The top pics are the inspiration I showed, and bottom pics are my (unstyled) hair in natural light. I always go in with the understanding that inspiration pics could take a few trips to achieve, or could even be unattainable, but just to give the stylist an idea of what tones and style I like (just to say I'm pretty laid back about expectations). 

My previous stylist left, and my hair was overdue for a larger update so I figured I would just book a full balayage with another stylist (who was new to me but highly rated & recommended). I requested a balayage with root smudge/melt and cool toned blonde, and specifically said I do not want chunky highlights. This is basically what my previous stylist would do with upkeep of toning and adding highlights/root smudge every now and then. The stylist recommended not going as dark with the roots/contrast as the inspo pics, and suggested just one shade darker than my natural instead, which I was totally fine with as I like low maintenance.

I have a lot of hair which I know can be overwhelming, but the project started to feel very out of control about halfway in, beyond anything I have experienced with other stylists. I started seeing signs of panic and lack of confidence as she got deeper in the process.  The salon owner even came over and started helping and giving her advice. All of this felt super unsettling!!

She started 30 minutes late, and it took 5.5 hours. I was even scheduled for a haircut too but we were both so exhausted I asked her to just book the haircut for another day. 

At the end, she was super apologetic. However, after the blowout and in the salon lighting, I thought it looked fine and was happy enough (actually quite relieved given how out of control it all felt). The root smudge looked minimal, but I figured it was just blonder up front and higher up than the inspo pics, which I don't mind. They didn't have hand mirrors so I couldn't check out the sides or back (now I see that as a huge red flag!!), and I was so tired and eager to get out of there I didn't spend a lot of time looking. She said she would fix anything I don't like, but after 6 hours of being there and seeing how hard she worked, and not knowing the mess on the sides/back, I said I was happy and she did a great job. It genuinely looked fine from the front. 

At home the next morning in natural light, I see I basically got uneven brassy chunky highlights and a very poorly done/unblended root smudge, instead of cool toned blended highlights. Ugh.

What should I do? I am kinda nervous to have her touch my hair again given how this came out, but I also do not have money to have someone else fix it. Does this seem salvageable? Should I let her attempt to fix it, request the salon owner help out, or go somewhere else? I do not know enough about hair to know how bad this is or how hard it will be to correct.

Bad salon experience - need advice