New Jersey woman paid over $400 for highlights. Then she noticed her stylist stopped facing her toward the mirror and said no refund
Unsatisfactory today. Unreachable tomorrow.
A New Jersey woman is speaking out after paying over $400 for hair highlights that left her with a solid brown color and a frustrating customer service experience that made things even worse. Nancy Medrano, a TikTok creator known for her relatable and straightforward content, shared a six-minute video detailing her disappointing visit to Pretty Little Studio in Matawan.
What was supposed to be a fresh look with chocolate brown and caramel highlights turned into a $375 service (plus tip) that left her with hair that didn’t match the reference photos she provided. Medrano’s video, posted in April 2026, walks viewers through the entire experience, from the initial consultation to the moment she realized her hair looked nothing like what she’d agreed upon.
She describes how the stylist, Emma, turned her away from the mirror during the final styling – a red flag she didn’t notice until it was too late. By the time she saw the result, she was left with a solid brown color, no highlights in sight. Despite her frustration, she paid the bill in full because she was running late to pick up her daughter from daycare. Only later, after talking to friends, she realized that she might have been overcharged for what amounted to a basic dye job.
The fallout didn’t end there
When Medrano called the salon to ask about the pricing and request a partial refund for the missing highlights, she was met with resistance. Emma, the stylist, promised to speak with the owner but never followed up. The next day, Medrano had to call again, only to receive a text from the owner, Ashley Taylor, refusing any refund.
Taylor, who also runs the salon’s TikTok account, later responded to Medrano’s video defending the work and accusing her of slander. The back-and-forth has sparked a broader conversation online about customer expectations versus salon realities, with many siding with Medrano over the lack of transparency and poor communication.
This isn’t the first time a high-end salon has faced backlash over pricing and service quality. According to Us Weekly, in December 2025, another TikTok drama unfolded when influencer @notfamous808 called out Hair by Chrissy, a salon owned by celebrity stylist Chrissy Rasmussen.
The influencer claimed she paid nearly $4,000 for a service that allegedly involved Rasmussen touching her hair for just 60 seconds. The receipt included a $2,974 charge for the “Chrissy service,” along with additional fees for products like serum and detangler, bringing the total to over $4,200. The influencer later alleged that the experience left her with a bald spot and a sore on her scalp after removing the extensions.
The Hair by Chrissy drama quickly went viral
One commenter wrote, “Girl. You could’ve gone to Italy for a month for $4k,” while another said, “The thought of spending 4k on a hair service…” Rasmussen, who has worked with celebrities like Ariana Biermann and Dixie D’Amelio, was yet to issue a formal statement about the controversy.
Instead, she shared a series of TikTok videos seemingly addressing the criticism, including one where she stuck out her tongue while working on extensions before walking away. Another showed her curling a client’s hair with the caption, “She curls.” The influencer fired back, arguing that Rasmussen “does one curl and walks away.”
The situation escalated when Rasmussen teased merch with the phrase “Hair in 4k,” prompting @notfamous808 to release her own merch with the message, “Kindness Is Worth More Than 4K.”
Celebrities and influencers weighed in, with former Bachelorette Katie Thurston questioning whether $4,000 was too much to pay for hair. “I feel some kind of way about the demographic of her customers appearing, at least online, to be really young and maybe being taken advantage of,” Thurston said in a TikTok video.
Back in New Jersey, Medrano’s experience highlights a common frustration among salon clients: paying premium prices for services that don’t deliver. She admits she wasn’t overly picky about her hair but felt misled when the final result didn’t match the reference photo. The lack of communication from the salon, especially the owner’s refusal to even call her back, only added to her disappointment.
“I would have been okay with store credit,” Medrano says in her video. “I think Emma’s great, and I would come back. But how they handled this. I couldn’t even get a phone call from the owner. She had to text me. That’s not professional.”
The beauty industry has long been a hotbed for debates over pricing and customer service
While some salons excel at managing expectations and delivering consistent results, others fall short, leaving clients feeling frustrated and overcharged. Medrano’s story is a reminder that even repeat customers can have bad experiences, especially when communication breaks down.
For now, she’s decided not to return to Pretty Little Studio and won’t be recommending it to friends. “It’s a shame,” she says. “I really liked them, and I thought their pricing was fair. But this? This wasn’t worth $400.” If there’s a lesson to be learned from both Medrano’s and @notfamous808’s experiences, it’s that clients should feel empowered to speak up when something isn’t right.
Whether it’s a $400 highlight job or a $4,000 extension service, paying a premium price should come with premium results, and basic respect. For salons, these stories serve as a warning: transparency and good customer service aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re essential for keeping clients happy and avoiding viral backlash.
(Featured image: Cottonbro studio on Pexels)
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