Elle Salon Eureka — Local services in Eureka

ETA... the owner's response is comical. Girl, I still have your voicemail that negates all of those BS fabrications and complete lies. I'd be happy to forward it for your review. I was never told I wasn't welcome back. It was only when I returned your call and got all of 3 (kind) words out when I was berated & told I was SO rude to your staff (which is absolutely untrue).

REVIEW: My husband purchased a $200 gift card for me in 2021 at Chesterfield. He was assured I could use it in Eureka, the only location with a spa. My 1st visit, 1.5 years later, was great. I was excited to still have over $100 left after. I was told there was no need to keep the gift certificate since they would have my balance on file. Fast forward to June 24. I made an appointment & inquired the balance of my gift card. The 1st person who helped me said they didn’t have anything in their system. I was confused since I knew I still had a balance. She was very kind & put me on hold to find out the problem. She came back & said the reason it wasn’t in their system was because gift cards expire after 1 year. This made no sense. Nobody said anything about an expiration, and I waited 18 months the first time I used it with no problem. I asked “Over $100 of my money is gone?”. She restated that GCs weren’t valid after a yr. I asked if there was someone else to speak to. She put me on with the manager.

The manager said GCs expire & are deleted from the system after a yr. Yet they were able to tell me it was bought in 21, used in 22, & (later on) what the balance was? Even though they had no way to access the card since it gets deleted after a yr? All of the stories contradicted each other. The manager said they extended a 1 time courtesy when they honored it the 1st time. But how did they even access the card on my 1st visit if it supposedly disappears after a yr? Why was I told I didn’t need an actual gift certificate for my next visit if it was a 1 time courtesy? I stated that it was illegal for gift cards to expire in the state of MO. She offered to pass my message to the owner. I agreed.

A couple of hours later, I spoke with the owner, Ashley. I might have gotten 60% of my very first sentence out, when she interrupted immediately. This was how the entire conversation went. I was talked over, interrupted, & even mocked! I have NEVER had an interaction like this before. Let alone with a business owner. It felt like I was being punked or something.

She stated how the gift card was bought from Elle Salon in Chesterfield, which apparently closed a couple of months ago (news to me). I was confused, as this was an entirely new narrative. 2 employees had told me repeatedly that the reason I couldn’t use the card was because it expires after a year. I got 1/3rd of that sentence out, & Ashley launched into how the staff didnt know the real reason (but the customer is supposed to?), how I was extremely rude to her employees, and they were both incredibly distraught from the conversation (HUH?!). I was definitely firm on figuring out why I couldn’t use my gift card. I’m sure it was uncomfortable, since they clearly were struggling with contradicting stories, but it certainly does not equal me being rude. When I answered “Yikes!” To her verbal lashes, her response was “Oh, yikes!”… mocking me. What. In. The. World.

Ashley told me they would honor my gift card the next day, but it would be null and void after that. I was so incredibly uncomfortable that I opted to forgo my $100+ spa gift card. I didn’t want to set foot in that salon. I did nothing wrong. Gift cards legally can’t expire (and surprise! There was another “reason” it was void after I pointed that out). If there are 3 locations, owned by the same person, why would a gift card not be honored because it was bought at a certain location? Especially since my husband was told it would be valid in Eureka, the only spa location they have. What a HORRIBLE experience. I’m not one to light $100+ on fire, but there was no way I would walk into Elle Salon after that absolutely atrocious...

If I could give 0 stars I would. I was looking forward to my appointment with Elle Salon based on the reviews, I’m currently visiting from out of state and had an appointment for a single process color (I have light brown hair and just wanted to go a shade darker for Fall) and thought I’d have it done before a wedding we’re attending on Saturday. Needless to say, I ended up wIth what looked like jet black hair and my tips remained light brown, with no subtle transition or look of blending. My hair was also loaded with product that made it really sticky and frizzy. I kindly voiced my concern while at the salon, paid and still gave my hairstylist a generous tip, because I understand miscommunication happens. They offered me to come back and have it fixed but did tell me it would have to be with the same stylist to give her an opportunity to correct it. I chose to have it fixed elsewhere because I have a wedding to go to and 1. I didn’t want to chance a second round of it not looking right and having to fix it a third time and 2. Didn’t care to use the same products that made my hair feel sticky. I called and asked to speak with the owner to simply tell her about my experience and to see if she might offer a partial reimbursement (And I would have understood if not, but still thought she should know). When she returned my call, she became unnecessarily worked up, cut me off and then proceeded to hang the phone up on me! I don’t care what the situation, as an OWNER of a business, you NEVER hang up on a customer voicing a concern. Disappointing is an understatement, their license should be pulled IMO.

Edit to owner response. *It is not up to anyone other than myself to like the outcome of my hair, I am the paying customer. I did allow the stylist to take a photo, it’s her work and if she’s proud of it, then by all means she can take a photo. While I appreciated the offer for my stylist to correct the issue, I most certainly did not appreciate being hung up on when...

I am sad to write this review. I went in asking for light blonde hair all over my head. I left with a few light blonde highlights after spending $250.00. I am disappointed because I contacted the salon the next day through text message explaining kindly that I was not happy with the result of the color because it looks very similar to my hair color that i came in with. I sent over a picture of my hair along with the message as well. My hairstylist didn’t get back to me for over a week. I didn’t want to bother so I decided to call the salon and ask if I could get reimbursed for my money or if I could get my hair blonder free of charge since the first $250 was barely noticeable of a difference. The receptionist explained that my hair stylist said that getting my hair blonde would be a process and that if I wanted it blonder I would have to come back in and she quoted me another $260.00. in total to get my hair as blonde as I asked it would be nearly $500.00. I am confused about it being a process to get my hair all blonde when she managed to get a few streaks of my hair almost platinum in the first session, while leaving the rest of my hair looking untouched. To me it seems like a scam to get me to come back and pay more money to get more strands of my hair light blonde. I am feeling taking advantage of and not satisfied with the process or their costumer service. Not to mention they posted the picture I sent to my hairstylist (showing that I wasn’t satisfied with the results) on their instagram without...