Renaissance Salon and Spa

I wish I don’t even have to give this place one star; their business was horrific. First the owner/​hair dresser I had strongly recommended a different dye type than I had discussed with her on the phone, and after informing her of my reluctancy and concern that it’d been years since dying my hair, she turned my hair purple/​mahogany. Then she said it was fine until I told her I couldn’t go to work with purple hair, and she insulted the military saying that if she’d known I was in, she would have known I was needing a normal hair color!!! She bleached it twice without telling me what she was doing to lighten it a little, charged me for the bleaching and the difference in all over dye (since when is that more expensive than highlights which were originally discussed??), and threatened me twice. I still got reprimanded at work. I’ve never been to a place that charged and charged, particularly for their mistakes. She told me it was my mistake, too, that I had requested that color.
Rude, expensive, insulting, worst place I’ve ever ever been to!

I made a mistake of purchasing a coupon through Groupon before reading the reviews on this place. Once I read the reviews on this hair salon I was very worried. I thought I had wasted my money. But I decided to try it out anyways, since I was new in this area and didn’t have a regular hairdresser yet anyways.
The Groupon coupon clearly says $ 50 and up for a single-​process color, which was what I wanted. When I called to make an appointment I was told that a single-​process color actually started at $ 55. Remembering all the reviews I read on this place, I immediately thought I was being ripped off already. But it was only $ 5 difference so I didn’t care much. However, when I got to my appointment I found out that it actually started at $ 75, which is a big difference from what the Groupon and their website said — $ 50. I was not happy.
From there on I made sure to ask how much everything was going to cost before they got started, and my hairdresser told me upfront exactly how much it was going to cost. When I asked her about the price difference she said that their current website is old and that they are under a new management now which is why the prices were different. I did tell her that it was a possible lawsuit if someone was really unhappy about it and was willing pursuit it in a legal way — false advertisement is illegal under United States advertising regulation. I was told that the new owner was working on launching a new website.
The girl who answered my call to make an appointment was very unpleasant. The girl who was at the front desk when I got to my appointment wasn’t any friendlier either, she was rather a little standoffish. However, my hairdresser, Juani, was very friendly and nice and honest. Overall I wasn’t happy about the place, however, I loved Juani who did my hair. She made me feel confortable, it was fun listening to her, she was easy to talk to, and most importantly I came out of that place with my hair shinier than ever.
My mistake of reading the reviews AFTER purchasing the coupon led me to a good hairdresser after all.

There was a promotion for their salon: $ 40 for multiple services. At first I thought it was too good to be true but a friend of mine was actually in charge of these promotions and assured me it was legit. The $ 40 included a facial, 30 minute massage, shampoo-​cut-​dry-​style, and a mani-​pedi. There were stipulations about the services of course and if we want to upgrade the service, it shows how much.
I went into their salon for the first time in January 2011 and opted to get the haircut + the fixin’s. I wanted to upgrade to a single-​process treatment for $ 75 and I specifically told them I wanted highlights when I called them to book my appointment. They said that was fine and to bring my my coupon.
The salon itself was AWESOME. So pretty, modern, and stylish… they were definitely upgrading because they were switching out their chairs during my services there. The people were very nice as well… they seemed a little understaffed but at first I thought they could manage.
I ended up getting my hair done and it took over 3.5 hours. As a person who never gets her hair done, I wasn’t sure if this was normal but I did find myself waiting for someone to either wash my hair or finish up my hair because somebody was busy doing something else. I’m a very patient person so naturally I wasn’t going to get upset… I mean, I’m paying close to nothing by doing this, right?
Wrong. After my highlights were finished, I paid almost $ 400 for the treatment. (This doesn’t even include tip.) Apparently, the upgrade is for a SINGLE COLOR ONLY… not highlights. But if I specifically asked about the upgrade on my coupon AND mentioned the highlights, you’d think someone would point out my incorrect thinking.
Just recently, one of my girlfriends called me asking to speak to my friend who sold us the gift certificates. (A large group of us bought them thinking we’d be able to get services done all together). Unfortunately my friend does not work for the promoting company anymore so I had to speak to someone at the salon regarding my girlfriends issue. Apparently they don’t allow groups to take part of these services with the gift certificate because «they lose money» when that happens.
What? Why does being in a group matter? Nowhere on the gift certificate does it specify «NO GROUPS PLEASE.»
We as «new customers» don’t really want to hear how you’re losing money on a promotion that YOU started! This does not give anyone a good impression about your salon. The girl I spoke to was nice but was trying to stress the fact that they «lose money» every time a «Smart Circle» (the promotion deal) customer comes in. And is that our fault that we took advantage of a good deal? Who doesn’t want to pay $ 40 for multiple services at a nice salon? She even tried to compare me as a «Smart Circle» customer to a regular-​paying customer. I don’t think she realized that what if I really liked their services and became a «regular-​paying» customer like everyone else?
Well that option is definitely out the window. I want to just finish up these services that I paid for and not go back to that salon again… if they were trying to get a large clientele with this promotion, book a FEW WEEKS in advance so you don’t hear their «losing money» lecture. Also, on the gift certificate AND their website, they say they close at 7PM from Tues– Thurs. Apparently this is wrong and they close at 5PM according to my girlfriend who spoke to someone else on the phone. I don’t know what the deal is, but this is false advertisement. As nice as their salon is, it doesn’t make up for all of these «occurrences» right before my eyes as a potential client of theirs.

I was a loyal customer of Renaissance Salon for about seven years. I would get everything from facials, pedicures, hair cuts, up dos, brow waxes and massages. After my most recent experience, I definitely have the seven-​year-​itch! I’ve moved on, and for good reasons.
What I liked about the salon was that you could get great service from just about anyone there, they are all very well-​trained. That’s a good thing because I’ve noticed a lot of turnover there. When my massage therapist left, I followed her to Balance Massage and never looked back. While they have the best pedicures, I’ve opted for less expensive places at times. So more than anything, I have been loyal to Renaissance for hair styling.
For the past couple years, I’ve been getting Bio Ionic (permanent chemical) straightening done. The no frizz and fuss-​free result has been amazing. I went from wavy, unmanageable hair to pin-​straight and maintenance-​free (no need to even blow dry) in a matter of hours. The treatment costs about $ 500 (when you include a 20% tip) and lasts for six months. This past time I had the treatment done, something went terribly wrong! My hair was fried, and I had to have them cut off about 7 inches (and that still didn’t undo all the damage). The way they handled the situation was unacceptable in my book.
My stylist, Lisa, handled it well, took full responsibility and offered to do anything she could for free to make it better. I asked for a refund and she had to get the owner’s approval. The owner would only concede half of the charged amount (minus the $ 75 tip I paid, so only $ 212 of the $ 500 I spent!). I’ve paid them thousands of dollars over the years and never once complained about a service. So, as you can guess, I won’t ever be paying them another dime. There are many other salons in the area with talented stylists, and I’m happy to try them out. Meanwhile, I’m still growing out my damaged hair.