Well, I was going to this place for the last five years or so and getting my haircut by Mary, who did a great job, but no more!!
To backtrack, I used to live in the neighborhood, and decided to go in for a haircut several years ago. Mary (Maria) cut my hair, and did a fantastic job. Now, I'm Caucasian, and the place is 100% Hispanic, with Spanish being spoken the majority of the time. There was many times when I waited for Mary to cut my hair as she's having a conversation with a co-worker, never apologizing for keeping me waiting, and being semi-rude in the process, but I always put that in the back of my mind because of the great haircut.
I moved to Lombard around two years ago, and kept coming back to Mary (Maria). Keep in mind that not too many people were ever friendly towards me at that establishment (at times I felt like an outcast) but I kept coming back. Since I moved to Lombard, I decided to attempt to call for an appointment so I would not have to wait for two hours as I've done in the past. This past week, I asked one of my co-workers to make the appointment for me (she speaks Spanish). She called on Thursday, and even verified it on Friday.
This past Saturday, I make the forty-five mile trek to Alex Salon from Lombard to the Southwest Side of Chicago, thinking that I was going to have an eleven o'clock appointment. Well, to my total dismay, Maria was treating/cutting a woman's hair. None of the people at the front desk even looked at me as I attempted to talk to Maria, asking her what happened to my appointment. She gave a halfhearted reply that explained she wasn't in work on Thursday, and had this appointment instead (even though my co-worker called on Friday to verify the appointment). She stated I could come back on Monday, and I said OK (or I could wait two hours). Well, I got in my car, and thought about it, and came back and told the guy at the front of the desk that I could come back in two hours. He yelled to Mary in the back of the salon (who was at that time shampooing her client) and she gave a rude reply that she could do it in two hours. Again, no apology of any sort, no explanation of why I wasn't told she was double-booked....
I thought about this in my car, and told myself I would never go back there again. This is an example of racism and very, very poor business practices. So I found a place in Villa Park (thanks to the good reviews on Yelp), got my haircut, was able to communicate with my stylist and the people in the business, and came home happy, as my ride was only ten minutes from my townhouse to the establishment.
I should have read these reviews years ago, as Alex Salon is reviewed terribly on Yelp. Thank God for the internet, as I'm now using it as my point-of-reference from now on for any service that I decide to get.
Back to Alex Salon...Enter at your own risk. If you are Caucasian (as a woman described in a review below) you'll be treated like an outcast, plain and simple. And for as many good salons that are out there in the great Chicagoland area, I was a fool to keep going back there, and I advise you to not frequent this establishment.
It's not aesthetically pleasing, as again, you can find better!
by Sanatatious
xxx.xxx.16.161
September 02, 2012