The Dreadlocks Salon - Best Dreadlock Salon in Oakland CA

I am writing this to warn others about the horrendous, damaging experience my girlfriend and I had with Rodger at The Dreadlocks Salon. If I could give zero stars, I would. Management has completely ignored our emails and refund requests, so I am leaving this review to save others from the same nightmare. My girlfriend had severe matting. The day prior to visiting Rodger, another salon spent 8 hours carefully detangling the first half of her head with needlework—leaving no damage, retaining her length, and causing absolutely no bald spots. We only came to Rodger on Sunday because the original salon ran out of time and was closed. The difference in treatment was literally night and day. Here is what you can expect if you book with Rodger: * Tardiness & Abandonment: He showed up 30 minutes late to our 3:00 PM appointment. Shortly after starting, he put my girlfriend under high heat and literally left the building for an hour to attend a local event, wasting our booked time. * Violent Techniques: Instead of carefully picking out the mats, he violently ripped a brush and hot comb through her hair. When his next client arrived, he rushed the process even more, taking a razor blade to the matted areas and brutally brushing them out. * Making the Customer Work: I was actually put to work as an assistant. I had to stand there holding her hair for over an hour while he yanked at the matting full strength. We spoke up about how much hair was being ripped out, but he brushed us off. * Severe Damage: He ripped her hair out directly from the root. The side of her head Rodger worked on is completely thinned out, noticeably shorter, and has two distinct bald spots (which he casually tried to blame on the matting). To top it all off, Rodger charged us more for 4 hours of rushing and damage than the other salon charged for 8 hours of careful, hard work. Save your hair, your money, and your time. Avoid Rodger and this salon at all costs.

I can’t say enough great things about The Dreadlock Salon! From the moment I walked in, I felt a warm sense of community that truly reflects the spirit of Oakland. The vibe is welcoming and inclusive, and the team is as professional and real as they come. I came in with some issues with my locs, and in just two appointments, they completely transformed them. The attention to detail, care, and expertise they bring to every session is unmatched. It’s clear they truly care about their clients and their craft. Special shout out to Ms Peaches, Donnie and Roger! I’ve already set up recurring appointments because I trust no one else with my hair now. If you’re looking for amazing service and a connection to the beautiful Oakland community, The Dreadlock Salon is the place to go! Highly recommended!

Please do not go here if you have non-ethnic hair. They do not know how to crochet dreads. The dreads ruined my scalp. I have blisters all over my head. They said I wouldn't need extensions and that it would take 6 hours maybe 8 at most. In total had I finished it would have been 12 hours. And then on top of that I lost 7 inches in length. I had to cut off all of my hair because of how badly these dreads were. Not to mention the hairdressers were trying to rip me off. The owner comes with the phone while my hairdresser was still doing my hair. They hid the phone talking about the price. Then my hairdresser said "more". So the owner/manager lady came up to me and said that will be $900. Now they charge $90/hour. I started at 10:35 and it was 6:17. So $900 would be 10 hours of work or that I had been there until 8:35 with no breaks. So clearly they tried to rip me off. Please save your hair and don't come here. Below you will see the start of the dreads and how much length I lost. The hair after it was cut off and combed out what I could and the hair that was cut off and the blisters.

Great salon, came late and they were able to still fit me in and they work really fast. Definitely going back!

I went there a couple weeks back for a dreadlock install, and I went there a day prior to confirm my appointment so they gave me a number to call and it was the owner and she came off nice, told me that I would be getting a call back from her that never happened. So boom the next day I arrive prompt and when I arrive there’s a receptionist and a stylist on the barber side the receptionist was ok but the owner son that did my hair was really rude and unprofessional. Just complaining about the business and his life like I didn’t come to hear all of that. He abandoned me in the dryer for too long, was really aggressive with my head again just being rude about where my head should be towards and then had the audacity to try to run out the shop when I assumed they thought I was going to leave when I was just going to smoke because he left to do another persons hair while still doing mine. Mind you I’m only doing the top part of my head I was quoted a certain time and it took double that and I specifically said that I only wanted 30-35 pieces of my hair attached but the guy put 44 in there trying to up charge me and it was embarrassing because I only had an amount for the hair and I got charged more than I was expecting. He’s only been doing it for 7 years I suggest he does some more practice because a couple of them have already fell out because they weren’t crocheted in all the way and I’m feeling more that are loose. All in all I would not recommend this place to anyone. It’s not the worst job I’ve had but for the price absolutely.