Thomas Taft Salon UES — Local services in New York

Not one to write reviews although this experience still bothers me months after the fact.

Back in June 2025, I booked an appointment on the salon’s website for an afternoon haircut priced at $85. I arrived on time and was greeted by a woman who, I later learned, was the owner of the salon, Melyssa. Her greeting was simply: “Haircut?” I said yes, and she led me to the sink for a wash.

Once in the chair, she began talking about how excited she was to leave for her family vacation after my appointment. I understand people have lives outside of work, but from the moment I walked in to the moment I walked out, the entire haircut took fifteen minutes—no exaggeration, wash and dry and all.

I have very fine, fragile hair and explained to her that I’ve always struggled to find cuts that work best for my hair type. I told her I was open to her professional recommendation. She suggested layers, and I agreed, trusting her expertise. Instead, she gave me one heavy layer and removed a lot of volume, leaving me with a chunky, unflattering cut—the opposite of what works for thin hair (I wish I took a photo but that hair went up into a clip as soon as I left and feel like it hasn't come down yet). Still, I told myself, “Well, it was only $85, and that’s cheap for the Upper East Side.” But when I went to check out, I was charged $185. I hesitated, thinking maybe I’d made a mistake when booking, but I was in a rush and decided I’d check my records later. Sure enough, I confirmed I had in fact booked with a cut with a rate of $85.

When I called the salon to discuss the overcharge, I was met with hostility and a cold, dismissive attitude. I was told things like “Well, that’s just her rate,” as though that excused charging me more than double without informing me beforehand. The truth is, the owner took my appointment when I booked with a lower level stylist without explaining the price difference—and that’s on the salon, not the customer.

Over the next few weeks, I called repeatedly, only to be brushed off with “We’re looking into it”—over and over. Nothing was resolved. I finally gave up and filed a report with the BBB, but the salon has yet to respond to their communications.

In the end, I paid $185 for a rushed, unflattering haircut and some of the worst customer service I’ve experienced.

Still having not heard back from the owner, for as much as an apology I recommend you bring your business to a salon with more integrity. If you want a no-drama, detail-oriented haircut with price transparency, I recommend York Salon instead. No frills, fair pricing (my first cut there was $100), and a stylist who actually takes their time and cares about...

I went to this salon twice, first to the upper west side location and then to see the same stylist at the upper east side location about 3 months later. I had a great experience the first time. My stylist worked well with my curly hair and gave me bangs that I really love.

However, in my second appointment when I went just to maintain that haircut and get a trim, she cut probably another 6 in off my hair, dramatically changing my appearance. True, I did not show her a picture of what it had looked like the previous time she cut it (because she said she remembered, and because we both referenced my earlier appointment in September). But I've been really shocked with the results and even after a few days I'm still kind of horrified. I will be growing my hair out for at least another year and maybe longer before getting it trimmed again.

So please show your stylist a photo of what you want before you let them start trimming, even if you've worked with them before and you think they know what you want.

The accompanying photos show me immediately after my first haircut and then a couple of days after my second.

ETA: the salon commented below to say they were going to reach out to me but they didn't. I don't know what the intended to say because only a magical hair growth formula would fix this situation! But It was certainly not resolved.

ETA 2: It's a month later and I've had to completely change the products and method I use to style my hair. That helps a little but I still hate my haircut every day.

ETA 3: I eventually did hear from a manager at the salon, who was very kind but obviously unable to fix the situation. 2 months after the second haircut, I'm finally able to wear my hair in a ponytail again, which is exciting! I still won't be going back to this place ever though.

ETA 4: It has been over a year since my last haircut. I've grown out my bangs but as you can see in the third picture, I'm still nowhere near the length I want. It'll probably be another year and maybe longer. Never again, Thomas Taft!

ETA 5: it has now been over 2 years; six more months and I think I will be back where I started before this horrible experience. It's incredible how much damage someone can do in a single hair appointment, especially if you have curly hair that takes a long time to grow back. I'm not sure I will ever trust a professional stylist to cut...

I have done 2 walk-in’s in this salon, and they have been extremely polarizing. I’m writing this review to draw management’s attention for an issue with one of their employees.

First time I walked in for a quick bang-trim, and Melyssa was incredibly attentive and made feel amazing, so I walked out of the salon feeling like I’m walking on air. 5+/5⭐️

However, yesterday I had an extremely bad experience here during my walk-in. Granted, that there were no hairdressers available, so they tried to squeeze me in, which was probably a part of the problem.

Kenya-Renee who was cutting my hair didn’t really check in with me on how I wanted it(length/styled), which would have been fine if it would’ve given great results. However, at the end of it - the way my hair looked nearly drove to tears (it was a bang trim, so when done badly it changes your face A LOT, and instead of cute curtain bangs, I ended up with short choppy straight bangs)😔

On top of that, the hairdresser didn’t make much conversation(which is totally fine), but she did ask how I dye my hair, to which I have responded that I do it myself (I have been doing it since I was 14, and have consistently consulted with hairdressers on the techniques since it’s mostly my roots).

After that she asked me what I do for work (weird follow-up, considering she wasn’t making much conversation) and I after I mentioned that I am in tech she produced what seem like a judgemental chuckle as a response. That felt incredibly rude and disrespectful.

After I have expressed that I didn’t like the bangs, the hairdresser has offered to make the service charge-free. It’s a nice gesture, however, barely makes up for my ruined bangs or the interaction I had, so it felt more like a plea to sweep the interaction under the rug.

I would urge the management to have a conversation with their staff about taking on people they are not able to service well and overall treatment of their customers (the conversation I had was out of line for any respectable business in the beauty/service industry).

I’m leaving it 3 stars solely because of how incredible my first time was, but the second one made me not want to come back.

I hope that you can take this review as an opportunity to educate your employees on the importance of good...