I recently went to La Perla Salon & Spa for a cut/highlights.

At first I was turned off this place because of their hours. They are only open until 6pm on weeknights and until 4 on Saturdays. For people who work, that's not a lot of opportunity to go. I would have chosen somewhere else but I found a promotion online through LivingSocial.com that got my a cut/dye for $85. So I couldn't say no.

I was originally happy with the service. The staff there at the time was really friendly and informative. They gave me a bunch of tips to care for my hair that I didn't know about. I could tell that my stylist is really passionate about what he does. At first I was happy with the results, but after a couple days I saw my hair in bright light and I realized that you could see the break between where the roots were before I dyed it, and the colour was also a bit brassy.

My first reaction was that this was no big deal. I completely understand that EVERYONE has an "off" day and makes mistakes. It happens to the best of us. Although the location of La Perla is not convenient for me, I did have a good first impression of this place so I called to make an appointment to get this touched up.

Where I ran into a problem is that the stylist who did my hair only works one day a week, and I was only able to go in on a Tuesday afternoon. I thought that when I called in, I would simply make a new appointment and that would be the end of that. But honestly, I pretty much had to beg to get someone else to fix the problem! I get that it is standard at all salons that the stylist who makes the mistake will fix it for you, but at the same time, I assume that they are working as a team. On the phone I was told that I had to go in on the day that this stylist was working (but I had a prior engagement so this was out of the question). Then they said that he at least had to see it before they would even let someone else touch my hair. Then they decided that they would call this stylist and ask him what the problem was. I couldn't (and still can't) comprehend why they couldn't just accept that I wasn't happy with my results, and just schedule me in to get it fixed without the hassle. It really doesn't make sense to me why they had to talk to the stylist before they would schedule me - it was as if they needed to hear "his side of the story". I had and still have absolutely nothing against this stylist - in fact, I really liked him and probably would have gone back to him since the price was right and I liked the cut he gave me.

I expect to be satisfied with a service I am paying for, and I really have no interest in wasting 10-15 minutes arguing to get a new hair appointment. Not to mention this conversation left me upset the rest of the day. They also said to me that they didn't want another stylist to fix my hair because then the original one would lose some commission. Not only do I not care about what commission they make, but I also think it is in very poor taste to discuss employee salary/compensation with a customer.

So even though it took some time, I did get a new appointment and I am happy with the final results. The stylist who re-did my hair went above and beyond to correct my hair. She was very skilled, friendly, and informative.

That said, when I went the first time, I went with my sister and she had a great experience and was planning to return for her next cut/dye. But since the phone conversation left me with such a bad taste in my mouth, neither me or my sister will return. There are plenty of great salons in the city that do an excellent job and also treat customers with the utmost respect so I really don't need to compromise on either.