Should I be upset at paying £300 for haircut

[charlieginger1987]

Hi ladies,
Have waited 7 months to get my hair done and finally went today. I got a full head of balayage highlights, a root tint to cover my greys and a cut and blow dry. The website was really unclear and it said £130 for a full head of balayage. Knowing sometimes that hairdressers add optional extras I budgeted £180 just in case. I got to the till, the receptionist seemed awkward, didn't confirm the price straightaway, so I asked her what it was, and £300 appeared on the credit card machine. I can only guess that she didn't say the figure out loud because she was embarrassed to charge me that much. I didn't want to say too much in front of a full salon full of people but I simply said "wow that's expensive?" She shrugged and didn't say anything but "your e-receipt will be sent directly to you". I thought I'd best pay and then query the receipt later as I already felt so embarrassed and caught off guard.

Looking at the receipt they have charged me for:
£130 full head of balayage
£65 full head of permanent colour
£65 ladies cut and finish
£35 olaplex
£5 tip
Total: £300

Am I right to be completely shocked at the price of this?? It did take 4 hours and I have long thick hair but really? Have you ever heard of a haircut this expensive and fellow hair stylists, does this price sound reasonable to you?

Needless to say I have sent Rush an email but am I being unreasonable questioning the price of this haircut?

I had a full head of highlights, root tint, cut, and olaplex on Tuesday and it came to £225 at a local salon that isn’t a chain so it’s probably about right, sorry!

Just to add, this was with the highest level of colourist so you may be paying for the better qualified hairdresser

But that is what you got right? Full head root tint? Balayage and the rest? Mine is normally £200 for full head balayage and then cut and finish so you've added on the full head root tint and the treatment

Just go to Trevor Sorbie. Best balayage, same price, and they always explain if there are extras and how much they cost.

I've always expected to pay separately for the cut and colour, but not for 2 sets of colour! That is taking the piss.

I had my hair done last week in a posh salon in a popular tourist city and actually had different stylists for the cut & the highlights (full head). Each was less than £60. I was in there for about 2.5 hours.

I used to own a salon and be embarrassed if I charged over a £100. 🤦‍♀️ Bad business woman. Yeah, £300 is fucking ridiculous. But Rush are renowned rip off artists. Hopefully it looks good. Find a reputable independent with a sensible price list, if they still exist.

You haven't paid 300 for a hair cut though. It's for a cut an quite complex colour.

That is a huge amount (I would have been horrified too) but I think you were a bit naive. You factored in the balayage and olaplex but did you honestly expect the cut to be free of charge? It’s a whole separate service and often is more expensive than the colour (also comes with a non-optional blow dry whereas I usually just get the colour done with a free blast dry). You were right to check whether you have been double charged on the dye front though as the pricing seems very steep.

That’s really expensive for a very average chain hairdresser (don’t mean to offend)
But the only thing they shouldn’t have charged was maybe the colour. Everything else is a standard charge, only the price of balayage and haircut is expensive. £35 for olaplex is standard. I also believe they normally do lots of discounts so nobody normally pays this kind of money there.
I used to go to a slightly more upmarket salon in Kensington
I paid £110 for a full head balayage
£45 for haircut
£35 for olaplex
£10 for toner
So that’s £200 in total

The last time I went to Rush to have highlights done they completely took the piss with the price. Not only that but they were so vague about it. They kept adding conditioning treatments/hair masks without telling me. I had budgeted £150 but when I came to pay they charged a whopping £250. I was shocked. I won’t go there again. I was stiffed. I was out of pocket for the rest of the month, but I just paid the eye-watering bill & left because I didn’t want to make a scene

Oh gosh I usually pay around £140 for a cut and blow dry and highlights for a full head which I have 4 different tones put in and that’s enough for me. I have long hair half way down my back. Think it’s around 35 for some super conditioner but yes it was soft I found a more expensive shampoo and conditioner did the same job. I would of been raging 😤

I used to go to a very trendy hip salon in central London and my cut and colour was only ever about £150 so this seems crazy expensive! Having said that, if the price list said £130 for balayage then I would expect to pay for a cut on top of that, which it sounds like you weren’t?

I don’t understand why you had to pay twice for the colour, that seems worth querying at least.

That sounds like a lot especially if it's not what you budgeted. It sounds like the website was not clear.

You should have questioned it at the time as you probably won't get it back now but I can understand why you would have felt awkward doing so.

I'll add we also got messaged when lockdown was coming to the end asking if we'd been at the box dye or kitchen scissors so she could quote us a price based on fixing the damage if required!

This is exactly what I have booked at my hairdresser's, I live in London. The total cost will be £270. I think that's fair, I haven't been for six months, it needs doing, my hair is not looking great and I have around 6 inches of regrowth at the roots. I know that I'll be happy with the result.
I can understand that you didn't think that you'd be paying that much, but you should have checked prices before having it done.

This is why I use a mobile hairdresser now. Mine used to work at a fancy salon in Central London and is highly trained. She went self-employed/mobile so she could work around her kids. Check your local FB groups, and ask around for recommendations.

It sounds like they were very crafty in adding up the extras and that they have form for this but you have to get into the habit of querying everything and checking the cost. Ideally you’d ask for an itemised quote in advance but if they breezily ask ‘would you like a treatment / Olaplex’ etc that is never complimentary.

If you were shopping for an outfit for a special occasion you’d look at the price tags of each individual item rather than getting to the till and fainting at the combined cost of a dress, shoes, underwear etc.

It’s an expensive lesson to learn but at least you wear your hair every day.

My DD and I went to a high end salon in Kensington and I paid £320 for her to have full head of highlights, treatment (£30), and cut & blow dry plus I had a cut by the manager. I was dumbstruck at the price (& queried it & we did get student discount) but my cut was £85 and absolutely fantastic so once I calmed down I was ok with it. I’d actually go back for his cut as he was so good.

After all these comments I’d never try Rush.

For the same thing I paid £187 a couple of years ago up north. Balyage, roots, cut and olaplex. I don't tip hairdressers, why would you, they charge enough as it is.

I can remember being charged £95 for a colour and cut over a decade ago and nearly fainting lol. £300 I reckon they’d have had to call an ambulance for me 🤣

Being a woman certainly is expensive.

£300 is about ten years of haircuts for me.

No, never paid that much. But my hairdresser had a friend who worked in the posh part of London- Knightsbridge or Kensington, and said that it wasn't uncommon for the clientele to pay £1000 for a hairdresser visit.

I had that done yesterday, cost me £75 (not sure what lolaplex is though)

The only bit that you might have a leg to stand on is being charged for a full head tint, vs a root touch up... price said 130 for balayage, not 130 for balayage and cut? And she told you the price of the olaplex

I usually go to T&G, but I find I have to watch them like a hawk for this kind of stuff. You need to agree the price upfront. Don’t let them add anything during the appointment without clarifying price. Refuse to pay for anything you didn’t clearly agree to at the time.

But never feel bad about questioning a bill.