Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A Waste of Time --

My hair is a mess -- I decided to change the part of my hair and it's all tikwas plus I haven't had a haircut in over 3 months. I should've gotten a haircut while I was in Manila but I wanted to get my hair cut together with my sister.

We've had very little success finding someone who can cut our hair properly here in Iloilo and we thought we had finally found one --

The salon is called Stretch and the guy with the magic hands is called Pepoy (he owns the place) -- he came highly recommended by my OB who regularly has her hair cut by him and I've always liked the result.

I tried him out -- made the appointment and showed up on time. I noticed he was very chatty with his other customers but, when it was my turn, he switched on his bluetooth and started talking to some other person while he was cutting my hair. I didn't really mind -- I'm not good with small talk and my hair was cut very nicely.

When it was my sister's turn to get a haircut, I convinced her to try him out. We made the appointment and went there during our scheduled time -- we had to wait 30 minutes before he cut our hair. I wasn't very happy with the way he cut my hair that second time but my sister's hair turned out beautifully. During my second visit, the bluetooth was switched on again.

Flash forward to yesterday -- I called last Saturday to ask about his schedule for the week. I was informed by the receptionist that his only appointment in the afternoon was for a trial make-up at 1:30 so I asked to make an appointment at 3. On the day of the appointment, I called at 2 to confirm the appointment and to ask if we can come in earlier (in case the trial make-up finished early) and the receptionist told me that 3 would be the perfect time.

We arrived there at 10 minutes to 3 and I saw Pepoy cutting someone's hair -- I thought that he had finished his trial make-up and we were next so we decided to wait. I was surprised to see that, after he finished with the one haircut, he proceeded to do 2 more. I approached the receptionist and asked about my schedule. The receptionist told me that the trial make-up started late and these were clients who had earlier schedules.

So we waited until he finished the 2 other customers. (By then it was already 3:45.) I asked the receptionist again when our turn would come and she assured us we were next.

At 4:15, my sister told me to cancel our appointment -- she said it wasn't fair to still give him business after the shabby treatment we got.

I had anticipated some delay, which is why I informed Seth's yaya that we would be back at 5 but I never expected to be kept waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes for nothing.

Leaving the place, my sister and I reflected on the entire experience -- going to a a beauty salon is supposed to be a feel-good moment -- you come out of it feeling like a shiny new penny. Yesterday, we felt even more tarnished than when we came in.

When we arrived home, my dad noticed our lack of haircuts and we told him what happened. He asked us if we had rescheduled and we told him, no -- never.

My sister and I may be just two people and he would probably never feel the loss of our business but we would rather take that business where it is appreciated.

5 comments:

Vina P said...

hi! i was just blog-hopping. saw your site thru n@w. just want to say that the same thing happened to me a few days back. i was so disappointed with the hairdresser and i'm never going back there ever again (this was in david's galleria in case you're wondering where). totally a waste of my time. i was soo mad!
anyway, care to link up? i've just switched to blogspot. :-)thanks@lot
http://vinapineda.blogspot.com

Lex (mrshobbes) said...

hi tin, i'm sorry about the shabby treatment you got! and I totally agree--you're supposed to feel pampered and relaxed in a salon.

my salon nightmare happened when I had a major haircut (my hair was shoulder-length and I wanted it back to my super short, pre-wedding length) and went to a stylist highly recommended by two friends. i suspect he treated me differently because i knew the owner and she had granted me a discount. anyway, imagine someone slashing and hacking (i am not exaggerating, unfortunately) at my hair until it got to be a close-cropped shag. i was terrified he was going to take my ear off! I've had mediocre service before, but I've never had to leave a salon in near tears and feeling so violated and ugly.

it's such a hassle, but seriously one of the best friends you can have in life is ma haircutter. it really makes all the difference. i'm still on the lookout for a new one and tried Hairshaft in Podium. The service by the staff is excellent and my haircutter a charming gay man who listened to what i wanted. I was happy with the result. We'll see if he can duplicate the feeling in a few months. :)

Tin (ni Johann) said...

Hi, Vina! Thank you for visiting and sharing your salon horror story -- ^_^

Hi, Mrs Hobbes! Your story shocked me -- especially the part about the slashing and hacking. Thank you for your recommendation -- I'll try to check it out when I'm in Manila. (I usually get my haircut at Lucy Britanico-Greenhills. Lucy is really great and I miss her! >_<)

Lex (mrshobbes) said...

hi Tin! If you've been going to Lucy Brittanico, Hairshaft is one of their pet projects I think. I'm under the impression it's all under the same owner :) I used to go to Kaizen salon headed by Jude Hipolito, except that now he's so expensive! Di ko kaya! I could buy five pairs of shoes for what he charges, LOL!

Unknown said...

hi!

I am sorry to hear about your parlor horror experiences. It is true that you are supposed to feel better and renewed after leaving a salon instead of the other way around.

If you don't like waiting, you might want to try our HOME SERVICE haircut for only P350. We also have massage and all the other salon services.

For more information, you may call 621-4800 or email us at beautylicious_ci@yahoo.com. We also have a facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/beautylicious.cis

The good thing about us is that we have a legitimate salon located across Fatima-Hilltop (near SM Fairview) which has been in operation for more than 5 years now with experienced stylists and therapists.

I hope this helps... :)

Merry Christmas and here's to happy, healthy, beautiful hair days!

Cheers,
Beautylicious