Look, I would never go to Great Clips for my own hair but for my sons’ simple haircuts, it’s a no brainer. A year ago, I was so disgusted by the salon associates, I sent the following note to their customer service. Enjoy.
The Letter
Dear Great Clips,
I always take my sons to Great Clips b/c of the price and you do a good job on their hair. I do have to comment about your salon in P——- and the lack of standards found in this salon for your employees. We were greeted tonight by a girl wearing sweat pants tucked into turquoise cow girl boots wearing a t-shirt. She had about 2″ diamonique disks in her ear lobes that scared one of my sons. The tats up and down her arms, I get. Those you really can’t remove, perhaps cover? The second little gem that struck my eye was wearing a tightly fitted white shirt with stains. Her hair looked like she just rolled out of bed and there was a random purple strand of hair hanging down. One of the gals had normal color hair that was then lined all the way around in bright pink.
We frequent this salon or the one in P——- and I must say the “wholesome” girl next door look in your commercials wearing a polo shirt neatly tucked into khakis isn’t happening. Now, I get that you aren’t hiring Frederic Fekkai but let’s have some standards here. Salons (no matter what price point) are about promoting people at their best. Many of your in store employees (not all of them, but about 1/2) look dumpy and unkept. Regardless of a franchise or reason, please set some standards in employee dress code.
I’ve noticed that most beauticians’ hair is usually a mess. I’m seeing a lot more of the weird hair colors in other places as well.Did anything change after your letter? Great Clips is not the only cut-price salon around. Take your business elsewhere.
You know what keeps me coming back? They have an app where I can sign in before I drive there thus allowing us to skip the wait. That is THE ONLY thing keeping us there. Sigh.
I think Supercuts has something like that.
That hairstylist sounds scary. But it also sounds like an ADVENTURE to hair her cut your hair (or anyone else’s)!
One time I went to Super Cuts or Great Clips or Awesome Chop-offs … whatever … and I told the stylist I wanted her to cut my hair VERY short — like 10 inches off. Her hand starting shaking, her voice trembled and she said she could do it. She, unlike the stylist, you’ve described above, looked like a make-upless mouse that crawled out for the library and had probably never kissed anyone ever — she looked to be in her 30s. So … the awesome hot cool black woman took over, swooped in and gave me the best short-hair I’ve ever had in my life.
Interesting times these places …
I feel ya.I used to work there.I tried my best to look nice.But to be honest the stylists aren’t paid enough to even buy underwear. Some get paid minimum wage,their hours are long to prevent then from looking elsewhere for work and paid little to keep them dependent on the pay.I broke the cycle and am happier because of it.
I figured that might be the case. Mike, I’m glad you got out of that hell hole! I just wish they didn’t look like they just rolled out of bed!
That company has ruined many a potential great stylist by getting them straight out of school and feeding them a bunch of crap.Luckily I just used then for tips and left to learn under a working( highly booked ) hairstylist) who taught me the ropes.I saw them recently at a hair show trying to recruit.My friends walked by and one came over to say something to him.Baby my friend read them for ” Filth” the recruiter could say anything,he just was stuttering and blinking his eyes.lol I loved it.
Wow, just like the field, it sounds like they had quality recruitment representation too. It annoys me when the Great Clip Commercials show well-groomed, girl next door types as the stylists. Sounds like you were smart about it! Good job Mike!!
You failed to mention about the actual haircut. Or the customer service for that matter all you talked about is how the stylists look.
For someone whose blog is called hot mess I thought you might show a bit more compassion and understanding.
Many stylists I have met working at Greatclips are hard working single moms who often times have to go without the latest fashions in order to pay the bills and provide for their kids. Most stylists at great clips do make only minimum wage and yes sometimes stylist have things a that go wrong in their lives to can’t make their own hair perfect but if they are making their client feel good about their hair does it matter what the stylist looks like. As mothers you would think we would have more understanding for other women.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate the time you took to respond to my post! Have a great day!
True great clips treat their stylists bad. It’s a shame those hard working individuals who are sincere , are LINING the pockets of some FAT ASS LAZY rich bastard, and their Blue Bell ice cream eating kids. My advice to stylists ,humble yourselves, work extra jobs ,learn the ropes ,and do yourselves a favor make your own. Check out their recruitment videos for franchisees, it’s designed for THEM to make 5x the money the stylists make, hell I Wouldn’t wanna cut some ranting, ill mannered kid for pennies on the hours.
James, all excellent points! I was unaware that GC treats their stylist bad. Wouldn’t be the first time an organization treated folks bad, am I right? I’ve certainly been in that situation!
Interesting you delete comments that are challenging your opinion. But I’ll say it again. You failed to mention the actual haircut and the customer service. You are judging other hardworking woman based on what they look like. If you are so unhappy with the service why do you return?
You must realize that if you want an upscale experience you have to go to an upscale salon. Most stylists at great clips receive minimum wage. They can’t always purchase the latest fashions. And they are real people and can’t always look perfect but if they do a good job on your kids hair. Why do you care so much about what they look like.?? Why so much so you feel you must write a letter and then post that letter on the internet? That’s a lot of wasted time on my opinion.
I did not delete it. I’m looking at it right now. I don’t delete comments that challenge my opinion. In fact, I’ll reach out to some of my blogging colleagues to ensure they can see all of these comments. Thank you Alicia.
Your right I now see that you did not delete my comment and I’m sorry I thought you did. And for that I do apologize. But I stand by my original statement. And to the person above. There is a big difference between going out of your way to affect people’s jobs by writing a letter to corporate and posting a comment on a blog. I am not trying to troll anyone. Simply bring a different perspective.
And I appreciate your perspective. I welcome all opinions as long as they are respectful to me and everyone else. I rarely have to take comments down and only do it if its disrespectful to me or my readers. Again thank you for your perspective and stop by anytime!
Alicia, I am so confused….. did you say it was a big waste of time for someone to write a letter and then post it on the internet? Isn’t that what you just did by responding to this post? Remember trolls, don’t throw rocks if you live in a glass house….or work at great clips….
I know this is a very old blog post, but it caught my eye as a cosmetologist specializing in color and geometric cuts. We have a dress code that pretty much sums up all salons, but I know some stylists become drained with long hours and being on their feet for hours at a time and just getting to work is a feat in itself. I’m sure we’ve all been there: Late night because your child is sick or can’t sleep or some other emergency or thing came up. You try your best and still make it into work, but sometimes you look like a hot mess. It sometimes really do be like that. We just try our best to look alive and get through the day sometimes. Lol
My biggest issue with your blog post is how offended you were at the stylists body mods, tattoos, and unnatural hair color. How horribly shallow of you! I understand everyone has an opinion, but how would you like to be judged based on something as frivolous as hair color? It’s also part of the cosmetology industry. If you walk into an establishment meant for cosmetology services, you are absolutely going to see some wild hair styles/cuts/color. As for body mods and tattoos that may startle young children because it’s just a very different thing they may not have seen before, why not start an educational conversation about it instead of letting your little boy be scared for what seems to be only a sad excuse to back up your opinion? The woman isn’t a horrible monster slob with no business being an employee anywhere just because she decided to decorate her body in ink and piercings. She’s a human being with thoughts and feelings just like you. The only difference is her taste in fashion and what makes her feel beautiful and comfortable. Why is that such an offensive thing? Don’t you like to feel beautiful and comfortable in your own skin? I always like to say “Your thing is just not my thing, and that’s okay.” We should be a bit more accepting of our fellow man, hm? Agree to disagree, yet not bully one another or assume things because they like something you don’t? You don’t have to understand, but you should always be kind and civil to others.
In the end, I’m not trying to sway your opinion. It’s your right to seek out what you want when it comes to who you wish to receive cosmetology services from. All I hope is that you open your mind a little before writing a letter to someone’s boss or corporate office over something so trivial. I’m totally on board with the maybe not dressing like you raided the laundry hamper in a last ditch effort to get to work on time, but maybe just call that specific store to complain to a manager. Save the corporate letters for something very serious.
I appreciate you for taking the time to read all of this and I hope it really did give you, or some of your readers something to think about. We’re all wonderful and beautiful in so many ways, let’s not exclude someone just because their sense of beauty doesn’t line up with yours. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and we should absolutely embrace each of our individual uniqueness. Have a wonderful day. <3
Bunnie, thank you for taking the time to write. It’s an honor when people are reading older posts and still comment on them. I will be the first to admit that I can be an ass hole and yes I can be shallow and caddy. A good chunk of my blog is my inside voice, right or wrong. Most of us (whether we want to admit it) have similar thoughts, but on different topics. One thing I won’t do in this blog is pandering or worry about what folks think.
Just like you said, I’m not trying to change your mind either. When Great Clips promotes one thing and does another, I have a problem with that. When your profession is hair and you can’t even run a brush through your own, I have a problem with that. I get that someone is tired and I’ve pulled all-nighters with my sons. But, I still showed up to work the next day in full makeup, groomed hair and professional attire.
So again, I appreciate your honesty and opinion and I hope you can appreciate mine. I promise you I will never write what I think people want me to write, that’s dishonest. I’ll only write what I’m thinking, even if it’s me being an ass hole.