It's incredibly disappointing when a professional fails to meet expectations, especially for a special occasion like prom. The lack of communication and professionalism by Francella led to a stressful and unpleasant situation for my daughters' first experience getting her hair styled for prom at Ulta in South Riverside in Rialto on Saturday April 13. It's important for hairstylists to be able to handle different hair types and styles gracefully, without resorting to anger, frustration, or lack of accountability. Any client, in this case my daughter, deserves professional treatment and a positive experience for her prom day preparations.
For context, Francella asked my daughter one week in advance for a picture of how she wanted her hair styled on the day of her appointment. My daughter sent her three different photos of styles (all three were with one braid with hair down and curled) Francella received these photos 1 week in advance. Francella did not communicate she did not know how to braid, ask my daughter for the possibility of choosing a different hairstyle, or try perhaps to watch tutorials on how to braid and practice to help her prepare for the day of my daughters' appointment.
Instead, she received my daughter for her appointment and while I stepped away (I found out later by my daughter) Francella complained about my daughters hair as she attempted multiple times to start a braid on her hair. After failed attempts, she asked her two coworkers for assistance. Her coworkers graciously tried to help her but were also unable to make a braid. When that occurred, Francella became upset and frustrated and yelled at her coworkers for failing to do the braid Francella was supposed to do in the first place on my daughter's hair. Francella was rude and unprofessional in front of her client and to her coworkers that were only trying to help.
When I returned, Francella was a different person. She was apologetic to me about not being able to complete her braid. As Francella would attempt to braid my daughter's hair, she would tell me that her nails were getting in the way. She would repeatedly say "it's my nails, my nails are not letting me braid your daughter's hair, I don't know how to braid, etc" At this point it's already been 1 hour and 15 minutes at the very least, and she is not even half way done with the style. Francella tries to imply that she is not supposed to do it exactly like the picture, and tries to convince us to just accept the hair style as is which is unacceptable. We were not expecting perfection yet we did pay for a style with an actual braid similar (not the same) as the examples given to her one week in advance.
I ask Francella if she would like to try something different, something she feels comfortable with, a different hair style she may think will go with my daughter's dress for prom. At this point we are giving her open reign to salvage the possibility of making my daughter's hair styling experience a positive one. Francella says she's got nothing that comes to mind and instead asks one of her coworkers that she had yelled at for help. (Remember at this time I am unaware that Francella complained about my daughter's hair while my daughter was present, and that she had been unprofessional to her coworkers in front of her client.) Had I known this before hand, I would have personally asked for the manager, made her aware of what happened and then left. Because I was unaware of this, I was trying my best to consider her livelihood and what seemed sincere attempt to braid my daughter's hair. I was wrong.
Instead, almost two hours later, Francella ended up just curling my daughter's hair and called it a day.
Unfortunately, Francella never took accountability for not being prepared and admitting one week in advance she would not be able to do execute the hairstyle my daughter had requested. Honesty and accountability beforehand would have saved everyone time, money, but most importantly the awful experience my daughter went through just a few hours before prom.
If you are looking for someone at Ulta to do your hair, Francella would be my last recommendation to do it. read more