Woman Gave A 1-Star Review To A Stylist Who Had Been Doing Her Hair For 15 Years
TikTok drama always gets messy.
M-gucci, Odua Images / CanvaPro From tipping to leaving reviews, the landscape of service worker appreciation is truly a frightening place, especially when so much of small businesses’ success and livelihoods come from tips, quick referrals, or a human leaving a positive review.
That’s why it was such an insult for a salon owner and one hairstylist in particular when a long-term client (of almost 15 years) chose to leave a one-star review in response to rising prices. In a chaotic story that ultimately led to tons of social media input, both the salon’s owner and this customer shared their “two cents.”
After being with one hairstylist for 15 years, a woman decided to give the salon a 1-star review, which sparked an online battle with the owner.
“I’m not running a prison; I’m running a hair salon. You don’t get to choose how I run my business …You don’t have to come here.” Those were the first words the owner of White Opal Hair Salon said to customer Marlene in response to a seemingly nasty voicemail to the salon.
“I know you were a great client to her,” she said, “and we valued your business. But is this the way that we should be treated? You called me a 'snob' that I need to ‘get off my high horse.’”
All the drama started following the salon owner’s video — with thousands of comments celebrating this woman for “sticking up for her business and stylists.” However, after Marlene commented on the video, she quickly felt compelled to explain her side of the story.
“If I’ve been going to the same hairstylist and salon since it opened, there must have been a lot of stuff that happened to give them a one-star review,” she said. “That phone call had heated moments … but she edited out some important parts.”
Allegedly angry over a price increase, Marlene left a ‘nasty’ voicemail for the salon’s owner, which she responded to while recording on TikTok.
The salon owner said the reason for Marlene's heated voicemail was because she learned about the rise in prices after looking at her bank statement from the past few months. During that voicemail, she allegedly called the stylist and salon owner all sorts of names, suggesting the owner was “snobby and selfish” for how she acted while working.
While Marlene didn't elaborate on the voicemail, she did explain what’s been happening following the owner’s TikTok: “Death threats, text messages, phone calls, they came to our house.” Not only was she receiving a slew of “bully-like” comments and calls, but she said people had shown up to vandalize her home.
“You don’t leave a bad review for a salon or hairstylist after 15 years for no reason,” she stated. “I have a new hairstylist now, who fixed my crooked hair cut… my dry hair… I have moved on.”
Marlene said there were ‘many reasons’ for her review and blamed the salon’s owner for the ‘bullying’ she’s received, including over $70K in damages to her home.
Despite Marlene attempting to escape the drama, the salon owner has continued sharing the story with her viewers.
“We’ve been in business for about four years, and I think this is the fifth issue that’s been this crazy. For me to take time out of my day to make a video about it, my precious time, it has to really be worth it,” she said. “If I didn’t have to deal with this again for the rest of my life, that’d be cool.”
Of course, it’s impossible to ignore the attention and publicity this business has gotten from the drama. Not only is the incident creating record-setting views for her account, but they’re also attracting widespread attention from more than just hairstylists and customers.
With all that viewership, the customer, in this case Marlene, is bound to attract negative attention, regardless of who is “right or wrong.”
“Thank you,” Marlene wrote in response to a TikTok supporting her one-star review. “I’m the customer. Not only death threats…[they] came to my home [and] did $70K worth of damage. I have lawyers and police involved.”
There are probably more than two sides to this story, which can be hard to remember amidst the absurdity. But one thing is true: Bullying in any form should never be tolerated.
People are entitled to express their opinions — whether in a voicemail, a phone call, or on TikTok. Attacking people, sending death threats, and showing up at people’s homes is not something you’re entitled to, regardless of the moral high ground you believe you’re defending.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.