Serenity Salon & Spa — Local services in Chesterton

I have been a diligent customer of Serenity for the last 4 years, but because of what happened yesterday, I will never go back. (I realize they will continue to thrive with or without my business, but this is a caution to others who book with them). Last week, I called and made a haircut appointment with Cynthia for my 13 year old son, for yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to cancel at the last minute. I called and left a message, apologizing about the late cancel and stated I am happy to pay the fee for doing so.

They called me back, and I asked that they please use the credit card on file, to charge the 50% cancellation fee. They charged me $25. Here’s where things get shady.

I called again, leaving a message, asking why was I being charged $25, when Cynthia only charges $35 per cut. They called back, also leaving a message, telling me that the appt. was booked with someone named Paige, who is a Senior Stylist who charges $50 a cut. This left me baffled.

I 100% made the appointment with Cynthia because that’s who I’ve been going to exclusively for the last two years. When I called to book, they even said her name back to me. She does a great job and she’s reasonably priced, so I thought she would be perfect for cutting my teenage sons’ hair. I do not know who Paige even is.

As I’ve said all along, I’m happy to pay a late cancellation fee for the missed appointment. It’s the principle of the fact that I was overcharged because they claim I booked my 13 year-old kid with a senior stylist, which makes absolutely no sense.

It’s been fun Serenity, but I won’t...

I got my hair and makeup done here for a wedding, along with the bride. The makeup looked fine—the eyeshadow looked a bit muddy, but was acceptable. The moment I walked outside and caught a gust of wind, one of the false lashes blew off. That shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but no big deal, so I went back in and had it re-glued. My eyeshadow was massively creased by the time the ceremony started 2 hours later. Over the course of the wedding day, I was constantly battling black balls of eyelash glue they kept creeping up my eyelids and leaving black streaks as they traveled. My eyelids were literally sticking together because of the glue issue. Oh, and the false lashes fell off again by mid-reception.

As for my hair, I requested a loose updo. What I got, after patiently showing the stylist the photo 20 times, was a tight matronly bun with 54 pins in it. It was frizzy, resembled a wasp nest, and—despite all the pins—still held no volume.

I wasn’t happy when I left, but we were obviously on a time crunch, so there was not much to be done about it. I put on a happy face for the bride and we went on our way, but it was a lot of money spent to be a gluey, smeary, frizzy mess.

2 stars for the lovely salon and the friendly demeanor of the...

I consider myself to have been a loyal customer of Serenity Spa, and have had several excellent massages and facials in the past. However, I have now had 2 massages cancelled at the last minute. The first time I showed a lot of understanding and patience, due to some short staffing related to the pandemic. However, the second massage was booked four months in advance, on my birthday, which they knew. So now I have requested precious and limited time off work, for nothing. I well understand that things happen. However, I was deeply disappointed at the lack of a sincere apology or any genuine acknowledgment of my shock and frustration. If I had booked the appointment last week or last month even, I would have more understanding. But how is this acceptable to treat a loyal customer who has booked the appointment 4 months in advance to be on her birthday? Could you offer a free massage, perhaps? Or a bonus free service? Or at least have someone call that can express genuine regret and a desire to rectify this? I regretfully will not be going back. I cannot afford to request the little time I have to be off work for appointments that are cancelled at the last minute without appropriate...