My Black Experience With American Black Owned Businesses (And Why I Don’t Automatically Support Them Anymore)
As a Black woman, I’ve had THE WORST experiences with Black American businesses. These are in no particular order.
Salon #1: This shop was recommended to me by a coworker at the time. This coworker always had her hair done nicely, so I complemented her and that’s how she ended up recommending this place which is owned by her friend and the (only) stylist.
I called to make an appointment. We ended up chatting for almost 15 minutes as I was telling her how her friend referred me, and she confirmed that they were in fact good friends. I go in about 2 days later, as scheduled. The woman didn’t know who I was or have me scheduled as a new, upcoming client. She actually said “I don’t remember” … I had to refresh her of the entire conversation, and she still didn’t recall… Wtf, we spoke for several minutes?! I would’ve gotten pissed off, but she quickly agreed to see me right then despite her faulty memory and lack of professionalism.
Regardless, why the fuck are you trying to remember things? Don’t you have a book or an app where you log your clients so you have to “remember”? I was already annoyed with this woman but her shop was conveniently located so whatever. She did a decent enough job.
A couple of weeks go by, and again I’d just talked to her and made a scheduled appointment on a Friday for that Wednesday around noon. I arrive on Wednesday and the shop is completely closed. I call a few times, no answer. That was my last attempt at supporting that Black owned business.
Salon #2: I didn’t even make it in the door of this place. They were so incredibly rude over the phone. It was completely uncalled for. I don’t like to splurge on new places until I have faith in their services and that they’ll do a good job, so I start off small. Anyways, I called #2 asking the price for a basic wash and blowout. The male who answered the phone didn’t seem to know shit and could only do basic scheduling, not answer any questions for a potential client. Since I wanted to know their rates and their website was not well…
