Bella Institute of Cosmetology — Local services in Beaverton

I recently graduated from this school & I wish there was an honest review posted before I signed up, as it would have given insight to the issues that are going on behind the scenes here. While I was a student at Bella Institute I witnessed a lot of things that are just.. alarming. Hopefully this will help spare some of you from attending & giving this unprofessional establishment your hard earned money. First & foremost the owner is extremely rude, negative & obtrusive. During my initial tour of the school she told me that this is a drama free school & that she absolutely does not tolerate it. Pretty ironic because she is the most dramatic person there, out of all the students & the staff. She talks behind other's backs, interrupts class, has been known to yell at students & staff in front of guests, and had made racial remarks in the lobby area. Simply put, she is a bully. She effected my education many times. One night she was a substitute for my class & when we were doing our waxing services she "retaught us" & told us that our teacher had taught us incorrectly & that we were "wasting" her products. First off, she basically discredited our teacher, who indeed did teach us the correct procedures. Second, I paid good money for my education so I should be able to use supplies for services when I need to. Period. And third, it was extremely rude & embarrassing for us. She consistently would walk into class & distract us, sometimes up to an hour, talking about her own life or things that did not apply to us. Most of my class avoided her as much as possible throughout our time there in hopes that she would leave us alone. The only thing that was good about this school was our teacher & my classmates. Without them I would not...

I called to inquire about scheduling a time to come into the school, see the location, and get information about the program. The woman who picked up the phone immediately met me with a tone of inconvenience. I asked her about coming in and she said that they were in the middle of moving, but If I wanted to come in and be among the mess, that she "guessed" they could give me information. I was surprised by this response. If I was in the middle of a move I would address a potential paying student with, "I'm sorry, we're currently moving, we can schedule a meeting time in X weeks when we will be finished." But she chose to snap at me like I knew they were moving and just wanted to make her day more difficult. I chose to give her the benefit of the doubt, I tried to still make something work, despite her lack of enthusiasm. She gave no indication what their moving timeline was, so I asked about time next week. For all I knew they could've been done by then. She replied with, "Next week? Well that would be really interesting, that's when we're going to be putting things away in our new building. But if you want to try, I guess we try and find time." Seriously? Maybe you shouldn't meet perspective students with an attitude that they're a disruption in your life. She could have saved all of this interaction by simply stating from the get go that they were moving and offering ME a time that would make the most sense for them. But instead she found it more prudent to make me guess their timeline and make me feel like an annoyance for asking. I promptly told her I would not be making the trip in and ended the phone call. Customer service is key, even if I am just a perspective student. I would rethink who you have...

When I walked in, no one as at the front. Several students walked by without even acknowledging me. After about 6 mins (at least) the front desk gal finally came back and helped me.

Then during the consultation with the instructor, I exploited what I wanted, thought I was clear (her and I were very clearly not on the same page) then about half way through the service (color/highlights) I asked if she (the student) was changing the color of my entire highlights (from root to tip) she said no. The instructor came over, insured me what they were doing was what I wanted and it Woodin blend in and not look like grow out.

Once it was done, I could see all my grow out, which I specifically said I did not want that. To the instructors credit, she did say I cousin come back for a redo, however it is a 30 min drive one way and I have an infant, so to come back is a hastle. Not to mention it took them 3.5 hours to do a highlight and trim. I expect it to take a little longer at a school, but it is a big deal for me to get away that long. So why exactly would I come back to a place who didn’t listen to begin with?

I don’t feel it was the students fault, she was just listening to what the instructor told her, but at the same time she should have been listening and checking in with me as well to make sure she heard me correctly as well.

Then the price (I felt) even for a school was way too high. When I originally called to book the service, the front desk gal wasn’t able to quote or even give me a ballpark of a price. Every other school I have been to does not charge me for color, but the service. The price incorporates product cost. This place charged me for color and...