Salon reviews are intensely personal — a bad haircut walks around on someone's head for weeks. When responding, acknowledge that emotional weight: "we'll fix it" matters more here than in almost any other business.
The good news: salons also get the most loyal, effusive reviews of any local category, and responses that celebrate individual stylists build both team morale and personal followings that fill your booking calendar.
Copy-paste examples
1 · Color went wrong
"Asked for warm honey blonde, left with brassy orange. I cried in my car."
Crying in your car is the sentence no salon ever wants to cause — I'm so sorry. Color can drift when we misjudge underlying pigment, but the miss is ours, not yours. Please call us this week: a correction appointment with our senior colorist is yours, and we'll make the honey blonde you asked for happen properly.
2 · Cut too short
"Showed a photo, said 'just a trim', lost four inches. Devastated."
Four inches past 'a trim' is a consultation failure — the scissors should never outrun the conversation. I'm truly sorry; hair grows back, but trust takes longer, and we know it. When you're ready, we'd like to offer a proper consultation and shaping session to make the grow-out phase actually enjoyable. No scissors until every inch is agreed.
3 · Glowing review of a stylist
"Luca is a genius with curly hair. First stylist who actually understood my curls."
Luca has spent years learning what curls want (spoiler: respect and the right layers), and 'first stylist who understood' is exactly the reputation he's built chair by chair. We'll make sure he sees this. Curly friends reading along: yes, he takes new clients — book ahead, his column fills fast.
4 · Booking/waitlist frustration
"Impossible to get an appointment. Three weeks out every time I call."
A three-week wait is flattering for us and useless for you — we get it. We've added two chairs and extended Thursday evenings precisely to shorten that queue. Pro tip: cancellations open up almost daily; ask to join the shortlist and you'll often hear from us within the week.
5 · Price increase complaint
"My usual cut jumped $15 with no warning. Love my stylist but ouch."
The ouch is fair — a price change should never be a chair-side surprise, and we should have communicated it before you booked, not at the register. That's been fixed for every future adjustment. The new pricing reflects real cost increases, but transparency about it is on us, and this time we fell short.
6 · First-timer won over
"New to the city, tried this place on a whim. Found my salon."
'Found my salon' from a stranger-on-a-whim is the best kind of welcome-to-the-neighborhood story — thank you, and welcome to the city! Now that you're one of ours: we do a proper job with color too, just saying. See you at the next appointment.
7 · Kept waiting past appointment
"Sat with foils in for way too long because my stylist was double-booked."
Foils have a clock, and 'double-booked' should never be the reason it runs long — that's a scheduling failure with your hair as the stakes. We've tightened our booking rules so processing clients are never left waiting on another service. If your color took any harm from the timing, come in; we'll assess and fix it at no cost.
8 · Praise for atmosphere
"Great cut, but honestly I'd come back just for the head massage and the playlist."
The head massage has its own fan club and the playlist is curated with dangerous levels of seriousness — glad both found their audience! The great cut we'll take as a given, but we know the extras are what make an appointment feel like a treat. Same chair, same playlist, whenever you're ready.
Offer the fix-up appointment
For technical complaints (color, cut, treatment), the industry-standard response is an adjustment appointment — offered promptly and gracefully. Invite them to contact the salon directly to book it; do not negotiate the details in public.
Celebrate stylists by name
When a client praises a stylist, amplify it — stylists build personal clienteles, and public recognition keeps great ones on your team. Echo their name and specialty: it is also exactly what future clients search for.
Make it yours in seconds
Templates work, but the best responses reference what your reviewer actually said, in your brand's voice. The free EdgeMarket generator writes a personalized reply from any pasted review — or create a free account to set your tone once and answer every review in one click.