It has been over a year since I’ve had anything done with my hair, so I decided to splurge and get a cut and weave. I made an appointment with Leslie at the Veneta Beauty Salon. A couple of people had recommended her.
I arrived on time and when I walked in the door Leslie stood up from a salon chair and asked, “You’re Joanne?” Yes. Then she turned from me and began talking with another employee. I stood, unsure if I should go sit in the chair she just vacated. This was not a good sign.
I sat down in one of the chairs near the entrance. A few minutes later Leslie invited me to sit in her salon chair. She showed me the eight available colors and we decided on Honey for my weave. Then without a word she walked away. She continued conversing with her coworker who was working on another woman.
During the next ten minutes as I sat waiting she went to the back room several times to mix the colors, answered the phone, applied mascara to her already caked eyelashes, checked her cell phone for messages, and put on lipstick, all the while exchanging comments with her chatty coworker. She didn’t say anything at all to me. I kept getting the urge to get up and walk out. My mind was screaming SOMETHING’S WRONG HERE. GET UP. GO. NOW.
After she was satisfied with her looks, she began working on my hair. In the entire time she did not once address me. I asked a few questions, which were answered, but she did not initiate any conversation. Though she talked quite a bit with her coworker, who seemed unable to shut up. Several times she paused in her work, my hair in her hand, the brush poised to paint, to make a point to her coworker, and I feared I might be in the chair three hours. I’m so very grateful for the sales rep who arrived and engaged the other employee in discussion of product. And I was very glad I brought a book to read.
$80 and two hours for this?
After she had colored my hair she led me to the blowdryer and said, “This will take anywhere from five to fifteen minutes.” As I sat under the blowdryer I watched Leslie. First she opened her makeup bag and applied face powder with a big brush. Cheeks, forehead, chin, under her chin. Then she got up close to the mirror and did something with her eyes that I couldn’t see. This was followed by another coat of mascara. Then she sat in her chair and blowdried her dry hair for about four minutes, fluffing and poofing, all the while watching the effect in the mirror. Then she stood up and adjusted her shirt and then her pants, then her shirt. She admired herself in the mirror.
Now, Leslie is an attractive girl, despite behing sixty to seventy pounds overweight, particularly since she knows how to use makeup to her advantage. But I can’t recall ever seeing anyone so obsessed with their looks. I felt like an anthropologist in the field witnessing unique and odd behavior. Is this customary of this tribe? Do both sexes perform this ritual? Is this the dominant member of this social group?
As I was coming up on fifteen minutes in the dryer, I asked, “Why do you say it’ll take five to fifteen minutes if you don’t look until after fifteen minutes?” Her chatty coworker answered for her, “Because it depends on the color of the hair we’re dying. If it’s light hair, it often takes only five minutes, but darker hair takes longer.” So I replied, “Then if you know you’re not going to check until fifteen minutes, why do you say ‘five to fifteen’”? She replied, “Probably just habit.” So then why don’t they say, “We’ll check you in five”? or “We’ll take you out after fifteen minutes”? They were incapable of even speaking to me as an individual. I was that generic.
Leslie finally removed me from the blowdryer and brought me to the sink for a wash and rinse. As she took the foil off I was shocked by the white in my hair and a “Holy shit” blurted right out of my mouth. My brain hadn’t had time to censor. Okay, okay, maybe it’s just the foam. I’m sure it’ll all be okay.
Please make me look older
Leslie then cut about four inches off my hair and dried it. When I looked in the mirror my hair was the color of sundried straw, not honey. It wasn’t golden. It was pale and dead. I looked awful. I couldn’t believe this narcissistic girl had not only provided me with the worst possible beauty shop experience by completely ignoring me, but she screwed up my hair! I complained about it. She told me, “I like it.” The proper response would have been “Who gives a shit what you like? I don’t even know you!” but I held back. She told me to try it out for a day, and if I still didn’t like it she would recolor it.
I almost felt like I was in shock. I sat in that girl’s chair for two hours, and the words she spoke to me could have fit inside three minutes. I’ve never been so thoroughly ignored by someone inside my aura, as it were. And the owner, Tobie, was there the entire time, so I have to assume this is typical behavior for Leslie.
When I went to the coffee shop the next day one man liked my hair and two thought I looked older. One person described the color as driftwood. You know that pale, sunbleached driftwood color? When all the life has been sucked out of the wood by aging, sun, and water?
I returned to the beauty salon. Leslie was not there nor was the owner. I told a woman working there that I wanted someone to fix the color in my hair. She wanted to make another appointment for me with Leslie and I said anyone but her. She took down my phone number and told me Tobie would call me. Later that day I got a call from Leslie who wanted to set up an appointment to redo my hair. I told her no, I didn’t want her doing it. When she asked why, I wouldn’t tell her. She was too immature to be able to accept my criticism. I would tell the owner when she called.
Leslie said that usually the same girl will redo the hair to avoid charging me money if someone else does it. But I could get a refund. But not from her. Only from Tobie on Friday and why don’t I call her Friday. I said that I had left my number for Tobie to call me. So the next day I received a call from Tobie telling me that I could pick up my refund between one to eight on Friday. When I arrived at the salon, Tobie recognized me and asked me my name. I told her and she addressed the check and handed it to me. She didn’t ask what was wrong. She didn’t apologize. Absolutely nothing. Here’s the owner handing me a check and she’s not at all interested in my Why of the story. Invisible again.
Add a little more gray, please.
Yesterday I visited a beauty store and the manager said my hair had a green tint because there was just too much ash in it. She agreed that Leslie had not done well by me. She in fact said she knew Leslie and that her specialty was fingernails. I picked up a light brown honey color for my permanent color and also bought a temporary red for fun. I also got some shampoo and conditioner, applicators, and protein packs, and the whole bill was only $35. That was shocker, because I hardly get out of any (grocery) store for less than $60. And it was less than half of my salon visit.
I wonder if in Leslie’s mind she has convinced herself that she did her job, that the color was attractive, and that I’m unreasonable. I received no apologies. And no affirmation of my impression. At least I got my money back, but I can’t get back the two hours I wasted in that chair.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, what a nightmare!! I had a similar problem with a hairdresser. He was Kenneth the “Master Colorist” who refused to let me look at color swatches. He said that he “doesn’t do color swatches.” Okay, so I showed him a photo of the color I wanted. The color was red tone, sort of like a Sienna color. He assured me that he could accomplish this color with my hair and so I sat in his chair waiting for my “new look.”
When he finally finished processing my hair I sat looking into the mirror. My hair looked REALLY dark. I thought that it was perhaps because it was wet. I asked to borrow a blowdryer and to my horror IT WAS DARK. My hair color was a shade of a cabernet grape, PURPLE BLACK!!!
Needless to say I refused to pay. I wasn’t satisfied with the color but he argued that I owed him money for services rendered. I still refused and told him to sue me and I walked out of the salon.
Cabernet’s a far cry from sienna! Oh my. Kenneth probably thought he was improving on your color choice. You know, being a master and all
I brought home some temporary reddish color that I’m hesitant to try. I’ve never been a redhead. But I think anything would be preferable to what I have now. I look at myself and think Gloria Steinem.
Your hair looks beautiful and so do you. What a journey of the soul, hair-wise. Thanks for sharing.
I hope that writting this blog made you feel better, because that is all it can accomplish. It is unfortunate that you choose to vent online and put other people down as a method of coping, rather than try to solve situations productively. You obviously did not enjoy your time or the results from the salon. You got your money back and your hair is easily fixable, you never have to go there again. But, YOU never told them from the start when you weren’t comfortable, even when you were concerned at the time, you didn’t speak up. You didn’t ask after five minutes when you were worried, you criticized at 15 when you were angry. You didn’t say why you were unhappy and how it could be helped. And especially when Leslie had the courtesy to call and try to make things better, you refused to tell her what could have been done differently. Instead you retreat to the walls of the internet and then spew your angst out somewhere it cannot be resolved. So, in conclusion, YOUR attitude in a situation is the only one you can control, and the one you are presenting isn’t earning you good treatment and doubtfully ever will.
I was just reading about your Salon Experience. And i was just wondering if you ever gave it any thought before you posted such HATE and Bullshit about this young stylest. How would she feel reading this? How will she feel when her freind and family read this? I can understand if you where not happy with your hair, IT’s ONLY COLOR you can chang it AGAIN! The things you have posted on the WORLD WIDE INTERNET. The bullshit people will read. This is her life, her job, her feelings, her confidince. Does it make you feel better about youself, whom you must hate, to put her down. Does her beauty make you feel SO UGLEY that you need to belittle her. I Was DUMBFOUNDED TO read this!!!!!!
I see you still have no reply and you still have not taken this off the net. I just hope for your sake and mine I NEVER see you around veneta.
I’ve received comments on this blog entry from a few outraged residents of Veneta. The people have called me the bitch of Veneta, a drunk, a miserable woman, whiner, terrible employer, thief, you name it.
I have been threatened with physical harm and ostracism by the town’s businesses and residents. The comments have been so ugly that I deleted most of them.
Not one person has refuted what occurred at the beauty salon. They have just objected to my publicizing it. Anonymous says I should have said something to Leslie. I did complain to her but my complaint was invalidated. I was very clear that I wouldn’t talk with Leslie but that I would tell Tobie what the problem was, but Tobie never asked.
Leslie’s friends were so embarrassed for Leslie that instead of just ignoring the blog post and ending it there, they forwarded it to all their friends to read.
Leslie is an employee in a business serving customers in a very personal, hands-on profession. If there’s something I wrote about her behavior that her friends find embarrassing, perhaps she should amend such behavior instead of encouraging her friends to attack me.
The salon owner should realize that her shop and her employees are liable to scrutiny and public review. She should decide if the criticism is valid and do something about it or not; if the criticism is invalid, then she should ignore it or professionally refute it. But what she shouldn’t do is attack me and have her husband post that I’m a drunk.
Perhaps I should have posted my review of the Veneta beauty shop in more public forums, such as search engines and directories. I think I have an even better understanding now of the ethics and mentality involved with this shop. And I definitely have first-hand knowledge of how they deal with complaints.
If I have lied or slandered someone (stating an untruth with intent to harm), please show me where and I will apologize and remove the comment. But if you’re just embarrassed and lashing out under the anonymity of a computer, then you owe me an apology.
Whether I be a bitch or drunk or whatever, there is nothing in my blog that could compare to the juvenile invective some of you have posted. You have threatened my physical well-being, and your ISPs are on record.
Apparently, Veneta hosts a contingent who despise the first amendment and long for the days of public beatings and lynchings. Long live the tyranny of the crowd!
Whatever lady ! Your mind is messed up. I think you need meds.
Dear children: Grow up. Understand that criticism is not personal. Criticism comes from unhappy customers, and unhappy customers are created by situations, not by customers who are fundamentally “messed up”. If you are unable to take responsibility for being a part of the creation of that situation, that is the very basic definition of Immaturity.
Criticism is a gift. It allows you to know exactly how a particular customer has been disappointed by your service. You can choose to use this information to your advantage, and become a better professional and better business person by it.
On the other hand, you can take the criticism personally, get all hot and bothered, and demonstrate to the entire world, by posting inane unreasonable comments, that you basically don’t understand how the real world works and are unwilling to even think about it.
If you are interested in a successful career and the potential of ever starting or running your own business, start listening to criticism and taking it seriously.
If, however, you are only interested in living day-to-day, getting whatever job you can get just scraping by, and never even having the possibility of getting out of your home town much less accomplishing any significant goals in life… Well, then you’re doing a great job with the way you’re acting.
–Naomi, small business owner .
To anyone whose posts I have deleted, if you are able to offer a cogent response that addresses the issues of the original post, I will incorporate your comments.
What I will not do is allow you to use my blog to offload your anger onto me and my audience. Nobody wants to read paragraph after paragraph of insults, threats and cliches. Get your own blog if you need a place to express yourself.
I understand you’re upset. But attacking me doesn’t resolve it. Tell me why you’re upset. Tell me why you think what I posted was wrong. If you want me to hear you, present a reasonable argument with recommendations for improvement.
Is naming names wrong in this context? Why?
Would the post have been acceptable if only general descriptions, and not names, were presented?
Is not engaging a customer in conversation acceptable behavior in a hairdresser?
Should employees indulge in personal grooming habits in a business environment?
Does a business owner have a responsibility to seek out customer complaints for resolution?
Are the shop and its employees at all responsible for the outcome of my visit?
How can Leslie improve performance to avoid a similar situation in the future?
Since Veneta is a small town where everyone knows everyone for better or worse-as I stated before-you should have left out the names. Naming names in this context could have (although it hasn’t yet) interfered with Leslie’s livelihood and she already struggles.
Yes, I believe that the post would have been more acceptable if only general descriptions and not names were presented.
Myself-I have had hairdressers who have not talked to me or talked very little to me and then there are the ones who talk way too much. It’s a crap shoot.
I have been to quite a few shops where the employees are styling their own hair and primping before the mirror. So, Leslie is not unique in this matter. I guess I would rather have a stylist who took great pride in her appearance and hope that pride transferred to me as she is working on my hair, then have an unkempt mess do it!
I understand that Leslie did try to resolve the issue with you which actually was the “grown up” thing to do. Were you unhappy with Leslie or the whole shop? Was it such a big deal that the owner needed involved?
You did not like the coloring and Leslie offered to fix it. You should have given it a try, because she is an excellent beautician. Other than that there is always Judges Joe and Judy you could have taken it up with!
Not only the shop and employees but you too are responsible for the visit’s outcome. So many things could have been handled differently-instead of steaming you could have started your own conversation with Leslie and who ever else was in the shop. It’s a beauty salon-did you never watch Steel Magnolias? If not then do, if you have then apply some of the principles to get involved the next time.
Leslie’s performance as a hair stylist does not need improvement-although I know you were unhappy with your outcome. Other so-called “issues” will disappear as she matures.
Sophie
I was listening to a conversation in town that was commenting on the hairdresser next to Rays in Veneta and mentioned this blog site. I have my own story. I made an appointment for a perm right before Christmas. When I arrived I told the gal that I wanted a spiral perm with the biggest rods she had – the look we were going for was the Shirley Temple look. Not talking to me at all the gal proceeded to wrap my hair in tiny rods. I asked if they were the biggest ones she had and her reply was “I have done lots of perms, don’t worry about it.” 2.5 hours later and $100, I came out with the tiniest spiral I have ever seen. No amount of ANYTHING could get rid of it for almost a year! Needless to say I have never been back to the place. The gal really didn’t listen AT ALL to what I wanted nor did she care that I wasn’t that thrilled with the results.
All these little girls with hurt little feelings (and their little boy equivalents) should wake up and learn that they work in service industries, for the purpose of serving the customers. The first thing out of their mouths should not be a lollipop, but “I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you. It must have been a communication problem. Would you like your money back, or can we arrange to fix this somehow so you are satisfied? We want you as a customer.” Now I haven’t heard anybody in a store say that for 20 years, nomatter what the dreadful stuff they have pulled on me. So my hair stands up and I hiss like a cat. Then I start being extremely loud and unpleasant. I had to do that today at Sears, as a matter of fact. Long story. But don’t worry about the younger generation. They won’t be around long. Their cell phones and ipods will give them brain tumors.
I found this entry while searching for the hours to the Veneta Beauty Shop. I was actually really surprised. I used to live in Veneta, but relocated to Eugene. I’m one of Leslie’s regulars (2 + years) and have been driving out to see her for a year + (about an hour). She can be a little distracted sometimes, but I’ve always been super happy with her work.
I also get my hair cut by Toby. Toby is great. She’s the only person I’ve found that can cut my type of hair. I’ve had one bad experience at the salon, but after I let Toby know the issue, she quickly had me taken care of.
I have had experiences where I felt a little ignored, but I’ve always been happy with the results. For me, it’s better than having your ear chatted off. They’re all really nice ladies and I will continue going to them in the future. I’ve had so many bad salons in the past, I’m really grateful for their services.
Perhaps in the future, talking with the people in charge is the best bet. Beauty salons in particular deal with a lot of upset people. People are very sensitive about their appearance. Generally they do whatever is requested and don’t ask questions.
I -WON’T- pay for a haircut until I’m 100% satisfied. Would you pay for bad food in a restaurant? Not me. I send it back until they get it right. Even a good chef sometimes under cooks the steak. Sometimes even really good stylists give a bad haircut. You’ve just got to outline what you need and how. That’s what service is about.
I was kind of shocked about the comments on Leslie’s weight. She’s a very sweet girl. While she can be a little distracted, she’s very pleasant. I think she takes wonderful care of herself. Certainly, there’s nothing about her weight worth noting.
Best wishes to you and hopefully you’ll find a salon more to your needs and liking.
I’m glad you had a good experience. I didn’t. And I tried to take it up with the owner, to have someone else recolor my hair, but she wouldn’t call me. All she did was write me a check. Then she, her husband, and her friends posted vile and threatening comments to my blog, most of which were deleted.
If I was ignored but the hair color was acceptable, I wouldn’t have written this post. If my concerns were addressed by the owner, I wouldn’t have written this post. If my hair was recolored by another beautician as I asked, I wouldn’t have written this post.