Elizabeth E.
Yelp
I am pretty disappointed in my recent experience with Sania and her team. She's gotten too big for her britches, and their cancellation and rescheduling policies reflect that. First of all, new customers should know that your chosen appointment "time" is never adhered to, you simply show up, sit on the couch, and often wait for up to 30 minutes for her to see you. If you happen to be the only person there, great, but it won't happen. The appointment time is merely a suggestion. You get there at or before your allotted time, you still have to wait for the girls who arrived first to go. So, if women arrive before you (early, or late), they go first. They are not always respectful of their clients time or energy.
I have been going to Sania for almost 6 years and referred many friends and new clients to her. A few years back, I couldn't get an appointment with her, so I tried one of the girls, and was perfectly happy with the service, especially considering that the cost was substantially lower. Since then, every time I try to see one of the girls, they strong-arm me into seeing Sania (obviously, for the added cost). There is almost no difference in quality/result, and the price difference used to be about $40, but now is only about $10, since you have to tip the girls (you don't HAVE to tip Sania, but it is recommended), putting their cost almost as high as hers. What is the point?
That being said, Sania is kind, professional, and I do trust her with my brows, but I am disappointed by their customer service of late. Yesterday, I booked an appointment online because I wanted to see someone (anyone! god forbid!) before they close for their annual summer vacation. They certainly use this annual trip as a reason to threaten their clients to get in quick, or your brows will never recover! Slots were understandably limited, and I scheduled a 4:10 pm appointment. Realizing soon after that this would no longer work for my schedule, I tried calling the salon. I tried upwards of 10x. The line was busy every time. I assumed there was an issue with the phones and agreed to myself to call back when they open, at 11 AM the next day (today).
I called just after 11 AM, requesting to move my appointment to Friday. The girl who picked up, presumably Sania's daughter, who is usually kind and amenable, told me that they could move my appointment, but would still charge me for same day cancellation. Seeing as I have paid Sania for her services for many years, and consider myself a very good client, I was shocked to learn that they would not do this for me. This is just bad customer service. If your phone is ringing off the hook because you are so busy, and the line is therefore busy for the better part of a day, you need to empathize with where your customer is coming from. The girl told me I "should have emailed them", a form of communication I didn't know was an option, and have never used? She was trying to be tactful, but was a little rude and ultimately could not give me this one exception before they went on vacation for a month. Their policies have become a bit manipulative and do not put the customer first. They put themselves first, which is not the correct way to operate a business. If your clients are trying to reach you and can't get in touch, that is your problem. Not theirs.
I will not be using their absurdly overpriced service anymore and look forward to finding a salon that cares about their customers needs and understands them. The customer may not always be right, but in this case, I definitely was. I am glad to put them in the rear view, and hopefully others will follow suit as they are no longer a small, boutique salon that is accountable to their clients, but instead, a small, boutique salon who thinks they are a Warren Tricomi or Joanna Vargas and treat their loyal customers like crap.