SmartStyle

Working for this company was a complete nightmare. The store manager was incompetent and an extreme kowtower. She constantly criticized my work, while lacking certain technical skills herself. The pay was atrocious, and totally not even worth staying with the company for. Beyond the store manager, the district manager was never reachable, so therefore unavailable for questions which the store manager could not answer. After asking the district manager numerous times via voicemail to E-mail my vocational rehab counselor so that I could have clothes and shoes to work in, she never did. She called the store one day with an extreme attitude, and after telling her that I was feeling attacked and didn't want to work for the company because I felt like nothing was being done regarding my vocational rehab, she told me to clock out pack my things and leave. She is a very horrible person who should not be in the position that she is in. But I know a higher power is at work, and what goes around comes around. So I know that both the store and district manager will get theirs in the end

When I called the salon the woman working there was from the beginning not polite. I asked her 2 simple questions, how busy are you and can I come in at any time to get my hair dyed. After 30 seconds I was so frustrated, and ended just forget it. I ended up going in the salon anyway because my mom needed her hair done that day and every one else was closed.

At the salon, there was only one stylist working and she was trying to talk my mom out of not getting her hair done, saying ohh its going to be $130 are you sure? Over and over. My mom said yes its fine. As the woman was doing her hair, she didn't say a word during the whole hour and a half process.

I work in retail and find that VERY unprofessional.

Also when the woman was doing my moms hair and she dropped some dye on her smock and shouted dang it!

Just a completely unreal experience. Do not go there!

I got my nieces hair cornrowed at Smartstyle in Winder, GA. I keep their hair in cornrows. Their hair lasts four weeks and that is with heavy activities like swimming and going to the beach. The day after their hair was done, their hair began to come undone. I took them back in the next day to have it fixed. I was told how to remedy it at home. This was after I paid my money to have it done! Less than a week later, it looks like ###. We have not done anything that would constitute, high activity. I called and spoke with the manager, he said he would call back to reschedule an appointment. It has been two days, he has not called. I gave him two numbers to reach me, he has not called either! I just called their corporate offices. I was told that styles are not guaranteed once you leave the salon. It is not like they got a press and curl. They got braids, cornrows that should have lasted at least three weeks! After five days they looked like ###. So, be aware that even braids are not guaranteed to look good after a few days. Although, if anyone knows anything about braids, they should last a lot longer than five days. It is the main reason parents get braids done for their children. Mind you, I had extensions used, it was not just their hair that was braided. So, it should have lasted a lot longer than it has. I have only kept it in this long, about 8 days now because I want the manager to see how terrible it looks. They are sending me a gift certificate even though I will NEVER use them again! What am I supposed to do with a $90 gift certificate from Regis?

*Update* My Father went to the salon on my behalf and spoke with the manager. The manager then issued a gift certficate so that I would not have to wait for the one to be mailed fom the corporate office. I get the certificate in my hands and it is written out for only $88, mind you I paid out $89.90. I know it is only a $1.90 difference, but still, they found a way to piss off an already dissatisfied customer. It seemed they were saying screw you customer, we could really care less about the fact you were not happy with our services. Oh yeah, I forgot to add that when I first tried getting an appointment, no one would answer the shop phone for three days. They had turned the ringer off. The day of my appointment, I arrive and was told that the stylist would not be there that day because she was not on the schedule. I was asked to come in the next day. I could not, so the manager, Will Smith, called in another stylist, my appointment was made for 7:45PM, but then changed to 7:00PM. I feel like I worked with them on every level to give them a chance and in the end they crapped on me. This manager, Will "L.A" Smith literally ran me down in Walmart to solicit my business. He told me I would be very happy with their services. So, when you call corporate and get Katy or Ashley on the phone, just know you may still not get the satisfaction you seek and deserve. [protected] is the number for their customer relations. I think they are used to getting calls from pissed off customers and they refuse to make you happy. They have never heard of the saying, "The customer is always right".

I visited the SmartStyle inside of a Wal-Mart for a trim. My hair was a few inches past my shoulders in some places (it is layered). I was asked what I would like to have done. I told the beautician I would like a shampoo, trim, and a blow-dry. I asked her if they still charged $1 for conditioner, and she said, "Actually it's $3.00 now, " so I told her no conditioner. Thought that might have tipped her off that I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg for a trim. So she trimmed my hair, used a blowdryer and a brush. When she was done, my bill was $41.45! You read it right. I about fell in the floor. I wasd charged the $13.95 for the ADULT SHAMPOO and CUT, $17.50 for SHAMPOO AND STYLE ADVANCED, and $10.00 for SHAMPOO LONG LENGTH ADD. This is insane. I would like to know where I can complain about this. I would never have paid this much for a haircut and blowdry. She didn't even use a curling iron or hairspray on my hair, so I'd like to know what kind of advanced styling was performed. If anyone has had this same problem and has complained somewhere, please let me know where. This is ridiculous.

I started my career in cosmetology at a local Smartstyle and would like to advise anyone wanting a job there to PLEASE think it over. If you want to be a robot or slave churning out five-minute haircuts, coming in early and staying late to clean or attend meetings you don't even get paid for, made travel to other stores in the area (being told you'll get compensated for your gas but you never see this compensation), and barely have enough money for bills/food/gas... then you may get along just fine. I, on the other hand, did not.

I was extremely nervous when I started at SmartStyle because I had just gotten my license and didn't have a lot of experience with clients. I had questions about certain haircutting techniques and my manager wasn't helpful at all, not to mention she wouldn't even let me attempt a color/other chemical service. She didn't show me how to ring up particular services, and barely showed me how to open and close the salon. I got criticized and made fun of because I was slower than the other stylists. Slowly I began to get better, and our old manager was replaced with someone who deserved the position. Things ran smoothly until I transferred to another salon. I worked under three managers in the course of a few months, and was told by several people the area supervisor did not like me as a person. I got in trouble several times for having my cell phone at work, when I only used it in the back and/or on my break, and had my hours cut for no reason whatsoever. I was told I needed to be more productive... I was averaging $150-200 a day in service sales which I thought was good enough... not compared to a coworker who often did $400 a day in services whose haircuts took five minutes and were of low quality. I did redo's on several stylists and did not receive credit for them. Upper management kept finding reasons to get me in trouble, so I packed up my station and left one day. One of the rules is that all returned products were to be taken home or disposed of, not used on clients because they might have been tampered with... I took several returns home and was told the company would seek legal action if I did not bring them back, along with stylist samples (which were sent to us by various product lines AS GIFTS) and products which I had paid for myself. It has not been fun. I regret working there and wish I would have started out with a private salon. I came home tired and cranky every night from working my butt off for peanuts. I gained weight from eating fast food because I was never home long enough to cook a decent meal. I stayed stressed making goals for myself so that I would have money for bills and to live on. They tell you you are guaranteed minimum wage if it equals more than your commission, but also tell you to clock out at times during your shift if it is slow because if you are "out of commission" more than 2-3 pay periods, you will be fired. This company is very unfair, likes to get rid of its most dedicated workers, and upper management is a joke.

smartstyle is not supposed to work on extensions

I really hope your profile name isn't your real name...

Hi and i do agree with you that the price was too high, I work for a SmartStyle myself and what you should have been charged is just the haircut itself, since you did not ask to be conditioned or blowdried and even style. If she would have asked you if you would like a haircut blow dry and style than yes it would have been extra but since you told her just the trim and no conditioner than no you should have not paid that price,

Hogwarts isn't a real school *gigglesnort*

I bet that she came in at 5mins till they were going to close and wanted them to cut her hair not think they have kids at home of hubby at home waiting to spend new years eve with ... places like that are horrible to work for they treat there stylist like hell pay very little ... you get what you pay for ... If you want to get a great cut better customer service pay more than 15.00 for a cut ... stylist here thanks