WIBU to walk out of the hairdressers

[Allelbowsandtoes]

Just that, really. I had a haircut booked for 5.30pm today, usually takes around 45 mins. I needed to be home by 6.30 but I'm only a 5 min cycle away.

It came to 6pm and I was still sat there waiting while my hairdresser was cutting the previous clients hair, no idea how close they were to finishing.

I left at that point, spoke to the receptionist on the way out to explain the situation and ask my hairdresser to call me to rebook. I also said that I hope I won't lose my £35 deposit, but she couldn't give me any reassurance about that.

How long would you wait in the hairdresser? Was I BU?
If I didn't have to get hone for 6.30 sharp I would have waited a bit longer but I still feel it's a bit of a pisstake. Maybe that's a normal wait time in hair salons though, especially for the last appointment of the day....

If you hadnt paid a deposit then I'd have said absolutely fine but I'd not be going back there if I'd walked out. Wont your hairdresser be pissed off? I agree its a disgrace though, can't stand anything more than say 15 mins late.

Not a typical wait in the salon where I work. We'd usually give a courtesy call to the client if the stylist is running more than 5-10 minutes behind. We certainly wouldn't leave you sat waiting without explanation!
You must insist on being able to use your deposit or have it returned to you - after all you were there for the appointment time.

You may never see your deposit again, however I'd be frustrated too if a hairdresser was running that late.

Shit, okay I hadn't even thought about not going back 😬
She might be pissed off but I don't think she has good reason to be. I always end up waiting around 15-20 mins after my appointment time and never complain but today I couldn't wait any longer.

Thanks, that's really helpful and I love how organised your salon sounds! I am going to call them in the next couple of days to ask about the deposit.

It'd be a shame to stop going there as my hairdresser is actually great and I like the salon generally (and it's really near me)

delays happen. They should have addressed a delay of more than 10 minutes proactively.

I would expect a refund. They didn’t show to the appointment.

I think the deposit should be returned to you. Your appointment was at 5:30pm and by 6pm there was still no sign of your bum hitting that seat.

Why didn't you ask how much longer it was going to be?

Our hairdresser will text if running more than 10 minutes behind and reschedule if required.

This is the second post today about hairdressers keeping people waiting. It's pretty normal, but it shouldn't be. Bad planning, bad communication. Either way, they should be letting customers know when they are running particularly late.

Absolutely disgraceful and totally unprofessional.

I’ll bet if you turned up 30 minutes late you’d be told you were too late for your appointment and you’d lose your deposit.

She should apologise profusely and return your deposit to you immediately.

Because at that point there was no way we could have squeezed a 45 min haircut into less than 30 minutes and I couldn't be late home so I had to leave, it was kind of irrelevant really how long it was going to be.

If you usually wait 15 to 20 mins and it takes 45 mins you were cutting it a bit fine to get home for 630 anyway.
Either way keeping you waiting that long is not on and you shouldn't lose your deposit

If they try to retain your deposit then my question would be how long would the hairdresser be prepared to wait if I were delayed? I would bargain on half an hour being plenty long enough to lose your appointment. I’ve heard appointments being lost if the client is 5 mins late.

Is there a terms and conditions on a website of theirs by any chance about your late arrival.

Your hairdresser owes you the deposit back.

I don’t understand why someone didn’t talk to you and ask if you were happy to wait or prefer to rebook. My big bugbear with services in this country is the inability to communicate when things go wrong or delays are experienced. Things happen but just telling the people they affect and apologising goes a very long way to fostering good will and tolerance, in my case at least.

The only ts and cs ive ever seen are that you cant cancel 48 hours before your appt without penalty. I sincerely doubt they're going to hold themselves to account for running late. Ironically in all my years of frequenting different salons its was the dearest ones with the worst running late times. But normally you just suck it up until it becomes so unacceptable you never go back.

Sloppy hairdressers like this create their own vicious circle.

The client starts to think what’s the point in turning up on time, she’s always running late anyway.

Or alternatively she’s completely inept and simply doesn’t book out enough time per client in her diary.

I’m a hair loss/extension specialist, I have in my T&C’s that I run my appointment precisely on time, if a client arrives 10 mins late or more they’ve missed their appointment. I personally have never run more than 3-5 minutes late.

Your hairdresser should respect your time as much as you respect theirs.

Yeah, this is a good point. My plan was to tell her what time I had to be out so she could do it a bit quicker as we do usually have a bit of a chat which can delay things by 5 mins or so 😃

Thanks, was hoping a professional would comment and I love how punctual you are.

Part of the reason I posted is because I'm super punctual to the point where I get anxious if I'm even 5 to 10 mins late, so I wasn't sure if that was colouring my view of the situation.

I work in an NHS community health team and I think I'm the only one of my colleagues who is always on time 😅

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I wait 15 minutes before I start asking questions. My time is just as valuable as theirs. Imagine if I were 15 minutes late, I don't think they would be too thrilled. That's why the are appointed times, not random walk ins.

I checked while I was waiting and the only thing I saw was about losing your deposit if you cancel within 48 hours.

YANBU. I stopped going to a hairdresser for that very reason. Every appointment I could be waiting up to an hour. She had far too many clients a day to be able to manage efficiently.

The hairdresser I go to now does my hair pretty much as soon as I walk in.

I think it’s understandable that you left. That’s a long time to wait, especially as they had made no attempt to apologise or let you know how much longer it would be.

Why didn’t you rebook before you left though? Couldn’t the receptionist have sorted that for you? I’d expect taking bookings to be part of her job. I don’t understand why you need to wait for the hairdresser to call you? I’d have been reluctant to leave without either another appointment or a refund.