The worst salon experience I've had in my 5 years of having locs.
I originally went to the Loc Den because they were located in my area, and I was able to book my appointment online. That's about all the positive things I have to say about my experience there.
I showed up ON-TIME to my appointment, and the owner Shenate (pronounced "shay-nuh") was busy with another client. "Fine, whatever," I thought since the shop was obviously quite busy, and I figured that she'd be able to get me started pretty soon. NOPE. I watched and waited 30+ minutes as she helped 2 other people--before anyone even so much as touched my hair to wash it.
So about 40-50 minutes AFTER my appointment was supposed to have started, I'm finally sitting in the chair, and Shenate starts on my hair. While she was supposed to be doing my hair, I noticed that VERY FREQUENTLY it would feel like nothing was going on back there at all. I was on my phone so I ignored it the first few times, but one time when she went "radio silent," I looked back and there she was SCROLLING THROUGH HER PHONE (must have been FB, twitter, texting,) while she was supposed to be doing my hair.
Several other times while she was supposed to be doing my hair, she would--without a word--wander off to take care of someone elses hair. She would be gone for several minutes at a time, and this happened OVER AND OVER. Eventually I started timing her when she would walk away, and my stopwatch got up to 20 minutes that she just left me in the chair. (Not including the time before I started my stopwatch.)
The problems only got worse from there. Now, I don't know whose children they were, but throughout the duration of my appointment I had to listen to yelling/playing/dancing children running around the salon, which made my mood even worse. I'm not about to tell someone else how to raise their children, but it is rude and inconsiderate to let your own children run around and disrupt your clients, especially given that there was a back room they could have watched TV or played in instead.
Finally, the worst offense. When it came time for me to pay, I was given a bill of $190! I asked her what it was for, and she said it was $165 to interloc my hair, and then $25 for her to 'prune' the fuzzy hairs sticking out of my locs. This seemed WAY too extreme, so I looked at the pricing sign in the store. The sign said that interlocing started at $85 for the first 2 hours, and was $25 for each hour after that. Even IF she had worked on my hair for 4 continuous hours--and she didn't--the most I should have had to pay was $160.
I asked Sheante to explain the pricing again, and she told me that the sign in the store was out of date. (To that I have to say: If the sign it out of date, FIX IT! You don't have to get a whole new sign, just cross it out with a sharpie and write the new price in. Don't make people try to magically guess how much they're going to have to pay.) She said that interlocing was $85 for the first 2 hours, +$25 for the 3rd hour, and then +$55 for the 4th hour. The way Sheante prices her services makes NO SENSE, and I feel like she must have been making it up on-the-fly to try and get as much money out of me as possible.
Now, I was in her shop for 4 hours, and she only worked on my hair for about 3 of those hours. (4 hours MINUS the 30+ minutes I waited to get started, and MINUS all the time she wandered off or was on her phone.) If my calculations are right, (and they are--I'm a medical student and I know how to do simple arithmetic,) I should have only had to pay $135--including the 'pruning.'
Now, I try to be a tolerant and understanding person generally speaking, but if I'm being charged *BY THE HOUR* for my hair, it is incredibly RUDE, INCONSIDERATE, and DISRESPECTFUL to waste my time and money by 1) charging me for the 30 minutes I initially had to wait; 2) charging me for the time you spent looking at your phone and doing other people's hair instead of my own; and 3) making up inconsistent prices that go against all of the pricing on your website and in your store.
I did eventually suck it up and pay the $190 instead of trying to start an argument in the store--but that's the first and LAST time I ever go to the Loc Den. Yeah sure, my hair looks good, but was it worth it? Nope. Not in the least. In the past I've paid HALF of what I paid here and had TWICE the quality of service.
To my fellow kinky haired and loc'd up folks trying to find a place to do your hair--the location and online booking services at the Loc Den may seem enticing, but PLEASE don't waste your time and money by getting your hair done here. I implore you--just go get your hair done somewhere else.
