A Brief Rant

Today’s topic is really a bit of a rambling complaint – a rant, if you will.

This morning, I dropped Meg off at school and bee-lined it for my favorite local eye-brow waxing establishment. Ingrid’s Skin Care was kind enough to book me for a 9:30am wax on very short notice . . . I called just yesterday. I was delighted to be able to take care of something that USED to be so essential . . . something that is now a luxury, being that I have to schedule it around Meg’s needs.

When I pulled up to Ingrid’s store front ten minutes before my appointment time, I was a little surprised to find that the “Closed” sign was in the window . . . despite the fact that in big white letters, their hours are 9am-6pm on Friday. I was immediately a bit annoyed . . . if nobody was there, then that meant I was going to have to wait . . . wait for them to get there, wait for the wax to heat up . . . and any amount of waiting was ANNOYING me because I only have 3 hours a week when I can do things like this (Meg’s preschool Fridays).

By 9:30am, nobody had pulled in. And it’s not like Ingrid was already IN there – I called to check that. Nobody was there, and it was my appointment time.

I was pissed.

I called Ingrid’s number and left a message.

“Hi, this is Heather Dahlby . . . um, I have a 9:30 appointment, and it’s 9:30 right now and nobody is here. I can be reached at (my cell number). I would have appreciated a phone call if your store was going to be closed today.”

And I drove away.

As I was leaving the parking lot, I saw what I thought was Ingrid in her car, pulling up in front of her store. At that point, I had a choice – turn around, follow Ingrid into the store, and proceed to wait while she got settled in for the day, turned on the wax, and then took my appointment. Or, I could just leave.

I didn’t turn around.

I was fuming. She had wasted almost an hour of my time, when you think about it. I dropped Meg off, turned around and drove about 10 minutes to Ingrid’s store, waited about 15 minutes, and was at least 10-15 minutes away from any other errand I needed to run. Again, I was pissed.

I bet you are wondering if Ingrid returned my call. She did, at about five minutes ‘till 10am. 25 minutes AFTER my appointment, and about 20 minutes after I’d left the message on her machine.

Her message said something about how she’d seen me in the parking lot, driving away, at 9:33am. She said that they had changed their store hours recently, but she was coming in for my 9:30am appointment. She was sorry for the inconvenice. I should call her back to reschedule.

NO.

I am a BIG proponent of customer service, and in the women’s beauty care industry, I just CANNOT FIND IT. If you know of any places with excellent customer service, please PLEASE tell me. I can’t find anywhere.

I’d tried Ingrid out in the first place because the salon I had been going to always made me wait at least 15 minutes for my wax – 15 minutes AFTER my appointment time. After doing that about 3 times, I gave up. Now I can’t go to Ingrid any more because I certainly won’t give my business to someone who has such little respect for my time.

I’ve abandoned nail salons because they didn’t treat me respectfully. I used to frequent Bob Steele’s Salon in Vinings, but I stopped going there after my hairdresser made me wait for 30+ minutes while she colored another SYTLISTS hair (not a customer, an employee!).

Is it just bad luck for me? Are all the places like this? Are my expectations too high?

So, after the fiasco this morning, I am going to take my 16-month-old with me for an eyebrow wax at 4:15pm today at the salon that I don’t like going to because they make me wait at least 15 minutes for my appointment. Wish me luck.

UGH. It better be worth it.