Studio 417 Salon — Local services in Springfield

I've been going back and forth about writing this review. After sharing my story with some friends, I think it's important that I do because I came to this salon under the impression that it was one of the good ones with all the 5 star reviews it currently has. My experience was far from 5 star unfortunately.

A week ago, I filled out their consultation form and it took me around 15-20 minutes to do. It asked for photos of my hair now and photos of what I wanted with sections for me to explain the cut in detail. I then got a call the next day from the salon coordinator to get me booked for that week. I had never been so I just went with their recommended stylist.

I went in to get my hair cut from a bob to a pixie. The consultation outlined this in detail. I sat down in the chair and the hair dresser asked me what I wanted to do today. I was a little confused by her question because I assumed that she would have saw the form I filled out. I went ahead and explained that I wanted a pixie with bangs that go to my eyebrows, no baby bangs, and I showed her the pictures. She asked me twice after that if I was sure that I wanted a pixie. I reassured her that I knew that was what I wanted as I have had many pixies in the past.

She started the haircut cutting my hair dry to get rid of the length and then washed my hair. When I got back to the chair and she started cutting my hair, her hands were shaking. I tried encouraging her and telling her that she's got this and that I trusted her. She then told me that she was going to have another stylist come by to give her some direction because she had never cut a pixie before! I should have left at this point but it was too late because she had already unevenly cut off my length.

The stylist who was "helping" ended up doing half of the haircut for the girl. She was cutting my hair super fast because she was trying to fit me in between her other client which was kind but it was really painful. Her shears were pulling at my hair like maybe they were dull. Once the original stylist took over to cut the other half, she was so nervous to cut my hair still. Her cutting technique was also painful. I was wincing in my chair.

It was then time for the bangs. She seemed confident with that part. I reminded her that I didn't want baby bangs, I just wanted them to my brow. She started taking from pretty far back on the crown of my head, pulling the pieces straight up in the air, and cutting bluntly and then laying them flat. The first piece she cut was several inches above my eyebrow (as seen in the photo). I grabbed it in shock and told her that was way too short. This was the only time I said something negative to her this entire time as I was trying to be supportive because she was so nervous. But it's one thing if they were just the layers to the bangs to take off some weight, but it was a chunk. And then she said, "good thing hair grows back!".

I was silent for the rest of the hair cut trying to fight back tears. After I paid and left, I was distraught. I had my best friend's funeral in 2 days that I was going to speak and sing at and I looked like a wreck. I have never had such a botched hair cut.

I called another salon in town and begged them to fix my hair. They were so kind to get me in the same day. The atmosphere was a 1000 times better and I actually felt like I was safe in the chair and I could trust the stylist. They agreed that it was a really rough cut. There was a ton of bulk on the sides, and the layers, bangs, and sideburns were all different lengths. I was in that stylist's chair for over an hour while he took his time fixing my hair.

Like many people, getting my hair cut is something I look forward to where I can be relaxed and get pampered. I love the feeling of leaving a salon looking my best. I was really hoping for this feeling at Studio 417. But it was just a horrible experience from start to finish. I do not plan to...

I came in and asked for a specific extension method, after doing extensive research on what would be best for my hair type and lifestyle. Per their website, I could expect to pay around $950 for extra length installation + hair for these, and I was only interested in about 16". The hairstylist, Audrey, immediately spoke over me, shut me down and told me that she "didn't like doing those" and "they take too long". Admittedly, I have social anxiety and came in already feeling vulnerable, trying to grow out my hair- feeling un-confident. I agreed to the upsale that she insisted was the only "real" option for me- a mesh integration with k-tips. The price suddenly jumped up to $2,200. The stylist also mentioned at this point that she had only JUST been certified in it and had only done it once before, but she stated she knew it would be best for me, so I agreed. I warned her at this point that I would be moving and asked if I'd be able to find a stylist in NC who could maintain it, she stated it would be "no problem".

4 hours after the install, I began losing beads. It was after hours, so I had to wait until morning to call. By the time I could get back in the chair- I was partially losing a weft. It took a 30 min adjustment on day one. No apology from the stylist for that- either.

I asked her if I'd done something wrong, at which point she blamed the structure of my hair- stating it was "too smooth and fine" (for the process she sold me on).

Within 6 hours of this adjustment, I was losing hair again. My stylist had given me the instagram handle of the mesh integration creator, so that I could follow her, to find a local mesh extentionist in NC, so I reached out to her to ask for advice. Her advice was to get the mesh removed immediately to avoid damaging my natural hair. It is now only 3 days after the installation and the entire mesh system is falling out, pulling my hair with it. The stylist has begun to ignore my messages and the shop is not taking my calls. I was only ever reluctantly offered a refund of $400/2,200. I have been quoted $200/300- to have the mesh/ktips properly removed by other salons (since I did move to NC) to get me back to square one- and between $900 and $1000 to finish the rest of my head with k-tips, so I dont have to walk around with a faux hawk, after already paying over $2,300 72hrs ago for Studio 417 to do the job. My extensions did not last even 24 hours... save your money and your hair, and go...

I was really hoping it didn’t have to come to this. I gave the salon owner over a week to review the footage and get back with me! However, that never happened, so I feel this review is necessary!!

Let me first say, thank God that this was a one time thing, I have a girl I go to and was not looking for this to be my forever salon.

Upon entering the salon, I awkwardly waited 20 minutes after my appointment time, before I was greeted and called back to the chair! Once there, we went over how I only needed a root touch up and a glaze pull through! Pretty simple, right! I was then informed that my price is actually 25$ more than I was told(apparently, an all over color was quoted to me)…even tho that’s not what was stated when making appointment! We proceeded anyway. Once the color was on, I was sat under the dryer, where within minutes, my scalp started burning! Now, this was my first time ever sitting under a dryer to set the color, so I had no clue whether this was normal. If the stylist had checked on me in that 30-40 minutes, or had one of the many other stylist's passing by acknowledged me, I might have asked if the burning was normal. Sadly, I stayed put! Even 10 minutes after the dryer had turned off, before she made her way back to me.

Off to rinse we go! All good, until she goes to put the glaze in, and instantly felt intense burning! So I ask if that’s normal, NOPE!! She immediately rinses it out. Now she is behind for her next appointment! So she then hands me over to a level 1 stylist to finish!!

I’m sorry, but when I request and pay the price of a level 4 stylist, I expect to be done by a level 4 stylist from start to finish. Not handed off, so she can not be late for her next appointment (like she was late getting to me)… Finally, when checking out, I was asked if id like to tip! I said, “sure, and just split that between the 2” that’s only fair, right? The looks I got, and then was asked if I knew how the tipping works there🤔 Umm, no! No, I’m not familiar with how your tipping works.

At this point, I just wanted to get out of there!!

I left the salon crying, and would hate for anyone else to have an experience like mine!!

P.s. my scalp burned for days, so bad that i had to put an ice pack on...