You know, I'm really getting sick of these companies with horrible customer service. Especially when something is pretty costly. Our girl Brown Suga is back to share a salon review with us. Take a look:
I’m back blushing ladies with another installment of my hair journey. This time I decided to be Damned….courtesy of The Damn Salon. Their niche is that they only have two physical locations and travel across the country to bring you fabulous damn twists.
Lets start with how I discovered The Dam Salon – I was on FB on one of the many natural hair fan pages that I like and someone posted about this salon. I clicked and after browsing the pics I was hooked. I had finally found a protective style that sexy, sassy and funky. I call to schedule the appointment for their “Taste of DC” event and put down a deposit. I was told a week before the event I would receive an email with the location and other important details needed. One week out no information..so being proactive I send them an email to confirm that they have me on their books. I receive a response (within a fairly quick amount of time) stating that they do. I go to their FB page a day or so later and see an announcement regarding having a few open slots left. Insert thought bubble here ”How about you all send out that confirmation email that you promised?” I comment asking when can I expect to receive a confirmation email. Thinking I’m on the only one…imagine my shock when my comment was liked by several people. The next day the magical email appears.
Let me also add I had a truly blonde moment and scheduled my appointment on super bowl Sunday at noon. I figured ok…I scheduled my appointment at noon – at least I’ll be cute in time for the super bowl party I was going to later on that evening.
I arrive to my appointment early (please pat me on my back) and I’m a bit confused as my navigation delivers me to the front of an upscale high rise apartment building. Well I be damned – my appointment was in a corporate rental. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
I am greeted warmly and I fill out a questionnaire and browse through a book. We also discuss what I want done. In comes the up charges that were not discussed when I made the appointment. There’s an extra cost for a trim, color of the hair being used and length. Why wasn’t any of this discussed either on your website or in your communications with me? Also, because of their set up I had to come in with my hair already washed and dried.
By this point its 12:20. I begin to survey the room and realize there are X number of chairs and NO ONE is done yet. Dear god, sweet baby Jesus and the 12 disciples please let me get out of here in time for my super bowl party. Fast forward to 1:30 and I’m still sitting and waiting. I inquire about the refund policy for my deposit because I have somewhere else to be and sitting here is not an option any more. She assured me I’d be seated by 2pm and will be out in time to get to my party. Now let’s remember my appointment was at Noon and I got there EARLY!
I’m finally seated and she works on my hair little interruption. Once my hair is done they twist my hair to set it and I schedule a time to come back in two days to have them taken down. I go to pay and I am in sticker shock (I’m intentionally leaving the amount I actually spent out of this post because I know better…much much better. But it was $100 more than I budgeted for). I couldn’t in good conscious tip for obvious reasons. While at first I was on the fence about not tipping, but I was ultimately happy with my decision for reasons I’ll go into greater detail about later.
So before I leave I schedule my follow up appointment for April 7th based on when they told me when they will be back. (bookmark this line, check your calendar and sigh with me).
I go a full day with my hair twisted up and I get antsy and take them out myself to see what it would look like the next night (so needless to say I never went back). I look in the mirror and I fell in love. The twists were what I expected and much more. I received many compliments on my hair the first week it was unreal.
Another highlight of these damn twists is that you can style them just like you would your regular hair. So I go about my business doing so and I take a stab at washing them 1.5 weeks later. This is where things start to take an awful turn. Now granted my real hair is growing in from a short cut so it’s not full all over my head and there also places where my hair is shorter but still catchable. So imagine my shock when these damn twists start slipping. I could have screamed, cussed and cried. I paid all this money and these twists are slipping not only in the sections where my hair is shorter but in places where my hair is longer.
I am on FB and see that they post their next “Taste of DC” dates - April 12th – 17th. *Insert Scooby doo face here*….my appointment was for the 7th. What the hell happened? So immediately I send an email inquiring about the difference in dates. One day goes by no response. I go on their FB page and post a comment explaining my situation and was told that the 7thfell on Easter Weekend (Dear Lord) and they had to push the event back. You mean to tell me that you didn’t consult a calendar before hand? I was told to call their 202/Washington, DC number. So I call and leave a voicemail. As of the day I am typing this review, 7days after leaving the voicemail, I have yet to get a call back. Let me also add that at the time I scheduled my follow up appointment they wanted me to put down a deposit. I politely declined and told them I would call to do so closer to the event. The lord works in mysterious ways I tell ya.
As my twists slipped out I tried putting them back in with the original hair and then I decide to experiment with other hair. Needless to say the outcome was disastrous. So as I am sitting in Panera sipping my mango smoothie with my hat on these damn twists… I am contemplating going back to my $180 fluffy twists that I had last year that were easy to manage, stayed in for six weeks and made my hair grow fast.
In summation for the amount of money I spent not only was I damned I was bamboozled. I will not chase you down to spend my money and I will not travel to various cities to fix the mess you left on my head.
Now granted there are loyal Damn Salon customers and more power to them. However, given my experience and that of fellow blogger – Dagny Zenovia: (you can see it here) I cannot in good conscious recommend you going to them for their twists. I can recommend an alternative twist style and that would be the fluffy twists. While they may not offer the full versatility of the Damn Salon Twists…for $180 they are far more budget friendly.
Until next time Blushing Ladies
Peace
Love
Hair Grease.
P.S. I did go back to my ole faithful fluffy twist….I am one week in…with minimal slippage.
P.S.S. I have not received a response to my voicemail or email that I sent to them. Also, I have since un-liked their fan page.
