Heights Beauty Lounge — Attraction in Tampa

EXPLICIT, OFFENSIVE LYRICS during my service. EXTREMELY UNPROFESSIONAL. Songs peppered with frequent n-words. (Second song literally started EVERY SINGLE LINE with it. Seriously?) I don't care about the type of music, but why wouldn't a business at least play something RADIO-FRIENDLY and better suited for all age groups and life experiences? Another client kept looking at me uncomfortably during -- it seemed like she was uncomfortable for me.

To her credit, although a girl quickly changed the "music" once I called it to their attention, they were completely unbothered and unapologetic. Actually avoided eye contact with me for the remainder of the time, including during checkout. (Once they played country, several clients and workers happily sang lyrics to back-to-back songs.)

Even before the "n-word debacle," very cold "service." No friendliness from any person. They literally said the bare minimum words to get the money/service and move you out... until the girl said "Have a nice one" at the very end. A worker would just look at you and look away, no smiles at all. Or blow their nose out in the open, then take their next manicure appointment. To that end, it would've been nice to see CLEAN things -- from nail stations, to stools, to chairs, to counters... but that definitely wasn't the case.

To make matters worse, my nail person (who didn't even greet me) was 10+ mins. late starting my service. Although she walked past me numerous times, never saying "be with you soon" or anything at all. Didn't even know it was here until she finally sat down and told me to stick my feet in the water. Scraped my cuticle with a sharp tool and only asked me, "That hurt?" (because I exclaimed), and didn't bother to apologize. Sigh.

Although I had scheduled a 30-minute buffer between appointments, I still had to leave after polishing before she came back to technically finish, because of the late start and longer than 30-minute service time. (I even subtracted the add-on massage from my service, and it still ended quite late.) This left me rushing for my next scheduled appointment.

I definitely didn't go here expecting an upscale experience. But I didn't go in expecting a low-end one either. I expected "middle of the road," but found it absolutely low-end and unconcerned for your personal comfort or offering any kind of service. I'm sure that will now be further exemplified by the shop's defensive, uncaring, still unapologetic response ... as is the case with their other low reviews. So be it. I've done my civic duty.

UPDATE - RESPONSE TO BUSINESS: =======

Lies and misdirection. As expected.

Lie #1: My service wasn't started until at least 10 minutes past time. I looked at my phone repeatedly, because I had a schedule to keep.

Misdirection #2: Pedicure appts. are shown as 30 minutes on company website. It's not acceptable to not communicate expected delays & go so far beyond scheduled time for any reason. (Particularly when the site states that if a client is 10+ minutes late, they lose deposit and get rescheduled.)

Lie #3: Funny how the business claims to know which client(s) were uncomfortable and imply I made them so. No. A client was looking empathetically at me, the only AfAm person there, BEFORE I ever asked for music change. She also commented on the music before I ever did.

Misdirection #4: Regarding my request, I quote my words almost exactly:

"Can we choose something with LESS 'n-word' in it? This is a lot. It's really a lot."

It's ridiculous how the company tries to minimize my actual discomfort (putting it lightly) and my legitimate concerns. It's ludicrous, too, how they try to imply I'M the bad actor -- when I'm simply asking for the disconcerting behavior to stop.

Onlookers, this is called gaslighting. Please research it.

I don't have time to revisit other false truths. Continue on justifying your bad behavior. Good luck with that. I should've listened to the other negative and detailed reviews.

From...

I loved my overall experience. I am new in Tampa, and finding a nail tech was challenging. I have been going to the same nail tech for so many years. The idea of sitting with anyone else was overwhelming.

I found Charlene here. She is wonderful, funny, and loves to learn new techniques and products. I've always done dip, and she suggested a soft gel. She gave me the run-through of the benefits. She made conversation with me and made me feel like I was hanging out with a friend.

It looks like, towards the end, my appointment overlapped with her next appointment. That might have been my fault since I did not include a soak off service for the original work I had on my nails. She had her sister do the design on my nail. I was nervous at first. I booked with Charlene, and I expected to have everything done by Charlene. However, I kept an open mind and was not disappointed. Her sister was detailed and precise. I loved the end results.

I also had a pedicure appointment, which was done by Nancy, the owner. She has been in this business for over 20 years, and she gave special attention to my toes during the massage. So good! She also used a scrub for exfoliation prior to the message. That type of stuff is usually extra $$$ anywhere else. My toes look great!

The place is small. There are 4 tables and 4 pedicure seats. However, it's a whole vibe. There's a cute sofa and floral decorations here and there. I found it rather cute and cozy. I would recommend a dusting on the ceiling light fixtures. There are webs here and there. Also, a fixture for their UV equipment that gets stacked on the floor in a corner. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to actually see how they cleaned their tools, especially for the pedicure. Those types of things do stay in the back of my mind.

The staff is very diverse and is allowed self-expression. When I sat down, the tech in the table next to me was talking about her religion to a client who, of course, asked her about it. Regardless of whether I agreed or not, I thought it was great that the employees here can do things like that. A client also brought in her 4 month old, very well-behaved German sheperd. It literally just felt like a day with the girls.

There is a bathroom and the prices are pretty standard. There is plenty of parking space as well, and it is handicap accessible.

I want to note that Charlene opens her schedule every 3 months. However, I am confident that the other techs are just as great as she is. I will definitely be...

I have already discussed my issue with Yen regarding my dissatisfaction and she handled it very professionally. Yet I feel like I should write about my experience for others to know. I booked an eyelash/nail appointment with the salon owner, Yen. I got a gel-x full set and they were good. My dissatisfaction is from the full set hybrid eyelash extension service. First of all, she was busy. She was still answering calls and scheduling other appointments while she was servicing me. At first I didn't mind since I know she's the salon owner. However, when she was doing my lashes she was too busy trying to order dim sum for her staff for their late Thanksgiving lunch together. This is not at all professional. She's touching the phone and then touching my face which is not sanitary to say the least. She finished my full set of hybrid lashes within 30-40 minutes. Another red flag...full set usually takes an hour if not longer. She didn't even discussed with me what I wanted, she briefly asked if I wanted cat eye or doll eyes. Also, she did give me a $10 discount because she said it was quicker than usual.

When the service was completed, she handed me the mirror. I like things very natural and I haven't had eyelash extensions in years so I figured it'll look dramatic and shocking at first so I didn't say anything at the moment. As I kept looking at them once I got home, I noticed that there were not any individually placed lashes, they were all fans. I did ask for a hybrid set which a mix of classic and volume so individually placed ones and some fans. This was not the case, they were all fans. Some of them fell off hours later and some were hanging there like it's about to come off.

I contacted Yen and she did handled it very professionally. She apologized and ask if I wanted to come and have it fixed. The salon is about a 30 minutes drive (without traffic) from my house so I couldn't go because I had an early flight out to Mexico the next morning. I eventually decided to take the full set off the same day (it was that bad!) but I did it with another salon. She refunded me the price of the full set the same day minus the tip that I had paid her.

Although I appreciate the way she handled this, I would not go back to this salon and I do not recommend anyone to book with her. Apparently since she's the salon owner, she is doing multiple things while...