Dido Hair & Salon - Bangkok, Thailand

I’ve been highlighting my hair for five years now and, although I’m not a hair stylist, I can tell when someone is doing it right. I’ve been living in Thailand for just five months so I’m still encountering some cultural differences, one being how highlights are done here in comparison to at home in Ireland. I visited Bangkok and decided to check out a few hair salons that may be more used to western clientele than the salons in my city. I popped into Dido Hair and Salon and spoke with the manager about the kind of highlights I was looking for. I asked if he did ‘Western highlights’, using foil and I described the process and the overall look I wanted. I also pointed out what I did not want; describing the process of the highlights I’ve already tried in Thailand so far. He assured me that he knew what I was talking about and that he could do it the way I wanted for 1200 baht. He pointed to a picture of Avril Lavigne on the wall and asked if I meant blonde like that, so I trusted that he understood my expectations.
I sat and watched as the lady assigned to me put in the foils loosely so they hung from my hair at peculiar angles. I pointed out that they would leave my roots dark and that there would be crooked lines of colour where the foils ended. I called the manager over to reiterate our initial conversation and he showed the stylist what I wanted. She continued to do it loosely and got angry when I interrupted her. The atmosphere changed and I felt I was no longer a welcome customer, my requests for the manager to correct the loose foil packets fell on deaf ears. I resorted to trying to fix one at the front and had my friend put the colour closer to the root of my hair as it had been placed loosely and at an angle to my hairline. My friend pointed out an entire section of my hair which was left untouched but, again, the manager ignored me. I did not tamper with any more of my hair as I felt it would discredit any complaint I had to make later.
When the stylist’s assistant was drying my hair I could see large areas neglected of colour and other areas where it was blotchy or crooked. My friend took a look and noticed all the areas around my hair that were incorrect and pointed them out. The manager told me he didn’t see any problem with my hair. He also went on to say that the part that was wrong was where my friend had helped me. When I corrected him to say that the worst parts are on my right side and my friend helped me with a small area on the left side he ignored me.
I explained that my hair was not as I had requested and asked him if he thought it was fair to charge me, I was upset and disappointed but I remained calm as I am aware of the cultural differences when giving feedback. I was told that he would only charge me 800 instead of 1200, but I had noticed that the window had a price list on it, quoting 800 for highlights anyway so I explained that 800 was an unrealistic request for what they had done to my hair. I told him that there had been a misunderstanding because they did not do as I had requested and I had agree to pay on the basis that I was going to get what I had asked for but I was unhappy and felt it unfair to charge me when I have to go somewhere else to have it fixed. I explained that I would pay cost price for the product used on my hair but not for the service I received - being ignored by the manager and shouted at by his stylist, who also went on to complain about me to another customer who was sitting right beside me. The manager walked away from me, leaving me with his assistant who had no authority to negotiate a reasonable agreement. I handed her 500 baht and told her I was leaving.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I have been highlighting my hair for five years. Reluctantly, I am left with no choice other than to return to my natural colour to cover up the mess that’s been made. I very unhappy, not only with the resulting hair colour but mainly because it was considered acceptable to treat me with such rudeness, and to have the manager of Dido Hair and Salon lie about what had occurred. He and his staff ruined my hair, complained about me to other clients right in front of me, denied any accountability and then tried to over charge me for the rotten experience.