Bang Salon

I have been seeing Todd for the past few years at Bang Salon on U St. I scheduled an appointment online (as I always have in the past) and I received a confirmation email, but when I showed up 45 minutes early for my appointment last week, the receptionist told me that there was a glitch in the online system and I didn’t have an appointment. After I showed her my confirmation e-​mail, she basically said too bad and she told me that another person who was scheduled with Todd would get the appointment (even though I was there and this person was not), and I would have to wait another 2 weeks or that if I wanted I could see someone else. I was very frustrated by the lack of apology and I decided I would try someone else. I saw Carol (who did a very good job, thanks :) !), but I had to pay more (because she was a higher level & again, I received no apology. I will have to rethink if I am going to continue to go to Bang Salon just based on how rude the front desk woman was and how little they cared that they messed up and I drove out of my way and paid for the meter to be told I have no appointment.

I recently had a cut and balayage color with Aaron, who is a new stylist at the Bang on U Street. Let me tell you, he was outstanding! Not only am I thrilled with my haircut and color, but he is also one of the sweetest and easiest people to talk to! When I came in with what I wanted for my color, he told me that what I brought was actually about 10 hours of work (whoops!) but he worked with me to get as close to what I wanted that he could and even told me after we were through that next time I came in we could get it even closer to what I originally wanted. Aaron is fantastic and I would recommend him to anyone! He is the type of new stylist that already knows so much that it’s unbelievable he hasn’t been doing this for 10 years. Book with Aaron and I promise, you won’t be disappointed! :) thanks Aaron!

i’ve been a client of Christina’s for over two years and can’t say enough great things about her and the Bang on U Street. I always have a great experience, the people are friendly, and it has a good vibe. Definitely recommend Bang and ask for Christina.

Kellee rocks! I walked in on a whim since I couldn’t get their online scheduler to load on my work computer (need silverlight apparently). Kellee had an opening on a weeknight evening, so off I went to her chair. She is very down to earth and pleasant, and I felt like she truly listened when I explained my wishes and needs for my hair. I am extremely low-​maintenance and don’t even own a hair dryer, and Kellee gave me a great carefree medium-​length bob that is suiting me very well! I think I may become a Kellee regular!

This review is mostly for Amanda. I’ve had several of my best haircuts of my life with her and her coloring is incredibly on point. I always leave happy. She’s also just a very nice person and always on time in my experience. Overall, the salon is also very good. There’s a long phone wait time occasionally but the employees are always courteous. The smoothies at Vida don’t hurt :)

Aieshah is the reason why I go to this place !! She is awesome !!
I am African-​American with natural hair and from the South where hair is serious business. Aieshah is absolutely in the hair business. She is very friendly, professional, she makes me look even more beautiful than I already am and most importantly she takes GREAT care of my hair — LOVE it!
Pros:
* Aieshah is quick! I walk into the salon, check in, go straight to her chair where I am immediately offered tea, water or coffee and then to the shampoo bowl. The most I’ve had to wait was maybe 10 minutes and I am usually done in about an hour. (Seriously)
* She works on Sundays!
* The salon is very clean; the appointments are easy to book (especially when you are able to make the next appointment immediately after your service before you leave); the staff is friendly and professional.
Cons:
* Parking totally sucks — completely. And the closest metro station is several blocks away, so plan accordingly.
* They give a 5 or 10 minute grace if you are late & if you are later than that you will have to reschedule your appointment & may be charged a fee.
* No tipping allowed on the credit card and generally they do not have change. However, there is an ATM in the lobby, but I would recommend to have your tip cash handy when you arrive.

I walked in a monster; something poked with sticks by local schoolboys.
Just got home from getting my hair did. Kiara was amazing! She’s hilarious and talented, turning me from possum to awesome.
Honestly, I cannot thank her enough. I’ve had terrible luck with this raggy mop and she made me look great and feel confident. I didn’t have cash for a tip, so I owe her both metaphorically and literally. Delighted I found my new hair stylist — already have her booked again and will remember to bring her $$ next time.

I followed Jasmine to Bang from her previous salon– she is the absolute best. I get blonde balayage and a beautiful cut from her, every time.

I have been to every type of salon, including beautician schools. But I have never before experienced such a level of disrespect and poor customer service than that of this salon.
I came in on a Wednesday to see Kiara about touching up my roots. I expressed that I wished to go a medium copper, the same color to what my hair had faded to. She disappeared for awhile and came back asking if I wanted it exactly like the ends of my hair. I said yes, but that if the color is off a bit to pull it through so that my hair is all one color. (This is my fifth salon, as every place keeps dying my roots a different color than my hair.) So she colored my hair and after doing so, told me I should lighten my roots to match the rest of my hair. Information that should have been expressed to me beforehand. I looked in the mirror to find that my roots were red, and my ends were copper. But she claimed that the red was in my hair to begin with and that she suggested lightening the roots. I told her I did not want to walk out of there with two different colors in my hair and then told her about my previous experiences. She then told me the lighting was poor and that she would not let me walk out of there looking bad. Well I did. I walked out of there with two different colors in my hair.
So I made an appointment for Friday, as she had told me at least 4 times that I needed to be consistent with the people I saw. She asked what I had decided to do (bleach my roots like she suggested or pull the red from my roots out) and I said I was not fond of needing to bleach my roots, but I would do as she suggested. She disappeared again, coming back about 5 minutes later telling me I didn’t book enough time. How am I to know I needed to book more time? I tell her I wished that she would have told me the process she recommended would take more time so that I would have known to ask for it and she said that she handed me her personal card so I should have called. Again, how would I know I needed to call her if I didn’t know it was going to take more time? So I tell her to just pull the red through my hair so it is all one color. She disappeared again, reemerging from the back with a woman named Amanda who told me she had a lot of redhead clients and had been in the business for ten years. She told me she could help Kiara out if she wanted, and that they would fix it for me and get it to copper. So they bleach my roots and get it to a relatively even tone. At this point, all that needed to be done was to give me the copper color that I wanted and I could have walked out of there with a more even hair color. Instead what was put on my hair was a dark, mucky red. A darker red than what they had pulled out of my roots with bleach. Amanda had warned that it might be a «little bit off» of what I wanted, but that it would be close and look good. It does not and is certainly not copper.
I come back the next day to express my displeasure, explaining this series of events exactly as I have above when Kiara showed up and started berating me for not calling her personal line. And while she was arguing with me, in middle of the public lobby, she kept making excuses about how my roots were always a different color, I should have called, «at least your hair is all one color now,» and that it is lighter than the roots I had come in with. I pulled out a picture of what my roots looked like and compared it to my hair to show that it was now darker than what they had bleached out. I wasn’t there for excuses, I was there to get the color I originally asked for. Karina, the desk manager, was the only person who actually listened to me, rather than Kiara’s shuffling of the truth to fit her own narrative.
At this point Christina had come over to see what had been done to my hair and offered to take a look at it to try and lighten it up. I agree and leave, only to receive a call later that she hadn’t «heard the full story» and that it would be $ 300 to correct my hair as «I had come in like that to begin with.» Avoid unless you want to be humiliated and treated like trash.

I’ve been going to Bang for the last year and seeing Kellee and I have to say — she’s phenomenal. She’s extremely talented and always seems to take the half baked idea I have of what I want my hair to be and make it 10x better. On top of it, she’s so nice and genuinely great to be around. I always look forward to haircuts because it always feels like an hour of catching up with a friend.

Elsa cuts my hair and she is fantastic! I’ve been to her three times so feel 100% confident giving her a 5 star rating. I can’t speak to any other hairstylists, but Elsa really listens to what I want, does a great job with my hair (short, angled bob with layers and bangs), and is cool to talk to (but isn’t pushy about talking if you’re not into that). I’m very picky about my hair, so I definitely recommend Elsa to anyone looking for a great cut for a great price.

Not good experience. The man who did my hair burnt my scalp with the blow drier and a few days later, it still hurts. I also asked for layers and there aren’t any in the haircut I was given. I left very disappointed and a few days later, still disappointed as my scalp hurts from the burn. I also have to say this is one of the worst cuts I’ve ever had and I ask hairdressers to do the same thing pretty much every time.
Wanted to love this place. But this was a flop! I will likely wait for it to grow a bit and go get a fix somewhere else soon. :(

I wanted to come here because the price seems fair and the location is walking distance from where I live but I left very disappointed. I like the customer service and my hair dresser was nice. Her charm kinda distracted me from a not-​so-​great haircut though. When I got home, I felt like she missed the mark but I felt like maybe I was just being too picky so I got over it.
A week after my haircut, I decided to straighten my hair (I’m naturally curly) and all of the flaws truly showed! My right side is at least an inch longer than my left, the layers are uneven and she didn’t actually give me the angles I asked for. She basically trimmed off 4 inches of my hair without giving me the new «style» I asked for and showed pictures of. I don’t think I’ll be going back. Sad because I liked the customer service but I feel like that distracted me from my bad haircut.
They also quoted me for a much lower price than I had to pay. It almost doubled when I went to the counter to pay after my haircut…

Shitty place ever ! Unskilled barber! I told the barber to short my side hair and then she just shoved all my hair! And finish in 5 mins! Although they did not charge me for the cost, but my hair all ruined by this barber!

This review is for a «trim» I received from Quency in July of 2014. Yes, I waited over a year to write this review. That is how terrible my experience with Quency was. It all began with me explaining what I was looking for — «It’s important that I keep my length and long layers, so just a trim.» I could not make this up if I tried… He then proceeded to cut off at least 6 – 8 inches. That’s a conservative estimate since my hair was to my bra strap and I left with hair above my shoulders. A traumatic hair cut is not the end of the world — at the end of the day, it’s hair and it grows back but any professional would have listened to what was clearly communicated at the beginning of the appointment and would also be able to recognize that a bob was not appropriate for my hair. I have a lot of hair. It’s not thick, but there’s a lot of hair. Therefore, with the chop job that Quency gave me, it took my twice as long to do my hair when getting ready in order for it not to look like a hair helmet/​mushroom. Not only did he chop off most of my hair, he added short layers that were extremely difficult to manage. 15 months later, and the shortest layer has finally grown past my shoulders.
During the appointment, I was friendly and made conversation. He was more than happy to share that he was out drinking the night before in Adams Morgan until 3am. He had me turned around for most of the cut — he would gradually turn me around as he was done with different sections. After he cut the first section and I saw how long the pieces on the ground were, I panicked and asked why he thought cutting that much off was okay. He told me that it would be fine and it would blow dry longer than it looked. At that point, there was nothing I could do but let Edward Scissorhands finish what he started.
I was so upset when he was done that I quickly paid and left. I called the salon the next day to explain what happened and how frustrated I was. They were apologetic and refunded me for the haircut.
The only reason I’m writing this review, is because I recently looked up the salon’s website to see if he was still with them and he is — which is horrifying. I am very particular about my hair and have always been extremely clear when I give direction. The only excuse that I can think of for why Quency was so terrible on that day, is that he was still drunk from the night before. Moral of the story — don’t go to Bang and definitely don’t go to Quency.

**the reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because I’ve had more than one hair cut here and the first one was less than ideal. The first time I tried it, I asked for a recommendation on the phone after explaining my hair type. I ended up getting a hair cut from a beginner.
With that said, I then had Camden referred to me by my physical therapist and he was perfect. I’ve been more than pleased with every cut he’s done. He’s amazing.
I’ve tried too any places across all of DC. This place is easily the best. Particularly if you get Camden.

I called to make an appointment for a hair trim and the receptionist told me that Aieshah was available as a Level 1, $ 39. Awesome. I go in, Aieshah washed, cut, blow dried and flat ironed my hair. We chatted the whole time. She is awesome and did a fantastic job.
I was, however, kind of shocked to dish out $ 80 (including the 20% tip) when my hair was done. I called the salon to clarify why the cut was advertised as $ 39 and the final cost was $ 65.
She asked if my hair was long and suggested that it took extra time to cut my hair. Yes, my hair is long but I cut an inch off the bottom, added a few layers (nothing drastic) and a basic face frame. Start to finish, I was in there for an hour. No one told me that «extra time» has a price tag nor what qualifies as «extra time.» I also learned that using the flat iron was an extra $ 13. Are you serious? Sorry, but some tools (blowdryer) just can not get the job done. So if you are giving someone a blowout, I do not think charging for the flat iron is acceptable. Talk about nickel and diming your customers. I’ve NEVER been to a salon that charges extra for this.
The hair dressers are always great but the customer service is pretty terrible.
My first experience with the Metropole location was a terrible customer service experience as well. I went in to get a single color process to cover my gray hair. The color didn’t take to my hair and I still saw the gray after I left. They asked me to come back in to do it over but they said they could only color it and that I’d have to leave with my hair wet. It was February, mind you. What kind of crap is that? I didn’t mess up, you did, so why are you inconveniencing me even further? A single trip turned into 2 and at the end you make me leave with wet hair. Is that your way of saying sorry? I don’t think so.
Management needs to learn what customer service actually is. Be transparent with your customers and stop nickel & diming people for services that come free at other salons.
In closing, Aieshah is awesome!

Carol really made my week and I highly recommend you let her make your’s, too! I was having engagement photos taken outdoors on a humid May afternoon on Kent Island. Not only did she wash and style my hair, but she made soft, bouncy curls with a round brush and I never want to wash them out! We are talking 3+ solid days of Victoria Secret hair days, from her work. The kind of hair days that really motivate you to get and love the World! Hmm… I wonder if I could fit this type of treatment into my monthly budget! She did an awesome job.
Now I must confess and I have to give her even more credit for how sweet she is. I told her as I sat down that I forgot my wallet. I ended up paying with my credit card, but it’s not possible to add a tip on a credit card at Bang Salon. I didn’t know this and when I found out at the check-​out counter, I realized she didn’t cut any corners, knowing that I didn’t have cash to leave a tip. I walked to the back, apologized, thanked her and told her I will be back in, of course, to leave a tip! Her work ethic impressed me and I wish I weren’t moving to Portland next month, so I could become a regular client.

This review is for Camden and Brennan. I have short hair, so it’s often tricky to find someone who is awesome without making my cut too masculine. Both of these guys have done great jobs multiple times on my hair, and I really only go to one over the other based on who is available at a time that works with my fairly inflexible daytime schedule.

I’m pretty sure I was always meant to have short hair – at least that’s how I feel after Michelle, who is apparently a wizard, turned my lifeless hair into a really cute bob. I showed her a few photos (mostly of Michelle Williams, because we all can dream), and she made it happen. I haven’t been this excited about the way I look since I switched from glasses to contacts in the 9^th grade.
She didn’t assume anything, listened to what I wanted, and she was very chatty (in a good way!). I can’t multitask for beans, so I admire people who can cut hair and carry on a conversation at the same time. What’s more, she was super gracious when two of my friends popped in to keep me company/​heckle me while she styled my hair.
The service at the front desk was quite nice – not pretentious or snooty at all – and even though there was a slight mix-​up (they initially gave me to the wrong stylist), they were very apologetic about it. And the girl didn’t even flinch when she offered to hang up my disgusting green fleece on the rack among all the nice jackets. Also, there’s free coffee!
My cut was a decent price, too – just bring cash in order to tip your stylist because there’s no tip line on the credit card slips.