The last thing I wanted to do was leave a bad review for any business, ever... But after the owner failed to be in touch like she said she would when I contacted her about my issue, it put even more of a bad taste in my mouth.
I contacted the salon via FB messenger in January to inquire about an appointment and included a picture of what I wanted that was just a simple "back to my natural color with a touch of color on the ends" which should have been a few inches of a golden brown color. My hair is naturally dark brown. I was directed to a link to book the service and booked it as an ombre/balyage because I assumed that was closest to what I was looking for. I wasn't sure how else to book it and booked with Chantelle since she was the only one with the earliest appointments. I had looked through the FB page to look at her work prior however noticed little to no one mentioning anything about her.
I made an appointment for February which I had to re-schedule for March 19th (the day after my birthday).. When I went in Chantelle was not very inviting and seemed frigid to be honest. I showed her the photo of what I wanted. She asked me if I was going to cut my hair and I told her I just wanted a trim to get the dead ends off. She replied with "I think you should do a balyage because if we do what is in the picture we're just going to cut most of it off after."
Mind you, I did tell her I needed easy upkeep which was why I wanted to do what I was showing her because I don't have the time or money as a stay at home Mom to be visting the salon every few months. Little did I know a balyage for my hair would cost around $185-$200. I had never had a balyage before and had no clue that it's one of the most expensive color services you can get. I have very long, thick hair.
After going back and forth with Chantelle about it she snarkily replied to me once "Well what are you trying to say? You just showed me a picture." I can't remember what we talked about after that but it wasn't much because I was taken aback by her responses and attitude and just hoped that I could trust her. She then mixed up some brown to do my roots and didn't use a swatch or anything to match my hair color. That was worrisome. Luckily the brown came out ok but too dark, another concern I brought up that she ignored. She then started with the foils and throughout the process I could tell it was getting very expensive with how many trips she was making back and forth mixing up two separate bowls. I did ask about the two bowls and she told me one was the color for the balyage, whatever that was because we didn't go over any color options, and the other bowl was a lightener.
During the whole process she was very gentle which was nice. I did have to break her out of her shell because, like I said, at first was very frigid. Once we got to talking I realized she's a nice girl and that this was her first salon position. In the end, what she did looked a lot better than what I came in with since I hadn't done anything with my hair since August.
However, checking out with a $302 bill was extremely upsetting. I didn't even bring enough cash and had to use my credit card. I have NEVER in my life paid for, or wanted to pay that much to have my hair done. I tipped her $50 because she did do a good job and I just don't have it in my heart to not tip someone who spent over 3 hours on my hair, even if it wasn't what I wanted at all. In the past, when I've gone to other salons, if you express that you're on a budget the stylist works with you to keep the cost down.
I regret not talking with her about it before I left but there was another client waiting and I didn't want to make a scene or embarrass her. She didn't listen to me at all and recommended a super expensive service. I feel like she was just trying to make the salon money, especially since she mentioned that she had done 7 others baylages that week. It made me wonder how many others ended up with a huge bill and hair they weren't expecting or didn't ask for for. Understandable to want to make the salon money but Chantelle needs to listen to her clients better to avoid more reviews like this in the future. I feel completely ignored and nickeled and dimed.
About a week after the appointment, the whole experience was still bothering me, especially since my husband was also upset with me, so I decided to contact the owner, Leah. This was 3/26. She was very prompt in getting back to me and I appreciated that. She told me she was on vacation until the beginning of April and would be in touch. Here it is 4/18 and I haven't heard back from her. I had asked her to look at the photo I originally sent of what I wanted done to my hair and a possible credit back for the difference of what it would have cost me if Chantelle had done what I asked.
Professional courtesy would be to get back to an upset client like you said you would. I will never go back. read more
