.png)
Quick answer: When a client rings your salon or spa to complain, they're handing you a second chance that most unhappy clients never give. Pick up, let them say the whole thing without cutting in, apologise for how it landed, and offer a clear fix: a free correction, a redo, or a refund where that's fair. Then write it down and follow up. Handled this way, the client often stays longer than the ones who never had a problem at all. Handled badly, or sent to voicemail, they tend to reappear in your reviews.
Here's the part that changes how you answer: most of your unhappy clients will never call. Looking at the figures Qualtrics pulls together, only about one in 26 dissatisfied customers actually says anything; the other 25 go quiet and book somewhere else next time. So the annoyed person on the line is the useful one. They're telling you what went wrong while you can still put it right, and while they still want you to.
That's the frame of mind to answer with. A complaint isn't an attack on your work. It's the cheapest feedback you'll ever get, from a client who is asking to be kept. Here's how to take the call without losing the client or your composure.
Start with what a single bad experience costs. In Zendesk's CX Trends research, 63% of consumers said they'd switch to a competitor after just one poor experience. In a trade where a client might come in every four to six weeks for years, losing one over a call you fumbled is an expensive way to save five minutes.
The upside runs the other way too. When a complaint is handled well, it can leave the client more loyal than they were before the problem. A Journal of Marketing study written up by the American Marketing Association found that the link between good complaint recovery and loyalty is strongest in competitive markets and among higher-spending customers. A salon or spa is both, so the few minutes you spend on a complaint call pay back more than they would in most businesses.
There's a simple reason to care about keeping the client rather than replacing them. The Qualtrics complaint guide points to Bain research that lifting retention by 5% can raise profit substantially, because a kept client keeps spending without the marketing cost of winning a new one. The complaint call is retention happening in real time.
Most complaint calls go wrong in the first thirty seconds, when the person at the desk gets defensive and starts explaining. Here's the order that actually works.
Don't interrupt, and don't start building your defence while they talk. Salon iQ's guide to handling salon complaints puts listening first: let the client have their say, right to the end. Shopify's advice for dealing with angry customers is the same, and adds a practical reason: cutting in tends to escalate things, so let them vent and take notes while they do. People calm down faster once they feel heard.
You can say sorry that a client is upset without admitting the cut was wrong or the therapist was late. Acknowledge the feeling first, then move to the facts. Resist the urge to argue the point even when you think the client is mistaken, because winning the argument usually means losing the client. Ask what specifically isn't working: the colour, the shape, the wait, the charge. The more precise they get, the easier the fix.
On the phone, tone is all the caller has to read. Aircall's notes on difficult calls suggest taking a breath, lowering your voice a little and slowing your pace, which signals that you're listening and in control. A rushed or clipped voice reads as defensive even when your words are polite.
Once you understand the problem, say what you'll do about it. For most cut and colour issues that's a complimentary correction, and it helps to make clear there's no charge for the redo. Where the result can't be put right, or the client would rather not sit in your chair again, a refund is the cleaner answer. Don't over-promise to get off the phone; a fix you can't deliver turns one complaint into two.
A handful of calls come up again and again. Zolmi's rundown of common salon complaints covers the usual suspects, and each has a sensible way to answer.
I hate my cut or colour. This is the most charged one, because the client is upset about how they look. Don't diagnose it over the phone. Acknowledge it, invite them back in good light with the original stylist or a colleague, and check the result against your consultation notes before deciding what went wrong.
I was kept waiting. Apologise for the time, don't list the reasons it ran late, and offer something concrete: a discount on the visit, a product, or priority on the next booking. A running-late problem is really a scheduling problem, so note it and look at the day's column later.
I was charged more than I expected. Walk through the ticket calmly, line by line. Often it's an add-on or a longer colour that wasn't flagged at the desk. If your team didn't quote it clearly, meet the client partway and tighten how prices get confirmed on the next booking.
The service wasn't what I booked. This usually traces back to the booking call, not the chair. Fix it for the client first, then look at where the wires crossed when the appointment was taken.
The call isn't the end of the job. Write the complaint down somewhere your whole team can see it, with what was said and what you offered, so the next person who speaks to that client isn't starting cold. Treat the complaint as a clue, too. The American Marketing Association's piece on complaining customers makes the point that one person's gripe often points to something several quieter clients have already noticed and said nothing about.
Then follow up, and do it quickly. The Qualtrics guide cites Harvard Business Review research that resolving a complaint fast, inside about five minutes, leaves the customer willing to buy again. You won't always close it out on the first call, but a short follow-up message or a call after the correction tells the client you meant it, and that's usually what turns a bad visit into a kept booking.
Here's the trap. Your busiest clients, and your angriest ones, often call when the desk is slammed or after you've closed. If that call hits voicemail, most people won't leave a message. Some just leave instead, and some write the review you'd have talked them out of.
Reviews are where an unanswered complaint goes to live. In BrightLocal's 2025 Local Consumer Review Survey, only around 4% of people say they never read online reviews, and the clear majority expect a business to respond when one is left. A public, calm reply to a bad review does help, and The Salon Business has a good walkthrough on responding to salon reviews. Catching the complaint on the phone first is better still, because you fix it in private before it's posted in public.
Which means the real job is making sure the complaint call gets answered at all. That can be a second person on the desk at peak times, an overflow line, or an AI receptionist that picks up every call, including after hours. A good one takes down what the client is upset about, routes an angry caller straight to a manager, or flags the call so someone rings back fast. CallPad is built for exactly that: the phone always gets answered, the details get captured, and an upset client reaches a person quickly instead of venting into a review box.
Let the client finish before you respond, and don't interrupt or get defensive. Apologise for how the experience felt, ask what specifically went wrong, and offer a clear next step such as a free correction, a redo, or a refund where it's fair. Write the details down while you're on the call, and agree a time to follow up.
For most cut and colour problems, a complimentary correction with the original stylist or a colleague is the normal fix, and it keeps the client with you. Offer a refund when the result can't be put right or the client would rather not come back. A written redo and refund policy helps your team handle these calls the same way every time.
Stay calm, slow your speech and lower your voice a little, since tone is all the caller has to go on over the phone. Let them vent, then reflect back the main problem so they know you heard it. If the call turns abusive, it's fair to say you want to help and will carry on once the shouting stops.
An AI receptionist makes sure the complaint call is answered instead of going to voicemail, takes down the details, and can route an upset caller to a manager or flag the call for a fast callback. That way a frustrated client reaches a person quickly rather than venting in a public review.
We use cookies for analytics and ads. Accept or reject non-essential cookies. Privacy policy
