My maid of honor called this salon to book for my wedding party, she called about 4 weeks in advance. She was booking for 5 updo's and 4 makeups. She was told that "the girls would need to be booked out for the day" and assumed that "the girls" meant multiple stylists. My friend paid a 200$ deposit, which for some places is a standard amount.\r
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I called in to schedule a trial of my hair and the lady I spoke with was very rude to me. In the conversation, I learned that it would be 1 hairstylist and 1 makeup artist for all of us. I have an 8 month old daughter and the venue was an hour away, and expressed concerns about all of us sitting around so long and leaving my daugher so long. Not to mention, we needed to be at the venue at a certain time and would not make it there on time based on one stylist and one makeup artist. I explained that to the lady, and at that point she told me the salon wasnt busy enough to have more than just her, so that is why she would be doing all the updos. (HELLO RED FLAG - WHAT KIND OF SALON ONLY HAS ONE STYLIST ON A SATURDAY?)\r
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Then she finally told me she might be able to get someone else to come in, but that she could no longer honor the price she originally quoted if she brought in another girl. This is at odds with what she told my friend when booking - that "the girls would be booked up/block out their schedules."\r
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At that point, I decided that this place was no longer going to be a good fit, and made other arrangments at The Tallgrass Spa, which has been an absolute DREAM to work with. When you are arranging for a wedding party, you want someone nice and pleasant, not rude and unaccomodating. \r
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So, I call Salon West back to cancel, and inquire if they are willing at all to work with us on the deposit. Mind you, this is mere days after we booked, and three full weeks prior to the wedding date. Meaning - any decent salon will fill up on a saturday. I am told I need to call back and talk with the manager, Amy.\r
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She was SO RUDE to me. I explained the situation, and she said "I explained to her twice that we would take the deposit and it was non-refundable." I tried to say, "I understand, but since we cancelled so quickly I was wondering if you would work with us at all?" I explained there was no contract ever signed, that we werent asking for the full amount back, just hoping that she would be willing to work with us. She said "no, I told her twice, and I have her on recording where she understood it was non-refundable." I told her we would need to dispute with the credit card company.\r
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At the end of the day, I understand a non-refundable policy. But, I am shocked that for someone in the service industry, she wasnt willing to work with us AT ALL. We booked, cancelled days later, and it was still three full saturdays before the wedding day. Plenty of time to fill up the ONE STYLIST that had been booked out. Maybe even makeup I can understand, its unlikely that will be booked full on a Saturday. But you cant fill 5 hair appointments on a Saturday?\r
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Oh, and not to mention the fact that they were sketchy all over the place with the number of people that would be helping, not being able to honor prices for bringing in an extra hair person, etc.\r
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I have no idea how good they are, but if they are willing to balk at returning $200.00 (or even $50.00, $25.00? something to foster good will and repeat business?), they must be HARD UP for cash.\r
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BEWARE - DO NOT BOOK YOUR WEDDING PARTY HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO HAVE EXACTLY ONE MAKEUP ARTIST AND EXACTLY ONE HAIR STYLIST. AND THEN YOU CAN HAVE THE ADDED BENEFIT OF BEING TREATED INCREDIBLY RUDELY BY THE MANAGER.\r
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Book with Tallgrass. A bit more expensive, but worth it!! They actually have more than one hairstylist on a Saturday. No deposit required either, and no way they need it since they are so sweet and helpful!
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