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 hairdresser was taking a substantial deposit for appointments in December. I would have to pay my dog groomer if he couldn't trim my dog due to its behaviour.

You’re paying for her time and the appointment. It’s not her fault if you can’t get your son to comply enough to get a haircut.

It would have been significantly more than 5 minutes from the first sitting him in the car, then changing to another chair, trying to cut his hair, finishing up etc.

That's her business model fucked.

My husband prefers Turkish barbers and only got his hair cut at this place since we were already there with toddler. So handy for him
and us but he wouldn’t go there if he wasn’t taking our child.

She asked her in front of a line of customers. Not a good look for the owner. I wouldn't have asked her to pay. If the shop was quiet then I may have charged her if it was me.

This is like saying "I went to a restaurant and my son didn't eat all his food but they still charged me for his meal"

We prefer using Turkish barbers they get on with the cut.

I think the real question is where will you go next. Will you be asking beforehand if a fee will be charged if after 10 minutes or so, the hairdresser is unable to cut your son's hair,

Would a home dresser work for you all? Your child might be less wriggly/uncuttable in their home environment

You're paying for her time.

It's not the same. In a restaurant regardless of whether you eat it or not you received full service.

If I was a queuing customer I'd have thought "good for her" for charging.

Surely this wouldn’t have taken “at least half an hour”?! My hairdresser cuts mine, my 4 year old and my 2 year olds hairs (dry trims only) in 45 minutes!

Think there’s the misconception of paying for a slot, if it’s a turn up and wait then you haven’t taken a full appointment. If it was only 10 mins, then she’s getting business from the queue of people earlier than she would have if she’d done a full
cut. But I can also see the side that time is money, she could have been doing another customer’s hair for that long and making money so she shouldn’t be at a loss either.

I’d just accept this one and move on I think.

Why not discount the cut show some good will. If I was in the line up waiting it would make me think twice about taking my kids there in the future. She built her business around cutting fussy kids hair. Was there no distractions around to make him focus elsewhere?

Because I wouldn't feel the need to provide a discount because OP couldn't keep her kid still.

It's annoying when kids don't cooperate but that's part of being a parent and the business shouldn't miss out because of it.

Like others have said, it's not her fault your little one was not willing to have hair done that day. If you knew it was going to busy, perhaps it would've been better to wait til after Xmas too.
For sure, you should pay.

Of course you should pay, she spent the time she would have spent cutting having to put up with a screaming child. What will you do when he needs an injection or dental checks?

That's why gimmicky hairdressers will never get a penny of my money. I would rather use a proper barber with little to no experience with children and can get the cut done.

This sounds like a 'cheeky fucker' post.

Op you were a cheeky assuming the hairdresser wouldn't charge you. You took up someone's time for which she charges for...

Which is totally fair enough, everyone is free to use whatever business suits them best :)

You engaged her to perform a service.

She failed to do this.

She had a cheek to still want paying when she didnt do her job.

This is a difficult one for you because your son didn’t get the cut he wanted/you needed but time is money and you used an appointment slot so should pay.
My nearly 4 year old son really disliked having his hair cut to the point of crying, snot, the works. We had a mobile hairdresser so this behaviour was in our own home and my hairdresser was a mum to young children herself and very good and understanding. She stopped hairdressing and I was desperate for my son’s hair to be cut. In the end my husband bought some hair clippers from Amazon (googled the best brand to buy) and we cut his hair at home with not a single whinge or tear. Okay, he had a few Quality Street to keep him happy but he was like a changed little boy. Hoping to get him used to the clippers at home and hopefully we can move on to a barber.

I think the fact it was a walk in and not a scheduled appointment does make a difference though. A scheduled appointment would have blocked 30 mins or so from the hair dressers diary, during which she couldn't take any other bookings. So perfectly reasonable to charge full price.

But a walk in where she can just move straight to the next person in the queue is different. I think she should have charged a token fiver because it didn't take up a scheduled slot.

I think its difficult for her to discount it, I suspect a lot of toddlers are short appointments as they don't sit still. She'd end up having people question it - 'but my friend Susan only paid a fiver for 10 minutes and it's only been 15 minutes so I should pay a fiver too'. Word gets round in an astonishingly fast way. So yeah, you paid for the full appointment which is okay but I understand why you're a bit miffed.

Mum of boys here and sometimes you have to suck up the toddler hair apt, pay and try again when they are co operative. Once they’ve started to get upset nothing is going to work to keep them still enough and I’ve always stopped the apt, paid and then tried again another time.
We have a hairdressers that specialises in children’s haircuts locally, they have cars, planes etc to sit in and so many clients. I never went there when mine were smaller because it always seemed to take my friends longer and the haircuts weren’t always that great.
Appointment only men’s barbers I have found are the best, they are so used to cutting hair with clippers etc they can get a fairly good finish very quickly.
Appointment only are better for little ones as you don’t have to wait so can just get them straight in and out.
( I’ve previously waited for 45 minutes then 3 boys hair cuts and lost a couple of hours) so you’re in and out quicker.
My youngest is now 5 and has his hair cut every 8 weeks, his brothers between 6-12 weeks and as they all choose their own styles. I’ve never taken them to a ladies hairdresser, when they were small they went to the same barbers as their Dad and now they’ve picked an appointment only one that’s young and a lot more cool then anyone I would pick 😂
Send him in with your DH to a barbers to see if that works better for him.

Time is money, yes - but as many parents of children with ASD know, your child may or may not cooperate at any given time, and being charged when they don't often feels like a price we pay on top of everything else we deal with. The ASD premium if you like.