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AIBU?

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Original poster

Should I be upset at paying £300 for haircut

831 replies

charlieginger1987 · 16/04/2021 22:16

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?

OP posts:
BettysKitchen · 17/04/2021 13:31

Op I feel for you, similar thing happened to me at a London salon. Paid £130 upfront via Treatwell and knew I’d need to pay for my toner at the salon. I ended up paying an extra £90, they upped the balayage and then also gave me an extra conditioning treatment on top of my toner - without telling me. I was too embarrassed to say anything at the time and it really ruined my experience - still feel bruised a year and a half later 😅

BungleandGeorge · 17/04/2021 13:32

I’m wondering what some hairdressers are calling a balayage as the appointment time at our salon is between 2 and 3 hours, surely there’s no way that anyone is charging £60 for 4 hours work. I’m presuming some mobile hairdressers are working cash in hand to charge so little

MsHedgehog · 17/04/2021 13:33

This thread is getting ridiculous. OP is the one who cocked up here, no one else.

For some reason, OP through the price for balayage includes a cut and blow dry too. Of course it doesn’t! I’ve been in London my whole life and I have never come across a salon that includes a cut with a colour. I’m sure they exist but are the exception rather than the norm.

A full head balayage is not full head of colour, it is a full head of balayage. If OP wanted her roots done as well, then that’s a service on top. Again, very normal for London and for colour services.

OP was told the olaplex was more, in ghee region of £20 to £30. She was charged £35...hardly a massive rip off.

OP wanted or accepted every single service she got. She just thought that, apart from the olaplex, it was all included in the balayage price, which is absolutely absurd. The prices are clearly set out on the website and at no point does it say a balayage includes a cut and blow dry or root colour. OP made assumptions, but she was charged for exactly what she wanted. Really can’t see what the salon has done wrong here.

MsHedgehog · 17/04/2021 13:37

Also, of course a small salon on the west coast of Scotland or the north is going to be a lot cheaper than London! Can people in London now go round demanding cheaper rents from landlords because rental prices in London are overpriced compared to the North?

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 17/04/2021 13:38

Did you just post to fingerwag, MsHedgehog? How helpful.

OP didn't cock up; the cost of her hair treatment is very high. My salon is also more expensive. First it was the PPE and now the costs generally are higher. I wasn't told but didn't ask. It's not my cock-up and it's not the OP's, it's not great service.

My salon isn't charging anywhere near what the OP has been charged but I'm not having the same treatments either (not bayalage), and I wasn't told that the costs had increased either.

I think there will be a fair few salons who will not see repeat business once the covid re-opening settles and businesses are more confident of their future plans.

intheenddoesitreallymatter · 17/04/2021 13:40

Ouch! I’d ring on Monday, ask to speak to the manager and query the receipt. Dispute the olaplex, the full dye, and the cut and blow and then query exactly what a ‘full balayage’ entails if not a cut AND colour. How outrageous.

As my nana would say then vote with your feet. Enjoy your lovely new hair, laugh this off as one of those things and find a new hairdressers.

TheGlitterFairy · 17/04/2021 13:43

A friend had a similar experience with Rush last year post one of the lockdowns and was so shocked with the price she just paid it - was a similar amount.

My post lockdown hair was just shy of 200, though I was expecting it to be this so that was fine but seems they shouldn’t have charged for the perm dye in addition to balayage. Hope you get some bring back from them.

MsHedgehog · 17/04/2021 13:45

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

Finger wag by highlighting that the salon did nothing wrong by publicising their prices and OP making a bunch of assumptions about what the £140 included? Sure ok..

The cost of her treatment is high...but she had 4 separate treatments at a salon in the City.

anyoldtime · 17/04/2021 13:47

£130 full head of balayage
£65 full head of permanent colour - id have thought the price of balayage would include all the colour but maybe this is regular practice?
£65 ladies cut and finish
£35 olaplex - did they ask if you wanted this?
£5 tip - did they ask if you wanted this?

The lack of transparency in hairdressers really annoys me. Innt salon, they charge for the blow dry separately as well. I have never seen anyone (men or women) leave with wet hair so I presume everyone pays separately.

I think it’s a scandalous price tbh. It’s double the expected price.
These salons are shooting themselves in the foot making up for lost business by swindling customers.

Macncheeseballs · 17/04/2021 13:50

Still not sure why it all has to be so expensive though, why is just a basic women's hair cut so much more expensive than men's?

rosiedeus · 17/04/2021 13:53

Op, if you had requested just a balayage, you would have paid just that price. You asked for four separate services, hence you were charged for receiving those services. You could have just had the balayage and walked out with wet hair, but you chose the lot. YABU, you know you are.

rosiedeus · 17/04/2021 13:54

If you book via the Rush website, it takes you through each derive, pricing as you go, with a final price. I can not understand how that is confusing. Surely you ask the price of any service you receive and don't expect free ad ones?

B33Fr33 · 17/04/2021 13:56

Wow. These salons really see the idiots coming don't they?

MrsKoala · 17/04/2021 13:58

£65 full head of permanent colour - id have thought the price of balayage would include all the colour but maybe this is regular practice?

Balayage is foil highlights which start half way down the hair and sort of blend in. If you google it you can see. It’s purely the blond/colour that starts lower down. If you want a colour all over the roots/top part, this is a full colour, which is nothing to do with balayage. I used to have just balayage on my hair 12 years ago before I went grey at the roots. Then I had to add a root/base colour late on top to cover the grey. I’m so surprised people think they are the say treatment. The last time I had the whole shebang I was at the hairdresser for about 7 hours.

BlackCatShadow · 17/04/2021 14:02

My goodness! Those Trust Pilot reviews!! Shock

I don't live in the UK, but at my hairdresser they sit down with you at the start of the appointment and talk about what you want/don't want done and then they cost it up for you and tell you the price.

Take it as a lesson learned, from now on agree the cost upfront at the hairdressers.

bpirockin · 17/04/2021 14:07

I'm with Dasher on this, a Balayage and a root tint, perhaps, but not a full head as well. That just makes no sense.

I've paid £140 for my hair colour in the past, and like you I have long hair and plenty of it so it usually talks about 3.5 hours. I know that hairdressers have really suffered throughout lockdown, but I'd definitely be looking for a partial refund. I have seen a similar post elsewhere and wonder if some salons are taking advantage and trying to recoup some losses, but hopefully this was just a mistake.

Good luck.

Southwestrunningmum · 17/04/2021 14:09

For Rush? I’d get it if a south Ken salon but Rush is a low brand chain at best.

korawick12345 · 17/04/2021 14:13

@MsHedgehog

This thread is getting ridiculous. OP is the one who cocked up here, no one else.

For some reason, OP through the price for balayage includes a cut and blow dry too. Of course it doesn’t! I’ve been in London my whole life and I have never come across a salon that includes a cut with a colour. I’m sure they exist but are the exception rather than the norm.

A full head balayage is not full head of colour, it is a full head of balayage. If OP wanted her roots done as well, then that’s a service on top. Again, very normal for London and for colour services.

OP was told the olaplex was more, in ghee region of £20 to £30. She was charged £35...hardly a massive rip off.

OP wanted or accepted every single service she got. She just thought that, apart from the olaplex, it was all included in the balayage price, which is absolutely absurd. The prices are clearly set out on the website and at no point does it say a balayage includes a cut and blow dry or root colour. OP made assumptions, but she was charged for exactly what she wanted. Really can’t see what the salon has done wrong here.

Absolutely this. The Op has been charged for the services she received and i presume booked in for. The application for a root tint ig pretty much the same time as for the full lengths so of course it will be the same or a similar price. In addition doing a balayage and then a root tint is more time consuming than just doing a single full head tint., they wouldn't be done concurrently. I have never had a cut and blowdry thrown in when getting a colour, if you want a blow dry at all that is generally extra if you are only having a colour appointment. Whilst I have no doubt that there are many posters getting their hair done for tuppence ha'penny, the prices quoted are not that hight for london. I would consider 65 to be on the low side for a cut and blow-dry. The prices stacked up because OP had two time consuming and relatively complex colour processes.
MissKeithsNeice · 17/04/2021 14:13

I don’t doubt there are some good stylists at Rush salons, I think there are an awful lot of really bad ones. I was once looking at a hairdressers profile and saw he had won a top stylist type award when working at Rush. I read on a bit more and it turned out that you win that award by selling the most products/add ins.

likeamillpond · 17/04/2021 14:23

Daylight Robbery.
It annoys me when they squirt a small blob of something onto your hair after a wash and charge you for having 'a treatment.
The price they charge, you should be able to take the whole bottle home.

anyoldtime · 17/04/2021 14:27

I was once looking at a hairdressers profile and saw he had won a top stylist type award when working at Rush. I read on a bit more and it turned out that you win that award by selling the most products/add ins.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. I used go to a salon where trophies were piled high all around the salon.
One of the trainees who washed hair, told me proudly one day that they had won a trophy. When I asked what the competition was, it was a competition for employees of the salon group to style an outfit! After that I’ve never taken any salon ‘awards’ seriously at all.

FourTurnings · 17/04/2021 14:29

That’s really expensive.

Nsky · 17/04/2021 14:30

It’s insane and adding a tip without asking, very cheeky

likeamillpond · 17/04/2021 14:38

I think there will be a fair few salons who will not see repeat business once the covid re-opening settles
This.

People won't forget being ripped off post covid and when things settle down will go elsewhere.

Sunshinedrops85 · 17/04/2021 14:46

I'm sorry you're going through this. I had similar last year. Was shocked to get a bill for £250 and I also paid.