Hairdresser gave friend 50% discount but not me?Would you be annoyed?

[ohbreaklongs]

Me and my friend both go to the same hair salon and both get full head of highlights and a cut which now costs £160
Last Monday morning I booked an appointment for yesterday (the following Monday )
The afternoon they put a offer on fb /Instagram 50% off colour in January -book now.
So my friend booked in for yesterday too (Monday )
Got to the till hers came to £80 and she charged me £160
I asked why I didn't get the 50% off colour and she said I had booked my appointment 2 hours before they put the social media post out there for the 50% off colours
Aibu to think that's unfair ?
I go there every 7 weeks and have done for years

So don't give them your business again. They clearly don't value your custom.

Ring them and say you are not happy, as annoyed as we are for you, the hairdresser needs to know.

I'd baffle her with a bit of conversation:

You - So you're saying that I can't avail of the discount? If I had cancelled my booking and rebooked for the same date & time, but just after the offer was publicised, you're saying that I could have the discount, right?
Her - Well, yes
You - So how do you know that I didn't do that. Are you now saying that I didn't do that? Where is your proof that I didn't cancel my appointment and remake it for the same date and time but just after the offer was posted?
Her - Eh...emmmm.....what?
You - After seeing the offer, I cancelled my booking for X date at Y time and I remade the booking for the same date and time. Give me the discount or you lose a regular customer and I'll be contacting Trading Standards about your offer and I'll be letting all of my friends and colleagues know not to book or use your services. There is no "Start Time" specified on your offer, only an implied "End Time" (when January turns into February).
Her - <silence>

I wouldnt return, at all

I'd definitely be off elsewhere. She or he wants new custom but isn't looking to retain old clients. Wave bye bye

That's really shit and petty, and I would tell them/leave a review saying you're not going back and why.

As a small business owner myself I think they were being incredibly short sighted and daft here.

If you had received your service prior to the offer going up then fair enough (E.g. gone and had your hair coloured, paid and then seen the offer two hours later) but as you hadn’t paid yet and hadn’t entered any sort of contractual agreement (like if you’d have ordered a product online) it is ridiculous to expect you to pay more than someone who books shortly after.

I would email them and explain you were a bit put out, you are a regular and loyal customer and you would have rebooked your appointment had you known. If they don’t make good by refunding you, or offering money off your next appointment then it would be the last time I attended.

This will just make you look silly. Very silly.

Instead, just say "I'm really disappointed that you chose not to offer me the 50% discount for a service that I booked only just before the offer came out. I appreciate that you were within your rights, but it has left a sour taste in my mouth and I won't be returning in future."

That's incredibly mean as you're such a loyal customer

Please don't do this - you will make yourself look absolutely ridiculous.

I don’t understand how you booked two hours too early.
Did the advert also stipulate a time frame you had to book. The advert as it stands is misleading ‘ book now’ instructs you to do it ‘now’ not in 2 hours time or between the hours, days of ?
Either way they are being short sighted and stupid to a loyal customer.

Most hair salons do not offer 50% off on colour services. It’s their money making service…their stylists have to go through loads of training before being able to safely colour and bleach hair. WHY would they drop prices down to 50% if the salon was not struggling for customers? It’s a desperate tactic to build up clientele.

most salons don’t need to drop their prices down by 50%, because their regular clients will constantly book in for their colour refresh and pay 100%.

therefore you’re being short sighted because I wouldn’t be surprised if the salon cannot afford to stay open and literally couldn’t afford to give you 50% off. They know how many people booked in using the ad and knew how many discounted clients they would be servicing, they wouldn’t have accounted for extra discounted clients.

I wouldn’t go to her again. That’s just very poor judgement. If she chases you up, then say ‘I was extremely disappointed that Jane got the discount and I did not, having booked on the same day.’

I think technically the hairdresser was in the right as you'd booked before the offer existed, but it was shortsighted of her not to give you the discount as a goodwill gesture.

I have a slightly different view on this. You booked your appointment expecting to pay full price. The issue is that when you called in no one told you about the offer that was going live in 2 hours. This is like going clothes shopping and they don’t tell you something is going to be marked down, letting you buy at full price.

None of this is an issue when you don’t know about the discount provided. Now, with no discount given to you, your friend was given a discount for exactly the same timed appointment, you know about the discount and this leaves you feeling miffed. No one likes to be treated like a mug and that’s how this has left you feeling.

In terms of management, I’m hyper aware that positive experiences are fleeting and negative experiences stick, thus always very difficult to overcome. I’d write an email to the salon and let them know you don’t appreciate being made to feel ‘had’ and it’s going to negatively affect your experience using them as a salon going forward, should they decide not to offer the same discount to you as they offered to others.

You - So you're saying that I can't avail of the discount?

This should be 'avail myself of the discount. You can't 'avail of' something.

You - So how do you know that I didn't do that. Are you now saying that I didn't do that? Where is your proof that I didn't cancel my appointment and remake it for the same date and time but just after the offer was posted?

Any automated appointment booking system will show the exact time the appointment was booked.

I don't recommend using that line of argument. Concentrate on stressing your loyalty as a customer.

also it all boils down to, your friend followed the T&Cs of the ad, and you didn’t. If you saw the discount online after your appointment, you should have called them and asked if you would be eligible. And if they said no, you could discuss whether it’s worth you cancelling your appointment and booking it on another day to get the discount, or attending your booked appointment with no discount.

id ring them back, say its stung that after being a loyal customer for x number of years you didn't get the discount. Ask them do they value you as a customer?

But first look elsewhere for another hairdresser

Give her a bad review. That's no way to treat a loyal regular customer

I don’t understand how you booked two hours too early.

Because when she booked, the offer wasn't advertised anywhere!

YANBU X

Whether they backtrack or not at this stage this would be the end for me. You're clearly not valued as a customer and having to argue that point after spending that much for so many years is a real slap in the face.
Find a new hairdresser.

The purpose of the social media post was to attract business to boast up a slow January. The salon is technically right - you were going to book regardless of the discount or not...but its not good business to piss off a regular client so I would have allowed the discount for this reason.