Muze Salon — Local services in New York

Admittedly, I was not fully educated on certain hair salon practices, but I also received a valuable lesson on how such education can be done in a non-tactful and disrespectful way. Sharing the Muze email that I received recently after I indicated that I was not expecting to dry my hair after a color appointment (first time after going there for 3 years). Please read carefully and use it to decide for yourself if you are OK to be treated this way in cases of a misunderstanding.

"I hope you are well and I am sorry that your last visit made you feel embarrassed and humiliated. I really appreciate that you let us know your feelings about it. Now I would like to clarify your history with me and your services. I found that all your appointments have been made online and the website mentions that color services the drying are not included, means you know that. As a salon, we provide a hairdryer and brush so that the client can do it herself and it is a process that many of our clientele do; so there is nothing to be ashamed or humiliated about it, as you mentioned.

When the appointment is for a color touch-up, it is a total process of 90 minutes, of which the first 30 minutes are spent on applying and the next 60 minutes on processing, washing, and refresh the color (toner/gloss). Your service is to apply the touch-up and then apply the toner, process washing your hair; which the process of applying color and toner is more than the first 30 minutes.

However, all your appointments until last Friday, I have always been the one who performs all of your services (no assistant), including drying your hair. I have blow-dried all of your color touch-up appointments as I have not had any pre-booked clients after the end of the 90 minutes and no double booking, than later would be explained.. However, if I have free time I don't mind doing it.

A hair service consists of A+B+C, where A is removing the water and B is taking the brush and polishing the hair, and C (optional) is the use of curling irons or straighteners; All of that together is the cost of a blow-dry, meaning revenue for me and the salon. All your appointments I have give you part A, reminding you again because I have free time and I don't have another client.

Like all salons, appointments are made with the strategy of "double booking". Example: Axel booked single process and haircut at 3:30 pm, but Karolina only booked single process at 4 pm. Axel gets the color applied in the first 30 minutes, so there are 60 minutes of processing. Then, Carolina arrives single process, the colorist applies it and let it process. During the application process for Karolina an assistant helps the colorist to remove Axel's color and get it ready for hir pre-booked cutting service. During the cutting service for Axel is where Carolina has been washed by the assistant, since her colorist is not going to stop the cutting service to remove Carolina's color, that ’s the purpose of assistant. My apologize if you felt confuse and shocked as you mention in the email because all your previous your colorist never had another client booked.

Stylists we charge for services, we do not charge by hour (clock in/clock out), we do not charge by salary. So with this information it allows you to better understand why double booking. If your preference is only me to provide you the service from begging to the end and block possible double booking, I have to charge accordingly what I can charge during the double booking frame.

I have to mention that what your email hurt me, but after much reflection I realized that it was because you were not educated about how a beauty salon works. I hope that now you realize that Axel has donde the extra mile for you and all his clientele. Because if I can do it, I would do it, I would not use the assistant. But for double booking I use the assistant.

Me and Muze Salon, we have the doors open for you, I would provide you the service like nothing happened. Bu, if you do not want to return, at least I’m happy you know now how hair salon...

I've been a client of this salon for 6 years and have spent thousands of dollars on services over those years. Today, after 6 years of using them, I experienced something that simply put is completely unacceptable in the service industry. At the end of a very unfriendly service by Axel, rushing through the hair color at top speed, he demonstratively told me that he has great news to share. When asked what that great news is, I was told by Axel that today is the last day he is servicing me because he feels very unappreciated. When I asked why that is so, he told me that I have missed by his account paying him some tips. He then proceeded to take out a notebook with handwritten accounting of what tips he feels he is missing, tallying up at the end the amount of tip he feels I owe him. I had to ask him how he came up with those numbers. He then felt obligated to give the already crazy situation more drama and rip out the piece of paper and hand it to me to keep for memory.

It was a wild, gross ride that showed Axel's lack of hospitality in the service industry. It is also a very bad reflection on the salon itself for having someone who represents their brand and with his action, ruins their reputation.

When you are in the service industry, there are a few hard and fast rules that apply: 1) the client is always right event when they are wrong or perceived to be wrong. 2) It takes a lot of energy and time to build a relationship and a split second to kill it. 3) every unhappy customer will touch at minimum another 20 potential clients (pre-internet numbers) and negative news spreads fast.

Today, Axel killed the 6 year relationship I had with the salon. And to think, that if he had true hospitality bones, he could have handled this situation delicately, preserving the paying client and getting what he felt was due to him via his tip by simply saying to the client at the time of occurrence " Hey, maybe you forgot or something happened with the Venmo transfer..." Client would appreciate it as a reminder and totally acceptable as we are all hurried and work crazed, and tip would always happen and service provider would always be made whole.

And most of all, Axel would have shown professionalism by leaving drama off the table. I would highly suggest that the salon owners gift Axel a great book of learning on hospitality because he needs a refresher on this very, very important topic. The book is called Unreasonable Hospitality. It is readily available on Amazon and would be a solid investment.

As for this paying client, she does not appreciate being badgered during service by salon employee out loud and in writing and by being "fired" for perceived owed tips. That is the complete opposite of...

I found a bunch of Mona's work on curly influencers via Instagram and thought that her work was amazing so I booked an appointment with her to finish getting rid of a few scraggly ends and add some layers to my curly bob for volume. While Mona was nice throughout the appointment, initially when I met her she was a bit apprehensive and was not sure what is it that I wanted so I had to explain myself to her a few times before she got it or so I thought. Mona recommended that I thin out my thick curly hair with a RAZOR to achieve the volume that I wanted. ANYONE WITH CURLY HAIR KNOWS THIS IS A HUGE NO-NO and while my gut instinct was telling me to leave I let her do her thing because this was my first cut with a stylist who had cut the hair of some of my favorite curly influencers. During the styling process, I was perplexed because I didn't recognize any of the hair products she was using on me to be curly girl friendly or even labeled for curly hair. Then I was stuck under a hairdryer before another stylist came to finish off the diffusing process and by diffusing it was rough drying the rest of my hair without a diffuser attachment that made my hair so frizzy and stringy there was not a curl in sight! Mona noticed how terrible my hair was looking and tried to fix the styling but didn't offer to fix my cut she simply stated well you know we aren't a curly salon and we don't carry curly products. I WAS BAFFLED! She advertised herself as a curly stylist on Instagram yet she didn't know what to do with my thick short 2C/3A curls. I almost refused to pay for my hair cut but I did so foolishly, however, I did not leave a tip and used the tip money to get back home ASAP with my hood on the whole time. It took me a full year to grow out the worst hair cut I have ever gotten in my whole life and am finally able to talk about my traumatic experience now that I get my hair cut by a trained...