Cleaner/receptionist did my hair at the salon

[Brood]

An incident happened at my hairdressers today and I’m wondering if I was the unreasonable one. Before I get into that, I have been going to this salon for about 15 years. I attend between once a week and once a month.

In the past year, there have been issues I’ve been unhappy about. I’ll name two.

I like to get my hair blow dried on Sunday to do me for the working week. On one occasion, the stylist called over a girl working there cleaning the salon and told her it was an opportunity for her to learn. She blow dried and curled half my head of hair while the stylist did the other side. I paid full price but the side the unqualified girl did fell out before I got home.

Another time this unqualified girl rubbed in my colour and washed my hair even though I was booked in with the professional. I again paid full price but my colour wasn’t done right - she missed bits and didn’t put it at the start of the root and I had to wash it myself after 2 days.

I booked in to get my hair done today. The stylist was about 30 minutes late starting - this can be pretty typical, which can be a bit irritating if I’ve rushed to get there on time & could have been getting a coffee in the time I’m sitting waiting. It’s even more annoying that no staff members approach me to inform me how long the delay will be instead walking by me ignoring me.

When the hairdresser eventually came out, she sat me down & cloaked me up & went off to mix my colour. Then she disappeared into the staff kitchen. The same girl from before who works on reception and helps out sweeping the floor etc. came over and started rubbing in my colour independently. She got it all over my face, in my ears and down the back of my neck. After about an hour she came back to wash it out. During the wash, she applied very little pressure and I could tell when I got up the colour wasn’t properly washed out, she applied no conditioner and my hair was full of knots.

The stylist I was booked in with came over and told me this girl was going to start to blow dry my hair. I told her I would prefer to wait until she was ready to do it explaining I had booked in with her. I stressed that I had booked in with her for my colour and wash too. She said she was running behind. I told her if she didn’t have time to do it, I’d prefer to go home and do it myself. I then got up and went to pay. She followed me and I explained that when I ring a professional hairdressing salon to get my hair done, I want it done by a professional. I was told on the phone a professional would be doing it.

I explained that I had got my hair done before at hairdressing colleges and booked in with a student there where I would be charged half price. I explained that the girl who did my hair was not a student, had no hairdressing training and if I wanted an unprofessional job, I could do it myself and save my time and money.

I also said that it should be made clear on the phone if there is no professional available and that it’s not fair to the customer or the girl to be put in the position we were put in.

They asked me if they could clean the dye off me as it was all over my face and neck. I pointed out that it was that way because I had been placed in the hands of someone who wasn’t a professional

The stylist said sorry but I didn’t feel she really meant it. She said things got backed up and she felt it would be better for me to get my hair done with someone rather than no- one. I mean, really?! The manager seemed horrified but she was fully aware of what was going on. I think she was more horrified that they were being called out on it.

Am I the unreasonable one in this situation. Is it too much to expect that if I book in to get my hair professionally done and I am being charged professional prices that I get a professional job?

I came home with wet hair full of knots and spent about 15 minutes removing dye with nail varnish remover. I had a planned date but ended up cancelling it

Do you think this is ok?

Thank you. I feel exactly the same. I just can’t believe some people. I feel this rude, disrespectful, lacking in any duty of care and kind of exploitative. I also feel sorry for this young girl who is being put in this position. They have no consideration for her either and I doubt she has the maturity to understand she’s being taken advantage of and not being protected from putting customers at risk, which she shouldn’t be exposed to anyway & I doubt she feels like she can say no. It’s hard to understand the mentality

Do you think? That would be very odd behaviour for a business… I say as if it’s not odd they’re letting the receptionist do my hair

That’s scandalous. They can curl it after cutting it. Maybe the quieter places are the salons to go to. These busy places seem to have no respect. It’s such a vulnerable position to be in too because once someone has messed up your hair, that can’t be undone

But you'll sweat into.it, you're going a whole week not washing sweat off your scalp 🤢 it's not how it looks, it'd literally stink by then

Maybe your hair is smelly

It’s actually 5 days - the working week. It’s actually fine. My hair isn’t oily. It’s dry. I need to add oil to it a lot. This was recommended by several hairdressers and my hair has never been in better condition. When I used to wash it every day, it was like straw and all falling out. This is really common. Those with weaves can wash the hair a lot less often and it’s fine. Speak for yourself

You still sweat even if it's not oily.

I don't wash my hair every day, 3 times a week ish, but mon-fru not washing? What about cooking smells and things. That's so weird to me

Always full price too 🤣

It’s crazy, I just thought it must be ‘salon culture’ or something but when you go somewhere really professional the difference is crazy!

It's very odd to use the receptionist to do your hair, if they wanted to keep you as a customer they would be treating you properly. It's totally unacceptable to palm you off with an unqualified hairdresser and charge you full price. Either ask them what's going on, or find another hairdresser. Don't let them treat you like this again.

This is breathtaking....!!

Why would you even pay?? They're treating you and your custom with contempt!

Would they ask a passing postman to pop in and have a go at doing someone's hair 😂😂

Shite salon
But your mistake was to back after the first mistake,and then the second and hopefully after a third mistake you will find a new hairdresser
I hope you didn't pay

You're answering your own question so find another salon!

Don't go back there.
Don't recommend the salon.
Find somewhere else and go on recommendation from your friends. I personally wouldn't have gone back after the first occasion. I would have complained about it there and then.

This.

Find a more professional salon. Stop going back!

May be weird to you but its quite common, I remember my nana getting her hair done every week, every Saturday morning head down to her girl for her wash and set , hair wouldn't be washed all week. I only wash my hair once a week, very long thick dry hair, before covid would have been about two or three times a week, but during lockdowns as wasnt going anywhere trained my hair to stretch out washing, now have it once a week, might need a bit of dry shampoo towards end of week some weeks but other than that never gets greasy. If i get a good blow dry even better. My own sis is similar, she travels a lot for work and has a blow dry every sat morning, saves her time during week and her hair is presentable, normally Thursday and Friday she WFH so as she says she just throws it up in a bun and its fine. Hairdressers have always complimented my hair, its in great condition, i have a good extractor fan so cooking smells don't linger in my house let alone my hair, also sleep on a silk pillow case and hair is tied up in silk scrunchy at night.
For anyone looking for a good dry shampoo, i highly recommend K18 airwash dry shampoo, put it on the night before so works as you sleep its amazing

YANBU
You've been loyal for 15yrs, they are taking advantage of that knowing you’ll be back no matter what! They have become completely and utterly complacent with you! Time to find yourself a new hairdresser they do not deserve your hard earned money!
incidentally they charge you on your last visit???

Yes, in the 1950s and 1960s it will have been quite common I'm sure. You still sweat. Doesn't the idea of a sweaty scalp make you 🤢

My scalp doesn't sweat really though ? i have very dry hair and washing it too much makes my scalp flaky as well as my hair dry and brittle, so by washing it less keeping it in good condition. As i said all hairdressers have said to me you have excellent hair. By washing your hair too much you are stripping the scalp of its natural oils, prompting it to produce more sebum to compensate. Over washing can also cause product build up and that leads to more greasy hair

By the way i remember my nana still doing in in the 2000's and well up to when she died in 2020

This sounds exactly like my hair. The hairdressers told me it was in such bad condition before because I was washing it too often. I was getting dermatitis also.

The weekly blowdry isn’t unusual at all. Lots of my work colleagues and neighbours do the same. I’d love to know how they wash it so well at the hairdressers though. The wash is probably slightly more important to me than the blowdry which is why I don’t like when they just throw someone in who doesn’t do a good job. I like to benefit from the low maintenance during the week. When I wash it at home, I never get as long out of it

Yes exactly the wash in its self is just as important as the blow dry, i actually dunno how they do it but it feels unreal. Same as you , get a bit hmm when a junior washes it, but never experienced what you have experienced :(
My hairdresser also tells me not to have my hair washed when come in for my color and cut as it affects the colour sticking.
yes its quite common in work for people to do it, more so in my sisters work as she is client facing most of time, one of her colleagues told her to do it many years ago, its now included in her weekly budget and is a none negotiable, even in her maternity leave she kept it up 😂
My husband can not understand it, as soon as we get an invite o a night out or are going away etc, i book to get my blow dry, 😂Go on hols i source a hairdresser all the time

The 'cleaner/receptionist' girl is probably an apprentice or trainee. I'd expect her to do things like washing clients' hair and rinsing out colour, maybe at most a 'blast-off' quick dry for a customer who's having a wet cut rather than a cut and blow-dry. Anything else should be done either by a qualified stylist or (with your permission only and for a cheaper price!) by the apprentice but with a qualified stylist supervising, correcting and taking over if anything isn't quite right. No way should be they be letting someone unqualified apply your colour or cut your hair unsupervised.

If they want an apprentice/Saturday kid/anyone unqualified to do anything to your hair other than wash it, they should be discussing that with you first, charging you a reduced price, and supervising them.

At the place I go to, the salon owner (who is also my regular stylist) is very big on training/education and always has a couple of junior staff who sweep up, make the tea, wash hair and answer the phones and are also training. I'm a regular customer of about a decade now and she'll sometimes ask if I mind an apprentice applying a treatment or something as part of their training, which I'm fine with. I've also had a trim (one length cut, blunt fringe so nothing tricky!) where the apprentice did it and the stylist supervised - with my permission - and I only got charged about a quarter of the the usual price.

I appreciate you have been going to this salon for 15 years but if you say you go between once a week and once a month then at a minimum of 15 appointments per year over 15 years, and 15% of the time you have been unhappy, experienced poor service, Excessive delays, sloppy colour etc then that is over 30 times that you have left the salon MINIMUM not being happy. I honestly can’t understand why you have put up with it for so long, definitely time to move.

I used to do same. 6.30am gym session / shower then straight to hairdressers for a blow dry that lasted the whole week, even with sweaty sessions in between. Sometimes you can get blow dries done on model nights for about £10/15 which I sometimes do now. Look at your local or even high end city salons for their model day/nights. It’s trainees, granted, but sometimes I’ve had a top hairdresser finish it off or actually do the whole blow dry as a teaching session.

I don't think the OP did an exact calculation of what a 15% would be like in exact appointment numbers, more of an estimate based on "I'm usually happy but once in a while I'm not and this is now becoming more common". I wouldn't be clinging to the exact statistics. And plenty of hairdressers open on a Sunday. Even the North West, for that PP mentioning this. At least 4 salons around me do. Half of the barbers too. It's like some people are hunting for what they perceive as inconsistencies when in a normal conversation we would be bringing these facts and no one would be derailing the discussion with such minute detail.

OP, change hairdresser. It might take you a while to find one you love but you will probably be treated better whilst testing some out, just because of being a new client they want to keep. There is no reason to go back to yours: your preferred stylist has never got room, the one that does has now received a complaint from you and won't be a nice relaxed atmosphere, her besties will be on her side, the weekend girl will still be around and will probably need to help even with another stylist, I see no benefit or positive outcome from returning.

Vote with your feet