A [Pedicure] to Remember

The Pedicure BOWL

For those of you who missed my rant, here it is. I got the pedicure from Hillbilly Heaven back in May at an AVEDA SALON & SPA. Unbelievable. Start to finish and even to "fixing" it, it was horrific. I will keep everyone posted as to what happens next. Here is my letter to Reeda Todd.

To Whom It May Concern:

Yesterday I went to Reeda Todd Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa in Indianapolis, IN to get a 60 minute spa pedicure and a brow wax. My experience was quite a disappointment from start to finish. I was asked to come early to my appointment and arrived 15 minutes early. I was asked if I'd like something to drink and requested water, only to wait an additional 10 minutes for her to come back with it. No one touched my feet until 35 minutes after I arrived. My feet were placed in a bronze BOWL for my pedicure, not a foot spa which is common practice in any other spa I have been to. My "nail technician" was in fact a hair stylist who was not scheduled to do my pedicure but did so because someone was fired minutes before my arrival. This woman was incredibly unprofessional and talked about her personal life the entire time. When she painted my nails, I had to have my legs bent with my knees almost to my chest. This is not comfortable or relaxing. I left unsatisfied and stressed, rather than relaxed. I came home to look at my feet and saw nail polish all over my FEET, not just on my nails. The polish was bubbling and sloppy. I could not believe I had paid $50 for that kind of work.
I called the manager this morning, and she said to come in at 11 to fix it. I got there early to speak with her about the experience I had, hoping that she would find a way to make it up to me so as not to lose a customer. Rather, she cut me off and didn't let me finish what I had to say. She told me they would redo my pedicure, which I didn't have time or any reason for. I just wanted the polish fixed since I had to pay a babysitter to watch my daughter while I went to get this botch job fixed. She assured me they would "compensate" me "in some way" and then took off, never to be seen for the rest of my time there.
After Lucy repainted my nails, I was given a gift certificate for a 60 minute spa pedicure to make up for their mistake yesterday. To me, this is completely insufficient, being that the entire experience is FAR from what I have come to expect from Aveda. I had to hire and pay a babysitter and waste additional time to have something fixed that should have been done right the first time. I do NOT plan on returning to this salon unless something more is done to make up for such a ridiculously low quality experience in a place with such a high quality reputation. If I had been a secret shopper, this would be completely unsatisfactory and a complete failure. Please help me! I love the Aveda experience as I know it and feel that I was robbed of this. Thanks for anything you can do to make this better.

I sent the above email to Aveda customer service. I thought you should know that this situation was handled unsatisfactorily and unprofessionally. The first person who did my nails and brow wax was M******, and the manager who dealt with this problem was S****. Hopefully you can come up with a better solution than the one which has been offered to me. Thanks for taking the time to read this email and listen to my concerns.

Regrettably,
Domestic Goddess

*UPDATE* I got an email back from Aveda corporate 24 hours after I sent my email to them that there was nothing they could do but apologize and forward my complaint to the appropriate party for investigation. It was a bummer, but I totally understand that each salon is owned/operated independently...ahh, well. In addition to that, my letter to Reeda was completely IGNORED. I received no response from her or any of her staff with regard to this issue.

I'm posting this here so that anyone who is local to Indianapolis will hopefully choose ANY other salon/spa for their pedicure needs...and for that matter, anything else. The place is pretty low class, considering the level of service and professionalism expected from the Aveda name. Obviously, this is just one person's opinion, but hey, at least I have one!