minutes later she finally emerged. Before the timer went off I also told Jinny when I saw her for a brief moment that my scalp was extremely itchy, to which she did not seem to think much of it as she proceeded to go back to the break room to eat. I honestly didn't think much of these crucial minutes until now. 5 months after my last treatment my hair literally began breaking off where there is new growth...meaning I only have few inches of hair in sections of my head, and at 29years old I have a combover, attempting to hide the areas that have a crew cut.
On top of this extremely embarrassing breakage, my scalp is extremely sensitive. Everytime I tried to move strands of my hair with either my fingers or brush, it actually felt like a knife.
At first I didn't jump to conclusions, so I went to a dr and had blood work done to ensure there was not an underlying health issue... that luckily was all fine. Next I went to a dermatologist to address my scalp. She confirmed my it was extremely inflamed and flaking, and proceeded to prescribe a medicine that was 89 dollars... which helped, but not completely as a month later and it is still sensitive.
I luckily have a few connections within the hair industry who was able to connect me with a widely known stylist in NY. She confirmed this was over processed from the straightening, and asked me to reach out to the salon to to report it, and try and get my money back. At this point despite how traumatizing this whole experience was, I was not as upset until I reached out to Jinny...trying o explain what happened and asking for my money back. It took hours to call me back, only to tell me that she does not give refunds as it is "not their policy". I was stunned, as it is not my policy to have my hair break completely off! She made a series of excuses and then offered to provide conditioning treatments to my hair, but at this point I did not want her near my hair and relayed this to her. All I wanted my money back to try and make up for all of the money I was now spending on dermatologist appointments, and hair treatments and products to try and prevent my hair from breaking anymore. I offered to come in on that Saturday to show her my hair, so she can see the damage. I am not trying to con anyone... I just want to keep my hair!
She literally dodged my calls for another week and a half, only calling me back after they closed. I told her I did not want to keep going round and round and just want a refund. I told her to consult with her partner and to call me back. That was a month ago!!!
Looking back I had a bad feeling during this past session as Jinny continued to complain that her partner would not allow her to buy a new printer for the office... they cannot spare 60 dollars for a printer, and yet I should trust that this salon has the expertise to provide treatments such as this? I even got to witness Jinny and her customer discussing how they will haggle a discount at a department store...If they can't afford the money for a printer, who's to say whether they used the "Chi" system versus a cheap knock off? I did not see any commercial bottles as everything was brought out pre measured from the back.
If the owners tried to make the situation better by at least refunding me, I would have walked away from this situation somewhat unscathed. But if it's not bad enough that I'm losing my hair, I know in the back of my mind that this salon is operating without any repercussions. I am sickened by this salon and hope that they can walk away after reading review at least knowing that they have caused a sincere emotional and physical toll on me. They should be ashamed.
-Marissa McCormack read more