Douglas J Aveda Institute in Ann Arbor, MI

I've been coming to Aveda since 2018. After my last visit, I will never be coming back. I don't even know where to begin with this one because I left so angry, but for starters, my appointment was scheduled for 9 AM to noon. I didn't leave until 4:30 PM. At no point did anyone discuss with me how long it was going to take. I was told they were moving things around so if I needed to be there all day I could, but no one said I was ACTUALLY going to be there all day. It was Valentine's Day and I was hoping to just get my hair done early and leave, as my boyfriend planned to leave work early to hang out with me. Maybe I was naive as to how much work my hair would take- but I just sat there for hours and hours with my head laying on a tray, with no updates as to how much longer they were expecting me in the chair. I understand that I have a lot of hair. The only reason I'm leaving two stars is because I respect that the girls worked hard and it turned out ok. However, the professionalism left much to be desired. These girls need to be reminded there are real people in their chairs, not practice dolls. The main girl who was working on my hair was ok. Her little blonde assistant got sassy with me when I made conversation about my Valentine's plans and how they'd probably be delayed. "Well yeah, getting your hair done takes a while." When they were finished, she asked me what I thought of the hair and I said I didn't know. I was so hungry, I'd been there for 7 and a half hours with only water and no end in sight, and the color didn't turn out like I thought it would. I asked for red and it was more of a brown. Her response was "Well that's the swatch you picked, what do you not know about?" I'm sorry, excuse me? I was shown the swatches for about 10 seconds and just agreed with the girl that was doing my hair, thinking she probably knew best. I also had bleach on my hair for nearly three hours. Everything I've read says to leave it on for no longer than 45 minutes. Unless I'm missing something, how was that ok? And why did no one discuss what was happening to my hair? It had never been bleached before. I'm a server and I can understand that working with people can be hard. However, I would NEVER make a customer of mine feel like they were a nuisance to me or that I didn't want to be there. That's exactly the vibe I got from these girls the whole time. I know it's a lot of hours for them and it probably gets boring, but that's not my fault. They chose to go to school, they need to learn that doing hair is also about the experience, not just the end product. Nasty attitude and I will literally never be returning because of it. This is not the first time I've gotten that feeling from an Aveda student. For the cherry on top, they did not properly cover my clothing and got bleach and dye all over a new sweatshirt. Again, maybe it was stupid of me to wear something I liked to a hair appointment, but I'd only expect to be careful of my clothes if dying at home. At a salon? Since when is it acceptable to ruin your client's clothes? I got a 20% discount for the dye job on my sweatshirt but at the end of the day, I paid nearly $200 to have my clothes destroyed, my day ruined and my hair to the left of the shade I actually wanted. I was offered a "fix" within two weeks but why would I want to come back? The communication is severely lacking everywhere, they kept leaving me in the chair, staring at the ceiling, wondering where they went and when I'd be able to leave. I was ready to cry by the end because I was so hungry and the helper girl was so rude. Jordan worked hard but she could work on making sure her clients understand exactly what is going on and what they can expect. If I'd been told I would be there all day I would've brought a snack and some entertainment.

Joelle Day did a 90 minute facial and then a 90 minute plant peel facial for me on 2 different occasions a month apart which were both fantastic - she was knowledgeable, attentive and meticulous. Highly recommend Joelle. Thank you.

I have been to Aveda for services several times so it's a shame that I'm having to write this review to get any type of recognition. I booked an appointment for a scalp treatment and massage on 2/13/24 for the appointment to be on 2/23/24. I live in Livonia, a 30 minute drive both ways. I get to my appointment and I'm sitting in the chair waiting for my appointment to start when the worker comes up to me and says "I'm sorry, we have a worker on disability and cannot perform your massage" I'm sorry what? I'm literally sitting here waiting for it right now, I just drove 30 minutes, you couldn't have canceled before?! She says there's a different treatment I can get, it's a "stress relieving facial" and I'm thinking okay, for my inconvenience, it's on the house? Wrong. It's 20% off that's the best she can do. I ask, what about me driving 30 minutes to get here, paying for downtown parking, and your mistake for not canceling me, what do I get in compensation for ruining my Friday night? I get 20% off my next service and the manager will call the next day to hopefully make it better. Well, 2 days have gone by and no call from the manager. 20% is the best that you can do? How about paying me for the $15 in gas, $3 in parking, and another $10 for the inconvenience. Obviously joking, but 20% is ridiculous! What? Do you think $5 off my next service so this can happen again?! I've come here at least half a dozen times and this is the most unprofessional I've ever seen! You had 10 days to figure this out! You didn't even have the audacity to cancel the day of, better yet when I'm there! And then a manager doesn't even call to make this right?! Unless this is straighten out I will never come here again. DON'T COME HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET CANCELLED WHILE YOU'RE IN THE SALON! 20% off what a JOKE

I just had the worst experience at Douglas J Aveda Institute - Ann Arbor. I have been a customer off and on since 2006 and have always had courteous and respectful customer service . Most importantly, I can't remember a time when an instructor has ever not reviewed with me what the process would be to color my hair . Today, I showed the student a pic of the highlights a previous student had put in my hair and told her this was what I wanted. The student comes back with a mixture that turned out to be pure bleach and proceeded to put it in my hair. The instructor Katy said she knew the student was putting bleach in my hair. Why didn't they have a conversation with me and/or asked if this is what I wanted as the usual routine before service has always been. Needless to say , I am very upset as my hair is already damaged. As I prepared to leave , I asked the instructor what the student's name was. To my disgust , an unidentified student responded " you mean the student you made cry ? ". WTH about me and this head full of bleach in my hair. I'm a senior citizen with natural hair that has not been chemically treated to this severity in more than 30 years. My head feels itchy now

Savannah Z. gave me an amazing haircut! I have had a notoriously hard time getting a haircut I am happy with out the door, but she was in control the whole time and I'm feeling super pleased.