I loved M+H. Ten years ago, my now-husband dropped me off at their downtown location for a spa day for my birthday and it was amazing. Every chance I got, and when I had the funds to do so, I would go... Read More
I loved M+H. Ten years ago, my now-husband dropped me off at their downtown location for a spa day for my birthday and it was amazing. Every chance I got, and when I had the funds to do so, I would go for facials, massages, nails, cuts, color, candles, shampoo, whatever. I was so happy that the south location opened and after lots of prior salon hopping for hair cuts and color, I thought I found my salon ride or die. Sydney was amazing and I was so sad when she left for NYC. Morgan did an amazing job cutting and coloring after Sydney left. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, all the love went away. I had a long standing appointment for a root touch up. Just a couple hours before, my husband was called into his office for an emergency and as a result, I had to bring my almost 6yo with me to the salon. Honestly, I didn't think it would be a problem. The kid could sit in a chair playing Angry Birds and not move an inch for days. I knew he would be in my line of sight the entire time and far away from anyone getting their hair cut or receiving any other service. Plus, the Lamar location is definitely more chill than the other locations and I had seen kids at the downtown location before. You know what they say about hindsight...I guess I should have known better than to bring him. Here's what happened -- I walked up to the front desk, pointed to my son and said, "I hope it's ok that I brought a guest." I got a 1/2 smile from the "concierge" and she checked me in. Several minutes later, much to my surprise, and after some whispering between a stylist, the "concierge" and the "concierge" disappearing to the back room, another woman comes and sits down next to me and asks me in rapid fire, without giving me a moment to answer OR explaining the no kids policy, "Do you have someone to pick him up? Is there someone coming to watch him? Can we reschedule your appointment?". I was so overwhelmed and embarrassed, that I didn't know what to do. I asked her why. Her response wasn't to tell me that they have a policy against kids in the salon, instead she said, "we have shears and that could be dangerous". Um, WTF?!? My child, who had not moved more that 3" in the 10+ minutes we had been there or looked up from Angry Birds once, was not going to run around grabbing shears from stylists (which they leave in drawers when not in use, btw). IMPORTANT TO NOTE: It's not the policy I am mad about. Had the "concierge" said to me, AFTER I ASKED (which, I had), "for the safety of the children and so our guests can relax, we have a no child policy," I probably would not have broken down in tears in front of my stylist -- yep, that happened too -- and would have rescheduled or had my husband leave his office to pick my son up (which is ultimately how we resolved the kid issue). Instead, I sat in the chair in silence, fighting back the tears, knowing this would be the last time I would set foot in M+H. After I was done, I went to my car, shed more tears, took a deep breath and tried to move on. I responded to the post-appointment survey with what had happened, hoping that this would be a great learning experience for their staff. A couple of days later, I got a perfunctory response from the manager stating that they will "be following up with her (the concierge) on how to best handle that conversation" and then proceeding to point out that not all children behave. Needless to say, reading that didn't help. After being a customer for so long, I was saddened by the lack of empathy. Fast forward to today. I didn't plan on writing a review, but as I was scouring Yelp for a new salon, M+H popped up my list. After reading comments about lackluster customer service, I had to write about my experience. I want to be constructive, not just mad. Here's my suggestion for whoever reads this on how to deal with stressed out mamas, who often forego self care to be a mom -- 1) instead of sending a cold email, pick up the phone and ask how you could do better. 2) Be upfront, but pleasant, with clients when they bring their child, and do so before they sit down. They probably don't know about the policy and rapid fire questions about how you're going to fix the problem (aka, relocate the child or leave) do nothing more than embarrass the client and make the situation worse. 3) Talk to employees who are parents about ways others can address moms/dads and how to be empathetic to people who are trying to juggle haircuts and parenthood. 4) Let your employees know that an apology goes a long way. The woman who told me that my son had to leave avoided me like the plague for the hour-plus I was there. Had she come up to me and apologized -- it was more than obvious that I was upset -- it would have gone a long way and I wouldn't be on the hunt for a new salon. Sadly, that didn't happen. Now I hope I can find a new ride or die... Read Less