Knack Studio 18

I love my haircut!!! Vivian is the best ! My hair and head shape is absolutely nightmare for some hairstylists. Vivian cut it so well that I don’t have to spend time on my hair in the morning. Great service too!

If I can give them negative five stars, I would, with no hesitation. This is my first Unilocal review, and I swear it’s my only review. I’ve worked in retail so I know how Unilocal affects business, but this studio is really a black hole, don’t get yourself sink in.
Here’s how the nightmare started,
It was on a Sunday, had appointment with Vivian. I went there for the chemical waves perm but came home with super straight hair. Furthermore, I went there TWICE. 6 hours each. She failed on her first time and asked me to go back a week later. Now I only got home with this super-​badly-​damaged straight hair.
1. She kept bragging about how experienced she was and how she’s eager to learn new skills that’s why she moved from an old-​school salon to this studio. Unfortunately, she really didn’t know how to use all the devices nor the hair treatment products properly.
2. In between she kept taking in walk-​in clients and let me sat there waiting for hours while there’s nothing going on my hair.
3. I had regular long hair but she insisted I had «super long hair» in order to charge me 40 dollars more but wanted to let me know she’s super kind to give me 40 dollars discount. (I paid $ 240+25tip)
4. After she washed off all the chemicals on my hair and realized she failed, she tried to fake it by not fully drying my hair, because it looks wavier when it’s wet. The first time she even put lots of hair gel trying to hold up the waves when my hair was wet.
I could’t believe how this studio disrespect clients’ time by faking their professionalism, failing customer service and not offering refund.

I have hair cut by Ben for a year after I tried lots of barber shop. He is the best hairdresser I met in Bay Area. His suggestion always suit me. Highly recommended !!!

Ben is the one of the best hair stylist in the South Bay Area. I’m very picky when it comes to my hair and not many can deliver the result I want. I stayed in NYC for 5 years and now 3 years in Bay Area, I tried dozens stylists from $ 20 to $ 200 per cut and i know exactly expensive ≠ quality, many stylists that graduates from famous fashion studio failed to deliver because of their ego and lack of communication, understanding of the customer, which happens to be Ben’s strength. Now I finally find Ben here and I have nothing to worry when he is dealing with my hair.
Did I mention Ben also does top class head massage?

Had a hair cut with Ben twice. First time, I had a a trim, and the hair cut was just ok, nothing to rave about. I couldn’t figure out where to go close by so I came back a second time. Second time, the hair cut came out different from the pic, and Ben explained that he insisted that the way he cut my hair would look better than the pic. (like another reviewer says, he insisted that he knows it all, or in other words, act like he knows it all) I listened to him, but it was a wrong decision. I told him i needed a low maintenance hair cut. He ended up showing me how to use a curling iron to style my hair. It was too late too already, he was already done cutting. So the hair cut looked horrible without curling my hair! And he cut my hair at the length of my shoulders which a lot of hair stylists would avoid doing since my hair curves out when it’s at that length.
If you don’t speak Mandarin, avoid this place! The receptionist doesn’t do a good job translating. I understand more than I can speak, so as the gal translated, I thought uh oh… but tried to use my broken mandarin to tell Ben what I wanted. But guess it didn’t work.
Worst part: He expects more tips. Hair cut was pricey at $ 49 for a merely 20 minutes hair cut, and he gave me a look when I tipped him $ 8. $ 8 in tips was too much for a dissatisfied experience!!!

Tried this salon about five times. I have given them enough chances.
1) Ben, the hair dresser, does not listen to what I want. this really bothers me. I explained to him how I want my hair to look like and even showed him some pictures. When he disagreed on what I want, i told him i understood and please just cut it because I like it that way. He’s so rude and gave me an attitude. He looked pissed when I insisted on my choice. He then cut my hair, but guess what?! He cut my hair the way he wanted!!!
2) the long hair female assistant doesn’t know what she’s doing! The assistant doesn’t know how to wash hair. Water spilled on my face and clothes. and she didn’t even know how to blow dry hair. She just brushed and blow dry, without style… my hair looked so flat… i can do a better job than her.
3) Both Ben and the long hair female assistant looked so cold, as if they don’t welcome your patronage. They didn’t wear smile. just make me feel very uncomfortable there…
definitely not going back again.

I had hair straightening and hair cut with Ben. He is very professional and did my hair vary good. Most important is, he is quiet and just focus on what he’s doing. I really enjoy the whole progress, makes me relax, I think most people like me prefer not to keep talking with their stylist for hours but just take this chance to have a good rest. I will recommend Ben and his studio my friends for sure.

Amazing Salon, love love it! The hair stylist’s name is Ben. He’s talented and makes sure my hair is well taken care of before he does anything that will damage it. He listens to what I want done to my hair and never fails to amaze me. The staff are great too.

I have been going to Ben for a little more than a year now. He is probably one of the most skilled hair stylist I met in the bay area. After I moved from NY to the bay area, I couldn’t find a stylist who was consistent in terms of working with my hair with reasonable price. Before Ben, i used to go to Japan town for hair cut but even so, my hair didn’t always come out what I wanted and I paid much more. One day I saw someone mentioned Knack studio 18 on Facebook and I decided to give it a try. I felt a little skeptical at first thinking it was probably one of his friends recommending him online when the store first open, but I am glad I made the trip. I have since then become his regular customer and so does my husband. He is honest and friendly. I highly recommend him!

Update: I received a 50% refund check from the salon after I posted my review but the check bounced as the owner did not honor his words.
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My first visit was last year while I was 9-​month pregnant and on my birthday, it took at least 8 hours for them to perm my hair so I also missed my own birthday dinner because it was done when their store was about to close at 8pm :-(For those of you don’t have time to sit around to get your hair done, I would not recommend this place.
The next experience was in mid-​September this year which was even worse than last time. I spent a total of $ 300 to get hair perm and it only lasted 2 weeks (yes, two weeks!) and didn’t matter what I tried, my hair went back to practically straight and because he layered my hair too thinly, it was very hard to make any style out of it as there is no ‘body’. I ended up spending a lot more time than I expected to keep up with my half-​permed hairdo which I later decided to simply cut short with a different stylist near where I work.
Because of this situation, I immediately let Ben (the owner) know and we negotiated down to either I could go back for re-​perm or get a 50% refund. I chose the later simply because I’ve got no time to drive an hour there and spend all day in the salon anytime soon. After we came to an agreement and two days after I texted him my address for mailing the check, he texted me with a terrible attitude to refuse the refund option entirely and because he changed his mind. This was such a terrible customer service experienced I had. I sincerely hope that no one will experience what I experienced in that store. Thank you for reading.
我是在去年有媽媽朋友推薦fremont有台灣來的美髮師叫Ben,就開了一個鐘頭的車去請他燙頭髮。那時我懷孕9個月也是我生日當天，想說，犒賞一下自己，但卻在Knack Studio 18店裡花了至少八個鐘頭，到店關了才幫我做完。
今年九月中我又想是時間再燙一次，這次的經驗更不好。燙完總共花了$ 300，但在2個禮拜（對！2個禮拜）內就從卷的直回來而且因為他把我頭髮削太薄，跟本很難整理出型還得買更多的hair products來做維護。媽媽們都知道生完小孩每根頭髮都很寶貴，時間更是奢侈品。如果不是我真的覺得消費太冤枉了，我也不會反應給店家而會想說自己倒霉算了。所以之後我馬上和Ben連絡告知，他說我可以去補燙，但我因為真的住太遠也短期內抽不出時間去花一整天燙頭髮，就麻煩他退費給我。剛開始都談好了，他說可選在三個月以內補燙或能退五成，我同意後者也把住址text給了他。但是，兩天後他反悔、否認他說過有三個月期限、拒絕退費、態度極差。
我覺得除了燙髮計術有問題以外，店主對於客戶customer service和態度也很不誠懇，只希望大家不要也和我遇到一樣不愉快的美髮精驗。謝謝你們的時間。

Service is OK~But the hair designer, he don’t want listen customer.
Example: I want short hair, because «I LIKE SHORT HAIR»
BUT he don’t want listen.
He want I HAVE long hair, even I tell I don’t.
After contend with me (about 20 mins)
He listen my suggested.
But story is not end…
He cut my hair still murmur say: You need long hair…
OMG!!! What happen???

Can’t believe I actually feel satisfied after a haircut and treatment, that hasn’t happened for almost 20 years…

Ben is not only a very skillful hair stylist, but he listens to what the customer wants, gives honest advice, and come up with a solution incorporating my preferences and concerns. I am very happy with haircut and coloring services I received. I am very picky, and I am so glad that I have finally found my stylist — no more looking around. Yay!!!
The GPS was a bit confusing when I was trying to find the salon for the first time. It is in a popular shopping plaza but somehow my GPS still guided me to exist the parking lot and make a turn here and there… So if you are a new customer, make sure you ask for the name of the shopping plaza.

As a person who «needs» to look good at least once a week, having a nice hairdo is crucial. Thanks to Ben, I don’t need to worry about my hair style anymore, I just sit there and let him do what he does the best, and he’s never disappointed me. Ben is a very professional & talented hair stylist, he’s also willing to spend a lot of time making sure you get what you want. I also like the products he uses, very natural and nourishing, so different from other salons.

An authentic stylist from Taiwan! Ben is the best one I’ve ever met in the U.S. Highly recommended him to everyone. I know I am picky, but he completely went beyond the bar.

The worst perm I have ever had, but he’s good at others just not perm. My hair was damaged (crying).

I used to live in Europe, and when I moved to the US it was difficult to find a hair stylist as good as what I had there. My first US experience was horrible, and the following ones were «ok.» I almost gave up hope of ever finding a great stylist until I found Ben’s salon.
Even though I don’t speak mandarin, and Ben speaks a little English, he was able to understand exactly what I wanted after showing him a few pictures. He is a very talented hair stylist and has years of experience in the fashion industry working with professional models. He takes his time to create the perfect haircut. Some stylists do not really listen to what you want, but that’s not the case with Ben.
The salon is modern, clean and comfortable. It’s also conveniently located for me. I also love the hair product that they use (from Taiwan, organic and of very good quality). I am definitely coming back to this place!

I have always been super picky about my hair and who I allow to touch it. For the longest time, I have had my haircut at the salon in Japan Town (14+ years), even commuting about a hour once a month the last 6 – 7 years. As life gets busier and there are more things to do, it’s harder and harder to make that trek anymore. I am really glad my wife introduced me to Ben, because it’s a lot closer to where I do the majority of my activities now. Ben is very nice, knowledgeable, and has good skills. Most importantly, I feel like I can trust him because I like how he runs his business and his belief in how to treat people. I want him to stay business for a long time because it will sure simplify my life a whole lot.

Ben is the best! I moved to Bay Area last year, and I went to Ben for hair cut last November and that was one of the best try ever! He is very detailed and good at his job! Everyone like my new Hair cut! Thanks Ben!

I have been through salon that I thought they understood what I wanted but turn out the opposite, salon that gave me the sticker shock because all the extra/​random charges on this and that, salon that like to persuade me to like the new hair cut that they gave me, and salon that I just got the feeling that I am taking my chances.etc. Well, I don’t have to go through that anymore!
Ben is a great hair stylist! He listened to what I had in mind and provides suggestions (if needed) after understanding the style I was looking for. He explained the procedures, show me the costs, and the products that will be used. Everything is upfront.
I had a trim and colored my hair and Ben did exactly what I had in mind. Exactly the hair stylist that I have been hoping to have! I also like the part where Ben show/​teach/​explain how to style your hair so you can have the same style as the day that you walked out of his salon.
I also like the store design, it’s clean, spacious, bright, stylish, and comfortable.
I highly suggest Knacks Studio 18 because I have found the right stylist.