Complaint Review: Raymond's Boutique Salon - Peter Raymond

Peter Raymong is by far the best hair stylist I have ever experienced in my 60 plus years. People that complain usually don't want to pay a bill...Peter may not be the cheapest...but the old saying you get what you pay for. 

I 'd hapily pay extra any day for the incredible service AND results that Perer provides. A True proferssional that could hold his own with the best of Beverly Hills or anywhere else on the planet.

He sure has done great things for myself and my family.

I'll have to pray for Jaime's soul. Her wedding was 1 1/2 years ago, and she is still hanging on to the anger. I spent more time on her that day than any other bride. Even went to do last minute touch-ups on her at the site of the wedding, with no extra charge. She was having the photographer take many photos of her getting ready, so I don't know how she could say I made her late. Before leaving, asked her if everything was ok, and she responded with "This is just what I wanted" and how she wanted to settle the rest of her bill, do you want to get back to me. "No I have it in my purse, let me get it for you" Thanking me as she was leaving me going out the door to go down the aisle. Tried to cash her deposit check, at a branch of her bank, but hey wanted a large fee, so I deposited it at my Credit Union of 12 years. Transvestites usually wear a lot of eye make-up, and she accuses me of using very little. The goal is to make the bride look soft yet still pronounced. Have never had any complaints on any of my wedding procedures, or celebrity clients, or films, etc. This is the first! Three days after the wedding the photographer called me and asked if I had seen my e-mail (he had received the same). Jaime had requested all her money back and was not happy with my services. I responded by saying "Isn't she still supposed to be on her Honeymoon?" I don't know if we were at different weddings, but I had done everything in my power to make her day as successful as possible. It was one of the Hottest days of the year, my air conditioner is in my studio only. So I was giving them all refreshments and music to soothe them. Dont know how I could of done more!  Peter Raymond

My bridesmaids were obviously very unhappy with Peter Raymond's "services". They were so unhappy that they all wrote letters to the BBB. I have saved all of this documentation so in case you decide you may want to use Peter for your wedding hair and make-up, I will send you the whole file, pictures and all of what was sent to the BBB including all information of everything that happened that day as said by each bridemaid that was there, including his "rebuttel" to our letters which was very distorted and extremely unprofessional. He also tried to make me look like a liar by placing multiple lies within his letter. Here are their letters below:

BRIDESMAID #1 - First of all, a bit of clarification here Jaimie never collected money from her bridesmaids, this "special treatment " was one of her gifts to the most special friends in her life, as her treat... the money the Jen and I "collected" were from checks that Jen and I gave to Jaimie that morning for her paying for our hotel rooms up front, and we were paying her back that morning for. Jen and I left the "salon " which I use the term losely, as it was where the "stylist and make up 'artist' " lived as well, in a sweltering small apartment which was far from being comfortable or properly air conditioned. Jen and I left for approxamately 1 hour to get the checks cashed so Jaimie could pay this self proclaimed stylist ( of which in the cramped room where we were being "groomed" did I see any licenes to practice cosmotology displayed... ) in fairness, me and my fellow bridesmaids didnt really have much of a chance to investigate much more than the living area of this apartment, and the very small and cramped room that our hair and makeup was being done in ( please see the pictures that Peter should have sent in regards to the coroboration of his account of these events, or, I'm sure Jaimie will be happy to provide these in leiu of them being sent by this so called : stylist" )

During the time that Jennifer and I were retreiving the funds to pay the "stylist" in full, from the brides account, My friend, and her cousin's hair had been set into hot rollers.... which to their chargrin did not want... I ,myself, asked Jaimie why her hair was in rollers, as it was my understanding that she wanted her hair up, as she though it would better compliment her dress. Jaimie replied to me that she did tell Peter that she wanted an updo, but he wanted to see how it would look down first , and if she still wanted it up, he would make sure it was done. No make up had been done on either woman at this time . After Jennifer and I returned, instead of starting on our hair, he started on the makeup of Jaimie and her cousin. I have known Jaimie for 6 years, at no time during our friendship has she ever worn blue eyeshadow, as the wedding photos clearly depict she was wearing blue eyeshadow that was applied by Peter. Ihis seemed very out of character for Jaimie, and as the Maid of Honor, I probably should have inquired about it.... unforutnately I did not.... As far as Bobbie Jo's make-up goes, I did not hear the request for no grey or silver eyeshadow, but I can tell you , as a woman, I do believe her eyes were quite overdone.... I'm not sure what effect Peter was going for with that.

Then came Jennifer's updo of her hair. Yes Jennifer has an abundance of glorious hair that would make any model jealous, but using a scathing comment that she had the hair of 3 people, isnt that a bit much, after all.... isnt dealing with people and their physical gifts ( as I would definately interpret this to be ) his trade by choice ???? Why such a complaint ?

Then, it was my turn for my hair to be done.... I told Peter , with no room for interpretation that I wanted my hair up, as I can very well do my hair on a regular basis, and I wanted something different ( as all of us did ) for this special occasion . That is the one thing I did not have a complaint about, is my hair..... unfortunately my makeup was a different story.. I am 36 years old and have been doing my own makeup since I was 13... unfortunately I lived thru the tradgedy of style that was the 80's.... blue eyeshadow will haunt me the rest of my life due to that decade... that is why I found it so unbelievable that the Bride had blue eyeshadow on , that clashed with her striking green eyes....

back to the point at hand.... my make up made me look tremendously washed out and even when I have gone to Mary Kay facials.... the representative always has had a disposable mascara wand for each and every person at the presentation... Peter had none, no mascara at all. Peter tried to play it off as if I needed no additional enhancemnt ( which I am the first to admit my shortcommings ). Unfortunately when it comes to my eyelashes, if I have no eyeliner or mascara, my eyes get lost , especially in pictures.... This man calls himself a professional, and has never had a complaint... I highly doubt that . Please see what I look like on an every day basis compared to what my makeup looked like on the most important day of my best friends life so far.....

Ok, now we come to the bride, and her cousin, Bobbie Jo's hair.... Jaimie had already said to me that she wanted her hair up, and Peter had wanted to see how it turned out as being left down... however Bobbie Jo was undecided on if she wanted a complete up do, or a partial updo with just the front half off her face, but she didnt want her hair to look like it did evey other day, she wanted something special. Unfortunately, this is not what she recieved. I am not a jealous woman by any means, but Bobbie Jo's hair... is something that borders on perfect. I have never seen this girl with a bad hair day. Even when we returned to our hotel rooms at 3am her hair was still perfect. I have Known Bobbie Jo, thru Jaimie for about 5 years... and as I have said, never a bad hair day, no baseball caps ,she doesn't need to hide her hair .Which is why she was so disapointed when Peter left her hair down after she has specifically asked for something different to be done. And believe me, Bobbie Jo did say something to Peter, his repy was... " But it looks so romantic, I think it should be left down ." No regard was given to what the customer wanted.... As for Jaimie's hair, the same response was given... did her hair look bad, no, by all means she was a beautiful bride,however there was more than one time that she did tell Peter that she wanted her hair up, that she had an idea already in her mind of what she wanted to look like. At no time in my presence did she ever tell the "stylist" she she wanted her hair left down, but again he said it made her look "romantic" and "elegant" . Pretty words from somone, in my opinoin wanted to do the least amount possible for the most money he could get.

Even when I asked if she was setteling , and not getting what she asked for , Peter never offered to fix it, he just kept giving his own opinoin on what he thought and didnt give a second thought to what his customer wanted, and kept advising him time and again. And by the way, Jaimie never jumped up and excalime " this is exactly what I wanted ! " because she didnt want what she got. The reason that the bride left her hair and blue eyeshadow the way it was is because we all though that 4hours ( for 4 women to have hair and makeup done would be sufficant time to get to the wedding destination with plenty of time to spare and get our dresses steamed , and the Bride ready for he wedding day.

In parting, the comment that Barbie was the most beautiful doll of all, just seems to me the "beautician " putting his own opinoion before anyone elses. Barbie, is a comercial, an idol , and unrealistic expectation. Cookie cutter if you will, and women with a brain , or any sense of self, have their own style, and take that iconic comparison as an insult that a woman should be plastic, maliable, and made to do somone elses bidding , come in a box and not have any ideas of her own inside the pretty little manufactured wrapper. I for one, and I'm certain that my friends will agree... being compaired to Barbie, is a most fantactical insult, that shouldnt even need to be explained.

BRIDESMAID #2 -I had my hair and make-up done by Peter Raymond at his "Boutique" on September 6th. I was part of a wedding party of 4 girls(including myself). We arrived ontime at 10:30am as instructed, we were there for at least 4 hours, and Peter was still not done. He was completely unprofessional, unorganized, and refused to listen to our requests. He did what he wanted to do and not what we wanted him to do. The brides continual requests to put her hair up were ignored. My requests for my hair and makeup were ignored. There is no way Peter could have gotten the impression he did a good job.

I personally was very upset, he did to my hair what I can do myself, and I did let him know that. My makeup was terrible, he used blue eyeshadow and purple mascara! Peter was completely aware I was very upset. I tried fixing my hair and makeup right infront of him, because I want to be sure he saw how upset I was.

My cousin paid for this terrible experience out of her own pocket for all of us girls. Speaking for myself Peter should not have charged my cousin for what he did to me, at the least. He was so unorganized he managed to run out of time! Any other Salon or Boutique I have been to could have had all four of us done within that time frame. He knew he was working on 4 girls he should have managed the time better, and maybe listened to our requests. He came to the ceremony spot completely unprepared, using my curling iron and after my cousin gave up on requesting her hair up Peter was attempting to put a clip in her hair. I had suggested to put the clip up a little higher and Peter said to me maybe you should do it then! So I did. This is not something a "stylist" should do.

Like I said completely unorganized, unprofessional, and that just still does not sum up this experience. I do have some video of this experience if you wish to view it.

BRIDESMAID #3 - Im writing in response to an astonishing reply by Peter Raymond in reference to Jaimies BBB complaint.

I must state that I have a pretty extensive background in wedding participation. I have been a bridesmaid in 4 weddings in the past 2 years and was the maid of honor in on of them. Hair and make-up services were used for all 4 weddings. As a business professional, I was quite surprised at the content of Mr. Raymonds reply as it contained many spelling and grammatical errors. Surely someone who has been in the business 27 years would have figured out how to communicate at a professional level by now.

Some of Mr. Raymonds rebuttal is in fact true, however most of it false or very distorted. He was correct that the bride was the first to receive her hair and make-up services. It should also be noted that it was a very warm day in September which made for a warm, humid environment in Mr. Raymonds salon as the air conditioning was not turned on. There was a fan in the salon area, but for the most part only one client and Mr. Raymond would occupy the salon area at a time due to space constraints. This contributed to a very uncomfortable for the remaining clients as we were at Mr. Raymonds salon over 4 hours. Now, after waiting patiently in these conditions for such a long time, its natural that a make-up application received 4 hours prior would begin to lose its finished touch. It appeared from the beginning that Peter had every intention of touching up Jaimies make-up after he completed the services for the bridesmaids.

Mr. Raymond stated in his letter that Jaimie was back in his chair by 2:45. She never said she couldnt make up her mind. She expressed yet again that she wanted to put her hair up as she was wearing a strapless gown and thought it would look strange with her hair down. Mr. Raymond tested her hair a little and kept pressuring that this down style was more romantic.

I cant say that he absolutely refused to put her hair up as requested, but he kept promoting alternatives. A few minutes later, he offered to accompany us to the wedding venue to complete the final touch-up because we ran out of time at the salon. A destination charge was not discussed at that time as I believe Mr. Raymond knew HE had run out of time. This would lead me to believe he felt obligated to accompany us to the wedding venue to finish the job.

We gathered our belongings and drove to the wedding venue about 5 miles away. There is no way we could have made it to the wedding venue by 3:00 as Mr. Raymond suggested if Jaimie was just sitting down in his chair at 2:45.

When we arrived at the wedding venue, the photographer was also onsite to take pictures of the bridesmaids while they were getting ready. The photographer clicking away at this camera while we were putting on the finishing touches in no way interfered with the schedule.

By the end of the day, Jaimie was quite frustrated with Mr. Raymond, but was determined not to let it spoil her special day. The wedding had already been delayed so she paid him because she did not want to make an unpleasant scene on her wedding day. Thousands of dollars were spent on this wedding and she could not leave her guests and other vendors waiting any longer.

To my knowledge, Mr. Raymond agreed that we would meet at this salon between 10:30am and 11am on the day in question. We all arrived together at 10:30 as Mr. Raymond stated. As a beauty professional, if he didnt think 4 hours would be enough time to complete hair and make-up services for 4 women, he should have suggested to Jaimie that we arrive earlier. As Jaimie is not a beauty professional, she would not have known how long it would take for Mr. Raymond to complete his services.

Mr. Raymond tries to make a remark about libel in his reply, but apparently they didnt teach him the meaning or spelling of that word in cosmetology school. Mr. Raymond is the one making false claims in his reply. He stated that Jaimie jumped up and loonked in the mirror and that was just what she wanted. Now, being a close friend of Jaimies for over 10 years, I have never witnessed Jaimie jump up and say anything. This was also the case on the date in question. He also said that Jaimie collected money from the bridesmaids on the morning of the wedding. However, I paid absolutely nothing for my hair and makeup services. I even have a copy of an email sent to all of the bridesmaids months before the wedding stating that we (bridesmaids) would not have to pay for these services. Mr. Raymond suggested in his reply that Jaimie didnt actually have her wedding photos re-done. However, I know that she most definitely did have her wedding pictures re-done. I have personally seen her new pictures with her styled up and they look magnificent!

Jaimie and her husband spent thousands of dollars on a first-class, destination wedding in San Diego and were by no means trying to cut any corners by trying to get something for free. They are smart consumers who merely want to receive the quality of services they paid for.

-- So, there you have it. FOUR unhappy people.

It never ceases to amaze me how an individual can embark on such a focused mission in an attempt to destroy the sterling reputation of a true artist like Peter Raymond.  My wife and I both are clients of Raymond's Salon and have been for some time.  Neither of us has ever had a negative experience nor have we ever been the least bit dissatified with the results of our regular visits to Raymond's Salon.  On many occasions we have booked appointments at Raymond's in advance of a major event in our lives and have always felt Peter would never allow us leave his salon looking anything less than our very best.  Moreover, he has never failed to meet our sometimes extremely "picky" expectations.  To that end we feel obligated to come out in his defense, share some of our personal experiences, and comment on what we feel is a single customer's unbelievable and perhaps unjustified complaint.

We would like to start by simply pointing out that this customer is the only one that we have ever known about that has had less than a perfect experience at Raymond's and had posted a negative review in the lengthy history of Raymond's Salon.  We also personally know several people that avail themselves of Peter Raymond's expertise on a regular basis.  After first reading this customer's complaint we were so astounded by its content it prompted us to actually take the time to do some additional research on Peter Raymond and Raymond's Salon and could not find a single negative review on Peter or his salon.  In fact, we only encountered reviews which contained the positive experiences and glowing comments of several of Raymond's clients.  This fact alone would lead an educated consumer to the conclusion that perhaps this customer herself was actually the problem.    

We did learn however, that Peter has performed his "magic" on the hair and faces of several motion picture celebs and had been involved in the daily hair and makeup of the starring actors and actresses in a recent motion picture.  This was a fact Peter had never shared with us and we can only imagine he didn't do so because he felt it unneccessary and could posssibly be taken by a client as "bragging" about himself and his successes.

The only part of this customer's complaint that holds some truth in our eyes is the statement she made "A normal professional would take 15 minutes to do make-up, and 30 minutes for a hairstyle per person, he took 5 hours....".  I would believe this statement wholehearedly if Peter Raymond was what she termed as a "Normal professional".  However, Peter Raymond is NOT a normal professional. Peter Raymond is a hair and makeup artist.  If this customer had wanted what she termed as a "Normal professional" working against the clock she would have been much better served by the "normal professionals" plying thier trade at shops the likes of SuperCuts or other local low-end unisex salons.  Apparently she must be drawing from her past experiences at these types of shops and likely had never availed herself of the talents and expertise of a true hair and makeup artist. 

A customer of Raymond's Salon would never expect to have thier makeup completed in 15 minutes nor their hair completed in 30 minutes and Peter would never expect any client of his would want this type of service.  If he did, he would likely tell the client in a polite way to obtain thier services elsewhere.  If my wife or myself were ushered into and out of his salon in 30 minutes we would never return.  In summary, Peter WILL keep you in his chair until you look perfect.  Every client is different and if reaching that certain level of perfection took Peter five hours, you can be sure in the case of this client it must have been absolutely necessary.

Any artist whether in hair and makeup or sculpture and painting will take advantage to some degree of the artistic license the client has handed them.  Sometimes it becomes necessary for an artist to gently disagree with a client either because of the client's lack of sophistication or perhaps because the finished "look" would not be exactly right for the client.  Several times in the past Peter had disagreed with myself or my wife on the "look" we wanted.  This is what any client would or should expect from an artist.  We can only say "thank you" to Peter for sharing his concepts and ideas because if he had followed our wishes exactly we would have walked out Raymond's looking exactly as if we had just completed a visit to SuperCuts or another low-end neighborhood salon.

We empathize with Peter Raymond's in his position with this customer.  As independent business owners ourselves we know how hard it is sometimes to deal with that "one customer from hell" that cannot be satisfied no matter what is done.  We do not envy Peter in the least for having run into his "one customer from hell" and it shows in her both her words and her actions that no matter what he does for her this customer will NEVER be happy.  If a simple refund would move her anywhere close to a state of being happy we are sure knowing Peter for as long as we have he would have already done so.  My wife and I do hope however that in sharing the personal experiences we have had with Raymond's Salon and sharing our comments and viewpoint with other consumers like ourselves, perhaps a clearer "picture" of Peter and his business will emerge which will allow potential clients of Raymond's to make a more intelligent decision.

Patrick & Patricia, San Diego California, USA 

Several months ago, I contacted Peter Raymond because I was looking for a make-up and hairstylist for my wedding in San Diego, CA. He said that he was available for my wedding on September 6th, 2008, and sent me a couple of pictures to see a bride that he had just worked with so I could see if I liked his work. I looked at the pictures and sent him the $450 deposit to schedule him for September the 6th. The total for me and my three bridesmaids for hair and make-up was $725.

About 7 days later, my bank called me and left an urgent voicemail on my work phone saying that Peter was at their Wells Fargo branch in San Diego trying to cash my check. They asked me if I had written it to him because he didn't have an account with Wells Fargo, and they found it odd that this man didn't have a regular bank account to cash the check. I called the bank back and spoke with the teller who had called. I told her it was ok for him to cash the check, but she said he had already left. I let another 3 days go by, and I emailed Peter and asked him why I didn't receive a copy of our contract since he had cashed the check and it cleared my account on May 5th, 2008, he didn't respond to my email so I called him two days later and he said that I didn't need a contract. I thought this was strange because he is the only vendor that I worked with for my wedding who didn't give me a contract. I didn't ask him any further questions and we politely ended the conversation.

About a month later, I called and asked him if he would do a run-through with me before the wedding so we could discuss how I wanted to wear my hair and make-up. I told him it was important to me to have my hair up because of the humidity in San Diego. He sounded offended and said "I assure you that I work very diligently and there is no need to do a run through. I've worked on Martha Stewart as well as several other celebrities and I assure you that there will not be a problem." So, I told him I would call him about week before the wedding and we could discuss it then.

I called Peter before the wedding, around August the 28th. He answered the phone, and I said "hello", he immediately responded and said "Have you calmed down yet?" I was shocked that he said this because I had been nothing but calm with him. I told him that I was sorry if I had come across as not being calm, it must have been because I sounded stressed out. At this point I wanted to ask him for my deposit back and find someone else, but I didn't and I decided since he said in so many words that he is the best in the business I would just put up with his attitude and continue to be nice. I asked him again about the run-through, and he said there was no need for it. I asked him what time we (meaning me and my three bridesmaids) should arrive at his salon (which turned out to be a small room in his shack) on September 6th. I told him that I must be at the wedding site at 3:00 because I need to get ready for pictures at 3:30, and walk down the aisle at 4:00. He said that if we got there at 10:30 or 11:00 that would give us plenty of time. Well, I figured that he was the professional and he knew best, so I told him we would see him at 10:30.

Finally, the big day, September 6th arrived. My bridesmaids and I promply arrive at his salon at exactly 10:30am. We say hello to Peter and he decides that he would start working on me, and next the bridesmaids. He is the only person working there. So, I sit in the chair and he says that he is going to put my hair in rollers. I told him that I want to wear my hair up, not down (as I had put in an email to him before). He said that's fine, but for now we're going to curl it with the rollers. So, again, I figured he's the professional and I let him put the rollers in my hair.

He then moved on to another one of my bridesmaids, Bobbie, and put her hair in rollers. She told him too that she wanted her hair up, not down. He said that's fine, but for now I want to curl your hair. We aren't worried too much at this point; we figure that he's the professional so we let him do his work. Next, he put me back in the chair and started to do my make-up. I told him that we should probably save that part for last, but he still wanted to do my make-up so early. He said he would "touch me up" before the wedding. He pulled out three colors of eye shadow, green, blue, and purple. I told him that I didn't want a lot of color on my face, I want to look natural and showed him the colors I brought with me and even told him he could use them. I said I want people to know who I am when I get married. He again told me not to worry and that this make-up would look fantastic.

He put a lot of foundation on my face and put on the eye shadow. He tried to put mascara on me but he couldn't seem to get it right, plus, it was purple! He didnt have black! I told him that I wasn't sure about the eye shadow and that it was more color than I wanted. He told me to wear it around for a while and see what I thought about it. Next, he put Bobbie back in the chair and pulled out one of the rollers. He then said that her hair wasn't holding the curls and put it back in the roller. At this point my bridesmaids and I are getting nervous. It's already noon and our hair is still in rollers! He hasn't even touched the other two bridesmaids yet, my make-up looks bad, and he is jumping from one person to the next without finishing the last person. But, it was too late to go somewhere else. We were from out of state, and didn't know where else to go. Regardless, I didn't stress about it. I figured maybe, just maybe this guy would make us look beautiful for the wedding and he saves the best tricks for last, or something.

Next, he puts bridesmaid Jenn in the chair and does her hair. We could see that he didn't know what he was doing. He later commented that she had enough hair for four people in a very rude manner! He didn't have the correct clips to hold her hair out of the way while he was putting it up, and the only things he had were bobby-pins. So, at this point it's starting to get really late. The girls and I are getting worried that he is working so slowly, and Jenn's hair is looking like a rats nest.

Next, he does Lissa's hair. Lissa tells him that she doesn't want bangs, but he doesn't listen to her and gives her bangs anyway. He said "I like the bangs" and spayed so much hairspray in them that now Lissa had bangs weather she wanted to or not. Here is where we realize that without a doubt that this guy is doing the exact opposite of what we want him to do. Everything that we request, he does the exact opposite!

Next, he puts me in the chair and takes out my rollers. I told him how I wanted my hair up, he then told me that he likes my hair down, and that I should think about it some more. I told him again "I know that I don't want my hair down, I want it up. That is why I brought those barrettes." He again said "I like it down" "I'm going to use those barrettes on the bridesmaids". I told him again that I bought them for my hair, and he said that he still didn't want to use them, and moved onto the next girl.

Next, the photographer tells Peter "if the bride wants her hair up, you should put it up." Peter replies with "but I like it down". The photographer looks angry and leaves the room. Now Jenn is back in the chair, and he does her make-up. Next, he puts Bobbie in the chair and does her make-up. Bobbie told him what shades of make-up she wanted. She said no silvers, no grey, no red lipstick. So, what did Peter do? He put exactly those colors on her! You cant see what color he is putting on when your eyes are closed! She told him "I don't like those colors, could you please change it?" Again, Peter used his "think about it for a minute" excuse and moved onto taking the rollers out of her hair.

He took the rollers out and started to put hairspray in her hair. Bobbie stopped him and said "I don't want my hair down, I already told you that I want it up. It's too hot out to have it down." Peter said "I like your hair down, I'm leaving it that way. See, it looks pretty!" Now we are running late for the wedding! This guy has not listened to us at all, but we have nobody else to go to. He does exactly what we tell him not to do, and we cannot argue for fear that he would kick us out and we would have nobody to do our make-up. Plus, it's my wedding day and I can't let anything get to me. Just earlier that day the best man told me not to let anything get to me, and I took it to heart.

At this point, here are the problems with the hair and make-up: I have absolutely nothing done with my hair except that it has been in rollers. My hair didn't hold the curl so now it just looks messy. To top it off, the part in my hair looks like a big "S". I'm wearing the shades of makeup that I told him that I did not want to wear. I told him before he started "absolutely no blue eye shadow" but my eyes are now covered in blue eye shadow. Bobbie's hair is down, when she told him before he even started that she wanted to wear it up. Bobbie has make-up on that she doesn't like the colors. She looks like a raccoon. Jenn's hair looks like something died in it. Lissa has absolutely no eye makeup on. I have no mascara on, well, so little that nobody can tell. My barrette that I wanted to wear in my hair is now in Lissa's hair. None of us are happy about the way we look and we tell this to Peter, but he tells us that we look great.

We realize that we can't get anything we want done out of this guy. We are running very late. It's now 3:30, my hair has not been put up, combed, or anything that should have been done, and we are 15 minutes from the wedding site. Now, I still have to get my dress on and I have no time to get the bridal pictures done before the wedding as planned. The photographer says to Peter, "hey, why don't we all go to the wedding site and you can finish the girls there," Peter agrees to do so and we all leave his shack and go to the house.

My bridesmaids and I are all at the house and we are upset with Peter's work. Bobbie starts curling her own hair because her curls didn't hold at all, Lissa puts make-up on her face since she doesn't have any eye make-up on, and Peter starts working on my hair. I ask him to put it up, and he argues with me again! Finally, at this point I think to myself that I will have him curl it, then I'll put it up myself. So, since he didn't bring a curling iron, Bobbie hands hers to him and tells him to curl my hair, so he does.

My hair still hasn't been combed and the part is still in the shape of an S on my head! He finishes curling my hair and I again tell him to put it UP! He doesn't do it! He again argues with me and my three bridesmaids and says "I told you , I like it down!" finally, it's at the point that it's too late for me to do anything. It's after 4:00, my make-up (and also lack of) looks horrible, my hair is a mess, I don't have anything to put it up because he used my barrette in my maid of honors hair, AND I am late to walk down the aisle!

I throw on my dress, and go to walk out of the room. Peter stops me and asked about the remaining balance due and rudly sticks his hand out. It's late and I don't want to pay him, but now he is at the wedding site and I realize that if I tell him that I am not paying him because he didn't do what we had asked that he would make me even later for my wedding, plus, I would have to spend more time arguing with him before I got married. So, I give him $300 to get him to leave, and walk down the aisle.

I did not thank him, I just paid him because I had to so he would leave and I could get married. Since then, I have sent him emails and called him to inform him how un-happy me and my bridesmaids are. I've now asked for a refund twice and he will not respond. Because of this man, my wedding pictures look HORRIBLE!!! My hair is so messed up that it looks like I just rolled out of bed and threw on some blue eye shadow to get married!

I now have redone my wedding pictures because I want to cry when I look at the pictures of how I looked that day. I hired another hair person, another make-up person, buy another bouquet, take a day off work, rent another tux, and hire another photographer and incur all of those expenses to undo what Peter Raymond has done to me on the most important day of my life. My wedding photos couldnt even be fixed with Photoshop.

Dont let Peter make you a victim! He works way too slow, he had almost five hours to do all of our make-up and hair and didn't finish the job, and he will not even acknowledge the fact that he has ruined my pictures and taken time out of my wedding day because he wanted to argue and do everything that we asked him not to do. I know this post is long, but I want you to know how this guy is. He should not be allowed to have a "salon" when he is in the business of doing what the customer doesn't want and making people look horrible on their wedding day. Thank you for listening.

When I read the Rip-Off Report on Raymond's filed by Jaimie Parker of Colorado I honestly thought I was reading about someone else with the same name.  Every word in Ms. Parker's report is literally the complete opposite of my many experiences over the last few years with Peter Raymond and his outstanding work.  I also happen to know several friends and co-workers that after utilizing Raymond's expert services over the long term continue to extole Mr. Raymond's incredible talent as a hair stylist as well as a make-up artist.  Without exception, they also freely pass along referrals to their friends and business associates by sharing their positive experiences about the professionalism and quality that are Peter Raymond's exciting talents and fabulous work.  I have also come to realize that although Raymond's fees are not exactly "cheap", the end result of a visit to Raymond's Boutique Salon really "shows" like no other cosmetologist or barber in San Diego.  Perhaps Ms. Parker was just having a bad day or was beginning to "buckle" under the stress of her "special day".  I think anyone who has experienced a larger, more complex and more elaborate wedding ceremony will agree there are very few people out there that can escape all the pressures and stress that inevitably come along with a grand ceremony.  I do want to go on record by making the following statement about Raymond's Boutique Salon......IF ANYONE DEMANDS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH ONE OF THE VERY BEST AND HIGHLY TALENTED COSMETOLOGISTS, HAIR STYLISTS, AND AN EXPERT FILM INDUSTRY QUALITY MAKE-UP ARTISTS AVAILABLE IN THE SAN DIEGO AREA, THEY NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN PETER RAYMOND AND RAYMOND'S BOUTIQUE SALON CONVENIENTLY LOCATED IN THE BANKER'S HILL NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT NEAR DOWNTOWN AND THE GAS LAMP QUARTER.

I don't know what this bride is talking about! Peter Raymond did a wonderful service for me on
the day of my wedding! I felt pampered and happy. I think this person is just trying to make him look bad for no reason.

Peter is very professional probably one of the best hair stylist in San Diego and you can ask any of this clients about this they would tell you the same.