Quote:
Originally Posted by techwife
Hi Stacy:
Well...funny...I worked at JCP in the Styling Salon for over ten years and I have THIS to say about it.
First and foremost, go directly to the Store Manager. The JCP salon is a JCP department as much as the jewelry or bra department and the salon manager answers directly to the store manager. Go to the catalog department and ask to see the store manager as catalog is usually close in proximity to the store offices. The salon is not above refunding your money...it can be done, that's for sure.
Secondly, you should all know that there are many, many very talented stylists that work at JCP. (Yes...I was one of them, thank you very much 
) BUT, the salon manager has a quota of how many stylists he/she needs to have working, which in my day was two times the amount of work stations they have in the salon. This amounts to the manager hiring absolutely anybody that is a state licensed cosmetologist. Being a licensed cosmetologist doesn't mean you have talent, it means you passed a test and that's it. Back in my day (from 1983-1993) we had about a half split...half the stylists were very, very good at styling, but the other half were absolute crap. The sad thing is that once you become established as a stylist and get a great following, most stylists leave penney's and go into business for themselves or rent a chair in a different salon so they don't give all of the money they make to penney's, only to collect a commission.
So, my take on Penney's is that it is a great salon if you are going to a stylist that was recommended by a friend, but if you go into the salon without an appointment and say, "I'll take whoever's available", it's a total crap shoot. You may get an up-and-coming great stylist or you may get a total hack and end up screaming out of the joint looking for a refund and a lawsuit! Fact is, the good stylists are already booked and you need an appointment to get them.
Thirdly, haircolor is my absolute specialty and I wish you were here right now to let me help you. Haircolor is one of the scariest things for a hairdresser to become comfortable with. First, I'd get ahold of the stylist you like and usually go to and see if she can help you out. It sounds like you had a good chunk of 'virgin' (uncolored) hair and a good chunk of hair that had been colored quite often and was really porous. One rule when coloring hair is that colored hair cannot be lightened with anything other than bleach or by 'oxydizing' which takes a couple days. Virgin hair can be lightened by the peroxide that is used to mix all haircolors. So, what happened to you is that the colored hair, which was probably porous from previous processing, soaked in the base color of the brown hair color. BUT, the virgin hair was lightened by the peroxide in the color. The standard processign time for all haircolors is 45 mins, but a good stylist knows this is more of a guideline. 45 mins is how long you leave on a brown color to cover stubborn white/gray hair. To hightlight, you really only need 20 mins or so. And you never, ever treat virgin hair and processed hair the same, dumping the color all over the whole head and leaving it on for the full processing time.
Question...is the color of your hair at the roots the color you want? And the color at the ends black? One trick, but it IS tricky, is to try washing your hair with Dawn dish soap. Without a mild haircoloring bleach, it will help to get that base color out of the ends. Then you can try using a SEMI-PERMANENT haircolor that is a light brown with a gold or neutral (NOT ASH!!) base. THese will usually have a G or an N next to the color or color number. Ash has a green base and is used to avoid red coming through, but really makes the color look pasty...I never use ash tones. The reason you would use semi-permanent is that these colors don't use peroxide, or use a very low volume of peroxide and only deposit color, and won't further damage your hair and make it more porous.
Oh...and regarding red. Unfortunately, every brown or black strand of hair, while lifting into the blond stage, goes through a reddish stage. It's unavoidable. Your best bet, from now on, is to grow your natural haircolor out and get highlights in the form of foil or cap highlighting, using a dark or light blonde. This is the way you keep your natural haircolor, keeping it a more 'natural' color with the incorporation or your natural, God-given color.
And above all, you should go to your regular stylist and never, ever deviate from her ever again!! 
As a stylist, I can guarantee that she'll likely shake a finger at you for going elsewhere, but she'll be glad you came back and will be glad to help you.
And at the end of the day, remember my hairdresser's motto...as long as your hair's still attached, it can be fixed. 
And if it can't, it's only hair and it'll grow back 
Good luck...and get your money back!!
YOU ARE AMAZING!
haha, just had to say that. Thank you for taking so much interest. My roots are actually a golden color where my natural hair is an ash color. From there it just gets darker. It's not black but a very deep brown. I actually thought of the semi permanent haircolor. There's that loreal stuff that only lasts two weeks so I figured I could do that in a deep brown to even it out or even do a black for something different for awhile. So would you reccommend doing the Dawn to lighten up the ends a little and then do the semi permanent?
And thanks to everyone else for your concern! I would like to get the word out about what they did but what shocked me is when I was in there crying TWO people came in to make appointments! They were both asking prices too so I don't think they had a stylist they knew there. I would think twice if I were in their situation. Friday is my day off from class and I gathered up a couple pictures so I'm going to head in to see the manager then. You guys have given me a lot of courage to go in there and get my money back!
You should not have had to pay for anything. And if they don't give you your money back then definitely go to the BBB-they will get your money back. You can actually do it online too. My mother had an experience such as yours but it was with a perm rather than a color. And they also tried to get her to let someone fix it.She flat out told them no she wasn't going to pay for it and would go somewhere else and get it done right. They apologized over and over again and did not ask her to pay for it. I do hope you get your money back. (((((HUGS))))) to you.
stacylambert , 10-19-2005 11:40 PM
Just shave your head and start over. No I'm just kidding I feel your pain I have had my share of bad hairdo. at least tell them how you feel 
