Alfangi Salon

My friend and I had also fallen for the promotional deal a while back because it had been a long time since we had gotten our hair cuts and she wanted us to get «pampered» for once since we were stressed out by our college courses. The day we went into the shop, we were obviously dressed as college students who were not from upper class families. But of course the stylists didn’t even care to take that into consideration before sucking us into their upselling tricks. They had two stylists split up my friend and I into two ends of the store. The guy I had as my stylist charged me an extra $ 80 for highlighting my hair. But the woman who took my friend did much worst by giving my friend an oil treatment without even telling my friend the price. When we finished, we were appalled by the price, which my friend didn’t have the money to pay. So I ended up having to pay roughly $ 500 for one visit just for the two of us. That promotional package deal, or whatever, did nothing to help. We might as well have gone to a proper salon elsewhere. We obviously never went back for the second part of the package if they were going to try to scam us like that again.

for your own sake, do not fall for those «specials» that they promote out on the corner of 45^th and 5^th ave. Remember what your mom used to say when you were young? «don’t talk to strangers»? well do just that, don’t fall for their trap where those alfangi employees talk you to death! Their service is horrendous and when you go they will definitely add extra crap to your bill that you didn’t even get and they’re really rough with everything that they do, manicures, blow drying your hair, etc. Please go somewhere else.
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
P. S. I’m still pretty upset with how crappy my manicure and haircut came out (this was about 3 yrs ago… yup still not over it)

Very high priced, and high end and the service wasn’t even that great. They swindled me into buying a package on 5^th ave. Once I used my package I never went back.

(Never got a chance to express how I felt in April but now since I use Unilocal to read review to make sure wherever I go is good, I feel the need to do the same back for you guys~)
LET. ME. TELL. YOU.
So yes, I went to Alfangi’s way back in April, with a woman approaching me. The people who approach you are OF COURSE very nice. I feel like they have no clue what they’re advertising for, however. Have they even checked out the place and the workers there?!
Receptionist– never looking happy when I visited 3x (got my services done at different days because they said I couldn’t do it all at once). Talked extra slow and loud when I misheard her instructions. well im sorry if you’re not treating your customers with care and respect.
Overall Service– HORRIBLE. I don’t see WHO can come to this salon paying full price for their services. gossiping about you here and there, and overall rude. If they werent rude, they were trying to hustle you for more money.
*manicure– 1) lady asked if I wanted wine or something to drink, I said just water, and she said okay. 5 minutes later, she came back with NO WATER and only a bowl to soak my nails in. 2) lady was acting like depressed when she was painting my nails. didn’t try to converse with me whatsoever. just wanted to paint and go~
*facial was literally a joke. lots of times she wanted me to get this and get that because it’ll clear up my skin and whatnot. no. so she left me in a warm room and it was uncomfortable because I was hot and the room was not a room because I could hear everyone talking outside. very NOT relaxing. took 5 minutes.
*massage– was good and the guy was very nice. however, he suggested I stop wearing one shoulder bags and I asked why and couldn’t give me a legit reason. just said because you’re wearing it on one shoulder, and will make your shoulders uneven. WELL NO DUH. tell me about what muscles it’s injuring or something. –_​_​–
*haircut– didn’t even get my hair cut because apparently they charge $ 60 extra for layered hair, long hair, or thick hair. seriously –_​-​’ so i never came back for my haircut and that was that.

Well, I gave in and got that package for $ 20 from some guy around St. Mark’s place
The haircut isn’t bad, but it isn’t spectacular. What really bothers me about this place is how they treat people who got the deal. It seems that regular customers get better treatment and they rush people who got the deal out of there.
The woman who cut my hair, Magaly, was the type to insult you to try to get you to pay for more services. She kept criticizing the way my hair color was done and she couldn’t stop saying my hair was dry. She even said «oh you really don’t care about your hair.» I’m sorry lady, my life revolves around more important things than hair. I guess if you have the package, request to have someone other than Magaly.
The receptionist was nice though and offers you a drink after you pay the $ 15 service fee. Overall, if you have the package and go in for the haircut, you at least won’t walk out crying about how bad your hair looks.

I was terrified to go here after reading all of the reviews, but I had already bought the promo deal and felt stuck.
I took the suggestions:
I asked for wine when I wanted it.
I stuck with a simple trim for my haircut.
I made it very clear that I wasn’t interested in any of the upsells.
Overall, my hair came out pretty good. I don’t think my standards are super high, but my haircut was similar to any other haircut I’ve ever gotten.
I looked at the rest of the services as extras. I made a point to do it all in one day (They will let you even though the brochure says you can’t. When I asked, they said I would «regret it» because it would take 5 hours. It took 2.5 hours.). Everything was fine. Nothing was over the top, nothing was bad.
When they said that I would have to wait between services in a discouraging way, I just asked for more wine and settled in — never took more than about 15 minutes. Maybe they just didn’t want me to drink too much wine so they hurried along. Doesn’t matter, the system worked.
I wouldn’t buy the promo again or pay for services here without it, but if you got suckered into the promo, don’t fret. Just go in with an open mind and keep your expectations in check. Good luck!

Sorry to add to the promo deal drama here …
Yes, I was approached by a guy on the street selling a package deal. He was nice enough — and though he spent most of the time talking about his other business ventures — I bought the deal (of course, not before talking him down from the ridiculous $ 70 he was asking originally). My thought was if this thing is a scam I don’t want to feel bad losing the $. I don’t know what got into me that day — I was a bit curious.
Alfangi Salon might benefit from a visit from Tabitha’s Salon Takeover. They’re doing all the wrong things. Stylists are pretty hit or miss. Either too friendly (read: fake; trying too hard) or not friendly at all. Lots of loud talking, gossiping, and big personalities. It’s not about the client. I waited around for my appointments (I had to go twice because they split up my package between «hair» and «spa» appointments). The skill set is mediocre at best — not worth the price of the «package deal» and certainly not worth the prices they charge regularly.
In regards to the package — keep your eyes peeled. If you blink, they’ll skip some services or try to sell you stuff. During my mini-​facial, the woman left the room every two minutes and all she did was rub some nondescript lotion all over my face; she actually dried my face with tissue paper! What?! And she tried really hard to sell me a more expensive, full facial.
On a positive note, the woman at the front desk was very friendly and professional. And the manicure was decent.
Here’s the thing: If you offer a deal or special in order to attract and keep clients, then you should blow their socks off with the services. I don’t care about a 5^th avenue address. I’ll go to a hole-​in-​the wall if the service is top-​notch.
I definitely don’t feel bad about the money. In my opinion, I paid what the services were worth. But it’s too bad, really.

In short, a horrible experience with completely unprofessional, rude, and borderline abusive behavior from several hairdressers.
Like many others, I bought two of the packages to share with a friend and we had one of the worst salon experiences I could imagine. We nearly left without receiving any services, even though we had prepaid. The woman who cut my hair kept insisting that I should spend over $ 200 on additional coloring services and refused to accept my polite, «Thank you, but not this visit» response. When she finally realized that I would only be getting a haircut, she spent 5 minutes cutting my hair and gave it a quick blow-​dry, and the only additional conversation we had consisted of her giving me snide remarks (or just thinly veiled insults) about my hair care. She then proceeded to follow me to the main desk and made sure that I tipped her.
My friend’s experience was far worse. Her hairdresser harassed her for over an hour, insisting that he would not cut her hair and would only agree to giving her a special color treatment that would cost over $ 300. I intervened when he finally made her start crying. Even as she was sitting in tears, he attempted to order me to leave; I firmly refused, but kept my temper and chose to not confront him for his offensive behavior since that would have further upset my friend. He finally stormed off in a huff after a full-​blown diva demonstration in which he flat out refused to work with her unless she agreed to his expensive hair treatment («I cannot work under these conditions!»). The manager then stepped in and did manage to give my friend a decent haircut, but this could not make up for our other experiences.
As if this were not enough, we didn’t receive all of the items on the promotional and all of the extra fees and tips jacked the price up significantly.
Had I known that this was the sort of treatment given to clients at the salon, I would not have gone even if the services had been free. If I could give this establishment a rating of 0, I would.

So I came on a promotional deal. Which I know the employees don’t always like.
The girl who did my mini-​facial was very nice. The girl who did my massage was nice too. And the massage was nice.
The hairstylist was awful. I can see why they have to promote the way they do. He had a horrible attitude as if he hated being there. He gave me attitude when he couldn’t up sell me and I only wanted what I had paid for in the promotion.

DO NOT GO TO THIS SALON!
I WOULD HAVE NEVER IMAGINED THAT A DAY OF PAMPERING WOULD END UP WITH 2 HOURS OF DISCUSSIONS, INSULTS, A POLICE INTERVENTION, AND WOULD COST ME MORE THAN $ 500!!!
A friend of mine and I had two $ 70 coupons we purchased which included a short massage, a European facial, scalp massage, shampoo, cut, and styling, manicure, and makeup application and it turned out to be a $ 500 DOLLAR NIGHTMARE!
We had been waiting for months for our promotion, so we were very excited when the day finally came to go to the salon. We arrived, and it was sucky to PAY AN EXTRA «REGISTRATION FEE» OF $ 15 (making the coupons actually $ 85), but we’ve been waiting for so long we just wanted our pampering to start. Our massagist was fantastic, and I requested a full facial and got a discount on it because of the coupon I had. So far so good. But it doesn’t stop there.
A NIGHTMARE:
Then we went to get our hair done. I asked about treatments, and they told be they costed $ 700 (which is INSANE for any salon) and that they would give me a promotion of 3 treatments for $ 300. I knew that was just too much, but I figured since they were all so nice, I could trust them. BAD IDEA.
All they did was wash my hair and spray it with some cheap product afterwards and that was it. My hair didn’t feel nourished or hydrated AT ALL! I’ve been having all sorts of treatments ever since I went blonde more than 14 years ago, and this was appalling. Normally it takes 3 hours to make a treatment, it should be applied by sections, left at least 30 minutes for it to settle, and occasionally be left under the heat. This one was just sprayed on in less than 3 minutes. As for my friend, she specifically requested ONLY what was on the coupon, and she said it several times because she is French so just to make it perfectly clear, but they did all her hair with highlights which looked awful and got charged $ 300 for it.
I told them none of this is what we agreed on and that we wouldn’t pay for any of it. Very politely we told them we are good customers and we were not looking for trouble, so we’d tip everyone well because they did treat us nicely, that perhaps something just went terribly wrong somehow, but that we would not pay for things we didn’t request or for treatments which were a HUGE FAKE. We told them we didn’t mean anything personal with them, but that we are good customers and in return we do expect them to be good business and therefore respect our concerns. We even tried to negotiate with them to come to an agreement, but that we would not pay such obscene prices for trying to rip us off. But they even started telling us But they just screamed at us, and insulted us, called us thiefs among other things, and CALLED THE POLICE!
We told them we are not robbing anyone, but we also don’t want to be robbed from our money. After an hour of discussions, I just wanted to get the hell out of there so I just paid my part, because at least I did request a hair treatment regardless of the &*@#$ I got on my hair. I just blame myself for being so stupid in believing in the goodness of people and the professionalism of a 5^th ave NYC salon. However, my friend was unwilling to pay for the full highlights she did not request, which seems reasonable. Until they called the police and forced her to pay and to settle the case in civil court.
I felt so bad for my friend, because the coupons were my idea, that I ended up paying her $ 70 for the coupon. So in total I ended up paying an outstanding $ 520, and the only thing I actually got from my coupon was a manicure and 20-​min massage and a loss of respect for people.

I deeply regret not coming to Unilocal before going to Alfangi. This was A SCAM and a complete rip off. Just to reiterate what everyone else on here has said: DO NOT BUY THE PROMO and DO NOT COME HERE.
I was convinced to do basic color and some gloss treatment on top of the haircut. I figure, what the hell, I only do this every so often so I spring $ 80 – 100 it’ll be ok. I didn’t think to ask the price because I’ve gotten color at salons before and it is always in this general range.
I was literally SHOCKED and FURIOUS when they rolled out a bill for $ 500 plus a forced tip of $ 120. This was completely misleading and manipulative, and just mean spirited. I told the woman I number of times I didn’t make a lot of money, which is why I got the promo. She was sweet during the cut, very flattering. I felt deceived and taken advantage of – NOT things you want out of your haircut experience.
I saw someone below filed a complaint with the Better Biz Bureau — I am going to do this as well. It’s infuriating.
I surely hope that other people do not fall for this as I stupidly did.

Ladies, don’t get your panties in a twist! Alfangi gave me a nice manicure today, a good massage, a relaxing little mini-​facial, and a mediocre glass of white wine. Overall experience? Not mind-​blowing great. Not an evil scam. But just good enough.
Yes, I also purchased the special promo deal in Bryant Park. Keyword there: PROMO deal. Of course the salon tried to up-​sell me into buying a full facial (and to be honest, yes I do need one!) But, like a strong little feminist, I said «no thank you, I don’t have the money now, but maybe I will book one in the future.» Bam. Done.
It seems to me like the salon has improved quite a bit due to all these Unilocal hissyfits. The service was fine (but not amazing) and I will definitely be going back to get my haircut and deep conditioning. Honestly, yes… if you purchased a $ 70 promo expecting a magic carpet ride to the Berkshires for a spa weekend with George Clooney, you will be disappointed.
So reality check: lose the naïveté, accept the fact that this is a business that hopes to turn a profit, say no to the hair gloss/​full facial/​highlights, and enjoy your cheap spa deal. Every single woman leaving that salon looked beautiful and had perfect hair, so Alfangi is doing something right!

APPROACH WITH CAUTION AT ALFANGI!
My boyfriend bought me the voucher pamphlet thing for myself and a girlfriend of mine. I’ve heard mixed reviews about salons like Alfangi that promise amazing services at discounted (basically free?) prices, but I went anyways.
Went for the SPA package (facial, wax, massage, nails) as I read terrible reviews about the hair cuts and I was too afraid to try it.
My friend and I showed up 15 min late to the appointment but it wasn’t an issue. Got there around 3pm on a Saturday and the place was PACKED. There wasn’t even room for me to sit in the waiting area. My girl friend and I were immediately separated, her to a facial, me to a manicure. After being seated for a manicure, I waited a full half hour in the chair for my manicurist to mosey on over. She was kind, however didn’t speak to me much because of the language barrier, I’m assuming. I couldn’t help but notice her obnoxious under arm hair right in my face and I’m not talking about a little bit of stubble either. To each their, own, but if you’re going to be in a SALON giving a SERVICE, for goodness sake wear something other than a TANK TOP to cover up your hairy pits. Anyways I was relieved the manicurist at least was taking care of me. As it turns out the manicure was miserable! She didn’t even know how to do a square-​cut and my long beautiful nails were filed down so shortly and unevenly — it was awful. I asked her to cut my cuticles –mistake!- She only cut the SKIN on either side of my nails, not the actual cuticle. Did she even know what a cuticle was? When she was done, I was moved to the drying station where I sat for maybe 3 minutes and I was rushed into the facial area. My nails were NOT dry at ALL and they ended up getting completely smudged and ruined. I didn’t even ask to get them fixed because I just didn’t want to bother.
Facial was OK, basic, and quick. The facialist was refreshingly talkative and polite. Waxing, OK. basic, and quick.
Massage — done by a male, which was okay, who spoke english, which was great. However I was prompted to take my shirt and bra off (he left the room) for the massage. I was sitting in the massage chair wearing a smock so the back was open and my chest was resting against the front of the chair. Yes, I was covered, kind of, but I was UNCOMFORTABLE. I have very large boobs and there was just not enough coverage for me (side boobs!) while the guy was massaging very close to side-​boob area. Was he gay? I have no idea. But I definitely would have appreciated a female masseuse!!! The massage felt great, otherwise.
Throughout the 3 hours I was there for the 3 simple services that could have easily taken 1 hour total, I felt completely rushed around and not-​catered to. Each service itself was TOTALLY rushed through, and then you had to sit and wait a half hour for the next one. NOT FUN.
I wasn’t offered the free wine but I wouldn’t have drank the cheap stuff anyways.
Unsure if I will return for the hair cut package…
DEFINITELY would NEVER return to pay any of the full-​price services.

Bad experiences:
I got my haircut (yes, by the promotion) with the snobbiest girl on the planet. I start off the conversation by asking where she was from. She was from Norway, and when I asked where in Norway she was from, she put down her comb, threw her hands up in the angry W shape, and demanded «What, so you know all about Norway now?!». This was our first interaction. It didn’t get better from there. I was actually uncomfortable being there she was so mean. I still tipped her because the haircut was decent but it is not fun getting your hair done from a woman who was clearly the meanest girl in high school and hasn’t changed since. I went back after for the other promotions and she has not even said hello back to me.
Good experiences:
Had a decent haircut and color another time with a very nice Cuban man. Also got a facial which was discounted and rather pleasant.

I read the reviews after buying the pamphlet but i figured I’d spent the money, how bad could it be?
It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either. Yolie did my haircut and she was nice. The receptionist was welcoming. The champagne flute of sangria was fine. My haircut is fine. I was needed, it’s short enough without being too short and it looked nice the way she blew it dry. Now that i’m at home drying and straightening it on my own it still looks nice, but nothing special.
The one thing I found weird was the salon itself. It’s on the 3^rd floor of a building on 5^th avenue. There were 2 customers there when I arrived who were just finishing up and yet I was the only customer there for the rest of my time in the salon. I’ve never seen such an empty place in the middle of Manhattan. The stylists, receptionist and the owner (?) all spoke to each other in Spanish the entire time, singling me out since I don’t speak much of it. Occasionally Yolie would smile and fill me in, but the overall feeling of the salon was a bit exclusionary and cold.

Wow.

Worst.haircut.EVER!
I also had a free promotion and thought «what the hell — how bad can it be?» Well, it was worse than I thought. I had hair that hit about halfway down my back. I asked for a few inches cut and came out with hair above my shoulders (about 7 inches). The guy who cut my hair (I didn’t even care to ask his name I was so annoyed) styled it in the most absurd way. I have never seen anyone style hair this way, except for a 5 year old with her Barbie dolls.
After I left the salon I immediately went home, washed my hair and restyled (which didn’t help much b/​c the cut was SO bad).
DO NOT GO TO THIS SALON! It’s not worth the free/​discount services.

Like everyone else that posted about this salon, I went because I got the promo off the street. The salesman was very good and we let him sell it to us. My sister and i got the promo so we thought 60 dollars for 2… not bad.
I made an appointment at 1 on a wkday and the receptionist was fine. I arrived at the salon location and I thought sketchy sketchy. I went to the actual salon and then I thought «hey this place isn’t that bad.» I was greeted by the receptionist and she was very friendly. She then introduced me to my stylist Celia.
As soon as I sat down she offered me a drink and then proceeded to give me a hair consultation. I told her, I didn’t really want much change except that I wanted to grow my hair long and make my hair more texturized.
She then took me to the hair wash station. The hair wash station was quite uncomfortable and she did not use anything to cover my clothes thus water was bouncing on me. Other than, the hairwash was quite rough. Possibly the shortest and roughest hair wash I have ever gotten.
After the hair wash she took about 10 minutes to cut my hair. She basically brushed it back, cut them straight, and then she razored my ends. Never have I been to a salon that just razors your ends. I’m sorry but when I go to a salon I expect attention, care, and thought. Sorry, but I did not get any from her! When she finished she asked me what I thought and the hair was obviously uneven. When I brought up the hair was uneven she just proceeded to cut more off. After that it was still uneven but she insisted that it was fine.
The haircut was so bad and the ends were so choppy I had to go to a REAL salon the next day to get a REAL haircut.
The only reason I am giving it 2 stars is because they were nicer than my expectations.
I will update about my 2^nd day experience when I complete it.

OK I am so glad I didn’t even make it here. I was in Times Square and a salesman asked me where I got my hair cut, and then tires to lure you into talking. He keeps cutting the price and even starts naming which salos are scams, and states that Alganfi isn’t!
When I finally left, he complained that I wasted his time and was so rude. I had already got tricked into buying such a voucher for Nardi so I wasn’t about to buy another one.
Bottom line: NEVER BUY THOSE HAIR PROMOTION VOUCHERS! I’d rather go to a good salon, spend $ 100 and get a good hair cut, without being pushed into promotions, or worry about hidden charges.

Eeek… I guess I should’ve read these reviews before I went! I was also snagged by a street guy and he sold me TWO packages for $ 60 so I figured $ 30 wasn’t going to be too bad.
ONE THING that is ghetto is that when you come in to pay your «$ 15 first visit fee,» they charge you tax! That is soo weird. so you end up paying $ 16.31 and not a flat $ 15. I thought that was kind of ghetto.
I agree with what everyone said… the ladies were all talking in Spanish so it was kind of rude. They’re not too polite and they claim to be upscale and even though the place looks really nice— it’s ghetto. Only a couple people there are nice. My friend had a really nice girl, although she convinced her to get $ 120 hi-​lites! I was able to talk myself out of the pressure of getting color done because I said I was going to get a perm this weekend.
She cut my hair and seemed extremely confident, but she did everything SUPER FAST. Usually shampooing is the best part and I can fall asleep through it, but when I was getting my hair shampooed it was really rough and water was running all over my face & back! Then the cut was done super fast. I think in total it took 1 hour for waiting, wash, cut, dry and style. It seemed like they wanted me outta there ASAP. Also I was offered a drink once, but then I guess they forgot about it. Since I was waiting for my friend, I just got up and got my own drink.
My hair was trimmed a lot shorter than i would have liked and I was very nervous when she was using the curling iron on me — it touched my face & scalp several times (that’s how close it was!) but it wasn’t touching long enough to really burn me. Also I noticed on my friend and for myself that when they’re drying your hair, tons of smoke is coming out of the blow dryers. They use the hottest heat for hair drying so your scalp burns just a little. When the girl teased my hair, I didn’t realize at the time but I guess she did it really hard because the top of my hair ITCHED like crazy afterwards and I was wondering why. My friend told me later that it seemed like a really rough teasing job!
Pretty interesting experience, esp the fact that the girl knew she was being reviewed.
Overall… the salon is overly-​confident/​not humble, too pricey, shady at heart. It’s basically a bunch of pretty pictures all over a ghetto experience. Don’t judge a salon by its cover!