To consider challenging paying this?

[Tatty3]

Long term customer of a local Hairdressers. Been going since it opened, for last 10 years.

My hairdresser is the owner and mentioned a few months ago that they were thinking about bringing in a deposit for every appt as people were cancelling last minute.

I booked again a month or so for this weekend. No mention of paying a deposit.

I've had an accident this morning and have had to get stitches in the top of my head which i cant get wet. I've messaged today to cancel, really apologetic with a proposed alternative time in a few weeks.

The hairdresser is asking me to pay because I didn't give 48 hours notice.

Would you pay? I want to support my hairdresser but if I pay now and don't get the service, I'm going to have to save up for a few months before I can afford to go again and I am in need of a cut. Also, this is a one off extreme situation. Then again that doesn't help her financial situation?

We had a medical emergency that saw me cancel my appointment a couple hours before I was due to go.

My hairdresser doesn't have a cancellation policy but I still paid her the full amount, it wasn't her fault that I could no longer make the appointment, why should she lose out?

With such short notice there's very little chance she could fill the missed appointment.

I could easily afford to do this and you're saying you can't - maybe she can't afford to lose the money either.

Either you pay her or you look for a new hairdresser.

They can use fb to advertise tge slot. I wouldn't pay.

Yes to both. Various family members and work colleagues have had it (once) but I never tested positive or had any symptoms.

I understand her frustration, but I suspect she will lose a lot of clients through this policy, especially with so much covid around still. It's a bit short-sighted.

This. ^

I doubt they will care if you come back. You sound a bit of a nightmare.

They didn't charge the deposit or make you aware of it at the time of booking. Maybe a face to face discussion would get you a good outcome. Take proof of the emergency if you have it. If they still insist and you don't want to find a new hairdresser perhaps you could negotiate down to 25% (if that would be affordable - start lower than the max you'd consider paying obviously).

"Going back through my phone, I have cancelled two appts in the last 18 months, one with short notice (2 days before) but both because of positive covid tests.

Third cancellation in 18 months then. They're fed up with you I'm afraid."

I disagree with this. The hairdresser (certainly a decent one) wouldn't want someone in their salon with covid - it would have shut them down for longer than one appointment if the hairdresser then caught it.

Cancellations for covid reasons were extraordinary and shouldn't count towards whether a customer is generally reliable⬆️

2 days notice is plenty for a hairdressers! That’s what they are asking for now isn’t it? And 2 cancellations in 10 years is totally ok!

I would politely state that you understand her new policy, but you weren’t told about it when you booked, or that it would apply, and you’ve had a nasty accident. If someone phoned saying their child or partner had died, would they be charged? I doubt it!

some people are CF’s and cancel all the time. Doesn’t mean a fee should be applied to everyone.

Also remind her you are a very longtime customer and have given loyalty to her and the salon and you would hate to have to move because of a policy that was j fair. If she still won’t budge, I would not pay it and would look for another hair salon

Since this isn't in legal, I would say to think somewhere in the middle. Presumably since she needs the money, she is fully booked and has had to turn other people away due to your booking. In which case there's a good chance someone else will book it at short notice. So agree that if that happens you won't pay or only an admin fee.
If the slot isn't possible to fill then you can discuss in terms of maintaining the relationship, how much it means to reach of you.
If as people suggest she's had enough, then she won't budge and it's down to you to decide whether the relationship is worth that much.
If she values it as well then you might just be able to meet in the middle. Somewhere
I suspect she is generally annoyed with cancellations and just wants acknowledgement that it's expensive for her and annoying, so if you go in with that attitude it might help.

I had similar years ago with a hygienist appointment where they kept sending letters and being very dismissive (very small practice with 1 dentist and 1 hygienist) because I had a kidney infection and ended up in a&e, but they just didn't care. I paid up (full price) with a letter explaining, and didn't go back.

Definitely get the dry cut, but I would look for someone else to do my hair.

I'd pay up

HELL no!!
Maybe you should have looked at your crystal ball to see if you were going to have an accident that morning - which could equally have happened to the hairdresser - would she have paid you if she couldn't cut your hair without 48 hrs notice?
Maybe new clients, but not the long term trusted ones. Seems a good way to put clients' backs up imo.

my friends a hairdresser had quite a few convenient covid cancellations unfortunately a few of them to thick to remember she’s friends with them on Facebook and posted pictures of them out and about and this was when u had to isolate for 10 days

I work in an unrelated industry and also charge for no shows or if I’m not given 48 hours notice.

Yet, I wouldn’t have charged you because you literally had an accident and have stitches! I generally waiver the fee if it’s something like that.

I doubt they will care if you come back. You sound a bit of a nightmare.

Don't be insane.

OP, don't pay the deposit. Ask again nicely - a PP gave good wording - explaining the situation, and rebooking, paying the deposit for that instead.

You've done nothing wrong now, or in the past, cancelling the other appointments when you had Covid.

People saying they'd pay this deposit (that you didn't ever agree to) or even that they've paid in full in similar situations are bonkers. I've never had a situation like this, and don't know any hair salons that operate this way.

My nail salon does charge if less than 24 hours notice but in reality are great at rearranging appointments even with short notice. They are trying to avoid no-shows, not regular clients who sometimes have to cancel.

I know several hairdressers and restaurants now have this deposit scheme these days. They simply can’t survive with people not turning up for appointments. But if that deposit scheme wasn’t in place when you booked it seems unfair that you should now be penalised. I’d have turned up for appointment and shown her your injury so there was no doubt you were genuine and see what she had to say

No I wouldn’t pay it’s cf , if they had got you to pay a deposit and you didn’t turn up fair enough but they didn’t get a deposit and tbh the 48 hour thing is ridiculous. Things happen you can’t get there you feel unwell etc so I’d say no to that . People not turning up for appointments ok but cancelling is not on imo . You book appointments that are convenient to you and if it’s not you cancel , the right thing to do is cancel in plenty of time but like in your case op that’s not always possible.

Exactly. Rules like these are to stop people from messing them around. They're not supposed to penalise regular customers if a genuine emergency happens. Most people in the service industry know when to stick to the rules and when to apply discretion.

A regular customer who always rebooks and comes back is worth more than a new customer who comes once, then goes elsewhere next time to save £1.

So, let’s say you go every three months, that’s 6 visits. You’ve cancelled half of them, they are fed up.
It is a tricky one, because losing a decent customer is something service industries don’t want. Maybe they don’t see you as that now.

The hairdresser is definitely in the wrong here. You can't retrospectively charge people because you don't have the right policies in place 😂

I run my own business too and I do see it from her viewpoint - last minute cancellations are a real pain, but that's why you ask for payment upfront, ask for deposits and/or have a cancellation policy in place.

My own policy is full payment if you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment as that doesn't give me enough time to fill the spot. In reality, I do make exceptions if it's unavoidable (I walk dogs, so if the dog is sick or injured I generally don't charge), but it really helps to have a clear policy in place so everyone knows where they stand.

Your hairdresser needs to consider this a lesson learned IMO.

Unfortunately I've seen this a bit recently from self employed people and those running their own businesses.

Obviously they are going to be hit by the cost of living crisis- as are we all - but our dog walker has increased her prices by 40% over the past year and the fitness class I go to ( outside so no hall hire anymore as changed during covid) insists I book a full block, even if I can only attend a few.

So we've cut down the number of dog walks ( didn't really need all of them anyway but wanted to keep them going during lockdown) and I'll probably just join a cheap gym with classes instead.

If she insists you pay, I'd do it but find another hairdresser.

Just because you haven't had it once means that nobody could have got it twice. Some logic there. Me and dh got it 3 months ago for the first time. Actually I'm not sure how we avoided it for over 2 years. A friend who is a doctor recently told me that some people are getting it multiple times.

@MrsClatterbuck i wasn’t doubting that lots have had it twice, I was responding to PP claiming most people have had it twice and many have had it four times.

Nobody in our house has had it. Two primary-aged kids but neither of us works outside of the home.

Oh, and we were in a Covid hotspot for some time (Merseyside).