Bad Hair Cut Etiquette?

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

So, I got a haircut that I did not like today from a stylist that is not my normal stylist (he apparently doesn't work at my salon anymore, so I found another salon to try - BAD IDEA).

In my shocked state, I just sort of smiled and paid the bill (that was much higher than my normal bill and my normal salon)... running to my car, I cried huge girly tears of sadness and grief over my lost locks... I just wanted the same hair cut, but 2 inches shorter... and I got a new style, 4 inches shorter.

I realize most of you are guys and probably unable to answer this question - but, what is the polite way to demand some money back for a job poorly done in this situation?

 

[Crothian]

I imagine I would just back and ask to talk to the manager and complain to him/her. Be calm and rational and just explain yourself as best you can. A reciept that shows you went there would help since it is not your reglar place.

When I get a bad haircut I just have them even it out and go shorter. It is never more then ten bucks and hair grows back so not a big concern for me.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Well, working in the airline industry, we find that if you scream, cry, bitch, and threaten to sue you get your way, whether you're right or wrong.

On a more SERIOUS note, go back in, ask to speak to either a)manager or b)owner (if its a "mom n pop" salon). Just state your displeasure. But honey will probably get you further than vinegar, but if honey fails you, PICKLE them.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Ummm, I dont know what I would do. A bad haircut would not last too long for me as my hair grows back obscenely fast.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Is it a bad haircut (Meaning poorly executed) or is it just shorter than you asked for?

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Is it a bad haircut (Meaning poorly executed) or is it just shorter than you asked for?

My highlights are really what ended up **bad** - very unevenly distributed and much darker than I asked for.

The hair was just extremely, unexpectedly short... I just wanted the same hair cut, but shorter a.k.a. a trim. And I got whole new hair style.

 

[Goodsport]

I had a similar experience last December:

Where I used to live until last August, I had gone to the same barber shop/salon/whatever it's called that I'd gone to for years. Both ladies who cut my hair there (and the previous barbers there before them) knew me for so long that for the last few years I didn't even need to tell them how to cut my here upon each visit - they already knew. I suppose the only downside to that was that I had lost the art of explaining how I liked my hair to be cut (as it had been a long time since I needed to use that art).

Once my family and I moved, though, I had to find a new barber shop/salon/whatever, and found a lady who was able to cut my hair pretty close to how I liked it. However, in my third visit there, that lady had the day off, and the other lady there misunderstood my request of "I want a trim" as "I want to join the Army".

Strangely, though I was pale with shock, I nevertheless politely paid for the haircut and left (what else could I do?).

While I usually get my hair cut every 5-6 weeks, I hadn't been to a barber shop since that mid-December trip. It's about time for me to go get my hair cut again this coming week, though it looks like I'll have to both find yet another barber shop place and re-learn the art of explaining how I want my hair cut, made more difficult by how different my hair length around my head is now compared to how it was at this stage in the past.


-G

 

[fusangite]

I think the probability of you getting the money back is just about nil. The people at the salon, once you complain, will already know you're never coming back. So they have no incentive to refund your money. (I recently had a commercial dispute in a restaurant that went like this.) So don't waste your time on fighting them.

Count your blessings. I have a great barber here (of course not as good as the one back home, TB) but the week before last he coughed on me and gave me a nasty virus. After the past two weeks, I think I'd take a really really bad haircut over whatever it was that attacked my lungs, tonsils, intestines and everything in between.

But then, I'm a guy.

 

[Stone Angel]

You could complain I suppose but unless your hair has been grossly mismanaged, I think you just might have to suck it up and chalk this one in the loss column. They may redo your high light-low lights though. Try asking the other salon if they no where your stylist went to. Sorry to hear about that.

One time in college my roomates buzzed most of the top of my hair off. SUCK!! Imagine my suprise when I half drunkenly stumbled in the shower for work the next morning and went to wash my hair. I really freaked out. The worst part, the clippers they used were borrowed from a neighbor, they were not home or wouldn't get out of bed to answer the door. I had to go and wait tables like that. Luckily I was sent home extremely early and then I had to shell out 7 bucks for a haircut to "even it up".

Don't worry I got them back.


The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[Teflon Billy]

Fusangite has the right of it.

If someone comes back to complain, we know that that client is lost and almost nver refund their money. We'll offer to fix it as best we can, but too short? Tough.

It soudns mean, but honestly, 9/10 times we are operating on virtually no directions fromthe client. The single most common instruction from clients is "just a little bit off".

Sounds simple right? Except that they have no idea what they mean by "A little bit" so you either wind up doing the cut a second time because after looking at it they think they need a "little bit" more off, or you go too short because they only meant a "little bit", not the amount you cut off...that's too much

Or you luck out and hit the magic 1/16th of an inch window that's perfect.

Don't even get me started on "Short, but not too short" and the uselessness of that as instruction.

Anyway, my advice is just to chalk it up to experience and move on.

Stone Angel is right on one count htough, you might get more streaks out of them if there is a particularly ass-kissing Manager present, but they will be done by someone who literally no longer gives a crap about you or your hair. They are working for free. Expect half-assed effort.