The Loc Den

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 postive 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 3^rd hour, and then +$ 55 for the 4^th 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 Unilocalers – 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.

Update!
I left my previous review 3 days ago, and today the owner of the Loc Den called me. No joke, the only words I got out were «okay» twice. She was clearly upset about the review I left and continuously said that if I would have worked with her then blah blah and that she has several satisfied customers and blah blah. Once I saw that this was an angry monologue and NOT a conversation (and let’s be real, I had a bad experience, I left a bad review, and I am gone now. WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME??) I hung up. I don’t owe her anything, and Sunday (today) is the Lord’s day, no time for negativity or drama.
She then begins to TEXT ME. I blocked her number because it just got ridiculous. LET IT GO! Dang, now I REALLY want nothing to do with The Loc Den and I will shout from the rooftops about bad business practices AND the harassment you’re sure to get once you express dissatisfaction.
I took a screen shot of the conversation, and if I can post it on here I sure will.
RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS. It’s not worth the Love and Hip Hop type drama of dealing with them.

The ladies at the loc den really know what they are doing! They are capable of doing everything from loc repairs and extensions to simple retwists and styles. I would honestly say the best in Texas and I won’t allow anyone else in my head!

This establishment is very unprofessional, the owner Shenat_​double or even triple books appointments. She has no respect for your time. I booked and appointment with her for starter dreads. When I arrived she wasn’t even halfway through with someone else’s hair. So I waited a long time before she had someone in the shop wash my hair (which they could have already done because they weren’t doing anything but sitting down and watching TV). I finally got my hair washed and Shenat_​still wasn’t done with her other clients hair so I had to settle for some girl who did not know what she was doing. Neither did Shenat_​when the girl that was doing my hair finally asked for help. They tried to blame it on my hair texture but I have had someone do starter dreads on my hair before and they turned out great. Not only that but the girl stopped 2 or 3 times in the middle of my hair to do someone’s else’s hair – like wtf? I was there for a good 2 – 3 hours without anything even being done to my hair. I finally was fed up and left and Sh_​nate had the nerve to charge me $ 15? Hell, never again. Please save your time and money.

Yal please do not go to this salon! The woman was over 3 hours late to our appointment. She showed up at 11:30 and still did not have the proper supplies… so I had to wait for her to travel 30minutes to the beauty supply store. Additionally she did my loc extensions with Marley hair underneath and human hair wrapped over it. I questioned her about it and she said it was necessary, but later I found out it is the cheapest method to use. As a result 2 days later my hair started unraveling. Unfortunately the Marley hair underneath wasn’t even the same color as the human hair. It was jet black, and the human hair was brown. So right now I look like a stiff mop. Not to mention the lady kept taking smoke breaks with her boyfriend who showed up extra loud. So she pretty much did my hair while high. Thankfully!!! I came across Damien Walters videos and he is willing to take me in. And apparently he has had to redo several loc extensions from previous clients of the loc den. Here is a video where the woman went to the loc den and left dissatisfied.
: start at 20:15

My baby daddy always tell me my locs lookin so fine, errtime I get my hurr did

Excellent service! My appt was scheduled for 6 and I was in the chair at 6. She helped me treat an issue with some thinning locs and even gave me a sample of a product to try at home. Shenate (owner/​operator) is a talented loctician and I love her work!

Very unprofessional. Shenate’Lamar Cardwell will be LATE most times and expect you to pay full price then have an attitude with you when she is late. TIME IS MONEY. My time is valuable.
$ 85 for first hour $ 10 every hour after should be the norm. Latch or palm roll locs. Just FYI.
Student discounts are for College Students because middle school students don’t get discounts.
Double triple books appointments. Doesn’t value your time you will be waiting ALL day. Find some one else or be willing to waste your time waiting.
Good points: She does very good work when she shows up. Thought she was a good person and fair, now I think differently.
Will never go back had to wait hours after driving (I DROVE) 3 hours from Austin to get services. She was late twice. Shame on me. I made referrals to Shenate’ she made money off of me and did not have the decency to not to triple book my son’s appointment. She was two hours late and I missed an event due to her being unprofessional. NEVER AGAIN!
Apologized but didn’t make amends. No just compensation for my TIME, my son’s TIME, my family’s TIME. Are we at the whim of stylists? NO CALL to communicate with me. Shenate’ has my number as one of her clients.