"Travel Fee?"

ahr1982

I contacted Glam Squad to inquire about having my hair & makeup done at my home for our wedding. I was advised that the price is $160 + $25 "travel fee." I asked if it was customary for their company to charge this fee to local brides. Their reply was that their largest market are destination brides, therefore the vicinity their stylists work within is LV Blvd. As such, any other place not on LV Blvd. is assessed the travel fee "due to multiple reasons such as gas and the time it takes to drive there."

So -- let me get this straight. Their company is based in Las Vegas, and I live in Las Vegas, and yet they want to charge me a travel fee? That is an interesting business practice. If I lived out in Henderson or Centennial Hills then I might understand such a fee. My home is located exactly 4.9 miles due east of the strip on a semi-major road. I am sure that I don't use $25 worth of gas driving 5 miles. I am also sure that it only takes 10 minutes to drive the 4.9 mile distance from LV Blvd to my house on a Sunday afternoon.

Anywhoo, just venting. Sorry!

ebonyivory10

This must be something new, never heard they charged anything like that before. I think they are great, but that fee sounds kinda silly.

[Deleted User]

Wow, considering that you are a local that sounds extremely silly. I could understand if you were out of a certain vicinity of like the Las Vegas area, but thats just plain silly.

I'm not trying to be mean, because I HAVE heard good things about them, however I would just let them know that if they are willing to lose business for a $25 travel fee that is absurd since you only live 10 min from the strip then its fine- you will take your business elsewhere as there are plenty of other makeup and hair artists that would be more than happy to serve you!

They may not care, but hey- at least you get it off your chest.

j_jaye

I got quoted the travel fee as well when I requested a quote. We are staying off the strip (only 1 big block off) and was told the same thing. It was one of the reasons I did not go with them as no one else added that fee!

smokeybailey

I was going to call them for a quote and if they charge me a travel fee for a Downtown hotel, I may just find another vendor.  It's EASIER to get to an off strip location!

RachNRich

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_travel-fee?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:b4475da9-90a6-42f2-8c9e-c91b30e5d8cbPost:99fb5c59-5718-4b78-987b-deb45ff1aeaa">Re: "Travel Fee?"</a>:
[QUOTE]I was going to call them for a quote and if they charge me a travel fee for a Downtown hotel, I may just find another vendor. <strong> It's EASIER to get to an off strip location!</strong>
Posted by smokeybailey[/QUOTE]

<div>My thoughts exactly. I'm surprised that they are doing this....James (main guy from Glam Squad) had a lot of bad reviews a few years back....not because he sucks as a MUA, but because he was always late, and always had some ridiculous excuse. It seemed to be a recurrent trend for a few months. I doubt he gave anyone a break on their costs because he was late. </div><div>
</div><div>I used Glam Squad (did not have James) and thought the girl who did my hair and makeup was amazing; right on time, right to work, and I felt as if I looked my best. </div><div>
</div><div>How strange---they'll certainly lose out on some business this way. </div>

MNVegas

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_travel-fee?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:b4475da9-90a6-42f2-8c9e-c91b30e5d8cbPost:3652ee24-0f71-4d2e-86e7-5c42843e988a">Re: "Travel Fee?"</a>:
[QUOTE]I got quoted the travel fee as well when I requested a quote. We are staying off the strip (only 1 big block off) and was told the same thing. It was one of the reasons I did not go with them as no one else added that fee!
Posted by j_jaye[/QUOTE]

This must be something new. I was 2 blocks off strip and was not charged travel fee in May when I used GS.

ahr1982

This is so bizarre. I even told them I was referred by the LV message board knotties and they seemed to love that. It's not even about the money though. It's only $25 -- but it's the principle of the thing. IMO, it's simply bad business. I used to work in customer service for a large online retailer that is very well known for their outstanding customer service practices (fiance still works there, although  not in customer service...that's where we met!) so maybe I expect too much from others. I have also read several reviews about GlamSquad lateness and that makes me very uneasy. I would flip if a vendor/service provider were that unprofessional.

I am very tempted to reply to their email but I should just ignore it and press delete. I don't think what I have to say will change anything, and I probably don't want to do business with a company like that anyway. Besides, venting to you ladies helped me get it off my chest!

I already emailed Harmony Medina. Her prices are reasonable and she seems to get good reviews here.

junebug61103

If anything you'd think hed give you a discount...not only are you a local but your not on the strip, you will be at your house...so he wont have to park and walk through an entire casino and work out of a hotel room.

Ditto what Rach said. There were amazing reviews, but there were some really bad ones...and it always seemed to be the same problem...thats why I ended up with Francesca.

shaq123

That is sad ,because I was thinking about calling them for a quote., their prices were already high for me now they want to add travel fees .

ebonyivory10

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_travel-fee?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:b4475da9-90a6-42f2-8c9e-c91b30e5d8cbPost:0979dda7-c652-4e1f-9653-6b438b2ef375">Re: "Travel Fee?"</a>:
[QUOTE]If anything you'd think hed give you a discount...not only are you a local but your not on the strip, you will be at your house...so he wont have to park and walk through an entire casino and work out of a hotel room. Ditto what Rach said. There were amazing reviews, <strong>but there were some really bad ones...</strong>and it always seemed to be the same problem...thats why I ended up with Francesca.
Posted by junebug61103[/QUOTE]

Well to be fair, Rach did say it was a few years ago. I've been posting (and scoping bios LOL) over a year and really haven't seen many (if any) negative reviews on them.  To each their own style of course, but I think they get a bad rep sometimes based on phantom hearsay.  This travel fee certainly doesn't help their image though, hopefully they'll re-think things!