Hairdresser couldn’t cut toddlers hair but charged full price

[Bubblebather89]

I was recommended a hairdresser in my local area to cut my 22 month olds hair. She has a walk in only salon with one of those sit in car chairs for children. She was highly recommend from a mum whose child has ASD and she said she’s great with kids and makes them feel comfortable, is flexible etc etc. Anyway we visited his hairdresser on a number of occasions and all went well. My son sat better than expected so she was able to cut his hair with no issues.

Then last week I took him and it was particularly busy with it being near Christmas. My son decided he didn’t want to sit in the car so we moved to the chair with him on my lap. But he was particularly fussy and crying. After 5 minutes she said she wasn’t able to cut his hair. She had cut some at the back but literally hardly anything, of course I understood and I was fine with her not carrying on and I said no problem we will come back another time. It wasn’t a good time for my son and she had a line of people waiting I completely understood. As I was getting my son into his pram she said that will be £15 please darling, which was the full price of the hair cut normally. I was taken back because I thought she wouldn’t charge me anything as she literally only cut a small amount at the back and the rest of the time was me trying to hold him down as he tried to wriggle away. His hair looked worse than when we came in. Because there was a full salon of people waiting and looking at me I just paid. If I’d known she was going to charge me the full amount I would have expected her to try abit harder to cut his hair and been more patient with him. The whole appointment took around 5 mins so barely any time at all. Should I have paid full price or should she have discounted it/ let me come back and try again?

My friend ran a barbers shop and used to dread small children being brought in because there was almost always enormous drama and 9 times out of 10 it was caused by the mother flapping about making the child react. It’s highly dangerous having a child wriggling and thrashing around with razor sharp scissors right next to their faces.

Though it's true that it can be good practice for a small business to give a regular customer a break, I think it's also good practice for a regular customer to give a small business a break.

In that situation, I'd've said, "Yes, of course, Gemma. It's not your fault she won't sit still for it. I'll call you again in a month or two, and we'll have another go."

And where is the goodwill from the customer when they know their child has caused an issue?

Why do people mess others around and then almost always come up with the 'it was only 5 mins'. It clearly wasnt 5 mins and why on earth did you go in at one of the busiest times of the years??

Yep, goodwill has to work both ways, otherwise it's just someone taking the piss.

You don’t think customers need to show goodwill to hairdressers because according to you they can just move on to someone else. Can’t have it both ways.

Yes, I do. The "goodwill" in this scenario is OP paying for the haircut because it was her childs' s behaviour that meant the haircut couldn't be done.

The hairdresser is under no obligation to discount based on her clients' behaviour. That's not goodwill, it's having the piss taken out of you. Goodwill would have been maybe offering for the child to come back at the end of the day to try again.

Exactly. I would have expected to pay in these circumstances.

FWIW I run my own small business and am quite happy to extend goodwill to my regulars who use me week in, week out, and have done for years now. I won't extend the same flexibility to new customers or to customers who only use me a handful of times. Good relationships take time to build up, after all, and nobody ever ran a successful business by giving half their customers a discount or a freebie.

If she is normally patient and manages to cuts your DC's hair well - then I would talk to her. She may let you come back for free/nominal amount at a quiet time and sort it out a little. Also next time if the place is busy or DC is unsettled don't start the haircut at all.

As it's a walk-in place you can scout it out for free and then decide. Worth persevering with her I think.

Hairdresser is NBU for charging - but you are also NBU for thinking maybe you should get your money's worth.

“Client’s behaviour”. A toddler. Not exactly deliberately difficult client is it?

Good relationships take time to build up, after all, and nobody ever ran a successful business by giving half their customers a discount or a freebie.

Given you think parents should be charged 15 quid to have their toddler’s hair combed, I’m not sure how that turns into building relationships expecting people to come back.

It doesn't matter if it's deliberate or not, the impact is the same.

I think OP should pay the advertised price for a haircut. The hairdresser in this scenario started cutting but couldn't finish - that's not her fault and is not a reason for her to be out of pocket. If I was a dog groomer, for example I would still charge in full even if the dog wasn't able to be groomed because it was badly trained or aggressive. Again, not the dogs' fault but not mine either.

Anyway, it's clear we see this differently and are never going to agree, so it's a waste of time going round and round in circles :)

Absolutely!
But the nature of providing a service to kids is that sometimes they play ball, and sometimes they don't.
Unfortunately, your son still took up a slot that someone else could have had, so you were right to be charged. Although I do think perhaps a half rate would have been more appropriate.
But by all means, take your business elsewhere. It sounds like this hairdresser has got plenty of other clients if you went to her because of recommendations.

She won't struggle without you since she had people queuing for appointments, so this sounds like it will suit everyone. You can find a hairdresser you prefer and she can have fewer wriggly toddlers 😂

If I booked my car in for MOT but they weren’t able to get the bonnet open - then I wouldn’t expect to pay full price because they didn’t provide the service.

I struggle with the hairdresser scenario.

Yes you booked and paid for their time but they also didn’t deliver a service.

I had my hair done a few weeks ago and it came out completely different to the colour I wanted.
It was no one’s fault as such but I was told I had to pay full price due to the time and products used and that salons do not provide refunds.

I would assume in your situation it would be half price.

What is their cancellation policy?
Often you pay an amount and then if you cancel they keep this deposit - I would have assumed this is the amount you’d pay.

You can provide a good product/service at a fair price to the same customer on repeat, or you can sell a bad product/service at an unfair price to the customer just the once.

If it were just 5 minutes, AND this was a walk-in, I'd expect to be charged a fiver for her time and efforts. Pre-booked slot I'd always pay in full. The salon shouldn't be out of pocket because my child hates having his haircut or is having a particularly difficult day.

Not going back is a perfectly fair response. I'd be annoyed being charged full price too in these circumstances.

But she didn't refuse the child. She could have said, super busy today and don't' have the extra time needed for a kid's cut. She failed.

She didn't fail. She tried, and didn't want to continue trying to cut the hair of a child that wouldn't sit still - that's basic safety. If she'd continued, OP's son could easily have been injured.

The rest of your post doesn't apply as this is a dedicated children's salon/barber so she shouldn't have to book in extra time to deal with OP's kid.

i think a reduced price as she didn't take the time or do the job. Others will demand that's she is right to charge full price. My toddler had his ear cut by a trainee that I would never have agreed to cut his hair. And charged me ful price for that. They were not happy I insisted the qualified cutter finish off and make it look right.

Is there some snobbery on this thread or am I imagining it? Every hairdresser I have ever known is strict about payment because otherwise they get taken advantage of. If you agree with the OP is it because they're 'only a hairdresser' and therefore a minion? If you book a driving lesson and feel ill on the day, you still have to pay. If your child is ill and can't go to nursery, you still have to pay. Why should hairdressers be any different?

If a mechanic couldn't get the bonnet open I would question his qualifications!

What you've described didn't take 5 minutes.

Ha exactly, it's not really the same scenario!

An equivalent would be whether you'd expect to pay your dog groomer if they couldn't groom your dog due to their behaviour, or whether you'd expect to pay the window cleaner if they turned up but couldn't get access because you'd locked your gate.

Does anyone else have a terrible analogy they can use to derail the thread?

Agree! Also she came highly recommended and has been great on your other visits and presumably with your DH too so sure her business will continue to thrive and it's your loss really. £15 is reasonable to charge for her time and if she'd already tried in the kids' chair then again when you moved him to your lap then I'd say that's a fair enough attempt and she's expert enough to know when to call it quits.