I recently bought a Groupon for a haircut and color at an uber-fancy Manhattan salon. It was pricey, $150, but not much more than what I’d normally pay.
I was pretty excited. I’d been letting my hair grow out for months, and I couldn’t wait to waltz out of there with a more polished look.
After they applied color, washed, and blow-dried me, the stylist appeared. She asked me what I wanted, and seemed to nod thoughtfully as I explained that I wanted to keep the length, but add some layers, etc.
Then, she snipped at my hair for a grand total of seven (7) minutes, before whisking the drape off my neck and handing me a mirror.
“Is it done?” I asked, baffled.
“Oh, yes, haha, I work very quickly.”
Haha. I stared at my virtually untouched hair. I stood there, speechless. $150? Really?
The stylist clearly didn’t know what to do either. “You want some product?” she offered.
Afterward, venting to a friend, I learned that Groupon gripes are growing.
Merchants pay a hefty chunk of the price to Groupon—but many companies aren’t seeing the repeat business they want, just lots of discount-hungry clients.
But it’s a chicken-and-egg scenario. Wouldn’t you say?
