Noah's Ark Children's Salon

Apr 24th, 2023

Jan 26th, 2022

Sep 23rd, 2021

We arrived early & were taken upstairs by a young girl to a salon (which very clearly wasn't the sensory area) and after standing around for a bit in a bright and loud room we found the tiny 'sensory room' ourselves. It had low level lighting, a projector etc. I asked a girl who was sweeping up if we were OK to be in there and she said "If you're booked in for sensory, yes" and flicked the overhead light on, which I promptly turned off. (The whole point was to reduce triggers for my sensory sensitive highly anxious child and the room had low level lighting, a projector etc which don't work with an overhead light on). We sat and waited for our stylist. I stated we wanted a short fringe and overall short cut. Once she had started cutting, the manager came in and introduced themselves and spoke to my child - which, under any other circumstance would have been nice, but for a highly-anxious child in a situation they hate (as had been fully explained before the booking) it wasn't atall appropriate. The less fuss the better. In and out. The haircut took way, way longer than it ever has before though; and we ended up having to leave the fringe longer than specified as my child had sat still for long enough and wanted to leave. Also 2 other staff had been to the door to say the next client had arrived and the other children were waiting so it was clear our time was up anyway. The stylist had only started 2 days before and it seemed inappropriate for the salon to have booked back-to-back when the client before was a small boy who had clearly struggled with having his haircut; I had made it explicit when booking that my child had sensory issues; and then the next clients were queued up, all for the same stylist. This to me was unfair on the hairdresser, and to us, especially under the myriad circumstances. We went downstairs to the staff behind the desk saying to each other "Was it 5 or 10?" then "I dunno" which they to and fro'd a few times between themselves, before asking me "Cash or card?" and then saying it was 30. I was quoted 16.50-30.50 'depending on how long it takes' - one would therefore reasonably assume - if the child is not fidgeting and struggling to maintain composure to complete the cut - it would be the lower end of the pricing scale (as a basic child's haircut, albeit in a sensory-friendly environment). Apparently not. My child sat like the perfect client - barely spoke, let alone move around or fidget - but somehow it was the very top end of their price tier. When I asked why, I was told because, "It depends on how long it takes" which seems a very wooly and vague way to price, when nobody told us what was 'basic time' and what was classed as a 'longer time'. Obviously I was left with no choice but to pay it. After I'd paid, the manager repeated the same. At that point I felt had to leave and not make a fuss as I didn't want to upset my child. I honestly left feeling cross and disappointed that they are essentially cashing-in on special needs families by having a small sensory room and then feeling able to charge over-the-odds (this is double anything I have ever been charged in the past at any salon for the same exact child's haircut). I sent my complaint to the salon manager to give them a fair opportunity to deal with it before posting a review. He refuted ALL of my issues, called them bizarre, apparently we were too demanding, the stylist is a perfectionist, none of the staff said or did any of the things I have highlighted (blatant lies) and I should have asked their permission to turn the overhead light off again (yes, really ) so I'm posting this review and you can make your own mind up. You can't reason with someone who thinks they already know it all and have nothing to learn. I look forward to the responses to this, no doubt telling me how wrong I am. We certainly won't be going back. Please note I use a pseudonym to protect the identity of my children.
Feb 27th, 2023