Alexandra McIntyre

Review of Beauty Works London

I live ten minutes from this salon and have been i...

I live ten minutes from this salon and have been in and collected treatment lists before and thought it seemed a nice place to come. The reviews on here are also positive so I was really looking forward to a good experience. Booked a massage online via Treatwell here a few days before I came for the appointment (which was on a Saturday at 11.30, so planned my whole day around it and travelled half an hour to get here via public transport from a morning engagement). The appointment was paid in full in advance - on arrival my appointment was not honoured as they said they had double booked themselves. No alternative appointment was offered (only when I specifically asked about that possibility did the representative vaguely say she could 'do another day', which was in no way helpful), nor did they offer to call another local salon to find an appointment, offer me a shorter appointment slot or try to come up with any alternative whatsoever. From the outset, although the double booking was the fault of the salon not managing its availability correctly in the online system(ie not Treatwell's fault), the attitude was as if this was completely not their problem and somehow not to do with them. There was no practical alternatives offered and also no human sympathy. They chose in effect that my appointment would not be honoured over other appointments and then clearly wanted me to just immediately accept that and leave, presumably the thinking being that they don't want new regular clients or don't care. The representative I was speaking with acted as though I was a client of a third party and not of Beauty Works. Perhaps that's how she saw it, but had I been aware of that I would never have come to the salon at all. Really disappointed in attitude, ineptitude and lack of interest in keeping local customers. As I final point, I also would have assumed that given this was their mistake that it would be up to them to inform Treatwell so that the refund would be issued. not so. Again only when I asked how the refund would be arranged was I told 'oh well that's nothing to do with us you will have to call Treatwell'. So at that stage they were content for me to have paid for a service and not even rectify the mistake on their own behalf. BW didnt even extend the courtesy of solving an issue they had directly caused. Normally I would book via phone but on this occasion booking from work meant online via Treatwell was my only option, and what that seems to mean with this salon is that you are not viewed as the regular local customer that you are, but somehow inferior and not worthy or their service or interest. Perhaps they don't realise that that is not how customers view things, who see no difference in method of booking and should not see difference in treatment. Further, if salons wish to use an online booking service (which most customers prefer to use) to make money, they need to take ownership of that decision - it is not acceptable to attempt to distance themselves from it or customers who book via it. It is particularly perverse when you have paid in full in advance. Was hoping to use this salon would be reliable and could be my go to as I live ten minutes away, but for now will be forced to look for other crouch end alternatives as it was patent the salon was not at all interested in my custom or helping me honour a pre-paid appointment. A rare Saturday off and a birthday gift completely ruined in this case. I should also say I have never written a review about a salon/restaurant/hotel before but this was such a negative and upsetting experience it was important to share with others who might be considering booking here.