To wonder if the hairdressers was lying?

[Imicola]

I was very excited when the hair salon called to ask if I wanted to make an appointment after restricting were eased... My hair is short and in desperate need of a cut! But, my usual hairdresser has left, apparently to work in childcare....or so they said.

AIBU to be suspicious of this? Is that something salons would do to stop you following a stylist? I'm a bit anxious as I had three dreadful haircuts (in very different ways) in 3 different salons when I first moved here before I found my regular stylist. I'm kind of secretly hoping she has actually moved to another salon and that I'll be able to find her again!

When a stylist left a salon I used to go to, they said, when asked where she’d gone ‘ I don't know’ It’s to stop you following them, yes....

Maybe she is minding her own kids, as opposed to 'working' in childcare? Or possibly working in childcare and doing hair from home??? Does it really matter? They aren't going to say 'oh, she is working at XYZ now, here is her number'. I assumed you've tried looking her up?

If you keep getting bad cuts, I'd ensure you are very clear about what your expectations are, take in pics etc so there is no surprise at the end.

She might have gone to another salon, so you could google her name to see if anything comes up.

A lot of hairdressers have chosen not to go back to a salon and instead do their own thing. Mobile hairdressers are becoming more popular now, especially since they don't have the overheads of renting a chair in a salon.

Given the loss of income for 4 months and ongoing loss of future income due to restrictions etc, it's highly likely she's got a different job. Why would you think it's some kind of conspiracy? Lots of people have changed jobs in the last few months. One of my clients have a B&B - now one works in a supermarket and the other works as a delivery driver - they've closed the B&B for this year at least as they could see a few months ago that they needed to make changes if they wanted to survive financially.

Hmmm - mine has gone to become a "cleaner" - which I find very surprising as she was such an excellent hairdresser!

Have tried googling to no avail! I'm always very specific on what I want, including photos. The bad experiences included a far too short chunk at the back, and a stylist that was so rough I felt like i was being abused in some odd way, i wanted to get out of there so badly....tricky to describe really! I know there are bigger problems in the world, I'm sure the new stylist will be fine.

Yep salons never want their stylist taking clients with them when they leave. Have you checked Facebook to see if you can find her on there?

I've got my hair stylist on Facebook to ensure that if she ever moves then I can follow! It's so hard to find a hairdresser you trust.

I've heard it's very common in the industry not to tell you why the stylist has left or where they have gone. They are scared you are going to follow them to the another salon.

I used to get my hair cut from the same person for years. She was quite senior in the salon and very friendly with all the staff. One day I showed up to the appointment and another stylist met me and took me to the chair and started asking what I wanted done. No mention of why my usual stylist wasn't there. When I asked where she was she just said 'don't know' and changed the subject. It felt quite awkward.

Then she probably has gone into childcare.

If you're googling her full name you may not find her. She could be calling herself something like "[name]'s hair " or "hair by [name]" so search for variations on those, especially on Facebook. Also you could ask on your local Facebook page if anyone knows whether she is still operating or not.

Mine left to do an IT apprenticeship, so people do leave for other reasons. She told me herself at my last appointment so it was definitely the truth.

I've heard of 3 hairdressers in my area all being made redundant in the last week. So your favourite stylist may have left of her own accord....or she may not.

Have you got a local Facebook group? A few panicked customers were reunited with their hairdressers that way.

If you can find her follow her and don't feel bullied into an appointment at the salon in the hope of the new stylist knowing what you want.
There's already a disasterous post lockdown haircuts chat thread running for those who have returned to find their long time hairdressers have forgotten how to cut hair.

Search on Instagram for her first name, hairdresser, area you live in.

This was how I tracked my sons barber.

I'm friends with my on FB as well ... but she also owns the salon so I'm not that worried about her disappearing!

She's probably cutting hair independently or moved a different salon, or waiting to start cutting hair again until she feels 'safer' doing so ... and they are not going to tell you where.

My hairdresser owns the salon so I'm lucky.

Childcare might be looking after her own family for the summer and then she'll reappear at another salon/mobile in Sept.

One former hairdresser left to go trekking in South America. She never came back.

Yeah... she hasn't left to work in childcare OP.

Search for her on Facebook or Instagram and see what the crack is!

They will NEVER tell you where another stylist has moved to.

@Kazzyhoward and @BarefootHippieChick- not to invalidate your claims on purpose, but there were people literally queuing out hairdressing salons' doors at the beginning of July. People were desperate for their hair done after four months. They are busier, and richer, than ever!

One of my local hairdressers has trebled their prices.

It's in a small country town and their main clientele is old women who regularly go for perms, rinses etc. It's exploitative.