CODE Salon — Local services in San Francisco

I am a guy and notoriously have a difficult time with getting my hair cut. I prefer it a bit lived in around the sides and to keep it at a medium-short length. Whenever I go into a barbershop or salon, I request that they leave a little length around the ears, "the flips," and every time, I get the same short haircut. Over the years, in a futile attempt to get the cut I had envisioned, I began changing what I request, bringing in pics and asking them to take less and less off each subsequent trip, and every time......same haircut. The last haircut I got I walked in and said, "please don't cut it.".....walked out with the same haircut. High and tight around the ears and short. Sigh...it'll grow in After having been scarred so many times, I obviously have reservations about getting my hair cut at all and rarely go. Add in COVID and the mess on top of my head by November was worthy of the s%^* show that is the year we are all currently enduring. My wife made the appointment for me because she needed a cut and color and couldn't look me in the face anymore, so we drove over an hour from Sebastopol down to SF. On the way down, my wife asked me what kind of haircut I wanted and I cynically said, "what difference does it make...we know what I'm getting." She coaxed me into pulling up some pics of hairstyles, and I found one of some model, who looks-wise I more resembled maybe the frog version of him before the princess kiss that magically transformed him into the guy who shows up on google searches for, "medium length hairstyles." My wife and I agreed that the hair was at least close enough to be possible. Did I mention that at 41 years of age I have this nice triangle of receding hair that lives right where I part my hair? The long length combover to the side really couldn't do more to accentuate the sparsely populated patch on my head where the last few hair follicles are looking around saying, "where'd everybody go?" The Salon itself is amazing. My wife and I are very conservative when it comes to Covid and we haven't been out of our bubble much. We worry a lot and let me say that with the precautions that CODE took, we didn't worry AT ALL. Everyone was wearing masks the whole time and we were able to keep ours on for the entire appointments. My appointment was with Denise and I sheepishly showed her the pic and requested she do what she can to help hide my balding spot. To her credit, she didn't laugh at all as I had expected. Quite the opposite. She looked at the pic and actually really took it in. She then spent time looking at my hair, moving it around, discussing the shape, length, all the while getting more enthusiastic about the cut. "Let's do something fun!" "Yea, we can do this." ....like she was getting hyped up for the challenge. I mention this because it was a unique experience for me. She listened to what I said and really seemed motivated to actualize it.....to make some magic happen, akin to a sculptor looking at a block of lumpy clay and getting excited about the potential there. Guess what. For the first time in my life, I was awarded a new hairstyle!!! She knocked it out of the park....made the impossible, possible.....and I am just thrilled. My wife said I looked 20 years younger and my teen daughter, who typically reminds me that I have a receding hairline everyday, (lest I forget) was gushing over how good I looked. My hair was such a freakin' mess that I was pretty self-conscious about it, opting to smash it down behind my ears and wear a hat all of the time. I wasn't prepared for how much better I would feel walking out of there. Denise is a true artist and from what my wife says, she is one of a whole team of them at CODE, which is why we were traveling an hour there to begin with. I may not actually look like Google Search Hair Guy, but now I definitely feel like I do.....and I would be remiss not to mention that my wife also looks AMAZING! Thank you, Denise, and...

I’ve been going to salons for years, and I’ve never had an experience like this. First, I went to [Josh] and asked about the price for balayage and coloring. Josh told me that he couldn’t give me a price and I had to speak directly with the stylist. So, I booked a consultation with the stylist for the next day. I took time off work and went to the salon to meet with the stylist. The stylist told me that because my hair is long, the price for balayage would be $350 and for a full color would be $190.

After that, I went back to Josh to book an appointment for the following week. But when I went back, Josh suddenly changed the prices. He told me balayage would be $550 and the full color would be $200, plus an extra $10 for the “foil.” These prices were NOT the same as what the stylist had told me. I asked him why the prices were different, and he rudely said, “what do you mean? These are the prices we have.” I told him that’s not what the stylist quoted me, and he said he’d go check with the stylist.

When he came back, he said he could offer the balayage for $450, but the full color would still be $200. He said he couldn’t give me the $350 price that the stylist had mentioned. I was shocked and told him the stylist never said that. Josh then very rudely told me that if I wanted the $350 price, I’d have to go with a lower-level stylist.

I’m really disappointed. If [Josh] can give me prices, then why did he told me I have to get an appointment with stylists and get prices from them?? And if the stylist is supposed to give the prices, why does [Josh] change them? This experience really made me question the professionalism of the salon. If prices are going to change at [Josh], that should be made clear from the start. But it’s obvious there’s no communication or coordination between the staff, which just shows how unprofessional the whole place is. I’m upset with the way the pricing system works, and the way the staff handled it. If they can’t even communicate clearly with each other, how am I supposed to trust a salon that tells me they use the best products for my hair, but can’t even get their prices right? It’s clear that nothing in this salon is reliable. Please don't wast people time. My time...

I'm so torn about this. It's a beautiful salon and they use great products. But my experience with the people is just hurtful. And to this day I still think about my experience and how cheated I had felt.

The first time I had tried it out was around June 2022. I had a straight, no layer cut because my hair was so thin from stress I wanted to give it a fuller look. But when I went in, I showed my stylist Denise a picture with layers and said this is what I wanted. I also wanted her opinion on how to style my hair. She said blunt cut straight across. So basically the same hair style. I don't know why, but I thought sure, she knows better. Thinking back on it, she didn't explain how it's the SAME haircut I had and completely different than what the picture I had showed her. It felt lazy to me.

Before I left, I booked a haircut for 3 months later (Sept 2022), the week before my wedding to have a fresh cut with actual layers and add bangs. When the day came, I was stuck in the horrible Giant's game traffic and they had called me 10 minutes after my appointment and asked if I was still coming. I said yes, but I am stuck in traffic and if I could still come in even if it is past their 15 minute cancellation policy. They said no. I asked if I could skip the hair wash and just have my hair cut. They said no there is nothing they could do and took my $140 deposit. Really? This really sucked how my stylist didn't care how important this haircut was for me and just said "no, there's nothing we could do". Really? You couldn't just cut my hair and skip the wash and blow drying part? I was stuck with the haircut that was not like the picture I had asked for and for double the price.

I will not come back and will not recommend...