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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have walked out of the hairdressers?

40 replies

Itchywoolyjumper · 27/04/2013 12:05

I took 2 year old DS for a haircut in a local salon this morning. I've been to this salon once and quite liked it, it had a really nice homely feel.
We turned up a few minutes before the appointment time. Our hairdresser was cutting someone else's hair, told us to take a seat, she'd be ten minutes. So we sat there and waited. During this time she stopped doing her customer's hair to describe the plot of a film she'd seen. I waited half an hour, with an increasingly agitated DS who she could see, but didn't bother to let me know how long it was going to take. When I was told them I was leaving, she blamed it on the other customer being late and said she could do the hair cut now I said it was too late and half an hour was too long to wait for a hair cut.
I always feel a bit rubbish when I do things like this, I get all adrenally and then feel crap when it burns off. Was I unreasonable to leave?

OP posts:
Sallyingforth · 27/04/2013 17:01

I wouldn't have waited 30 minutes before leaving. If she hadn't nearly finished after the 10 minutes I would have left then.

Mintyy · 27/04/2013 17:11

I was kept waiting 30 minutes for a 10.00am hair appointment at a new salon near me. Dd was only a toddler at the time and it was a real treat for me to go and get my hair done alone (while she was at the childminders). I had a little strop when I decided to leave and told the receptionist that I was paying for childcare while they kept me waiting! The owner of the salon rang me about half an hour later and offered me a free appointment but I never took her up on it and have never been back to the salon (and never will). So there.

LindyHemming · 27/04/2013 17:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChunkyPickle · 27/04/2013 17:26

This is why I cut DS/DP's hair, and usually my own (less said about that the better perhaps)

I can't be bothered with yet another thing to make an appointment for, then wait for etc. If I can't wander in, get a cut, and then wander out a while later then I'm just not interested these days - perhaps I'm just getting super-grumpy in my old age.

Original poster
Itchywoolyjumper · 27/04/2013 18:51

I can't understand it, are hairdressers doing so well these days they can afford to see off customers like this? Its not as if hairdressers are rare is it?
ChunkyPickle, I did try cutting his hair myself but my hairdressing skills seem to only be able to produce cuts that were last fashionable in monastic circles in the 15th century Grin

OP posts:
AugustaProdworthy · 27/04/2013 18:58

YANBU. I have flounced from my hairdressers and the last two occasions were terrible experiences. One was when I was her last customer before Christmas break and she clearly couldn't care less and the last one I turned up on time, was told she would be 10 minutes, she was ages and then asked me if I had got my times muddled up as to suggest it was my fault.
I take my DS to a barbers now and you pretty much get straight in. Why does mens' hair take so little time to cut? Why don't they do appointments? Why can't I just pop into a salon and have a quick spray and cut??

expatinscotland · 27/04/2013 19:10

YANBU. We take DS to a barber's.

A mate cuts my hair and DD's at home.

UrbaneLandlord · 27/04/2013 20:11

Surely the correct thing to do here was to accept the hair-cut after half an hour? By walking out you've cut your nose off to spite your face.

The assertiveness comes in on the next occasion: when you book the appointment, say to the hair-dresser that you're very grateful for the last hair-cut (thank you very much) but that you really do need to stick to the appointment time this time. If the hair-dresser accepts this then you've already raised the stakes for them sticking to the appointment time.

If this still doesn't work then find another hair-dresser; but expect to pay more if you want them to clear their books for you!

Original poster
Itchywoolyjumper · 27/04/2013 20:52

Urbane I didn't expect her to leave her client mid cut but I did think that she must have had some idea of how long it was going to take. Had she given me a more honest estimate of the time or even spoke to us once during the whole time we were waiting I might now have been thinking I was a bit hasty. She didn't do any of this. In fact she switched the hairdryer off half way through the blow dry to tell her client about the plot of a film she'd seen, while we sat there waiting.
What I feel now is I don't want to give my money to someone who doesn't value me a client.

OP posts:
BenjaminButton172 · 27/04/2013 21:01

I love going to my hairdressers. It is a small family business and we sit and have a good chat/gossip. I dont mind if i am waiting half an hour.

Dont think I would be happy waiting in any other salon though.

OP if u dont like the hairdressers just dont go back. If I was in your shoes I probably wouldnt.

thermalsinapril · 27/04/2013 21:50

After a few minutes, I think I'd have said "I'll need to be going in X minutes so if you can't start in 5 minutes I'll need to leave I'm afraid".

MNBlackpoolandFylde · 27/04/2013 22:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

claremp7 · 27/04/2013 22:25

I've walked out with my hair started by the hairdresser. I went to my mums hairdresser when I walked in an older lady was sat with a perm on her hair and another customer waiting before us. After45 mminutes she was ready for me I wanted high lights and have very very curly long hair that is very easily tangled. She brushed my hair and every stroke was excruciating also she kept hitting my head with the brush. When she said she didn't have time to use foil for high lights but would have to use the cap and was very rude about it I asked for a hair bobble and got up and left. The old lady with the perm on was still sat there and said she was diabetic and needed to eat so I took her with me and arranged for another hairdresser to sort out the perm. I felt bad but also strangely proud.

UrbaneLandlord · 27/04/2013 22:56

OK, Itchy, that must have added to your frustration, the hair-dresser did not seem to share or acknowledge your anxiety. How long did the discussion go on for? 30 seconds? 1 minute? 2 minutes?

I remember when I was in Saigon, a few years ago. I was strolling through a market-place at (what was obviously) lunchtime. I came across a perfect circle of women, to the rear of a large market stall. At the centre of the circle was another woman sitting in a chair, with her feet up on a foot-rest. One of the women in the circle was giving the woman in the chair some kind of pedicure or toe-nail clipping or something. All the women were chatting & laughing, the one having her feet done was the same as the rest of them: it just happened to be her turn. I never got to see what her feet were like before or after the treatment, but I'm guessing they were pretty good before and pretty good afterwards.

Often times, personal grooming is not just about making yourself look better; it's about feeling better, gaining social acceptance and catching up with gossip. Given that hair-dressers are often not the best-paid workers in the UK economy, to me it's not surprising that chatting about stuff with customers is part of the T&Cs of the job!

Original poster
Itchywoolyjumper · 28/04/2013 08:03

Thanks for all the replies.
There are things I could have done yesterday to make it a bit better but on balance I don't think I was that unreasonable to leave.

OP posts:
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