Complaint Review: Yoyo African Hair Braiding

If the title caught your attention I meant every single word of it. Hair is under the category of health for a reason. As I am typing this I still feel completely sick because my braids are too tight. I verbalized this repeatedly and cried for 3 hours straight, yet the braiders continued to braid in spite of my tears. I could hear my hair breaking. I have taken pictures. I reguarly go to the beauty salon. My hair was in excellent condition before I went to Yoyo's. When it's time to take these braids out if any of my edges or missing, or if my hair is damaged I am taking this braid shop to court immediately!

Let me start from the begining. I was referred here by someone I trust. The woman and her daughter both had beautiful braids. I was extremely hesitant about going to an "African" braid shop because from a past experience, my braids were so tight that my hair had to be shaved off after I removed the braids. In spite of reading a complaint about the shop on this website, I made an appointment and trusted my referral. Wrong thing to do.

I arrived at 7:50AM for my 8:00AM appointment with Isha yesterday. When I arrived no one was there. 4 people were waiting outside. The braiders showed up late. Isha did not braid my hair. Instead, Linda braided it. The price went from $140 to $180 because they said my hair was too short in the back to catch a braid with. Immediately Linda told me it would take 8 hours. The braids took 10 hours. While I was getting my hair braided another woman came in, got the same braids done for $140! How do I know? She verbalized that she only had $160 and was going to use $20 of those dollars for her nails. Right in front of me the owner negotaited a price for $140 and then walked past me and asked if I was ok. Of course I was not.

The lady braiding my hair was not wearing any deodorant. She was extremely musty. My hair was 3/4 of the way done by 1:30. She started braiding at 8:30AM. From 1:30 to 9:00PM my hair was still being braided. Now, one braider was braiding a childs hair. The child was bawling her eyes out crying. I figured the child was tenderheaded. I am not tenderheaded. My hair is not long, not even bob lenth, it is thick, and relaxed. At 6PM the lady that braided the child's hair came over to join Linda in braiding my hair.

I began to bawl my eyes out and CRY at 6:01 PM!!! I am 29 years old. I would have rather re-expeienced 14 hours of labor and natural child birth than have both of these women braiding my hair. My hands were shaking. I felt like I wanted to throw up. Both women saw me crying, heard me crying, and even heard me say repeatedly "the braids are too tight! You are braiding too tight" yet they continued to braid and apply the same exact pressure which made me cry. I crying off and on from 6 to 9PM. 3 hours of sheer torture! In between the tears I looked around at everyone's hair who was working in the salon...none of them seemed to have healthy hair.

I am not someone new to getting braids. In fact, my hair has been braided numerous times in my life by Black women and even Bahamian women. At times braiding can be uncomfortable, but never to this point. Professionally speaking the hair braiders should be taught how to braid different types of hair. Relaxed healthy hair does not need to be braided the same as hair in a natural state. When the braiding ended, the snipping ended, I was handed a mirror. The front of my head by the hair line had welts and huge open pores! I asked Linda "what am I supposed to do about this?" She then pulled out a bottle of generic spritz and tried to spray it on the welts and the pores. I told her not to touch me!

My hands were still shaking, no one offered me a tissue, a break, a cup of water or even consoling words as I cried and cried. I paid $180 and did not give a tip. My entire Saturday was gone. I could barely focus as I drove myself home. I was starving. In the braiding chair I was so uncomfortable with the underarm smells, pain from the braids, time, and realizing I just got played because the girl one chair over from me bargained to pay $140. On the way out I was handed a hand full of cards and asked to pass them out and refer people. Are you kidding me?! If I wasn't in such excrutiating pain I would have thrown those cards on the ground in front of everyone and stepped on them!

What's the verdict?! Do not go here! PLEASE PLEASE do not bring your children here! If I am an adult can you imagine young children getting their hair braided by the people at this shop? They are easily messing up hair, possibly even nerves on every head they touch especially the people whose hair is not natural. If the pain from my braids remains unbearable I am going to a medical specialist. This can't be healthy for my hair or even my head.

Before my hair was braided I could comb through my hair and not even one piece of hair would come out in the comb, that's just how healthy my hair was. I mean it, if any of my hair falls out this will become a legal matter easily. Right now it has been exactly 12 hours and 45 minutes since Linda and the other braider finished braiding my hair. I paid for Sengalise Twists. My scalp is still super sensitive, I can't even put my hair into a ponytail on lay down. Last night I slept sitting up. I asked Linda how long the pain would last...she told me 1 week! I will never go there again.