-"By law, I just did a service,
and you can't, like, technically leave.
You know, I can call the cops."
♪♪
-So, I'm in Florida right now, where, luckily,
for my "One Star Reviews" series,
it's a place that's open for business no matter what.
And while in Florida, I, you know,
want to tap into the scene, you know,
I want to immerse myself within the culture.
I want to play the part. We're going all the way.
Frosted tips, baby.
♪♪
Okay, let's see what we have here.
There's, uh, quite a few options.
People in Florida seem to really take their hair quite seriously.
So I just came across Studio 209 Beauty.
They appear to operate out of their home.
They, uh, have some nice chairs.
So let's just see what the, uh, reviews say.
♪♪
I certainly feel as if it's my duty
to try to get to the bottom of that.
Um, and, hopefully, it doesn't land me in this, um, small room,
but, um, sign me up.
♪♪
I was excited for this new upgrade to my style.
With so many truly iconic
looks coming from this area of the country,
I knew I was in the right hands.
However, these hands were attached
to the arms of a business
who has received many one-star reviews.
♪♪
Lizard.
-How are you doing? -Hi. I'm Taji.
-Hi, hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Sabrina.
-So nice to meet you. -You want to come on back?
-Um, sure. Thank you. -Okay, great.
And we'll be right in here. Have a seat.
♪♪
-How did you get into the world of hair?
-Um, basically I've been doing hair for about 25 years,
and I followed my mom's footsteps.
I'll show you all the rooms that used to be bedrooms.
This room is the only one that has a window that opens.
That used to be the kitchen. -Super nice. But no one
does live here. It's, um -- -No, it's just all,
um, business. -You just converted it?
-Yeah, yeah. -Awesome.
After a short tour of their impressive house conversion,
it was time to get to business.
But from the reviews I had read, I was naturally nervous.
Maybe I'll just use the restroom really quickly...
-Yeah, go right ahead. -...before my consultation.
Thank you. [ Urinating ]
With an empty bladder and a full heart,
I was ready for my treatment.
-So, tell me a little bit about your hair
and tell me what you want to do. -Being in Florida,
you know, I thought I would just try something new, you know --
-Some wow to it? -Yeah, exactly.
-Yeah. -Maybe somewhere --
like, I like this guy... -Okay.
-...you know, and it's kind of subtle,
but then again, I like this one. -Okay.
-So maybe, like, almost meeting halfway.
-Heavy, heavy, but, yeah, okay.
-Um, exactly. That feels nice.
-Yeah.
-With some reviews hinting towards a lack of experience,
I wanted to ask Sabrina directly about her credentials
to set the record straight.
Did you study hair, or you learned from your mom,
or wha-- how was -- -No, I went to beauty school.
-Oh, you did? Awesome. -Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it took me about eight months to graduate.
I went morning and night all day just to get it all -- you know,
get it done and get working, get working,
and basically trying, you know...
-For sure. -Yeah,
because practice makes perfect.
♪♪
-So, um, what's the -- -Mix up a little bit
of color for you. -So you're mixing some color.
What -- What goes into that?
-A little bit of bleach, honestly.
-Little bit of bleach. -Little bit of bleach.
-Is that some peroxide, or -- what is that?
-Yeah, little bit -- yeah, peroxide.
-Nice.
Right on.
♪♪
Uh, I'm curious what I look like.
My treatment was underway.
There had been some wild accusations describing
how Sabrina deals with allegedly difficult customers.
I was curious to find out some more.
Do you ever have any, like, difficult clients at any time,
or -- h-how is it dealing with people?
-Well, you know, just -- you can't please everybody,
but you try to do as best as you can
to have a, you know, a great visit.
-I mean, I even, like, did a search, you know,
before I came in, and I, you know,
read through a few of the reviews. Um...
-Left something right over here. -Oh, totally.
-That -- That's okay. -Take your time.
We'll get back to that. -Oh, yeah,
I might have it over here. -For sure.
-Okay, now I'm gonna cover you up a little bit.
I'm going to put you under the dryer now.
-Thanks.
I feel like I'm about to go off to outer space or something.
-Right? -Blast off.
♪♪
[ Dryer whirring ]
♪♪
-It's going to look great. -With my last attempt foiled,
now I would try for a second launch
into Sabrina's one-star reviews.
But, yeah, I mean, I even, you know,
checked out some of the reviews before coming in.
I was wondering... -Did you check?
-...if maybe I could, you know, ask you a couple of questions
about that, you know, kind of give you a chance
to speak for yourself?
-Oh, yeah, of course. -You know, one review I saw
kept coming up -- people were claiming, um, difficulty,
I guess, with the appointment time.
They were saying they were kept waiting,
this -- this kind of thing.
Someone claimed they felt, um,
it was disrespectful and rude towards them, even.
-Right, and, now, it can be,
'cause I know, as a customer, like,
I feel like customer service, it should be number one.
But, you know, you can't please everybody.
So sometimes, yeah, there's been some instances,
you know, and nobody's perfect, but we try as best as we can,
you know, to -- you know, do the best that we can.
-This made sense, but there were certain reviews
that had me really concerned, mentioning people
allegedly being held captive against their will.
Um, I think I saw two different reviews
where someone claims -- I guess they expressed
they weren't happy with the results,
and then they were kind of just, I guess, in a situation
where they were told, you know, "You have to pay,
or we're going to call the police,"
and they almost felt -- they felt threatened
and almost, like -- then they ended up
in some sort of, like, small room they -- they --
a couple people referenced, you know, um,
like, almost captive.
-Captive? No. Like, um, I remember --
I think there's one lady -- actually, a couple ladies,
you know, you think that they're happy with their hair,
but then they, like, just storm up
and try to leave the salon, you know, and I'm like,
"What are you trying to, like, leave?
By law, I just did a service,
and you can't, like, technically leave.
You know, I can call the cops." So that's what I told them.
♪♪
And she was like, "Oh, my God, like, no, like --"
and I was like, "What are you talking about?"
The haircut is perfect perfection.
That was one. Another lady with the color-technique thing,
like, she had long hair. It was, like, dark hair.
Well, of course, the color's going to be
different at the root. So at the end, they're like,
"Oh, my hair was two different colors,"
And then they posted on the review where I'm like --
I tried to tell you
what you needed to do to do your hair.
I don't know. Just to think about
the things that the people, like, bitch about
really don't make sense to me.
You run into some people that just --
I don't think they're happy with themselves, you know,
'cause I typically wouldn't do that at a salon.
You just don't show your ass like that.
♪♪
-Totally, yeah. I mean -- -Yeah, and they're probably
getting free stuff all the time, 'cause I had a friend
that put me on the spot like that one time.
I couldn't believe it. We're in a restaurant,
and she didn't want to pay for her food.
I know there's people out there
that are probably the same way at different salons.
-But, yeah, no, that must be very difficult, I feel like,
to keep everyone happy, you know, with hairstyles.
You know, everyone has different hair.
-Yes, and I have a reputation here.
You know, I have a reputation, of course.
You know, I have my mom's salon,
and, you know, I want to always do the best I can
to, um, hold that -- you know,
what she's been building for so long.
I even thanked my mom the other day, too.
I said, "Mom, you know, I have everything because of you."
She put food on our table,
and I'm doing the same thing for my kids,
and that's all that matters to me.
-You made this a very pleasant experience. Thank you.
-Awesome. You're welcome. -I really appreciate it,
letting us film in here, you know, come in and...
-Yeah, no problem. Any time.
-...I really appreciate it. -Yeah.
Yeah, no problem.
Any time. -I like your shoes.
[ Timer rings ]
The bleach had done its work, and I think that we made
great use of the lengthy process by settling some scores.
So now it was time to see the results.
-The energy's good, right? -Thank you.
I promise I will be paying you, too.
I can -- I can guarantee I'm good for it.
Got the company card in my pocket.
[ Chuckles ]
♪♪
Looks, uh, super cool.
I'm, like, blown away by this. Thank you.
-See? You came to the right place.
-This even -- that smells amazing, too.
Oh, my. I want to eat it. -[ Chuckles ]
-You made me feel really good today.
-You were so kind. You made me feel really good today.
Thank you, Sabrina. -Yeah, you're welcome.
-Thank you again for having us here.
-Yeah, you're welcome. -It's been -- it's been amazing.
Thank you. -Yeah. Great.
-Alright, bye. -Alright, bye.
-I'm just gonna head off into... -Nice to meet you.
-...the, um, sun with my fun hair.
-♪ Say I'm young and crazy, reckless and wild ♪
♪ But I say whoa-oa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa ♪
♪ People think I'm slow and lazy ♪
♪ Wasting my time ♪
♪ But I say whoa-oa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa ♪
-I entered Studio 209 with the expectation
of a technician with a lack of knowledge of color
in an alleged hostile environment
if you do not like the results of your hair.
I was met promptly by Sabrina with a warm welcome.
She was very attentive during my consultation
and paid close attention to my hair desires
and kept me updated on every step of the way.
To be honest, I was in fear
of potentially not liking the results,
which could end up in altercation
and potential police involved, but she made me feel comfortable
and opened my eyes to the reality that some customers
purposefully act up in order to get a free service.
Sure, it has a rougher-than-average esthetic,
so if you were expecting a state-of-the-art fancy facility,
this might not be the right place for you.
However, if you want to feel good
and be in a family-run environment,
then this is the place for you.
I felt right at home.
To my great happiness, I did end up loving the results,
and she assured me I could be in touch with any questions
or concerns within the coming weeks.
So thank you, Sabrina,
for helping me accomplish the new Florida look of my dreams.
♪♪
Someone even said I looked like this band, b4-4.
It's, like, this boy band.
We were watching some of their videos.
They definitely have an on-camera presence about them.
♪♪