SJ Establishment - Hairdresser Adelaide

SJ gave me the most amazing hair i have ever had. The service was excellent and the professionalism was up to standards. When coming in and inquiring about extensions i was a bit hesitant about the cost but after these amazing results with out a doubt my money was spent well. All the staff were so friendly and made me feel so welcome in their salon.

Rude and unpleasant staff when the owner isn’t around and you can hear them discussing people out the back and well overpriced. Paid $115 for a wash and cut and blow dry that took less than 20 minutes from start to finish And when I asked her to cut the bottom of my hair as she hadn’t she said oh yes i get it you come in once every three months and you want to make sure you get your moneys worth.I am in your data base you cut my hair until pregnant, then I was referred to Mel, then she left and I was referred to a male whose name I can’t remember then the person who said this to me. So it was roughly a year ago when your prices went upto $115. I then rang and asked to change from this person who is aware she said this as I held her accountable the next time I came in and wasn’t so sick. I haven’t been in since. I wrote this review as I walked past today and I still feel annoyed about this.

This is what $347 will get you at SJ Establishment. Photos taken after straightening, prior to another salon spending 1.5 hours fixing it and me losing 13cm of length in the process. I specifically told the SJ Establishment stylist that I was growing my hair and didn’t want to lose length, I asked for some face framing layers and a full head of balayage. I showed her photos of what I was after. The end colour was very pretty and I loved it, regardless of it not being exactly what I was after. I felt like something was wrong with the cut, but I thought I would wait until I washed it.I washed it the following week and was devastated to see the full extent of the damage, and close to an entire section of my hair hacked off. I rang my local salon and they fitted me in after hours on a Saturday. They were horrified and couldn’t explain how something like this had happened. I also asked a few other salons, showing them the photos, and they all said it was appalling and unblendable and the length had to go to fix it. I emailed Sam James, the proprietor of SJ Establishment, with the photos and told her how upset I was and asked for a refund and compensation. She emailed me back and said she would ask the stylist how this had happened, do a workup on a dummy as well and she admitted fault and offered me a refund and products as compensation. She also said she could have blended it and I wouldn’t have lost the length if I had gone back to SJ Establishment.I waited a few days to hear back about her investigation, crickets. I emailed her again and said a refund was a given and that I had hundreds of dollars of products already and I politely declined her offer of products as compensation. I said the value of my hair was hard to quantify for loss and damages and suggested that she pay for four hours and 15 minutes of my time wasted, I said travel time of two hours and 20 minutes was my decision, so I didn’t feel it was fair to ask for that as compensation. I also asked for her to reimburse me for 1.5 hours of what she would charge for her time to cut hair. My local salon refused to let me pay them for the 1.5 hours they spent fixing the hack job, they were mortified that another salon, especially SJ Establishment, had done this to me. I took them six bottles of wine worth $162 as a thank you because it wasn’t fair to them to fix another salon’s mistake for free.I finally heard back from Sam and she said “As a small business, I have consulted with The Australian Hairdressing Council and Fair Trade and have been advised of my obligations regarding the matter. Following that, I have in good faith refunded you today for your services with us.” I received the $347 refund and that was that. I had threatened to take legal steps as I am sure a lawyer would agree that the damages and loss equate to more than the refund and $672 I was asking for as compensation. However, I do not believe that pursuing the matter would be a beneficial use of my time or energy. I imagine this review will cost her more than the meagre compensation I was seeking in the clients she will lose. Sam seems to have little empathy or respect for her clients.

After paying $360, I expected to have amazing colour. I already had a balayage, but I just wanted to go slightly lighter. Instead, she made it super dark and super light on the bottom, with no fade in between. I called them up for a refund as soon as I got home and saw it properly, and they said the next time they could fix it was in a week's time. I went to a different hairdresser, who said it was awful and couldn’t believe I paid such big money for it. They then called me back, saying I could come back and they could fix it, but at the time I was already at another hairdresser, and they turned around and said they couldn’t give me a refund. For a place with such a high reputation it’s pretty disheartening.

The best quality service you can get, I gave them a call last minute and they answered and made me so iconic my ex will always regret leaving me now thankyou so much lady's your so amazing and I'll be back to get all my updates done.Thanks for the advice about the eyebrows also.The coffee was a lovely touch also.

Went in to see Melinda today to get my colour fixed from a different salon. Not only was her conversation and service absolutely amazing, the colour i walked out with is breathtaking. I will definitely be coming back to see her. What a talented colourist you are Melinda, thank you once again!!

In love with this place! They were all soo kind and words cannot explain how amazing the massage was. My hair are pretty thick and coarse and I’ve been struggling with scalp issues. Even tho I was thr for a haircut which is pretty straight forward they still assessed my hair first, used treatments that would help my scalp and other treatments to make my hair soft. I’m loving my hair now, thanks guys.P.s. they gave me a cool goodie bag to which included the treatments that’ll help my scalp n hair issues