Circe Salon Spa

Poor customer service!. Long story short: been going to Circe for almost 10 years. Husband gave me a gift card for $195 last August. I got a facial ($100) in the late winter and had $95 left to spend. I went in last Saturday to buy products with the balance and was told the gift card had expired the day before.

The girl at the counter didn't foresee that being a problem since I was just a day late but had to check with someone (I assumed a manager?) in the back room. She came back telling me she had been told that I was too late to redeem it. She did tell me she could honor just $30 of it but I was out the rest.

I then asked to speak to a manager as that was completely unacceptable to me. I was told there was not one on the premises. On a Saturday morning (the busiest day of the week for a salon) there was no manager around? I asked with whom she spoke and she told me she had gone to make a phone call to Circe's owner and that is who had made the decision. I then asked for the salon owner's name and phone number. I immediately left the salon and made the call to her but got her voicemail. I left her a brief message saying I had an issue with a gift card that I would like to speak to her about and asked that she call me back to discuss it. Never received a return phone call.

Fast forward to today...4 days later....and I still haven't received a call. I called again and the owner answered. I again stated my issue and asked that as a gesture of goodwill to a longtime customer that Circe honor the GC. She completely refused and told me she was unable to do so because the GC was no longer in the system. (Odd, since obviously it came up on Saturday morning when I tried to use it.) She kept referring to the expiration date being clearly marked on the gift card which it is not....there is a long handwritten sequence of numbers and letters and the date is in the middle of it. Hardly very clear.

Regardless, as a small business owner she had the ability to override her 'corporate policy' and she chose not to do so. She could have easily re-issued another GC. If she had said she needed to deduct 10% or something as an admin expense, I would have understood. But almost 70%? That is just ridiculous. I feel like she stole from me.

In this economy and with the hundreds (if not thousands) of salons in the DC area, I would think that a business that relies on people's discretionary income would be bending over backwards to keep its customers happy. Obviously I will not be frequenting Circe ever again and will no longer be recommending it when other military friends move to the DC area and are looking for a new salon.…

Poor styling, even worse customer service by owner. Bad bad experience here. I went in for a trim, and the stylist ended up putting way too many layers in my hair (which I did not ask for). Due to the fact that I get the top of my hair highlighted, but not the hair underneath, she had given me a one inch strip of dark hair along the bottom. She said "oh it looks very rock and roll" (which is so not me) and then said "no one looks at the back of your head anyway". I was very upset and asked to speak to a manager. I was told she would be there shortly. She left me waiting for half an hour, then walked in and stood there chatting with the girls from the front desk for another 15 minutes. When she finally approached me she was completely rude and condescending to me. When I showed her what happened to my hair, she told me that she didn't know what my hair looked like before I arrived. So now I have to take pictures of my hair before I receive any type of salon service? Ridiculous. She told me that a senior stylist would fix my hair (there went another 2 inches of my hair), which she then charged me for. Turns out this lady is the owner. I understand that mistakes will happen and it's upsetting, but it's how those mistakes are handled by the management that make all of the difference in the world. This woman was unbelievably and obnoxiously rude to me. I'd say she needs many lessons in manners and customer service.…

Allergies? Stay away.... They're shooting for ambiance to make up for the small space - but it needs redesigning... Start with the OVER SCENTED foyer. If you have allergies I'd recommend staying away from this place, because everything they use is heavily scented and they burn oils or something in the foyer....and it's waaay overdone. Customer service can leave a lot to be desired. Management can be vapid and act like they don't want to be bothered. Don't expect to be able to exchange or return anything - no matter what the person on the phone says, they don't do it.…