Architeqt Salon and Gallery — Attraction in Philadelphia

I emailed the salon a week ago but have not received a response.

My appointment was at 9:15 and Elisa did not arrive to the chair until 10:06. I waited at the chair for 20 mins before I asked if someone was going to stop by. A few minutes later, I was rushed away to get my hair washed. When Elisa got to the chair - which btw I was mid blow dry by her assistant, half my head was already dry - I mentioned to Elisa that I was interested in a gloss and it’s my first time getting one. She explained the options and I thought we came to the conclusion of a clear gloss given I literally said “okay, let’s do the clear gloss.” When she finished cutting and styling my hair, I asked when would we be doing the gloss and she said since they had already washed my hair, she couldn’t do the gloss today because it would need to be washed off. At that point, I was so over with the back to back delays, I paid and left.

If someone - a stylist, an assistant, any staff - had come briefly talk to me to ask me what I wanted today before rushing me away to get my hair washed, they would have known I was interested in getting a gloss instead of a putting on a hair mask I didn’t ask for to further buy time for Elisa to show up. Not once was I given an update which would have been nice instead everyone was trying to be hush hush that Elisa wasn’t there yet.

This was my first time at the salon and wow I was very shocked at how unprofessional the entire experience was.

UPDATE 2/7: If you’re going to share your point of view, then you need to present all the facts. I have shared my honest experience at your salon.

I emailed you 1/25 after my appointment and didn’t get a response until 2/1- hours after I posted the review. We were not in communication prior to posting this review which I stated in the first sentence of my original review.

Again, as stated in the original review, Elisa did not mention to me that the gloss had to be scheduled prior. Why would I say “let’s do the clear gloss” and she reply with “okay great”? When you emailed me back and explained the gloss had to be scheduled with my haircut service, that was the first time it was explained to me.

Second, you said I mentioned I wanted an add on in the middle of my service…because I was. I was rushed away by the senior apprentice, no one asked me what I wanted done, and Elisa came in the middle of my blow dry. If someone asked me what I was interested in before rushing me away to get my hair washed, I would have mentioned it in the beginning of my service but no one did. AS STATED IN MY ORIGINAL REVIEW.

Are you even reading the review or are you responding to save face by creating your own timelines and narrative? I am literally repeating the same story in my original review.

Third, so a complimentary $12 hair treatment is good enough to appease an unhappy customer? She clearly saw I was upset so she ran down to the basement and grabbed a mask. If I had known that taking a complementary item would mean I couldn’t still be upset about my experience, I wouldn’t have taken it at all because I wasn’t happy leaving your salon with or without a complementary item. I have not used the mask, do you want it back?

If you do not have intentions of giving me a refund then there was no need for you to even respond to this with untrue timelines and narratives.

Yes, in their email - I was offered to come back for a complimentary gloss which I declined and asked for a refund instead. The salon said yes, if I change or delete my review so I did not respond because I’m not changing or deleting my review. I stand by what I said. And here we are 2/7 with their Google review response.

Like you said, we’ll let the readers form their own conclusions...

I wanted to love this place given all the 5 star reviews and having known friends who had great experiences but unfortunately I left with a cut and color that was incredibly unfortunate and left me feeling so unattractive. My original stylist, Elisa, did not properly consult with me prior to starting balayage and she decided to use foil and lightener on the front strands of hair. Being inexperienced with hair coloring I did not know what this was or meant and I ended up with bleached tiger/skunk stripes on the fronts that even the assistant washing my hair seemed shocked by. At the time in the lighting I thought it would be ok and went on to have it cut and styled. Unfortunately I was again not consulted about the cut and ended up with layers I did not want. I have frizzy wavy hair at baseline and I have had layers before and vowed to never again because of how horrible my hair looks when it drys naturally with them. I had never had a “dry” cut so I was not sure how it was being cut and did not know it would be layered. Again with the styling it looked ok and after being there for 3 hours on my Friday night and taking and Uber there and back totaling $20, I tipped and paid and went home. In the lighting of my own home I realized how horrible the front looked. As my fiancé put it I looked like “Rogue” from x men. The hair was bleached and yellowed and did not match the rest of the balayage which in the back looked pretty good. There were stark lines where the foils had ended and with my dark hair at the root it looked as if a let a young child try coloring my hair. I felt so awful I couldn’t even look in the mirror and every time I caught just a glimpse I was in tears. I am getting married in 2 months and felt devastated that my hair would have to look like this for my bridal trial this week and even worse for my wedding. After letting my close friend weigh in and agreeing i could not leave my hair like this I called the next day and asked for a color correction with a different stylist and was able to see Chelsea on Sunday without charge. She did a wonderful job understanding what I wanted and recognized that it looked really bad. She glossed and toned the hair twice and made sure to check with me when it was dry both times to see if it was what I wanted yet. Tevy was also so sweet and took the time to blow dry my whole head and make me feel so much better. I will not be returning to this salon. The cost of the service along with Ubers ($40 all together), time (3 hours Friday and 2 on Sunday) and trauma from the original service has left me feeling so unsettled and insecure that I feel it necessary to write this review just to caution other customers. I know there are great stylists at this salon and most people have a positive experience but I would caution you to read the specific stylists reviews before booking with them. Chelsea was able to remedy the horrible outcome but i should not have been left with the outcome in the...

Past review from 6/12 —-“I had an awful time. They forgot to include blowout with my service today (balayage +single process full head) they were overbooked I could see lots of people rushing around and my hair stylist Chelsea was not able to dry my hair since she had other clients waiting and told me that it was not booked and she couldn’t do it. I was there with my hair wet the assistant came to attempt to dry my hair but it was not doing a very good job I saw my hair getting all frizzy and had to tell her to stop. I was so frustrated it was almost 7pm and I was there since 2pm, I had to leave like that. I have never had that happen to me before. The lady who I spoke to over the phone when I booked didn’t explain to me that blowout needed to be booked separately and it was not included in my appointment. I felt horrible. I drove almost 2 hours to get my hair done from out of Philly thinking it was going to be worth it given the amazing reviews, but I didn’t feel appreciated at this salon. It seems like they do not treat people the same if they have an accent. I tried to explain the situation to the lady when I was paying and she was condescending couldn’t look at me in the eye and didn’t seem to care. Feel terrible because I had to pay almost $300 and now that is dried I noticed one side is blonder than the other side. The color was messed up but couldn’t tell because it was wet at the time of leaving the salon. I don’t mind what it cost, I was looking for high quality service, but this was my first and last time here, unfortunately. I really hope the owner reads this, you should know people at your salon does NOT care about customer service or if they do, there are clearly race preferences. Very disappointing and frustrating experience.”

Update 6/29

I had the opportunity to return today to have my hair redone, and I’m happy with the results. My color is now beautifully blended, exactly how I envisioned it, and Chelsea did an amazing job styling it. She also gave me a light trim, and my hair looks so much healthier now.

The entire staff was very attentive and welcoming. Since this was a complimentary redo due to some previous miscommunication regarding the services I initially wanted, I truly appreciated how kind and accommodating everyone was. Chelsea even gifted me a shampoo and conditioner tailored for dry, color-treated hair, something I had casually mentioned before. She didn’t have to, but it meant a lot that she remembered. She is very knowledgeable and very good at what she does, I am happy I came back.

Thank you so much for the great service and for going the extra mile today, I genuinely...