My haircut was ok. Nothing amazing but nothing bad either.
Asking ~$18 just to blow dry the hair after a haircut is too much. I understand raising some prices because everything is more expensive now, but $18 for a blow dry is just crazy. It's especially ridiculous for people with shorter hair which can be quickly dried in just a few minutes.
I left with wet hair, of course, because I'm not paying that. And it's a shame for the stylists, because I'm sure they get better tips when customers leave feeling good about their new hair. But how great do you feel walking out with a wet head? When your hair is still wet, you can't even really tell if you like the cut or not. Also it's less that the stylist is doing, so that decreases the tip too since it's less time and effort on their part.
She didn't even put in a leave-in conditioner or anything, despite commenting how fast my hair dries (gets frizzy) and recommending (multiple times) a leave-in conditioner that they sell there. I'd be much more likely to buy that leave-in conditioner if she would've used it on me there and I saw that it works well. I'm not going to buy an overpriced product by just taking her word for it. If you believe in the product the way you claim, spray some on my hair so I can see it in action!
I've previously bought an entire product line at Hair Cuttery because they used the products on me and I could feel how nice my hair felt after using the products. I bought 2 boxes that were a holiday special. Each box had 1 shampoo and 1 conditioner plus a bonus small-size leave-in spray conditioner. I also bought a full size of the leave-in spray conditioner as well as a bottle of deep conditioning treatment. And the next time I went back I bought more. So if you want to tell your clients to buy something, you should be willing to use it on them so they can first see if they like it or not. Don't spray water on my hair while recommending a product.
When I arrived for my scheduled appointment, I walked in and instantly felt like I was interrupting something. It wasn't a very welcoming atmosphere. They weren't rude, but it seemed like they didn't feel like dealing with customers at the time.
My stylist was ok, but she didn't seem to have much experience. I'm fine with that as long as they can properly do the job. Everyone needs to learn and gain experience over time. That being said, my haircut was acceptable but there was a lot of room for improvement throughout the experience.
I probably won't bother coming back to this location and might just quit Hair Cuttery in general. Between the prices being raised and then having to pay more for a stylist who actually knows what they're doing–no thanks.
It seems like the stylists that cost the base amount aren't very experienced and might or might not do a good job. It really irritates me having to pay more for a more experienced stylist. Yes, they should earn more, but that's not my responsibility to compensate them in this regard. A haircut at a salon should cost the same no matter who is doing it, because everyone working there should be competent enough to give a good haircut. If the company needs to pay their skilled employees more to retain their talent, that's a cost which should be rolled into overall pricing and business expenses, not pushed directly off onto the customer who just wants someone to not screw up their hair. If a haircut costs $32, it should be $32 regardless who does it.