Haircut story

When I arrived in Grand Forks, I knew I would eventually need to find someone to cut my hair. I spoke to a couple of women (one whose haircut, similar to my style, I really liked) and they recommended Avant, this chi chi salon downtown. I'm always skeptical of fancy places, because, in general, you just pay more for the same thing, but I also thought that it's dumb to ask for recommendations and then ignore them.

I was able to delay the inevitable because I went back to Syracuse in Oct and again in Dec and was able to get my haircut by Susan, my regular stylist, both times.

But now it's been several months and I had to make a decision. I tried to make an appt through their website, but it didn't work, so I called Avant and spoke to their prissy receptionist, who told me they had a cancellation and I could come that night for the low low price of $54 (which is more than my Syracuse stylist by more than 25%) because Tanja is a "master stylist." I think that's highway robbery, but now I'm committed to getting this over with and taking the plunge.

Several things happened which put me off:

I actually got the appt at their other location (not downtown). It's in a little strip mall very near where I work. I drove past the first time because the strip mall is shaped like an L and it's hard to see the salon from the street. Why didn't the prissy receptionist, who knew I was new in town (because I made a point to tell her) mention where they are located? Later, I mentioned to the stylist that I drove past the first time and she said, yeah, people can't find them. Again, why doesn't the receptionist help you with that!

Next thing that happened is that I was left to wait for 10 minutes in the waiting area, which I thought was rude. My Syracuse stylist is always right there, ready for you. Tanja was in the back, presumably taking a break. I don't begrudge anyone a break, but I find that a lot of places (including doctor's offices) have strict policies about being late, but have no problem wasting your time.  I think leaving me to cool my heels for 10 minutes past the appointment time is definitely pushing it.

So I'm already a little nervous and a little irritated. The stylist puts some oil in my hair before the shampoo, which I'm not thrilled about, but especially I don't understand why she doesn't ask me if I want it, or at least explain what she's using on my hair. When I asked her what it is, she kind of brushes off my question, like it's a stupid question - "it's hair oil [you idiot]." (But I have never, in my many many years, had anyone put oil in my hair at the start of the process, I guess I'm just too low class.) She's supposedly giving me a scalp massage with this oil, but she's rubbing it into my hair and sort of scratching my scalp with her fingers, neither of which is relaxing. I've had scalp massages and this ain't what one feels like.

I told her I wanted the same basic style, just trimmed and shaped. She said "half an inch?" and I hesitated, so she said "an inch?" and I said, I guess, yes.

I mention that I have been rinsing my hair with vinegar because the water is so hard here. And she says, do you live outside of town? And I say no, and she says, they have hard water outside of town. Like I'm wrong, the water isn't hard. But it's hard compared to the water where I used to live. I mean, wtf. I just don't understand this customer service style, where the customer is always wrong... (I think this is a good example of just how superficial "midwest nice" really is - people are nice but it's just on the surface.)

Now we shampoo, during which she is chatting, but, at some point, I sort of talked over her, not on purpose, but it seemed to annoy her, like I wasn't chatting the right way, and she didn't ask me anything else after that.

So we go to her chair and she cuts my hair, but, as she starts to blow dry, I say it's a little longer than I wanted. She's clearly irritated. She says "I cut the 1 inch you asked for [you idiot]." Then she asks if I want her to cut more. But of course, I don't want her to cut my hair if she's annoyed with me. Like, if you send food back to the kitchen in a restaurant, they're just gonna spit in it.

I was so discouraged that she didn't want me to be happy with it, especially for $54, which is a lot of money, and she's supposedly a "master" ffs. And she knows I'm new in town, I could be a new regular customer for her. But instead, she's scolding me for not knowing exactly what 1 inch would look like.

I said, no, thanks, it's fine. I paid the prissy receptionist and left a 20% tip, though it killed me to do it.

I won't be back of course. And it's a perfectly nice cut, though I wouldn't call it "master" level, and it's too long. And I don't know any of what she used on my hair (oil, shampoo, conditioner, styling creme) but my hair was satiny for sure (silky smooth!). I would have liked to know what she used because it clearly worked for my hair and this hard water (!) but she never told me about any of it - I guess that is not part of the service. 

It could have been a good experience. But it wasn't. I guess I'll try the downtown salon next time. But I noticed there is a salon around the corner from my new house, I might try them...

Epilogue. They sent me customer satisfaction survey. I rated them 3/5 (a gift) and said "My expectations were too high." I didn't hear back.