My Experience with the InStyler

The advertisements promise “professional salon styling in minutes” with a product that “straightens, curls and adds body without the intense heat used by other products.” It’s hard to know how many people have purchased the InStyler touted in the television advertisements, but it has created a lot of hype. My 12-year-old and her friends all wanted one and many hair stylists I talked to, although they didn’t use the InStyler, knew clients who had inquired about it or wanted to buy it.

I have shoulder length curly hair. My daughters also have curly hair. With all these curls, we go through a lot of hair styling products. We’ve purchased everything from the inexpensive drugstore flat irons to the pricier “professional quality” flat irons, crimpers, curling irons and other appliances and have found that with heavy use, most products need to be replaced about every two years. We were at the two year point with our last ceramic plate flat iron and the advertisement for the InStyler was in intriguing. Without a hair stylist recommendation, I was hesitant to purchase this product, especially since an Internet search came back with mixed results – it appeared some people loved the InStyler and some people had had lousy luck with it. I am always hesitant to purchase things over the phone, and unless it’s a company I’ve dealt with before, I don’t like to purchase things (and give out my credit card number) through the Internet, but when I found the InStyler at Target in my hometown, I decided to give it a try, forking over about $108 (including tax) to purchase the item.

We got the item home and right away I was pleased with the detailed informational packet included with the product (a definite plus). We watched the informational video and got started. Sure enough. The appliance worked beautifully, straightening our hair while offering curl and volume. The appliance is easy to use and straightens hair quickly. That was the good news. Small print inside the informational packet does advise consumers to use a protecting spray – this is a must with any product that inflicts intense heat on your hair. Because the InStyler is not ceramic plated, the company should probably highlight that information. Not using a protecting spray on one’s hair when using the InStyler (like any other appliance) can cause serious damage over time.

But our love of the InStyler died pretty quickly. While the InStyler claims that it does not have the “intense heat used by other products” it gets very hot and can cause some serious burns. Many good quality flat irons and curling irons include a temperature gauge so that users know exactly how hot their appliance is and some allow users to select a temperature anywhere from 200 degrees to more than 450 degrees. I have no idea how hot the InStyler gets and the appliance does not offer different temperature setting – the appliance is either on or it’s off. Because of the intense heat, and because it lacks a rim around the rotating cylinder, it is difficult to get the appliance very close to the hair root and takes practice to avoid burns. Two of us received small scalp burns using the appliance, the third didn’t dare to allow the product close enough to her scalp to straighten the roots of her hair.

Another flaw with the design of the InStyler is the rotating cylinder and the appliance tip that keeps the cylinder in place (that tip gets very hot, by the way). My hair is a bit longer than my daughters’ and several times, when curling my hair around the cylinder, as shown in the informational video, stray strands would become entangled between the cylinder and the tip causing some hair breakage. Although I am not a professional hair stylist, I am not a novice when using hair appliances – I’ve been using a variety of products since my teens and my two daughters (now in their teens) have grown up using such things. My hair has never before become entangled in any product. I experienced some hair breakage and dryness in other areas too, which I believe was caused by the product’s intense heat. By about the third week, the tip of the InStyler’s rotating cylinder fell off while in use. It appeared that somehow, the screw used to attach the cylinder to the tip became loose and simply fell off. The screw wound up inside the tip and could not be removed. This tip gets very hot and required potholders to pick it up off the floor. When it fell off, it also caused the cylindar to become very loose and slip resulting in yet another scalp burn.

At this point, I was left with a product I had paid $100 for that had fallen apart and was useless in less then a month. I thought, certainly InStyler customer service would like to hear about this – especially considering that burns had resulted from the product breaking while in-use. But alas, when I called the number provided in the informational packet, I was met with a surely customer service rep who informed me that since I had not purchased the product from them, they could “do nothing” for me – for the record, I never asked that they do more then listen to my tale. Taken aback I asked to speak to a supervisor. Having spent many years in the call center industry (including several years as a call center recruiter), I know that often times, rabble-rousing callers are just transferred to another customers service representative who poses as a supervisor to repeat the same information and quickly end the call. I don’t know if this was the case when I called the InStyler customer service, but the “supervisor” I was transferred to was not friendly and at one point even yelled at me. When I told him that I thought my comments and concerns should be valuable to the company, the man yelled at me and said “while I am not president of the company but I’ll write your comments down.” I hung up in tears. It is sad when a company is not confident enough in their product to hear criticism, respond to it positively, try to correct the situation and keep the customer happy. The ultimate goal of any customer service representative – even if they can offer nothing to make the situation right for the customer – is to listen, empathize and stand behind their product. InStyler customer service did none of that. I was actually left with the impression that the product breaking is somewhat common. The customer service representative told me “well I don’t know how many break, maybe five out of every 1,000 sold.”

Fortunately, I was able to return the product to Target. I relayed my experience to them (they were courteous, empathetic and extremely professional) and I received a full refund for the item. I could have used that refund to purchase another InStyler, but I didn’t see any reason to do so after my conversation with their two customer service representatives – if it had been slightly more positive, I might have given the product another try. I went next door to the professional beauty supply store and bought a professional grade, ceramic-plated, tourmaline-line flat iron for $49.99. Even without the rotating cylinders, it does everything – body, curls and volume – that the InStyler does for half the the price. The results that one gets by using the InStyler can easily an be attained by using products manufactured by companies who have years in the industry.

If you purchase the InStyler, save the packaging and save the receipt. I tend to tape my receipts to the box (or tuck it inside) and store it in a safe place. I certainly don’t want to imply that every customer will have the same results that I had, but I used this product as directed and as demonstrated in the video. Either mine was a dud or something is wrong with the product’s design. The product does come with a one-year limited warranty, according to the company’s Web site. If yours does break, you’ll need your receipt to return it to the store.

Sources
InStyler Web site, visited Feb. 8, 2010, http://getinstyler.com