Complaint Rating:

Company information:
The London Hair Academy
Midford Place, 114-115 Tottenham Court Road
Greater London, England
United Kingdom
Phone: 0207 096 5011
thelondonhairacademy.com

I took out a substantial loan at the beginning of these courses after being made redundant; because of all of this I have been unable to become self-employed and start my business. My health has suffered because of the lack of professionlism or process regarding my complaint and refusing to acknowlegde and resolve this issue in a satisfactory way for either party. I am now working part-time to try and repay my loan.

The whole venue is a nightmare when you eventually reach the top of the stairs. All surface and no substance. The only W.C. access is through the beauty training room and no designated office or kitchen space. I really do not know how they have got it all passed with risk assessments. The hair basin/seating unit was not attached to the floor or wall and when anyone sat in it they experience a whiplash effect and fell out rather than got out; it was a health & safety nightmare. We were using dirty towels on and off all week and having to rummage in the bins to find those. Waste bins overflowed with hair and food waste and rubbish. There were only 2 cutting combs and one had half the teeth missing and very cheap scissors. Hairdryers that the nozzles did not fit and we had to fix them on with loo roll and masking tape. I would have expected to be presented with at least one new head block to work on and produce 5 standard cuts on during the week. This was not to be. There were only 2 of us enrolled for the week and we were expected to use old heads full of very bad hair extensions and complete with various hair cuts. When models came in I was embarrassed to have to use dirty gowns and towels. It was professionally demoralising having experienced an excellent standard of training in the past.

If you or your employer have got lots of money to waste and don't care if you pass (because you will anyway!) or not then enroll on this course! I was embarking on various courses with LHA after being taken in by the content & claims of their website regarding their training provider status and facilities. I wanted to refresh my skills and become a mobile hairdresser and needed a package of courses to enable me to have the confidence to become self-employed and start operating professionally again. I arrived on the first day to find what I had expected to be a colour course had been changed to a 5 day cutting course but the first day had become a blow-dry course and a ghd course and the cutting did not start until 3.30pm. Unfortunately this set the standard for the rest of the week. We had a different tutor on day 2 - Drew. He was fab and a total professional and if you live in London and can track him down I would suggest you do. He should be running his own academy because his standard should be the norm if you are paying LHA prices £1, 495 a week. At the end of the week I was asked if I felt stretched and challenged by the the week. Yes I was but not for the right reasons. I had experienced a standard of training that I wish I had not and if this was to be the same for the colouring, hair extensions and barbering courses that I had booked too then I wanted my money back. I later went on a SAKS week's cutting course and it was true professionalism from start to finish and cost £990 and that included 1 day barbering and 3 new head blocks to work on and bring home. You only passed if you met a certain standard and received a full report at the end of the week with professional guidance for improvement. I am now £4000 out of pocket and have tried to get my money refunded amicably by Claire Mitchell who ignored all my efforts to communicate with her directly I am going through the small claims court and have lodged another complaint with Camden Trading Standards Office and Westminster Health & Safety Executive and alerted Habia to the practices of the London Hair Academy. Donot part with any cash before you visit the premises or speak to someone who has been on one of these courses. They are reluctant to produce invoices for anything and 'cash' seems to be the preferred method of payment!