Hairdresser colour mistake - complain?

Pengwern16

I better warn you in advance, this is a long one!!

I went to my regular hairdresser on Saturday to have my usual semi colour and a trim (have done every six weeks for nearly a year) but the girl who normally colours my hair wasn't there (think she was ill). The girl who did it instead was obviously new to the salon and come from another country (can I just emphasise that this was not a problem though, the problem follows...). She couldn't find my colour card but I helped her find it, it's a pink card but some cards are a buff colour (I think these are for clients who have bleach / foils). So I thought she had my pink card but when she went past me saying she was going to mix my colours she had a buff coloured card in her hand. I said "I'm sorry I normally have just one colour, a semi" as alarm bells were starting to ring, but she said "yes I know".
Anyway, she brings the mixed hair colour through and it was white, and I thought to myself "I'm sure it's normally purple-y" but though perhaps they've changed their supplier or something. She brushed the colour on to my roots and came quite low down on my forehead, the colour normally stains my skin but this didn't. It did itch and sting a bit though :eek:
Part of me wanted to make a fuss but I though I'll leave it, they're the ones who know what they're doing. After about 10 minutes I noticed that my hair was lighter under the colour she'd put on so I told her, trying to be discreet "my hair seems lighter than normal". The boss of the salon (who cuts my hair) jumped accross the room (according to my mum who was having her hair cut by her at the time) and got one of the other girls to wash the colour off my hair straight away.
They put my usual semi on and assured me you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from normal. They were apologetic but I was in shock. I couldn't even look at the mirror when they dried it before putting the semi on - I've got dark brown hair and they bleached my roots!
Anyway, the colour came out lighter at the roots and the boss said if you can grin and bear it until next time I won't charge you for the colour. I just wanted to get out so agreed to this - i.e. I paid for the cut and blow dry. Others have told me I shouldn't have paid for anything but I just wasn't thinking straight and wanted to go. She did offer to reapply the semi but I didn't have time to stay there as I had to be somewhere else by 2pm.
It's really getting me down and it's going to look even worse when my natural (dark!) roots start growing. My scalp's still a little bit itchy and I've got a headache too.
What should I do? Would it be alright for me to ring them and explain I'm really not happy with how light (and orangey!) my roots are and ask them to put it right, can they put it right, should I pay?
I could quite honestly cry right now!!

Thanks for reading.

mum=money_under_mattress

Gosh thats a horror story.

Yes i would ring them, but only to make sure the manager is going to be there at an appropriate time for you to discuss the situation in person.

I also wouldn't have paid on the day until i was happy with it.

I would consider asking for an immediate remedy now and not waiting till next time you attend the salon.

I would be inclined to take someone with me, who would support me.

Hope its sorted soon.

Morty_007too

Hiya, First of all ((big hugs))for the horrendous experience you have had. I remember being traumatised by a hairdresser who didn't seem to understand what I was explaining about how to cut my hair but was nodding and agreeing so I let her get on with it until she started cutting a completely different way to the last time I had it done and I started crying. Manager leapt across the room, finished the cut the way I wanted it and didn't charge me. Alls well that ends well in my case, no colour involved to no lasting damage! HOWEVER in your case I would go back to them, take a friend if you need some moral support and ask to speak to the manager.
1. I would ask for a full explanation of what went wrong and show her the bits you are not happy with.
2. I would then ask her to rectify the problem free of charge and suggest she might like to consider refunding your cut and blowdry as a gesture of good will to make up for the distress this situation has caused you. (FGS don't use the word compensation, the hounds will be on you (or rather me!) in a moment)
3. I would then take your colour card and tell her you will not be going back and that you will find another hairdresser.

Some hairdressers treat people abysmally and people feel that because they have paid and left the aren't allowed to do anything about it. If you bought some flowers from a florist and got home to discover the heads were all cut off at the stems and just balanced to make the boquet look good would you just accept that you had agreed to the deal because it looked OK when you left the shop?

Sorry for your horrible experience. I hope you manage to fix it

Pengwern16

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate it.
People who I can trust to tell me the truth have told me it looks fine and my lovely bf said people pay to look like this, so a part of me thinks I'm just making a fuss. Everyone agrees it's going to look awful when my roots start to grow though!
I live and work in a different town to where the salon is - I would have to make a special trip to go there so can't really 'pop in'. Should I ring and explain I'm not happy and see what they say?
I'm also scared that no matter how many times they put the semi on the bits that have been bleached are always going to look awful :eek: - I've got long hair and have been growing it for ages its at a length I love :mad:
Whatever the case may be, it's making me miserable, as I just want to feel confident and happy with my hair.

Joto_2

Pengwern16 I'm not a hairdresser and I hope I'm wrong but I think what they have done is bleached your roots and then added a semi colour on to bring the shade back to what is was as much as possible. The problem I can see is the semi will fade each time you wash your hair and you are going to be left with exposed bleached roots before you re apply a semi colour again, which I would expect is going to need doing every 4/6 weeks. Since you have long hair it's going to take awful long time to grow out.
If I was you I'd go for a consultation at another hairdressers ( and a reputable one) for some advice on your options and then go back to the original hairdressers with some knowledge of what they can/ should do. It may mean they do your hair until the error grows out or you could ask for compensation to allow you to go to another hairdressers, either way it may be costly.
BTW I don't think your making a fuss and I can't believe they made you pay anything at all on the day.

Pengwern16

Thanks again
I'm working from home tomorrow so will be able to pop into some reputable hairdressers in my home town to see what they think. I think it would be best to do this before getting back in touch with the hairdressers who made the mistake.
I've just realised how costly it will be as I really don't want to cut my hair short and the bleached section is currently at my roots so it will take years to grow out!
Do you think I'm leaving it too long to get in touch with the original hairdressers if I ring them tomorrow (it happened on Saturday)?

simpywimpy

I'm sure there will be a remedy to this. I once had a colour on that was way darker than the rest of my hair. I didn't have to pay anything and kept going back until they got it right (also free)

A good hairdresser should be able to match up the root colour to the rest of your hair. If you don't feel comfortable using the one that made the mistake tell them politely that you are going to have it done elsewhere but would expect them to foot the bill.

sticher

Hi, i am a hairdresser - and yes they have bleached your roots and a semi will fade quickly on them.

They can rectify the problem - they need to recolour it - they will be able to match it in with the rest of your hair.

You were right to pay for your cut and b/dry - there was nothing wrong with that. The hairdresser though is out of order just to let you not pay for the colour - there was no colour!!!! It was bleach - some of which should NOT be applied to the scalp!!!

You should go back and insist they correct it for you - free of charge!

Pengwern16

Again, thanks for your replies. It's making me feel better that everyone says it will get better!
Sticher, I'm not sure what you mean The hairdresser though is out of order just to let you not pay for the colour - there was no colour!!!!
To be honest I just wanted to get out of there on Saturday and felt maybe "it doesn't look as bad as I think it does", but by today I'm still not happy and as you say, it's going to fade.
Have I left it to late to ring them tomorrow? Should i ask another salon for advice first? What should I say to the salon who made the mistake?

snu

In reply to your time question about tomorrow:
Perhaps when you speak to them say you have tried to "grin and bear" it, but after a few days of trying you just could not bear it.?

Pengwern16

Thanks for your replies. That's what I'm going to tell them snu. I'm dreading it though!