ComplaintsforThe Extensionist

• Initial Complaint

  02/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I wanted low maintenance hair color and extensions. At the consultation, I said I wanted curly extensions to match my curly hair with ombre colour including dark roots. The stylist told me that she could not get curly hair extensions and was told her hair would be fine being straightened constantly to match straight hair extensions and it would look good. I was made to pay a deposit. The day of the appointment the stylist bleached my hair 3 times and put the bottom row of the extensions in too low and the hair got stuck between the two bottom rows causing her scalp to bleed and to have welts. In order to fix their mistake, the business had to take out the bottom extensions in an emergency appointment a few days later. I was also told that I needed a silk ponytail and needed a hair serum and the stylist suggested to come back every week to get her hair shampooed and styled. As time went on her stylists work was getting compromised and the stylist was constantly behind schedule. the salon also charged me $38 for a product that was being given away for free. During one appointment, the stylist was running late, and the salon had an apprentice shampoo and blow-dry my hair. The apprentice burned my neck while blow-drying. On another occasion, the stylist made the same original mistake of installing the extensions incorrectly causing my hair to start to fall out due to the damage. When I asked for a different stylist, the salon told me that my only option was to keep seeing my original stylist because the other stylists of the salon did not feel comfortable working with me. When I reached out to the stylist to work things out, the stylist never responded.

  Business response

  07/03/2022

  This email is in response to complaint ID: ********

  I am sending my full response via email because it exceeds the **** character allotment your website provides. As well, I had many uploads to provide on this matter and it only allows for 3. All email threads will be provided to **********************************************, and the full video mentioned ***** can be available upon request (it is a large file size).

  Thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide our statement of accounts on this matter. We are very relieved that there is now a mediator involved in this dispute, as not only are there blatant lies within the body of ******** text, but we have been trying ceaselessly to manage ******** obscenities for a very long time with countless issues and now have been subject to multiple defamations on social media by her. 

  My name is *****, I am the *** of all 4 locations throughout ******. I was not present for any of the appointments at our ******* location, so unfortunately for me, this is all here say on either ends. 

  Thus, I will begin to break down this statement of account by first providing ******** main stylists statement of accounts. Afterwards, I will provide all email correspondence and additional pieces of evidence, in the hopes to provide all the information necessary to unfold the truths and the mistruths to help better aid you in your decision.

  
  

  ** **** ****** *** *** ******* ****** ******** ****** ***** ******** * ********* ***** **** ********* **** ** *** ***** ********* ** **** ******** ** ******* ** **** ********* *** *********** ***** *** *** ***** ** ***** ******** *** ** **** *** ********** *** ******** ** **** ******

  
  

  First off, as you can see, this is the first complaint that we have received at this location, and we have been operational for 6 years in *******. We have always prided ourselves in proper communication, respect, humility, and inclusiveness for all hair types. It is not to say that miscommunications or issues wont arise in business; however, our guarantee is that we are always willing to put forth the effort to communicate effectively to provide a fair resolution so that we can both ensure our clients happiness, and retain our clients long term partnership & friendship. You will see in our numerous and lengthy emails, that we have gone above and beyond to accommodate ******** consistently erratic, *******, aggressive nature & false claims within our salon, and I am grateful that we made it mandatory to communicate to ******* strictly through email back in May of ****************************************************************************************** person. I would also like to note that ******* did not reach out to any management prior to going directly to BBB. The last communication we had with ******* was September 21 2021, where ******* had the intention of reaching out to her stylist personally to provide an apology due to her first slanderous ********* posts about her, then subsequently an email which asked our salon to put ******* with another stylist all together. This made the stylist feel very hurt, and simply cancelled all of ******** future appointments with her as ******* had requested (see email thread below). We were never made aware that she wanted any sort of refund, nor that she had any bald spots and bleeding, so we were not provided with the opportunity to communicate directly with her prior to her posting on the BBB a few days back. Instead, we were again slandered on social media, with threats to further expose us, whatever that is supposed to mean.

  I might add, that the most recent slander or our company happened 1 day after ******* reached out to one of our staff members on February 9th to see if she could provide hair services for one of her friends weddings. (*** *********** *****). The next day, (feb 10), ******* defamed my company on her social media platforms. It begs the questions: why not send us an email directly first if you had concerns? Why go straight to slandering us on social media? Why reach out to our stylists to ask them to do hair for you or your friends when you are planning to slander us? It is all very odd, but in our many dealings with *******, this erratic behaviour is something we have been subjected to since the beginning, and we have since been reached out to by 1 other salon who says they had similar experiences by this client both in person, and by way of slandering on social media. From our perspective, it seems this person thrives on negative conflict and perhaps enjoys the attention created by this negativity on her social media platforms.

  
  

  
  

  STYLIST STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

  On January 29th, 2021 @4:30pm *********************** came in for a consultation and provided a picture of straight extensions and the balayage colour she wanted. ******* naturally has curly hair and wanted straight extensions, at her request. She also requested a lighter colour, so we advised her that we would be required to bleach her hair to achieve this. Very curly hair types are more susceptible to breakage, as every bend in the hair shaft is a weak point in the hair shaft, so because of this, we were very careful to use 20 vol, and provided the desired tone in 1 session. Most of the blonde would actually be provided using the extensions, so it was not a difficult process, nor what it an issue for her hair. A job well done I thought (photos *****). ******* later claims in her ********* post that we bleached her hair multiple times with is inaccurate and frankly defamatory to my craft. She was also fully aware that her hair had the potential to break as curly hair is weaker than hair that has a medulla inside the hair shaft.

  ******* came in for weekly blow out services as she did not know how to do her hair herself, but insisted on this high maintenance look. She was booked in every friday morning to have her hair washed, blow dried and styled. By no means was this suggested to her, but we wanted to accommodate her needs upon her request. During the consultation, ******* was fully aware of the maintenance that comes with being blonde and getting hair extension maintenance monthly. 

  
  

  February 20th 2021, @10:00am ******* came in for her colour and extension service where her hair was only bleached one time at our salon. A few days after her install, ******** bottom row of extensions caused irritation to the scalp and was fixed immediately to avoid any problems. please see the ***** photo that ******* posted online and claimed she had bald spots, when in all accuracy, there is absolutely no areas of traction alopecia. Instead, there is some irritation which presents itself as redness on the scalp. Again, this was fixed EMMEDIATLY to prevent any further issues, and there was never any additional issues brought up to our salon at any time afterwards. The photo presented to slander us was painted to make her viewers believe that her hair was ripped out, and in her BBB text she also claims there was bleeding, which is absolutely inaccurate and frankly very hurtful both as a stylist and a business. ******* was always taken care of and squeezed in last minute to fulfill her needs at our salon. A silk pillow case (not silk ponytail) is always suggested to our clients to maintain hair health and pro-long her weekly blowout styles.

  
  

  Next, there were a handful of times that ******* was either late, or cancelled on the stylist last minute. It is a usual policy that we charge the client a no-show fee of $50 for appointment cancellations less than 24hr noticed, but this was always waved for ******* as she was a regular, weekly client. 

  We did however have to seat ******* away from our other clients due to her vulgar language and ****** comments as it made our other clientele very uncomfortable in our salon. 

  
  

  ******* mentions that she was sold a product that wasnt for sale, and in her slanderous postings does not mention that this was rectified immediately also.

  The product that was sold to her was a stylists mistake that we were not selling at the time and she entered in the wrong product name that was not for resale. This mistake was rectified and issued back to her on April 27th for the original purchase amount of $***** by way of store credit. ******* came in weekly for appointments so she happily took the store credit, but has continuously used this as a way to bash our company, alluding to the fact that we never rectified this issue. (screen shot *****).

  
  

  On July 29th, 2021, we squeezed in ******* for an appointment as she was demanding us to get her in and asking for one of our stylists to come in on her their day off to wash her hair. As we had always tried to go above and beyond for ******* but had limited staff we told her the only option we had was to squeeze her in around our already fully booked schedule, which she agreed to, The stylist was doubled booked to accommodate *******, and specifically asked her if she would be okay with the apprentice washing and helping blow dry her to get her done because ******* was also in a hurry to finish. ******* got very mad at the apprentice asking if she even knew how to do hair and subsequently claimed while in the salon that the apprentice burnt her neck. This left the apprentice in tears by the way she was spoken to by *******, and when I came over to analyze her neck, there was no burn, it was just warm due to the blowdryer. At no point was there ever any bleeding or balding as ******* is falsely claiming.

  
  

  When ******* requested a different stylist, no other staff felt comfortable doing her hair because of her attitude towards the staff- in the salon she was consistantly aggressive, rude, condescending & vulgar.  The stylist she was originally seeing had the most experience dealing with *******, and thats why it was suggested to stay with her. The reason ******** hair extensions started falling out was because she left the country to ***** for over almost 2 months, and the extensions require to be maintained every 4 weeks. This was explained to her before she left but she insisted on the extensions staying in her head after the stylist suggested to take them out before her trip. After numerous emails back and forth, the reason that ******* didnt hear from the stylist directly is because the owner was requested to step in, and at this point so many circumstances had taken place that no one felt mentally willing to put up with the constant ******* behaviour.

  END STYLIST STATEMENT

  
  

  I ******* was asked to interject after ******** main stylist was being slandered on social media for the first time. As you will read in our email thread, ******* denies slandering us, insisting she was speaking out publicly about another company in the ******* area. So, either we were lied to, or it can be shown that ******* has an admitted history of complaining about service-based companies; in what attempt, I am not sure. 

  
  

  Now, lets break down ******** BBB complaint as it coincides with the accounts provided in the lengthy email threads. You will be provided with the entire thread via email to read over, but I will provide citations here for you to review as it pertains to this case.

  
  

  ******* claim #1: The day of the appointment the stylist bleached my hair 3 times 

  
  

  Please see the screenshot ***** of the stylists schedule. To bleach a clients hair 3 times, this would require roughly 2-2.5 hours per bleach out, as there is application, processing, washing and blowdrying time in between each session. As you can see, there was an allotted 2.5 hours for ******** 1 and only bleaching/toning services, which was scheduled for the appropriate time to allow for 1 bleaching session (2.5 hours). The remainder of the appointment was for the lengthy extension installation, then subsequent styling. For both extensions & a bleach & tone, it is normal to sit in the chair for a stylists entire day- the extension install would not have been possible in this one day if there was 3 bleaching services done to the client. All statements on the contrary are defamatory as they are incorrect. This claim was one that was posted online as a way to ruin our companies reputation and good faith to the general public.

  
  

  ******* claim #2; and put the bottom row of the extensions in too low and the hair got stuck between the two bottom rows causing her scalp to bleed and to have welts.

  As the photo that ******* showcases on her socials as proof that she has balding, there is no balding, nor bleeding present as she claims. What there is, is irritation, which is visibly presented by the redness in the area. The little mounds that can be seen in the irritation CAN cause traction alopecia if left unattended. The mounds are the very beginning process which is completely rectified once the pulling subsides. As the stylist AND ******* both mention, there was an emergency appointment (******** words) made to rectify the situation. That would have been February 23, 2021. ******* continued to wear her extensions for an additional 7 months, and had an appointment for a new set & bleach in October, which was cancelled at ******** request. It is my understanding that she had her extensions in at that point as she made no claims on the contrary.

  
  

  ******* claim #3: the stylist suggested to come back every week to get her hair shampooed and styled.

  As per both ******** slanderous social media post, she claims in her own words that SHE requested to come in for weekly blowouts because she doesnt know how to take care of her hair at all. This statement is also backed up by the stylists statement of accounts. However, in the BBB complaint, ******* makes it sound like this was imposed on her. I have the entire ********* video you can view which showcases ******* in her own words making contradictory statements and since it is quite long I am not sure what the best way would be to send it but I can certainly send upon request.

  
  

  ******* statement #4: the salon also charged me $38 for a product that was being given away for free.

  This was an honest mistake by one of our staff- a human error, which was rectified as soon as it was brought to the attention of our staff. At the time, ******* sounded happy with the ***** store credit, which she then used towards the cost of her next blowout service. we were under the assumption that this was rectified.

  
  

  ******* claim #5: the salon had an apprentice shampoo and blow-dry my hair. The apprentice burned my neck while blow-drying.

  
  

  The stylist relayed her statement of account, and it was found that there were no *****, just that her neck was hot due to the blow dryer. Multiple witnesses can account for this. I would appreciate time-stamped photo evidence to support this claim if it is to be considered since from my perspective, all of my stylists say one thing yet ******* says another.

  
  

  ******* claim #6: On another occasion, the stylist made the same original mistake of installing the extensions incorrectly causing my hair to start to fall out due to the damage.

  
  

  This is the first I am hearing of this, so I would appreciate seeing time stamped evidence before it can be considered. I ask because there are so many contradicting statements that it is difficult to simply take ******** word for anything at this point. 

  
  

  ******* claim #7: When I asked for a different stylist, the salon told me that my only option was to keep seeing my original stylist because the other stylists of the salon did not feel comfortable working with me. When I reached out to the stylist to work things out, the stylist never responded.

  
  

  At the time, we only had 2 other stylists working at our salon, both of which were both fully booked with their own clientele, and did not have the space required for ******** upcoming appointments, which you can see throughout our email thread. The only stylist who did have availability in their schedule was an apprentice, and based on ******** ******* & aggressive behaviour within our salon during many occasions, the apprentice did not feel comfortable taking ******* on as a client. 

  You see, we would never simply deny seeing someone unless there was a reason. This alone proves that ******* had caused strains within our salon, and yes she is correct when she states that no one felt comfortable doing her her. ** *** ********** ** ****** *** ***** ** ***** ** ** ** ******* *** ** * ******* ********* **** ** *** ********** it is my job as *** to protect my staff. It is my duty to ensure that they have a safe, positive work environment to come to, so when my staff tell me they do not feel comfortable seeing someone, I do not make them. That is not healthy for my staffs mental state, nor our work environment. How *********************** spin things publicly to make it sound as if it is because she is a ********! Wow.

  As you will read in my email thread with ******* back in September, it was after ******* publicly slandered her stylists then reached out to us within the same day or two to be removed from ***** schedule, that the stylist felt hurt. Understandably! These accusations were hurtful. And even though ******* denies it was about our salon, she sent an email requesting to be with another stylist right after posting it online. What she says doesnt line up to her actions. This is why **** did not respond to ******* when she reached out. Who in their right mind would willingly subject themselves professionally to someone who is nice to your face and then publicly bashes you and undermine your work? Sometimes, if you dont have something nice to say, its best to preserve tact and say nothing at all. I commend my stylist for taking the high road! :)

  
  

  ******* Desired Settlement: 

  I want refund for 50% of what I paid for the extensions and an apology.

  
  

  Unfortunately, we will not be providing any refund relating to any aspect of the services rendered to *******. We provided a service to her as was asked, and she continued to wear her extensions in her head full-time for at least 7 months that I am aware of. Additionally, we do not have the extensions in our possession- she still owns them. Therefor, there is no reasonable circumstance where is is fair to our business by any means to provide ******* with any monetary value to compensate her for her hair extensions.

  In fact, though it is difficult to measure the potential damage that her false accusations have caused our businesses reputation & good faith- I am almost certain that the gossip and rumours that can spread throughout our community will have cost our company future business- monetary value unknown. We are within our rights to seek a defamation claim against *******, but instead we keep our head held high, put a smile on our faces, remember who we are, and continue to treat our clients with respect as we have done for years. Therefor, we are requesting that this nonsense be dropped once and for all, and we wish ******* all the best of luck with the businesses she deals with in the future. We just hope they dont all reach the same fate we did.

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩