Yesterday was Saturday. I live about 15 minutes from the nearest Sports Clips (Bearden location).
I've been going to Sports Clips for quite some time. I like the service. I like that they have my haircut preference saved on their computer. I like that they offer the MVP service.
But, what I didn't like yesterday was the fact that I went online to see what time they closed. I typed in the computer, "Sports Clips Northshore Hours". To the right of my screen, I saw that the Northshore location was open until 7 pm.
I thought I had plenty of time. I went to the gym for a short exercise session, then went to Sports Clips. As I parked my car, I looked at my phone and saw that it was 6:30 pm. It only takes about 10 minutes to cut my hair, I knew that I had plenty of time.
When I opened the door (and the door was open and unlocked), I approached the check-in counter to enter my phone number. There was someone in the back cutting someone's hair. She looked around the small wall and said, "I'm sorry, we're closed." Initially, I thought I had misunderstood her. My hearing isn't the best. Then, someone sitting in the waiting area spoke up and said, "We're closed." Apparently, she was one of the stylists who works there. I looked at her and said, "How can you be closed? Your store hours on the internet says that you're open till 7 pm.
She kept saying, "I'm sorry." If she said it once, she said it 5 or 6 times. I said to her, "Look, I've come all this way, fighting a traffic jam on I-40 in order to get my hair cut. It won't take but a few minutes and I'll give you a very generous tip." To which she replied, "I'm sorry."
I walked away, fuming! I go to Sports Clips because I like the individual attention. Yesterday, I came away feeling like the stylists who were on duty did not care!
So, I got into my car and drove to the Great Clips at University Commons. They are open until 7 pm. I arrived at 6:50 pm. No one rushed to the door to tell me that they closed in 10 minutes. They welcomed me. I said to the stylist, "I'm sorry for coming in so close to your closing hours." She said, "It's no problem." She proceeded to cut my hair in the same manner as Sports Clips. She even entered my haircut preferences into their computer, so that in the future, I can go there and they, like Sports Clips, can pull up my preferences and cut my hair. And I'd like to note that even though the hair cut came to $19, I gave the stylist a $20 tip because she did not rush to do the job so that she could close and lock the doors by 7 pm.
I won't ever go back to Sports Clips! I've looked up the hours for Sports Clips on Northshore before I started this review. The Sports Clips ad that I saw on Saturday was for the Sports Clips on South Northshore Drive. They are open until 7 pm. The Sports Clips on North Northshore closes at 6 pm on Saturdays. It's very confusing that the same chain of businesses have different operating hours in the same city. And if Sports Clips on North Northshore closes at 6 pm, why, at 6:30 pm, was there a customer in a chair getting his hair cut? Why was the door unlocked? Why was there not some indication that the place was closed?
I guess the greatest question I have is, "Why couldn't someone simply cut my hair?" It would literally have taken them less than 10 minutes. It's not like it's overly difficult. I take a "0 guard" on the sides and back--nothing off of the top. Then a "4 guard" to my beard and I''m done.
Like I said, I will never go back to Sports Clips.
The only reason I'm giving you guys 2 stars is because you've provided a good service in the past. But, yesterday, you really dropped the ball. And for that, you lost a previously happy customer.