Bangtown Hair Saloon — Attraction in Vancouver

Because of my odd work schedule, I had been trying to find a salon close to my work downtown. I also needed a stylist that understood the base cut for 40's hairstyles - a lot to ask, I know. It took me a long time to find a place that said they had such a stylist. Bangtown had been recommended to me by a few friends so I decided to check it out. When I called for my appointment, I was very specific that I needed a stylist that understands vintage 40's styles. The person who answered the phone recommended one of their stylists so I set up the appointment. The salon looks cool inside, I had not been in that place since it was a vintage clothing shop so it was interesting to see how they had transformed it. After waiting about 5 minutes, I was offered a drink, which was nice - opted for Bailey's. I met my stylist, who was under the weather but still very friendly. I had brought several photographs of the style that I usually wore my hair (both vintage photographs and actual pictures of me with said hairstyle.) She didn't seem very familiar with the cut but said something about when she was in hair school they had to do a style like some famous 40's actress but she didn't know her name. That made me slightly uncomfortable but this stylist had been recommended so I didn't worry too much about it. I told the stylist that I regularly styled my hair with a curling iron and on special occasions, with hot rollers. I told her that I needed to have long layers. She asked me how short I would like it and I pointed to where I wanted it to fall and she said "shoulder length, ok". The cut I received was about 2 inches shorter than where I had indicated, which wasn't the end of the world, but at the end of the cut, after having already put layers, she went to town with adding extra layers. At the end of the cut, I told her politely that it was much shorter than I had asked for but I'd work with it. She then tried to style it with a flat iron and gave me kind of a Farrah Fawcett do. She said if I wanted a touch up, that I could come back. I paid and tipped but when I got home, realized just how short it was and how the layering made it next to impossible to style my hair the way I do. It now takes me more than twice as long to get my hair to anywhere close to the way I want. The salon called me the next day to ask if I was happy with the cut. I told them it was too short and was having trouble styling it. They kindly offered to have me come in for a free "blowout". I appreciated this but since I never use a hair dryer or styling brush, I didn't see the point. What I needed was for my hair to be longer so that will just take time. All in all it's a neat concept salon but I would be very, very specific with what you want - I thought I had been - in order to avoid disappointment. It would have been much better if the person who answered the phone had told me that they did not have a stylist available who could do...

Ruined hair for 375 $ without tax by Karly. actually, I paid 412 $ included tax For just a simple perm, not a digital perm, not extra services.

I’m a foreign student studying English I do make some mistakes when I speak English verbally, but I don’t think it can be the reason for getting ripped off. My Canadian friends taught me how to describe what I want And I delivered it well with pictures. I followed all her instructions, not to wash for 3 days and use curl cream and dry carefully.

These are the pictures of me before getting a perm. (I put off before pictures for a while. somehow only good pictures are putting up on the mainboard as if they did good work.) And the first one is after destroyed. (you can see this by clicking on my name and click on the photo bar) I can’t believe that I dried it carefully with a diffuser. Karly calculated the cost in a weird way just only for me. She charged me ridiculous high price compared to others who visited Bangtown. and ignored to include the first time client 15% off.

I just wanted to get a refund on it. I didn't ask for repair. because they betrayed my trust in everything. When I complained and asked them to give a refund, they said I have to meet the owner Joe and talk about it before refund.

They promised to call me when the owner arrives the shop But they never called me to let me know the owner arrived despite the fact that she was in the shop. I’ve waited for over 4 hours outside for 2 times. last Saturday and today

When the owner had already gone, I talked with the owner on the phone. She made excuses not to come back.

I hope Karly and the owner Joe have a happy and wealthy life without honesty and proficiency. Now I give up getting back my money. I just want to leave some warning on the internet for future clients.

There’s no guarantee of good styling especially from Karly And they will deceive you if you’re not fluent in English.

Karly said she was sure the curl would come out well and she has done Asian girls’ hair before.

I could write this by myself without the dictionary. Some expression might sound awkward though. So I hope they won’t claim that I didn’t understand their simple instruction and did not follow it. At least they lied to me...

In November 2022 I went to Bangtown to get a bang trim. My stylist Matt spoke over me as I shared what I was wanting and ignored me as I tried to correct him from cutting what was way too much of my hair off, and proceeded to cut off all of the hair in front of my ear to my chin, essentially leaving me with a grown out mullet. I told Matt this is not what I had wanted and I had been very specific and his response was "this is what you asked for." After a bit and back and forth he came out with another stylist who did her best to fix what was (her words) "one of the worst bang cuts she had ever seen".

After this I called the owner and shared my experience. She was very empathetic and told me if I needed anything to let her know and all services would be on the house until I returned. Obviously nothing can fully render a terrible haircut, however I do feel the owner did everything she could to make it right.

Fast forward to last week when I decided I was ready to return to get a length trim. I booked over the phone and arrived a few minutes early. When I walked in no one acknowledged me or asked who I was there to see. I tried to address one girl but she didn't really seem to listen or care. I sat on the couch until 15 minutes past my appointment until I asked if I was there at the wrong time. Turns out my appointment hadn't been booked into the system and my stylist was about to go home for the night.

They fit me in with the stylist who I did really enjoy, however and I left with about 1 inch in length difference from my left side to right.

I am beyond irritated at this point to say the least. I don't understand how two simple haircut requests can result like this. While I appreciate everything the owner did to try and rectify my experience, I feel some due diligence to share my experience seeing as I've left with two terrible haircuts. I would hate for anyone else to go through what I've now gone through twice with this salon.

I have attached a photo of the uneven...