This review is regarding Heather Gorbea, an employee of Salon Cheval.
Because of the Google review process, I have had to give a one star rating. This is a much higher rating than Heather deserves to receive. I would prefer to give a zero star rating, or even a negative rating, and my reasoning for this I will explain below.
I made the regrettable decision to see Heather as a client. To put it frankly, she messed up my hair. I had to go back to her multiple times in a futile effort to attempt to fix the mistake that had become my hair. I say attempt because, despite multiple visits back, trying to have the errors corrected, she only ever made it worse.
I had to pay for this. I even tipped 20%, every time until I stopped seeing her, and was understanding throughout the process. I finally walked away when her incompetence was too clear to see past, and she was coming up far short of being a kind and respectful person, as I had always been to her.
During each and every interaction with this person, I was polite and patient, despite the frustration and humiliation I felt at having my hair butchered repeatedly. She promised to make it right, and I believed her. I regret that now.
When it was clear to both of us that she did not have the adequate skills to properly style my hair, she offered a recommendation to another stylist whom she said she believed would be able to do better.
I waited for weeks, over a month, and heard nothing. Every time I asked, she promised to get back to me and never did unless I contacted her again. And each time this exchange took place, nothing would ever come of it; for some reason beyond my comprehension, she would never give me the stylist's reccomedation. Eventually she said that she'd called the individual and couldn't get an answer, several times, before saying that she finally talked to them, and they said they couldn't do it.
I don't know why she would seemingly intentionally ignore me, or refuse to give me the (public, not private) business information to the stylist that she mentioned and recommended. I felt like I was being stringed along and toyed with, at the end of which she disappeared from contact. I probably will never know the reason behind her behavior, but it was troubling and, honestly, saddening to me. I had always treated her with kindness and respect, been polite and tipped well.
Despite her obvious incompetence, I do understand the inability to prefer a task. Nobody can do everything, though she assured me beforehand she'd be able to, and that it wouldn't be a problem. In the end, while I am bothered by her promoting and confirming a nonexistent ability and skill set, I am more bothered by her actions. I am deeply regretful of having ever gone to her.
Had it not been for being treated so poorly, I probably would never have left any review, let alone one that goes into such detail. However, I want to make sure that no one goes through what I was put through, if I can help it, and give some warning to prospective clients.
Trusting this person was a terrible mistake on my part. I think for most people, it can be very embarrassing to be seen in public with a bad haircut, especially if it has been mutilated too short to be fixed right away, leaving the person with no recourse but to suffer through the humiliation day to day until it's long enough to fix. Between repeated butchering trying to fix it, paying for said mistakes monetarily and emotionally, and having my trust betrayed, I felt that I needed to issue a warning. I don't want anyone to go through what I did.
If you care about the service you're paying for and how you're being treated, beware of Hearther Gorbea.