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....

You would loose your deposit if YOU turned up 30mins late. Should cut both ways - of course they should return yr deposit after being at least 30 mins late such that you had to leave!

Ridiculous and unprofessional I don't know why most women put up with this and think it's just part of going to the hairdressers.

Surely any professional knows how long it's going to take to do certain things and books their appointments appropriately with a bit of leeway for problems.

You should push hard for your deposit back and I wouldn't be going back.

How long are you supposed to sit there and wait while she messes about with other clients. 30 mins, 3 hours.... 3 days?

I think the only thing about this is if you’re a specialist you probably have a better idea of how long your appointments will run for. My hairdresser sometimes runs a little bit late because someone wants something slightly different when they come in.

Bless her she texted me when she was running 20 minutes late last time I was in to say nip to the supermarket I am running a little bit late. Any hairdresser is capable of texting a client and saying I’m running laterthan normal.

As a PP said it’s a vicious circle as if your hairdresser is always running 15 minutes late OP everyone just comes to expect that and arrives 15 minutes late

I always end up waiting around 15-20 mins after my appointment time and never complain but today I couldn't wait any longer.

I voted YANBU, and I still don't think you are to have left ,if you needed to be home, BUT, if what you were having done typically takes 45mins, and you needed to be away by 6.25, then, with this ^ added information, YWBU to make the appointment at that time on that day as well. She was never going to fit 45 mins of appt into 30mins, even without any chat.

Re deposit, of course you get it back. You were there - your appt wasn't.

But, like others, I wouldn't continually go back to someone who ALWAYS kept me waiting. On the odd occasion, yes, life gets in the way, but if she can keep to being 20mins late EVERY time, then she could keep to being on time.

I wouldn't have left without my deposit. Would've been nice, but asserted appt was 30mins behind and not reasonable to keep me waiting any longer and that I needed to be somewhere.

I would expect the deposit to be fully refunded as they could no longer honour the appointment time. You were still waiting 30 minutes later!

You allowed a maximum of 55 minutes for a 45 minute appointment knowing they usually 15-20minutes late? They were very rude and I think you should get your deposit back but id plan better next time to be honest, and go somewhere else with better service

I've never been waiting at the hairdresser. Maybe 5 mins max? She doesn't sound like she's planned her time well

Has the hairdresser been in touch with you yet? I’m surprised she didn’t talk to you there and then, or at least quickly pass a message on to the receptionist.

I hate hairdressers that double or even triple book their clients. My old hairdresser had a one to one service. My current hairdresser books a time, but when I get there she’s having lunch or sorting her other clients and there’s always a wait before I’m seen. Or after my hair is coloured, I’m stuck at the sink for long periods of time. Or parts of my appointment gets rushed. Don’t get me wrong, the results are good and I admittedly haven’t found a replacement salon yet because I generally like my hair after. It’s just frustrating how appointments always take so long due to my stylist drifting between clients

Disclaimer Im not a legal expert, this is just my opinion :-

The deposit was part of a "contract" to cut your hair at a set time.

When the hairdresser was running late she was the one who "broke" the contract.

Five or ten minutes is ok. 15 is pushing it but still ok. More is not acceptable.

She should have better timekeeping or the person booking clients in should be more aware of the time clients need allocated to them for the various treatments that have asked for in order to prevent running late.

So you should get your deposit back. And id suggest a discount for pissing you around.

It was a 45 min booking and they were running half an hour plus late. That's not acceptable at all. The fact is you were free from 5.30 to 6.20 at most. They can't assume people have nowhere else to be. Most people have families to feed or social arrangements of an evening.
I certainly would be wary of using them again. Hopefully your request for the deposit back will be adhered to. But I wouldn't use them if their time management and communication is so poor.

I've never paid a deposit to a hairdresser.
Is this a regional and/or recent development ?

I just don’t understand why hairdressers and similar can’t text to inform you if things are clearly not going to plan.

no excuse for not informing you when you arrived.

having said that if you made an appointment at 5.30 and you say 15-20m late is usual, you were cutting it a bit fine if you really needed to be home at 6.30

It's more common for higher value things, so not a 45 min hair cut.

However last time I was in my local salon the hairdresser told me they're all self employed so if people don't turn up they literally don't get paid and so they have a policy of taking a deposit now as so many people just don't bother to show up or cancel.

We've just had a stylist leave our salon because she worked like this. Our team are on time 95% of the time and the other 5% would be less than 10 mins late!
She would often be an hour late for an appointment, it makes for a really stressful working environment, plus she took up so much space as she would often have three clients at a time due to poor time management. I couldn't be a client of a stylist like that, I don't know why anyone puts up with it.

At my salon it's a post covid thing, we never used to need to - some people are so flaky now, we've seen a massive increase in no-show clients so now take deposits. We don't ask long term reliable clients but tend to find these are the people who offer to pay!

Did you say anything whilst waiting or suddenly announce you were leaving?

Technically she cancelled your 5.30 by not starting it.
I wouldn't have waited the 30 minutes!
Outrageous

My local salon have started doing it recently but only for multiple bookings so I paid a deposit when I booked for my daughter and me to have a haircut at the same time. They were almost apologetic about it, said they hoped I didn’t mind but it’s because they’ve had a lot of no shows and it was having a big impact on their takings.