Aibu to be furious with barber

[BillywigSting]

So I took ds for a much needed tidy up haircut. It was a bit longer than in the 3rd pic. He chose a style he likes and that will be ok with school.

The blurred out pic is ds, the other what he wanted.

He previously had lots of beautiful blonde curls. They have given him a number 4 and cut his ear.

I know I am probably being a bit dramatic but I could honestly cry. His hair grows really really really slowly too. This is only his fifth or sixth haircut ever because it's curly it stays short for ages.

I refused to pay because it looks nothing like what he asked for. He's upset about loosing his curls and I'm not sure school will be overly happy with it either.

[ReggieWoo]

School won't care.

They've fucked up but it'll grow. Don't go there again

[JoanMiro]

It's not really 'just hair' though is it?

If it was, people would not spend quite so much money on it

It really is just hair. People mostly learn to subscribe more emotion to it than they should from their parents so I would try to use this as a chance to show him that it's not a big deal, it's just hair, it'll grow back, etc.

[ReggieWoo]

He's 5. It's not that important.

[SuziQ10]

OP is being U and overly fussy. Pay the hairdresser.

[dementedpixie]

I wouldn't go back to pay and wouldn't use them again. It might be just hair but it's part of that little boy's identity. He will get used to it but it will take a few days. Hopefully in a few weeks it will be at a better length to do something with it

[eddiemairswife]

What a ridiculous fuss. Hair grows, albeit slowly.

[Loughers]

You made a grown man apologise to an infant - even though the poor guy in the Turkish barbers probably hasn't the best of English and your request was probably somewhat lost in translation. Well done you! Who knows, you may be really lucky and have got the guy sacked !

And your infant is "upset" because his hair was cut too short,,,..really?

I mean - really ??

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[firawla]

Yabvu to not pay, and school won’t care! He looks fine

[SuziQ10]

You should be ashamed of yourself

^ agree.

[dementedpixie]

I think the OP did the right thing. I empathise with her and her ds as my own ds has had several haircuts that were not what he/I asked for. We won't go back to those places again

[BillywigSting]

I didn't make him apologise.

His boss did.

Because he fucked up.

[WarpedGalaxy]

He didn’t fuck up, he told you it wouldn’t look like the picture you wanted because your son has a completely different hair type to the child with the desired haircut. He did what he thought was right and gave you the closest approximation to what you wanted that he could. You distressed your son with your reaction too. People like you make me sick.

[BillywigSting]

He did no such thing.

[WarpedGalaxy]

Sorry, misunderstood it was t the barber telling you it wouldn’t be the sane but you telling your son. Which makes it even more unreasonable of you, you told him (your son) that it wouldn’t be the same, so you already knew that and then you kick off because what you already knew would happen, happened?

[dementedpixie]

The barber left no length on the top to work with so he did fuck up

[BillywigSting]

He did not say it would not look like the photo. As I mentioned previously, I warned ds it wouldn't look exactly like that. It would be a similar shape but wavy/curly.

He did not see my reaction (which if you actually rtft was pretty discreet I thought). He saw his reflection, saw how much shorter his hair was and looked like he was about to burst into tears. He's typically pretty stoic and not a cryer at all so was fairly upset all on his own thank you very much.

If he had actually liked it, despite the fact that it was nothing like what he asked for I would have sucked it up and paid. It's his hair after all not mine.

He also cut his fucking ear right where his glasses rest.

If he had actually tried to give him 'a close approximation' of what he wanted he would not have cut so much off the top, and would have blown it straight.

He did not do this. He shaved his head and cropped the top.

Ffs, even the other barber wasn't impressed with his handy work.

[dementedpixie]

Did the barber just do the only haircut he knows how to do? That's why I've had to resort to taking my ds to a hairdresser as the barbers don't listen and just do what they want

[lazyspoon]

Why make the post if you're going to go against anybody telling you you're being unreasonable? Also, what does being Turkish have to do with it? Your sons hair was never going to look like that photo and instead of getting upset about it maybe you should just explain that his hair will grow back and then he can find a new style for his next hair cut. Personally I would pay but not the full amount but only because of the cut to sons ear, not to do with the style. The cut/style looks great and very neat

[BillywigSting]

@dementedpixie that's certainly how it looks to me. I think I will be doing the same in future.

They might actually listen and not just crop it however they want.

[NunoGoncalves]

There's not much more to say in this thread, OP. You asked if you're being unreasonable, the vast majority have said you are. Most people have told you you're overreacting, but you keep repeating the same points to try to claim you're not. So why didyou ask in AIBU?!

[Candleglow7475]

Gawd you’ve made a real big deal out of this.... you’ll probably not be able to get your DS near any barbers / hairdressers again after this

[pictish]

“If he had actually tried to give him 'a close approximation' of what he wanted he would not have cut so much off the top, and would have blown it straight.

He did not do this. He shaved his head and cropped the top.“

Yep...that’s what the barber does. Short back and sides with a little left on top. No exceptions. You can gel the top or leave it flat...those are your choices.
Next time go to a hairdresser. Trust me on this. In the meantime let me assure you in three days you will have ceased to care about this. Promise!

[Frequency]

He did not say it would not look like the photo. As I mentioned previously, I warned ds it wouldn't look exactly like that. It would be a similar shape but wavy/curly

Again this is lack of understanding/communication. If the barber left your DS's hair so long that it curled it would look nothing like the cut you asked for which is cut to about 1-1.5cm long on the top and blow dried back. Any longer and it would not stand-up the way it does. Honestly, it is a deceptively short cut. It looks a lot longer than it actually is. I was glad I was presented with it when I was training because I thought it was longer and indeed cut it longer the first time I did it and then my instructor came over and lopped another inch and a half off the top and explained I'd left it way too long to style the way the boy wanted it.

The barber gave you what you asked for. The problem is your son doesn't have the right type of hair to support the style. The other barber was probably trying to pacify the crazy lady.

[8misskitty8]

barbers/hairdressers IMO find curly hair hard to cut/shape using a straight hairstyle photo as a guide.
His hair however is shorter than on the photo so I would be miffed at that.
What I would have complained about was the ear cutting especially if the barber did not apologise when it initially happened.

[Jayne35]

I doubt it will be the last time he dislikes a haircut to be honest, I'm sure everyone has multiple cuts they hate throughout life.

It should be fine next time if you pay the extra cost of a hairdresser.

My DS recently had his neck cut at a turkish barbers though so I suspect it happens often - he said it didn't hurt though, was just a nick.