Original African Braiding — Local services in Columbia

I told them I wanted a waist length style, and they quoted me one price over the phone. But then when I came in and she saw that my actual hair was long she upped the price by at least $40. Why should it matter how long my real hair is? Whether my hair is long or short, I already told you I wanted a waist length style.

My main issue though, is that the person braiding my hair was not considerate of my feelings. The first thing I told her when I got in the chair was that I did not want the braids to be done tight. She said ok, if I’m making it tight, let me know. Despite that she braided my hair tight. As she was going along I would let her know, hey this braid is too tight, can you loosen it. She would say ok, and keep braiding. This happened multiple times. With the second half of my hair, she also had a death grip on each braid tugging so hard against my head while doing the braids, that I was straining my neck trying to keep sitting up in the chair. I told her repeatedly that that was making my neck hurt, and she made no adjustments. At times I pressed the base of the braid against my scalp while she braided, so I wouldn’t feel the tugging at my roots, which really hurt. If you see a client pressing on their scalp, telling you their neck hurts, telling you the braids are too tight repeatedly, don’t you think you should actually care about the pain you’re putting your customer through, and stop being heavy handed?

Another issue with this place is that the braiders were speaking to each other in French while braiding, and at times I could clearly tell they were talking about me and making negative comments. First, it’s rude for people to be constantly speaking in another language around their customers. Second, it’s even worse for them to start talking about the customers while they’re right there. They think we don’t know that they’re talking about us, but their body language and tone of voice are pretty clear. Also, if you’re planning on bringing food with you because you’re going to be here for hours and you know you’re going to get hungry, be prepared for them to give you dirty looks.

Before I left, I saw my braids, and thought they looked good, but when I got home, and really looked at them up close, I saw lots of problems. In many of the braids some sections had little round puffy sections. Up close I could see that they were actually puffy balls of knotted up weave hair. Rather than detangle that section of the hair or cut out that puffy knot ball, the woman simply left the knot there and braided around it. I’ve gotten braids many times, and I’ve never seen anyone enclose puffy knotty hair balls within a braid. And just so you know, the night before, I washed, conditioned, detangled, and blow dryed my hair straight, so that my hair would be clean and very easy for the stylist to comb through and section. So those puffy knot balls definitely weren't from my hair or me not caring for it. She created them while handling the hair out of the package and installing it. There’s simply no excuse for there to be knot puff balls in my braids. It just shows such a lack of care for me as a person and for the quality of her work.

When I got home my scalp hurt, but mostly the top middle and the right around my edges. I took some pain killers, and really tried to soldier through, but I couldn’t do it. I wound up taking out the braids along my front edges, and the ones at the top middle. Those are the ones I was telling her she was doing too tight. And of course, as I was taking out the braids, I was finding little puffy knotted hair balls. I spent so much money to get these braids done, I really contemplated going back over there and making them redo the section they braided too tight. But it was such a bad experience, I didn’t even want to go back. I wound up having to figure out a way to do my hair so it looked presentable for work, and then have another person redo the section I...

BUYER BEWARE When the lady finished my hair, she handed me a mirror and I looked at the crown of my hair, from what I could see and it looked decent. So I stood up and asked her ok, how much do I owe you. She didn’t respond, instead she grabbed a sheet of paper and a clip board and wrote “$200”. Right then I should have known something was fishy, but I didn’t dispute it at the moment. I figured maybe she did that good?? So I went all the way home, rubbing my fingers through my hair. But every time I would run my fingers through my hair, strands of the hair would come out in my hand, I said this can’t be right. So, I ignored it for the night. The next morning I woke up to style my hair, and sure enough it was doing the same thing. I would run my fingers through my hair and more hair would come out in my hand. I couldn’t do anything about it at the moment, I had to get to work. While at work I noticed a piece of hair was standing up and I couldn’t get it to lay down. So as I continued to dissect my hair, I realized that this lady had some of the braids feeding into other braids. I noticed that some of the ends weren’t event secured. They were just loose. When I swooped my hair to one side I noticed that one of the braids was coming out from the front crown of my head. Did I mention that this was the very next day? So I called, and told them I would come back once I get off work, because I have family pictures on the following day and I really need someone to fix this. I was very upset!!

When I arrived back at the salon, the lady who did my hair was there. She asked me to sit in her chair and she would fix it. I sat in her chair and waited for about 20 minuets before she ever came back to me to ask what the issue was. When she finally did come, I showed her my issues and then she picked up a crochet needle and tried to crochet hair into my braid. At that moment, I lost all my patience. I asked her to stop and I left the shop. Before I continue, one of the reasons why I was waiting for 20 minutes because she was helping other customers.

In that moment I realized what type of business I was dealing with. The quality of their work is not the greatest, and if others think otherwise, then maybe specialty styles is not their forte. Secondly, money is more important to these workers at this salon then quality service and quality work.

I took my hair completely out, in exactly 5 days later. It was that terrible of a job for $200. Money was not an issue for me, nor was I looking for a refund. However because I did pay such an expensive price I expected QUALITY work! and that’s not what I received. I would NEVER recommend this shop to anyone; the biggest ripoff I ever experienced.

Don’t get me wrong, their customer service was ok. They greeted me with smiles, talked to me while I sat in the chair. I even went so far as to buy something from their clothing store (before I left the first time).

This is definitely one of them “Buyer Beware” shops. Have them provide you a sample or pictures of their work before you sit in their chair. I will be mailing off my letter to the Better Business...

This was my first and last time having my hair done here. The only reason I gave a 1 star is that the end product of my twists was sufficient. Everything else was awful. When I arrived, the woman doing my hair sat me in the chair and disappeared without saying a word. I left something in another room. When I went to retrieve it, she was in there eating.

Once she returned and started on my hair, she told me the cost would be $200. A few minutes later, Cisse (Owner), handed me a clipboard with a slip of paper on which to provide my contact information and the cost of the hairdo. There is a statement on the form that says services must be paid in advance. Clearly, that was not adhered to in light of the woman having already started on my hair. The idea didn't sit well with me anyway. After I filled out the form, Cisse asked what amount the woman doing my hair stated. I told her she said $200--the amount on my form. She then said no it's $200 and up. Your twists are long. Then, the woman doing my hair outright lied and told Cisse she told me $300!!

I politely told them both I wasn't paying $300, an additional $100 just for a few extra inches. That's absurd! She then said ok pay $250. I took out my wallet from my purse and she had the nerve to ask me how much I paid for it! When I handed Cisse my credit card, she took it for a few minutes, then returned asking me to pay with CashApp. I had no problem paying that way, but why take my card and later ask for cash--suspicious behavior. I am definitely monitoring transactions on my card.

Finally, I'm not one to get involved in arguments, especially while someone is in the middle of doing my hair. Thus, I'm expressing my experience here. They are liars and use a form to manipulate you into paying more money. Don't fall for it. The other issue is that shorlty before starting my hair, Cisse took the packs of hair I brought with me saying that hair wasn't good for twists, only braids. Sounded strange, but ok. I expected an even exchange for my number of packs with theirs. I should've known once again they'd try to get over. When I opened the bag at home, I found they had taken all 9 packs of hair from my bag and gave me less than 1/2 pack of theirs and 1 of mine. It surely didn't take 7 packs to do twists. Needless to say, I will be returning to my regular hair braider. She charges $180 for the same style and doesn't use manipulative tactics. The only reason I came here was the time of the appointment fit...