Monday, August 30, 2010

Of parlours and Pains

A lot of construction going on rite now near my place- from cream centers to body and soul 'healers'(thats the parlour inspiration for ths post)...
& I have been watching all these constructions happening on my way everyday from work to home...and hv been delited(nt as much as wen i saw cream center banner tho) to see the board hung up there..and decided to give it a try ths wknd wid sis- while our usual VLCC being nt available...
nw VLCC is one which might have started the chain culture(after lakme) of beauty parlours in India and was ranked highly on my list for a long time till a year or 2 ago wen they have started going in the reverse direction...
So now they are worse thn some parlours located at nook and corners in terms of time and appointments management and poor us have been the victim many times. Reasons for their failure acrdng to me:
1. Lack of customer centricity - attitude that since my parlour had a reputation and therz is no competition nearby I can choose to ignore customers
2. Too many cooks spoiling the broth - like evrywhere else the hierarchy is getting more imp and IN the WAY of its success..and its remaining a favourite
3. Blatant cheating - now me and my sis did overhear a conversation where the two "so called duty managers" where telling a GUY to go for mutiple facials within a week to have an effect on a day 15 days later (his engagement)and thn later giggling about it...- thankfully we arent so ignorant in this domain to be fooled like that....
4. Ownership- No responsibility for the appointments booked. they have messed ours atleast each time for all of the last 3 times with wait going upto more than an hour for my sis once....and yes they cant do anything to handle the situation ...
5. Now with couple more chains opening in the vicinity- Lakme opened a month or so ago, body and soul opening with full service range.. i think they might lose if they dont gear up.


There are a few more in the same road:
1. Chandan Sparsh- impressive exterior as well as reception(i went only till there)- bought a gift coupon for sis from there..she again had a poor experience....and Mom was totally upset abt the amount we spent on useless parlours(she went to a parlour after so much coaxing)..well it was difficult for us to explain not everybody is as badd...and i guess it will take a lot more time to coax her for anthr parlour visit :-/
2. limelite- okie dokie but i feel they could do better with a less transparent decor.
3. Aspirations - never been there- the board looks repelling for a rejuvenating experience
4. Body & Soul: Coming to the B&S mentioned up somewhere, they accepted our appointements which i made sure was for correct services after they called me back (20 min later post my call) as I was unsure of whether they were fully operational or not..
So we went there and since the place is still getting decked up but functional(as they so)we saw a lot that needs to be done. Some insigts from sis-
-> the cracked up statues (nt one but all) shew the way they can maintain stuff - if they cant keep the statues' skin hydrated hw will they keep their customers' ;)?
-> the cushions have been brought from someone's house (means they look pretty used up)
-> no hot water supply so for my pedi the employees kept on pouring hot water with small noodle serving sized bowls.. :-/
-> yeah but the chair was gud and the service too atleast for me...
though sis had a terrible experience as they ran out of that hot water as well by the time hers' started...
5. locals- have been to one or two nearby but they are soooo bad...they wont even file nails properly- the lesser said the better :-/

So now in dire need of getting gud parlours in vicinity..

5 comments:

  1. Finally... a long post from you. It is strange but I was planning to blog about the good services at my VLCC center.
    I guess VLCC is different from center to center. The one in A'bad is horrible but the one I visit in Mulund is good. They have messed up my facial but gave me a complimentary one and always try to get me to buy packages but I never give in. The service is also good and I get appointments even at short notice.
    Lakme is also like that... I had come across a very good one in Kolkata but in Gurgaon they gave me the worst hair cut of my life.
    I think choosing a parlour is more difficult than choosing a hubby... it is also about luck and trial and error.
    Good luck with your search for the perfect parlour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yeah I think so too...also may be mumbai effect...
    it was a gud center till a few years back but nw its loosing out and unfortunately that's teh only one i hv bn to here in bng

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi i just stumbled upon your blog....and i totally idnetified with the problem of good parlours,however in india atleast it is not that expensive....

    ReplyDelete
  4. I visit parlors only once or twice a year that too for a haircut. And I feel bad that I am not supporting the women working there. I hope you find a satisfactory one!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. @RaamPyari: welcome, hope u find smthng worth rdg..i did cmnt on ur blog and hv seen ur cmnts on other blogs sply sayesha's :) Yeah inxpensiveness is the only relief which is fading though
    @Giribala: wow thats great i was like that wen i was 16 :-/ now i visit evey mnth :(...kpng fingers crossed for the lookout!

    ReplyDelete