Diesel Salon — Local services in San Diego

Higher prices does not mean higher quality, save yourself and go somewhere else!!! I was in the salon all day, left hating my hair and with a horrible haircut right before vacation, wish I NEVER booked that appointment. If I knew my hair was going to look like that I would’ve just kept my dark roots or went all dark. Came in with long hair and left with short to medium hair from a supposed 2-inch TRIM, customer service from the hairstylist was very unprofessional, no solution whatsoever, just attitude.

I visited the salon in March to get highlights and a slight trim before my vacation. I booked with the most expensive stylist, a level 5 stylist, Johnny, and I was serviced by the receptionist or a cosmetology student. The lady who serviced me was clearly not a level 5 stylist, for which I was paying for the level 5 stylists' technique and experience. I don’t know her name, but she should never have been practicing on my hair for a $500+ service.

Johnny has given me 2 balayages on 2 separate occasions, and I left satisfied and happy with my hair. I have spent around $1,500 at Diesel Salon for about 3 visits, so you would expect good quality service and to leave loving your hair, especially for the higher price point. He applied the bleach, and that is pretty much all he did. The receptionist washed the bleach out and did the toning, spent almost $100 just on 2 different toners, and she didn't even get the front pieces of my hair; left with spotty bleached spots directly on my hairline.

The stylist I booked with had 2 other clients, and he serviced them and did not check on my hair, just passed me off to a girl with no experience. When I first arrived, I asked if he could squeeze in a small trim, and he checked his schedule and told me he could. I wish he had communicated and told me no if he was going to be busy with other clients, thus leading to a rushed haircut. I heavily emphasized that I am really attached to the length and did not want to go short or have a dramatic change. He cut off SOOOO MUCH MORE hair than I consented to; I agreed to 2 inches, and he took off 6 inches from my hair. My shortest layer is grown-out bangs, which look like a face-framing layer but it blended in, and he gave me a whole new layer of MY SHORTEST length, looks so much shorter, and took off YEARS worth of growth.

I had my hair cut in a very specific way, in a V shape, and he did not even try to cut it how I described or look at the previous layers nor section my hair, gave me 2 very disconnected layers, one super short and one medium.I have curly hair so him cutting it short is a lot more noticeable on my hair type, this is the WORST haircut I have ever gotten. Ruined my whole look for the vacation.

Mind you, the hairstylist just blow-dried the front 2 sections of my hair to see the color, and I left with my hair dripping wet, so I never saw how short or splotchy it was at the salon. Also the top layer always gets the most highlights, and he literally cut the bottom half of my top layer off, all the highlights that were there just cut off completely.... Like hello???

I came back to get my hair “fixed” a few days later, and he admitted that the shadow root/toner was done poorly because he did not do it. The least he could’ve done was check in on the work she was doing. I thought I was in good hands, but clearly NOT. He literally only checked on the bleach like once, I think the bleach stayed on for longer than it should’ve from his neglect and focusing on other clients. He just argued with me when I told him my dissatisfaction with the haircut and offered to cut it more….like if he didn’t already cut off way more than I asked. He blamed it on my hair being too thin and stringy, but clearly from the before photo, my hair was very full. Did not receive a partial refund or anything, will NEVERRRR return to this salon.

1. hair before
2. hair at salon before the service
3. hair at salon with toner in during service
4. Poor bleach job after salon
5. hair length after haircut (current)
6. 2 uneven layered...

I’ve debated posting this review for a long time, but after over three years, I feel I have to speak up. My experience at Diesel Salon was deeply disappointing, and it’s frustrating to see others continue to get ripped off the way I was.

The stylist I saw was Keri (who is no longer with the salon — reportedly because she began showing up to work drunk, which, in hindsight, explains a lot about my experience).

Please don’t fall for the gimmick that just because they’re more expensive, they must have better stylists. That’s simply not true. They overcharge because they know they can — it’s San Diego.

My haircut felt completely rushed. I asked Keri to cut my bangs to frame my face, but she butchered them and left them uneven. She didn’t even spend five minutes on my haircut — no surprise that it turned out poorly.

What made matters worse was their poor scheduling. Even though I told the receptionist I wanted full highlights and had a lot of hair (and would need plenty of time), they booked two other clients for Keri just an hour after my appointment started.

Keri later told me she couldn’t do the full highlights because she didn’t have enough time — and suggested I come back in a week or two. I had already told her at the beginning of the appointment that I was moving in a few days. Why she thought I could just come back is beyond me… maybe she was drunk?

I was in the salon for over five hours. Two assistants worked on me while keri handled her other clients. I didn’t mind the assistants — until one of them started blow-drying my hair and burned my scalp by holding the dryer way too close.

After all that — five hours, three different people working on my hair, and a burnt scalp — Keri gave me my final quote: $552. Originally, I was quoted between $250 and $375. She claimed they used nearly 20 bowls of lightener on my shoulder-length hair.

I had made the mistake earlier of mentioning that I’d saved $600 for my appointment. After that, she went quiet — I’m guessing she was calculating how to get as much of it as possible. What do you know? My final bill ended up being just $48 short of the full $600.

I called the salon afterward to express that I felt taken advantage of. The manager shut me down immediately, insisted keri would never do that, and dismissed my concerns. They refused a refund and instead offered me a complimentary $30 shampoo and conditioner. Insulting.

I think it’s absolutely unacceptable how they treat their clients. If you’re considering going to Diesel Salon, I strongly recommend taking your business elsewhere — unless you want to waste hours in the chair, get burned (literally and figuratively), and leave disappointed

The picture on the left Is what I wanted and The picture on the right is of my finished look I ended up gray And nowhere near What...

I have many reasons as to why I personally would avoid coming here

For a balayage and a hair cut it cost $440!!!

ONE hour before my appointment I was notified that it needed to rescheduled (after I had already started driving there) johnny offered a free hair mask to make up for it - never received it

During my appointment, johnny left multiple times for an extended amount of time for no apparent reason. (At one point I laid with just wet hair in the sink while he went to get toner - he came back 10+ minutes later)

I asked for a balayage - You can see from the pictures that, that is NOT what I had received

I initially left the appointment happy with my newly curled/styled hair but a couple days after, I straightened it and noticed the tiger striped highlights. After several attempts to get ahold of Johnny, I informed him that I was unhappy with my hair - after a small debate with him about what a balayage is and how that is what he did, he offered to fix it a WEEK later.

After many attempts, I finally got a hold of the manager who informed me that what I had received was indeed a balayage (Ive been getting balayage's for 3+ years...I've never had it look like that) and from the same picture above, she thought that Johnny had done a good job(Not your head - not your opinion). She offered to do a shadow root to blend it but I informed her that I was unhappy with the overall experience and at this point felt very uncomfortable with coming back in and that I would just like a PARTIAL refund so that I could just go have it fixed somewhere else. After going in circles with her and legit arguing with her - she told me that they do not offer any refunds. They would only offer to fix it because "they cannot take back the time or the products used during my appointment". But if I come back in, I am using more of their time and products anyways...I'm sure any customers can relate where it is awkward to speak up and sometimes you don't want to go back because it's uncomfortable (especially after having heated conversations with staff). If you didn't get the service that you requested, you shouldn't have to pay for it or be forced to go back to their salon to get it fixed.

The end result was that I received mediocre chunky highlights, the rest of my hair doesn't even look touched, and I'm out a whopping $440. Hope this helps anyone trying to decide whether they should get their...