Franz Sebastian Salon — Local services in Bethesda

If you are looking for a company that prides itself on simple customer services...you know...like responding to patrons when there are issues...this is not the salon for you.

I am shocked and disappointed at the service I received. I've been a loyal patron for 2 years. I have always tipped well, and even showed up regularly at the peak of the pandemic when everyone else was too afraid to go to salons and the chairs were empty. In early summer we started having MAJOR issues with my color and hair extensions. My hair did not match the extensions at all and appeared streaky. The HOT HEADS hair was falling out in clumps. For my last two or three appointments I expressed my dissatisfaction and embarrassment and twice over the summer traveled back to the salon to allow Emma to try to fix it.

Ultimately, this last time, I went back after learning that she did not put all of the hair (or even majority) we had bought in (and my hair was incredibly thin). She was nice, installed the extra hair, and I left. While Emma said she did dye the hair and it should have matched, I was horrified to go home and have people ask "what is wrong with your hair, what happened?" After the fix, I was left looking worse (see photos) as the color did not match at all.

After sending photos and agreeing that these were NOT photos the salon would ever post on their IG page, I was told that they " weren't sure why this kept happening" and that I could come back, but would need to pay the $350 extension install fee for the fix, as they felt they had tried their best and couldn't spend more time on my hair for free.

I was disgusted, appalled, and beyond offended. I certainly didn't install defective hair and apply mismatched color myself? If it wasn't their fault, whose fault was it? I removed the extensions myself, mailed them back, and called and spoke with Franz. He assured me he would send the hair back to HOT HEADS to be assessed for defect and would followup and make things right.

Sadly, I've called 4x and emailed 3x and HAVE NEVER HEARD BACK. I am being ignored and have been forced to go elsewhere to get my hair fixed, and am contesting the credit card charges associated with the services.

I'm SO SAD, that after my loyalty and spending THOUSANDS of dollars on color and extensions, I am simply being disrespected, ignored, and silenced.

If it's not their fault, whose fault is it? Why would any company get to provide "service" like this, keep my $1,000+ and ignore me? Also, DO NOT PAY WITH VENMO, keep everything on your credit card so that you are protected as you cannot recover VENMO payments without taking the merchant to court. While we would like to assume merchants are good and respond, you can see from this post that is unfortunately not the case.

If for some odd reason the credit card dispute is not resolved in my favor, I will pursue a claim in small claims court. This is not only unprofessional, but illegal, and it's not right to let businesses take money from customers in exchange for providing defective products...

I’ve been getting my hair done for over 20 years and have never had an experience as disappointing as this one. I went to the same stylist, Denise, twice. After my first appointment, she personally came to the receptionist to book my next appointment. So imagine my surprise when I arrived for the second visit, asked for the same service (with a slightly lighter base, as we had discussed), and Denise told me she didn’t have time to do much because I had only booked a single color. So my appointment started off with her accusing me of the error, when it was obviously her or the salon. After this, she had an attitude the entire time she was doing my hair. She/the salon should have admitted their mistake and rebooked me. I would have preferred this versus sitting there for 3 hours with Danielle having a bad attitude and ruining my hair.

She rushed the entire appointment—though she denied it when I asked—and failed to put a proper gown on me, just a single drape. Bleach ended up on my sleeves. I noticed every other client was given both a gown and drape—something I’ve always received elsewhere. When it came time for toner, she asked for my inspo pic (again) and then showed me something completely different. I reiterated what I wanted: cool-toned, subtle babylights throughout, and grey coverage.

After the toner, she passed me off to someone else to rinse and dry—without telling me she wasn’t cutting my hair. When I asked her about the haircut, she abruptly said she didn’t have time and walked off with an attitude. She acted like the entire situation was my fault, even though it was her own poor communication and dismissiveness that caused the confusion.

Another stylist was asked to finish the haircut and dry my hair. Once it was done, I saw immediately it was not what I wanted at all. The top was dark—almost black—with no highlights. The bottom was ashy blonde. It looked like a poorly executed balayage, which I didn’t ask for. I wanted dimensional color with soft, cool-toned highlights—not harsh color blocking.

Denise came over and admitted that my hair didn’t turn out right, saying it could be “easily fixed next week” with a toner in 10 minutes. Then, right after admitting she had messed it up, she told me I’d have to pay extra if I wanted my hair dried after that fix. At that point, I was so upset I just left.

I called the salon later and they told me to come in the next morning to have it corrected. But when I arrived, I was told the only thing they could do was “tone it down.” So now I’ve paid nearly $400 for hair that’s darker than I ever wanted, with no visible highlights, and absolutely nothing like what I requested.

The manager said someone would be in touch to resolve the situation that day—but it’s been almost a week and I haven’t heard a back.

This experience was completely unprofessional, frustrating, and disappointing. I won’t be returning, and I strongly caution others before...

This salon has great customer service and the salon is one of the better ones in the DMV. I’ve tried this salon 6 times over the past 2 years. I’ve had cuts from the owner as well as one of his most experienced stylist, Jae, to his newer stylist, Lia. I’ve tried 5 people there, all whom have at least 10 years of experience. I had hair down to my lower back trimmed there, to color, to getting a shorter-than-chin length bob cut (I let Jae chop off 20 inches of my hair and had to go get it fixed by a professional female barber in Frederick, MD).

I think you pay too much for women’s cuts there and you do NOT walk out feeling like you just got a high-end haircut. After tip, I have spent $100+ on a women’s cut and it’s not the quality I was hoping for.

I give 2 stars because the customer service is really great. They are friendly, prompt and get you fast service. They also do a very nice job with color. But, I’m Asian with naturally straight and very tame black hair to cut. It’s slightly coarse and stylists have told me that my hair is so great to cut. It should be easy to cut well.

After 6 tries with them, I’ve learned that they do well with long hair. They do well with color. They do NOT do well with short cuts on women, or specifically it seems, Asian women.

My short bob I got there, Jae did not take the time to make it frame my face or give suggestions on what she thinks would look best for my face shape. I’ve bobbed my hair 4 times and have loved bobs on me, and this time was disappointing. She cut everything too short and I looked like I had a version of a bowl cut. I got it cut in December and have now gotten it cut 3 times to try to fix it by 3 other stylists.

I finally went back to Franz’s salon to try his new stylist Lia. She did an okay job, but thinned and texturized my short hair too much that I now look like I have thinning, stringy and uneven short hair. She has 14 years of experience and I was very disappointed that she also did not know how to frame my face and the finished cut, while ok looking, makes me feel like I have a boy’s haircut.

I would love if Franz would hire stylists that specialize in shorter women’s cuts. Short cuts are difficult and I hoped that out of the several stylists I’ve tried there, that I would find one who “got” my hair and could make me look fashionable with short hair.

I’ve given them 6 tries and will not be going back. I’m very...