I've been coming to Salon Khouri for almost two years now, and had always had a pleasant experience until my last two sessions. Sad to say, but in my community group, every time a neighbor would ask for a recommendation on a local Salon, my husband and I would eagerly recommend this location to them- after today, no more! Recently, my long-time stylist decided to go and start her own shop. At first, although I had grown to love her, I decided to stay with Salon Khouri and transferred to a new stylist, Becky. My first few sessions with Becky were pretty good and I felt things were going well. I did notice that the manager of the salon was no longer present at this location and the staff had begun to really take a turn for the worse in customer service. On my previous appointment, I arrived 10 minutes late and was told that Becky had taken another client and I would need to wait - nobody called to see how far away I was before they decided to do that. This resulted in a 30 minute haircut turning into an almost 2 hour session at the Salon - it soured me, but I scheduled my next appointment and decided to give it a second chance. Today, I arrived 7 minutes past my appointment time of 1:30. I was greeted coldly and told to have a seat as they would notify Becky that I was ready. At 1:45, the girl at the desk called me up to tell me that because I was late (by 7 minutes) Becky would not cut my hair today. I asked if she could see me later; they rudely said she wasn't available but maybe someone else could take me. I'd like to make it clear that Becky was nowhere to be seen and I was the only person waiting in the Salon. I explained to the girls to deliver a message to Becky that if she couldn't fit me in, it would be my last visit ever to Salon Khouri and that I was quite upset. After a few minutes, the front desk girl came out and informed me that Becky said she couldn't see me. No further options were provided. I called their main number and spoke to Janelle, their general Manager, and explained the situation. She was very apologetic and quick to offer a free haircut on my account. However, I'd like to be clear, I don't want any handouts or compensation; I want the service I'm equally entitled to as any other patron of the Salon. Many times I've had to wait for other patrons who have had color, or blowouts, or ran a few minutes late. It's part of general customer service for a long-term client who has churned new business for your establishment; a common courtesy. If I had been 15 or 20 minutes late, I would understand not being able to see Becky, but alternatives should have then been provided and in a much more genuine and customer-centric fashion.
In conclusion, I asked for a simple and fair accommodation to remedy the poor customer service : have Becky fit me in, or accommodate me at the end of the day for the inconvenience. I was told "she has plans". As a result of this, I will never return to Salon Khouri and neither will I recommend it to neighbors, co-workers or friends. I will share this story, the failure of customer service and of course, Becky, as the reason why. My business will now go back to Tiffany, who started her own Salon. I will drive the extra distance. I will pay more if I have to. I will go out of the way to recommend people to her. I don't care how good of a "stylist" you are, you're in the customer service industry first.
I'd recommend you cut your hair in a bathroom mirror before coming here. At the very least, don't ever accept an appointment with Becky.
***Update: I'd like to clarify, before someone chimes in and tries to justify the barbaric customer service with my 7 minutes of tardiness. Although I don't share this publicly, I'm so upset at how I was treated that I feel it important to disclose it. I suffer from chronic back pain, have had multiple surgeries (including a spinal fusion) and my last procedure was just 5 days before this appointment. It takes a lot of effort for me to get moving. I overcome a lot of pain to do so, especially on the weekends when I've been beating my back up all week long in the workplace. The salon has always been well aware of my spine issue and my disability. My stylists have chatted with me about it in "chair talk". Although my disability is not service related, this salon is in a neighborhood filled with veterans and service members- some of whom do have service connected disabilities. In speaking to other patrons, I was told that Becky is well known for denying service to customers. I certainly wasn't the first and I won't be the last, since they seem intent on providing "coaching opportunities" for her, at the expense of my pain, inconvenience and overall horrendous customer service practices.
Supporting a salon/company like this, without them making impactful changes, is supporting an organization that doesn't care for disabled patrons, has poor customer service, and believes everything can be fixed with a free haircut coupon . Shame! read more