Myself and DD got back from hairdressers yesterday. I was mildly (only mildly) unsure about my cut and not wildly enamoured of the colour) but not excessively so, and thought I'd catch the colour back around on the next visit and live with the longer than requested cut until next time so I could live with the longer than requested length and see how the colour looked in day to day conditions. On the face of it, DDs hair looked ok although she also had problems where requests weren't followed and colouring was inconsistent.
In light of the fact that:
- DD was charged for a full head of highlights but the colour was not taken down to the end so she has one type of the colour on the top half of her head, and the old version of the colour on the bottom half (which is tonally completely different) - if you pay for a full head of highlights, you expect a FULL head don't you? You don't do from the scalp to halfway down the length?
- Because my hair was styled in such a way that until I came home, slept, woke up, and started straightening it this morning, wasn't able to notice that there were bits shorter than other bits whilst I was at the salon, it hadn't been cut in the way I had asked, and it was longer on one side than on the other.
See, I think there's a difference between dissatisfaction with someone saying oh crikey the tone of this colour's not quite what I wanted - versus a colour that is one colour on the top half of the head and another on the bottom, sections of hair not cut to the same length or same angles as other sections or requests about how far to extend the colour towards the scalp to be completely ignored and inconsistently applied. The former is tweaking and making sure the customer is happy, the latter to me are just plain errors. And just plain errors should in my view come with the option to just have a simple refund.
Why would I go back there again - why couldn't the very senior stylist get it right the first time? If I also say that this session (for me and DD) cost over £200 you'll probably also understand my distress.
I emailed the salon today and they are highly insistent that we go back in - but I don't want to. I don't want to because I no longer trust them and because I suffer from anxiety and this is not what I need - just opening their email made my stomach flip over. I absolutely hate confrontation and do not want an awkward going into the salon - and in any case, they say they will not fit us in like, tomorrow evening, but some time in the next two weeks! I've got to go to work with hair at all different lengths and DD has to go to school where she's undoubtedly going to get stick for it (yes, they are that observant) and that will add to her stress when she's already having a shit time at school.
What's been done is just plain WRONG, errors, actual errors. And what are you supposed to do at the time - I'm not a professional stylist or colourist so you have to place your trust in the stylist so when we explained repeatedly that DD didn't want to lose a certain part of how her style had been growing, she was getting well stressed out when she could feel the colour going onto the wrong parts of her hair and I mentioned it to the stylist at the time and she just carried on and I could tell the stylist wasn't doing what DD (and I) had clearly asked for so I got her to confirm she knew what we wanted and was doing what we wanted - what is a person supposed to do?! Leap up, rip the brush out of the stylists hand - when they've seconds before said to you "no that's right, that's what I'm doing" (when they patently aren't) what in the actual name of god are you supposed to do?!??
In fact, what was done to DD's hair can't be 'rectified' as they've taken away something that can't be put back. So not sure how they propose to handle that and you're looking at months to go back to how things were before, not 'two weeks' as per the well known hairdressing saying (which clearly only ever applied to barbering, not highly skilled cuts and colouring).
Also, since it wasn't possible to even see the extent of the issues whilst in the salon, not until we got home (and in my case, not until I straightened my hair) how can the rules of 'you must say something whilst at the salon' apply?
It's clearly not been done up to standard and I don't see why I HAVE to go back in, waiting for two weeks, to have them having a go at my hair again. I'm not sure DD will even go back, she's totally lost faith with them.
Is there really a law (an actual law?) that you have to go back and let them have another crack at it?
Maybe I'm burnt by the previous salon who coloured DDs hair which then turned green, then when we went back in to have it 're-done for free don't worry we'll sort it out for you' they hacked DDs hair off so she looked like she'd been run over by a lawnmower, removed loads of length she'd been building up for several years, and then dyed her hair a darker colour than we had asked for without my or her permission -
which then turned green for a second time. There was quite a level of unhappiness at this previous salon that they were being asked to put it right for free - which showed in the botched 'recovery' job. I'm not saying for a second that this would happen at our current (soon to be ex) salon but these are actual mistakes, poor practice, not a disagreement over shade or something being half an inch too long.
I so, so do not need nor do I want to have to go back in there I really really really don't.
