To think this hairdresser is wrong...

[Bobyan]

My friend went to a hairdresser in Central London during her lunch hour yesterday and had a dry hair cut taking less than an hour.

She was charged £80. The next day she noticed that their price list said that dry cuts are £40, so she went back in and asked them to refund her the difference as there had obviously been a mix up at the till.

They then told her (bearing in mind that she was there for less than an hour) that they charged her more because she has "black" hair and it takes longer. If she had "Caucasian" hair it would have been less.

Her hair is relaxed and poker straight, so how on earth they can justify this?

A dry cut for £80. She was robbed! I go to a top salon in central london and pay £56 for a wet cut and a head massage thrown in! That's crazy.

Sounds racist to me.If they are displaying prices on a board and thats not what the actual price is, then I would be having a word with local trading standards.

£80 for a hair cut????? I have mine coloured and cut for £50.shocked face

How extraordinary. But I bet it didn't say that on the price list! Very cheeky, I think.

And come to think of it possibly racist as well.

I just can't believe that given her hair is straight that they could even use this as an excuse...

I would think that they are wrong, unless they specify on their charges or say "from £x", then they should charge what is on the price list.

I'm having trouble understanding how anyone could say this, it must be discriminatory, any experts out there?

some hairdresser here charge more for cutting long hair than for doing short hair but have never seen a price difference for colour of hair - outrageous!! I can get a cut and colour for less than £80

Wow, I have a colour & cut for £50 & I have very thick curly hair-what a blatant rip off

And DH things the £35 I pay for colour, cut and blow is dear! (Town centre salon)

It is direct discrimination. I would speak to the manager,then head office, if there is one. Then report.

She's waiting for their head office to call her back (which is the only reason I haven't named them yet - it's a big chain)...

[email protected]
Equality and Human Rights Commission Helpline England
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I have the closest hair to Afro a white girl could have and have never been charged differently for a hair cut because of it. That sounds like blatant discrimination and if I were her I'd be fuming and complaining to anyone and everyone. A salon that expensive could lose a LOT of custom if their clients get wind of such idiotic racism, they'd better be careful. In fact, I think you should tell us the salon so we can all avoid it. (Not that I could afford an £80 hair cut anyway, but in principal!)

Agree with the other, absolute blatant discrimination. Makes me angry and her behalf. Take the buggers to cleaners for that.

If anyone is ever in doubt, the EHRC helpline, will answer any enquiry about possible discriminatory behaviour/conditions.

www.bforec.co.uk/index.htm

Dp and dsil go to specialists in afro-carribbean hair, because it is different (dp has locks, dsil does all sorts of fab things and I'm very jealous!). However, your friend should have been told upfront that her hair type would cause difficulties for the stylist, or she should have been assigned a stylist who actually knows what they're doing!

The stylist is not worth double their hourly rate dependant on hair type

..so if I went there with my big bushy hair I'd be charged more than my sister, who has thin whispy hair? Rubbish, absolutely right to contact Head Office.

Hairdressers are within their rights, to quote each client depending on hair type. However they cannot have a double blanket charge for 'black hair'.

There will have to be fine print on the sign, stating what the £40 covers and staff will have been instructed to point out extra costs.

Either way the friend will get free haircuts for this.

£80???????? I pay £8 for for a dry cut at my local hairdressers!

That is absolutely nuts. I always find it is cheaper to have my hair done in London than it is at home - there is so much competition that most of them have deals and special offers most of the time (for instance I had my hair cut in a salon 5 mins walk from Westminster Abbey for £30).

I would certainly say that that is discriminatory. Bloody hell - I really hope she complains.

Absolutely ridiculous! Encourage your friend to research discriminatory law and consider reporting them to the Commission for Racial Equality.

If she went to a Caucasian salon then it's understandable that she was maybe charged more. It's not about racism at all, so I don't know why everyone points at that.

You have to have completely different training for black hair, so there maybe only one stylist in the salon that has that training and they maybe a senior stylist which would cost more.

I think the fact that she was charged £80 is pretty bad though, if it cost more for the reasons I mentioned then I would thinks only £10 more at the most. So in that sense YANBU

I'm mixed race, and a hairdresser btw.

absolutely unacceptable of the hairdressers...take them down!

Not double, Macchiato. I'm mixed race and go to black hairdressers and I get charged less than DH who goes to white hairdress.

Nope not double - I did say that if anything maybe £10 more.

But it isn't racist at all. I wouldn't take my Afro hair into Toni and guy and expect them to know what they're doing, because most of them are not trained in black hair.

For black hair you need to go to a specialist salon, or you're asking for trouble. It's just the way it is.