In a happy, healthy world, I'd be posting a picture of my new haircut, writing about how great my experience was, and sending everyone I know to the hair god that is Marcus. Recall that two days ago, I asked for a discount at a ritzy salon and received a 50 percent off cut with none other than the owner himself, Marcus.
But that was not to be.
I woke up yesterday morning an hour before the appointment to find a voicemail from Liane (unsure of spelling), of Salon de Marcus, calling "about your appointment today."
I returned the call. Here is a fairly close transcription of the call that ensued. (I have experience transcribing conversations, and I did this the moment I hung up. I'd say it's 85 percent accurate. Some contractions might be off, syntax, etc. But the meat is all there.)
SALON EMPLOYEE: Salon de Marcus.
ME: Hi, may I speak with Liane?
SE: This is Liane.
ME: Oh, hi. My name is Roxy. I'm calling about a voicemail I received about my appointment this morning, with Marcus.
SE: Thanks for calling. What day did the girl who used to work here book your appointment for?
ME: She booked it for today, Saturday, at 11:30. Why, is there a problem?
SE: She told you 50 percent off, right?
ME: Yes.
SE: I'm sorry, we can't give you that price. He's not doing that anymore. Marcus got really mad, and she's not longer working here. If you want, he could give you a 20 percent off cut, or you could come in for one of our other stylists. There's one that would be less, and she's really good.
ME: Wait a minute, excuse me. Just to make sure I'm understanding this right. Was she *fired* because she gave me a discount?
SE: Yeah. For that, and some other things. She wasn't supposed to do that. He doesn't do half-off haircuts anymore. She should have known that. It's not your fault.
ME: Ok, well, I'm going to have to think about it before I make a new appointment. Thank you.
Click.
By "Think about it," I didn't mean if I should come in or not, but WHAT I should do.
I reflected, and decided to do the following:
I will call the salon back and ask to speak with Marcus.
I will ask Marcus to let me pay full price for a haircut if he agrees to give that employee another chance.
I will tell him that, while I don't want to butt into his business, that employee was courteous and did a great job. Outside offering me the discount, she answered my questions, told me about various options, and made me feel interested in the salon. Thus if the discount she offered is a problem, I'll pay full price and implore him to give her one last chance, if he fired her on account of that discount.
If that doesn't work, I'll ask for her contact info and see if there's anything I can do for her.
I called the salon and was told Marcus would return my call -- Saturday.
It's Sunday as I write, and no news.
Guess I'll go in person, when it opens Tuesday morning.
But if that doesn't work, what next?
You guys are a wise bunch. What would you do? Any other suggestions? The temptation is to unleash the internet hounds, post about this on twitter, yelp, facebook, local formus, and more, and let the word get out. But I also don't want to release forces I can't control. And I don't have the full picture. Maybe she really was a problem employee, and that was the final straw. What to do, what to do, what to do.
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