By BR Anonymous.
99% of my customers are a real pleasure to work with. They come into the salon and they either know what they want or they trust me to take their look into my own hands. But there’s 1% of customers that just make me want to pull my hair out…or give them the chop.
Like the client that contradicts themselves every five seconds. ‘I want to have an evening look, but I don’t want it to be too drastic as I have something else on during the day.’ ‘I want to be blonde but not too blonde.’ Then there are the clients who’ll tell you they want a completely new look then start showing you pictures of hair that looks exactly like the hair they already have.
Of course they’ve got nothing on the ladies who come in and tell me they want something ‘funky and fresh’ – but for the life of them can’t explain to me the look they want, nor do they have photographic evidence to help me along. It’s like I’m meant to be a psychic stylist who can just pull their idea of ‘funky and fresh’ out of their head.
What else makes hairdressers want to curl up and dye? Clients who refuse to pay attention to the rules of time. Like the client who makes an appointment, doesn’t turn up, then expects me to fit her in on the same day at a later time, because, you know, it’s not like I have any other clients…. Another time twister? The client who rings for an appointment wanting a certain day, then when you explain you’re all booked they refuse to listen and try explaining to you like you’re a two year old, that ‘it’s oooonly a triiiiiim’ – yes, it may only be a trim, but there are only a certain amount of bookings in a day and they’re all taken. Then there’s the client who books in for a blow wave, then on arriving at the salon and sitting down they casually ask if you also have time to do a full head of foils...
Other bad habits that will lead us to thinking cutting thoughts? Expecting us to play your babysitter/cool new friend whilst your unruly demon child sits on our stools, plays with the stools, runs havoc round the salon … all the while you sit there, ignore them, and ‘relax’. It’s good to know at least one of us isn’t being driven nuts. Speaking of kidlets, it’s not cool to bring your child into a salon for a three hour appointment – especially when they’re sick. Oh, and when it comes to sickness, if you’re sick, cancel your appointment – neither the other clientele or myself need to come down with whatever you’ve got because you thought keeping your hair appointment would be ‘a nice way to make you feel better’. The only thing worse, imo, is the people who bring in kids with nits for a cut, then proclaim ‘oh I didn’t think you’d mind’. No, of course we don’t mind if you bring nits into a hair salon.
Other things we get a bit nit-picky about? Clients who constantly move or touch their hair during their appointment. It just makes our job harder. Clients who have inches upon inches of damaged hair who ask ‘for a trim’, then who physically cringe when they watch you sweep away the miniscule amount of ‘trimmed’ hair. As for people who tell me how to do my job? They probably wouldn’t take so kindly to me trying to tell them how to do theirs. Ball girls – bless their excited cotton socks - but it’s not ok to bring your clan of friends so more than one person can have an opinion about your hair and comment on how it should or should not be done. As for people who come in post-workout unshowered? Peeeee-ewwwww! The last thing we want is to foil your grease monkey post-gym hair.
Another joyous moment is when the client fibs about using box hair dye as well as just how much they’ve dyed their hair then gets precious when they don’t get the desired hair colour as well as it costing them triple the price for what is deemed as colour correction.
Of course that’s nothing like the scissors to the heart moment when a client cheats on us with another stylist – then calls us because all of a sudden it needs to be ‘fixed’ – and of course it must be done on the day they call. The moment they walk in, we know, and it’s like the trust and relationship we’ve spent months or years building is utterly destroyed.
Fun fact – when a client picks up our heinously expensive scissors and trims a label off a packet a little bit of us shrivels up and dies. Almost as much as when they admit to trimming their fringe with stand scissors then smugly say ‘what?? They’re all the same really aren’t they?’ Um. No. They’re not.
Now let’s talk about manners. It actually helps if you have some. General rudeness of the ‘you are my minion, my hairdresser, you are not my friend, I do not do small talk’ type will win you no favours - BE FRIENDLY PEOPLE. And never ever ask your stylist if they do ‘hair at home’ as you no longer feel like paying salon prices.
So what makes a great customer? Be organised, know what you want and be realistic about it. Make the correct appointment for what you want done and turn up on time. Don’t share your sickness/nits/BO. Leave your energetic kidlets at home with a babysitter. Smile and use your manners. Oh, and please don’t whip out a cheque to pay for the service – or ask if you can pay half cheque and half by another means. Cash or eftpos is King.
And remember, don’t cheat on us. Ever. You can leave, but you can’t cheat. Because when you come back with someone elses hair you’ll break our hearts and we might not ever truly forgive you. And hell hath no fury like a person who wield a pair of expensive scissors.
I haven't visited the hairdressers in a couple years now due to having my hair botched up so many times. I colour my own hair at home and do a pretty good job of it too ;)