Fantastic Sams

Don’t have your eyebrows waxed here. I came in to have my browline cleaned up. I thought it hurt quite a lot more than usual, but I didn’t realize why until it was done. My eyebrows are WAY too thin and have a goofy arch to them. All I can do is try to fix them up with some brow powder and hope they grow in rather quickly. UGH!

Best haircut I’ve gotten. They do exactly what you ask for and it comes out looking amazing. Very friendly too and won’t talk to you if you don’t want them to.

Kathy did my hair! She did amazing!!! I had cut my own bangs and length. I don’t know what I did to my hair. She fixed it right up and did what I asked! Kathy is so sweet And heard exactly what I wanted. ;)

I usually go here to get my haircut. It’s close to my house. They also type in what I get in the computer and ask me if I want the same thing. I can’t do 5 because some stylists are better than others. I’ve never had a bad haircut, but some are better than others. It’s cheap. They do what I want. They usually don’t have a wait.

If by saying «please don’t take any of the length off, but take the bulk out.» you hear «layer it so short that I have a bowl cut.» then by all means you’ll be happy with what you come out with.
Courtesy & convenience were great, but my «do» left a lot to be desired.

About 4 months ago, I spent about $ 80 on a haircut a some fancy place. The man did the complete opposite of what I told him I wanted which has usually been my experience with salons. I decided that I didn’t want to spend so much money to have someone mess up my hair again, so I went with fantastic sams. Kelly was my stylist. She actually listened to me and did exactly what I wanted. I have almost always just cut my own hair because stylist do their own thing. But, since my hair is too long and I have no second mirror to see the back, I had to get someone else to cut it. I am sooo glad I did. I def have a new stylist and may never have to cut my own hair again! Thank you Kelly!

I’ve been to this location twice and have mixed feelings. I feel I need to preface this review with saying I don’t go to salons. For the past decade my cousin (a stylist) has always cut my hair on the side or I just do a buzz cut at home, so I’m not used to salon etiquette.
The first time I went I enjoyed the interaction and had a good visit with the front desk and stylist. My only complain was when I asked her if she did beard trimmings there were no follow up questions, and she immediately cut my beard too short. Then she proceeded to cut it higher on my neck, and when I got home had I had to fix it because it went in a diagonal across my neck.
I went last week and will not return after the service. I have worked in customer service positions and understand people having a bad day, so tend to be very tolerant. However, there is no excuse for making a customer feel uncomfortable and like they were at fault when the provider simply could have been better. When I walked in there was no one at the front desk. I didn’t know I just had to sign a sheet and was stared at by a stylist like I was stupid. She ‘kindly’ let me know to sit down and wait. The desk attendant eventually showed up. Once I was called up and seated with a stylist, she asked if I wanted to stick with a 1, but I had no idea what the last stylist had used. Overall, the hair cut was okay, but the interaction made me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know hair and clipper terms well, and it was just an awkward interaction. When we were done, she cleaned me up using the hair dryer and kept blowing hot air all over me. She didn’t use the little brush thing like they normally do to brush anything away. I asked her if that was it (I was expecting the brush), and she said «yeah.» Once I put my glasses on I saw she had left hair all over my neck, forehead and face. I went in the bathroom and cleaned up, and went to the desk to pay. Again, no one was there and I had to wait five minutes for the stylist to get the attendant. I told him the service wasn’t worth the over priced trim I got (took five minutes) and explained about the waiting and hair all over. He said there’s nothing they could do about the hair, so I commented it would have been nice if they just cleaned it off. He tried to give me a couple of coupons for my wait, but the services and attitudes were just so bad I put them on the counter and walked out. I won’t be returning.

You get what you pay for. Overall I’ve had better experience with Supercuts. I’ve been to two Fantastic Sams and several Supercuts in Memphis.

I asked for a simple high top fade. The stylist either didn’t care or didn’t know what that was. She buzzed the sides and used scissors on top to give it a finger length but with no shape at all. My head is round and that’s the shape of my haircut now. That is not the shape of a high top fade. I would have been better off asking my roommate to buzz it all the way around.

Disclaimer: it’s a long and thorough review. If you don’t have time, at least skip to the end to read about the music!
Fantastic Sams gives a somewhat standard experience compared to all locations (and similar establishments like SuperCuts). That is to say, you walk in, (they don’t take appointments) sign a sheet, and wait for a stylist to call you.
Until you find the stylist that understands your needs AND can hold a decent conversation (yes, that’s important believe it or not), experiences can leave something to be desired — but that’s the same everywhere.
One thing I do not like at this location, is that upon being called to a booth, the stylist asks a clipper number (for guys) and they pull your info based on your last visit if available. Something to the effect of, «Hello, my name is xxx, would you want to stick with a 5 today, or maybe move to a 4?»
That’s a little inconvenient for people who aren’t familiar with clipper numbers. Especially when I drop lines like «Oh, I’m not picky. Just make it short, neat, and I’d like to spike it up.» …and get a response like, «so you want a 4?»
I guess that’s just how they’ve been trained; to ask male customers a clipper number.
Luckily the bad ends there.
When you walk in, the front receptionist greets you in such a friendly manner you’ll think you have been BFF’s your whole life.
Monica is my preferred stylist. After testing out a out 3 other stylists that work at this location, Monica is the only one who never responded in the fashion I mentioned earlier. I can describe how I want my hair cut without a clipper number, and she nods her head and gets it right every time. Oh, and she’s boss at brows. I believe it’s very important for men to have their brows cleaned up, and even more important for a stylist to be trained on how to correctly groom mens’ brows without making them look too feminine. Monica worked at a brow place before, so she’s the kind of perfectionist you want slapping hot wax on your face.
Now, onto the music.
What the hell? Why can’t every hair establishment learn to play amazing music that the surrounding people like? THEIR MUSIC KICKS ASS… at this location anyway.
Upon getting my luscious locks cut, I couldn’t help but get excited from the music. First, Nirvana. Then, Smashing Pumpkins. I heard everything from Nine Days to Bare Naked Ladies… maybe some best of the 90’s XM station? Eargasms-​a-​plenty.
5 stars, go here. Go hear.

Whenever frequenting a hair salon, it’s always an adventure as no salon has 2 stylists who cuts hair the same. Within a service industry, you always have to consider the person that’s actually performing the service, not just the business itself.
So in essence, my review really is a review of Heather at Fantastic Sams. Heather has given me 2 haircuts now, and she is definitely a person who knows how to cut Asian hair! Being blessed with some super straight (or curly depending on relative viewpoints lol) hair, any messed up edge will show easily. Heather has been able to cut my hair with precision; she can definitely blend men’s hair with the best of them. She is extremely able with some clippers and shears!
If you’re a guy who’s pretty particular with their hair, I highly recommend Heather @ Fantastic Sams. She can take awhile to warm up to you, but she’s actually really nice beneath her poker face.
As for the décor at FS, it’s clean and bright. It’s bigger than your average Haircuttery or Supercuts, and it’s a notch above in the facilities in my opinion, all for the same price.

I’m not picky about my hair and I normally go to super cuts or fantastic sams with no hesitation. However, I’ve regretted coming to this location, both times I’ve been here.
People here are just unprofessional and overly sassy. The first time the stylist rushed and finished within ten minutes. Very «meh» and had a ton of missed hairs and seemed pretty choppy.
Went here today and «stylist» Jamie was just in foul mood. Described what I wanted as a less intense faux hawk, but apparently it wasn’t specific enough. Just started shaving very quickly and the shears pulled out some hair. When I asked if she could cut it shorter similar to cut another customer had across the room, she just proceeded to say it was perhaps my fault since I wasn’t specific enough and kept yanking at my hair.
Enough was enough, and I just asked her to stop since I did not appreciate her condescending attitude. She then huffed and puffed and stormed to the back.
It was literally so bad, that I left mid way into a cut.
I can understand if she was just having a rough day, but that’s no excuse for blaming the customer for her own incompetence and yanking on hair…
Save your time and money and support a local shop instead.

I’m a guy, so my recommendation for a place to get one’s hair cut may not have broad application. But I also have hair that, if not cut properly, makes my head look like a dandelion (not at the sunny yellow stage but the white poofy stage), so I do have to be somewhat choosy.
Fantastic Sam’s does a consistently great job (of course, «great» hair is in the eye of the beholder; I mean that my hair looks the way afterward I hoped it would coming in). Plus, the shop is neither frou-​frou nor «guy-​pandering» (for the latter, think «Sports Clips,» which reports to have «TVs tuned to sports all day long»…as if some sort of major sporting event is taking place at, say, 11:30 a.m. on a Monday). And the price is reasonable – $ 12 for a haircut.
In case you remember Fantastic Sam’s from childhood: no, the stylists no longer have to choose silly monikers like «Bubbles» or «Peaches» (well, unless you consider «Robert» a goofy nickname).
ps: Ask for Robert.