Hairdresser charging customers for PPE?

[Inspiralcarpetry]

Mum has asked me to ask for S&B opinions!
Her hairdresser has booked her in for her first post lockdown haircut, but has increased her prices, presumably to cover some losses from lockdown.
She has also told mum she will make an additional £5 charge to all customers as she has had to purchase PPE (mum will need to bring and wear her own mask obviously.) She is the salon owner and prices aren't cheap to start with.
The other issue is she is offering blow dries and mum is worried about an increased virus risk.
I'm a bit perplexed, as my own hairdresser hasn't mentioned any price increases and PPE charges and is so reasonable anyway, he's going to get the fattest welcome back tip from me next week! My hairdresser is clear that their salon won't do blow dries, due to the risk.
Mum will obviously go ahead as she's desperate for a cut, but would appreciate opinions on the PPE charge and also the idea of a blow dry with both parties wearing a mask please?
TIA.

It's not just the PPE is it though, it's the loss from not being able to have as many customers in at once as they usually do.

I don't blame my hairdresser for passing on the cost to me with a price increase, they've got a business to run, not a charity. If I don't like it I can go elsewhere.

Packs of 500 pairs of gloves c£5, face masks similar as are bulk packs of aprons and arm sleeves from wholesalers. Been buying them for years for my tattoo studio. These prices are extortion!

Ditto for dentists, if they are NHS then they shouldn't be charging patients for PPE, but private dentists are having to source and pay for their own PPE, which has to be higher quality than what they will be using in a hairdresser because of the risk of aerosols. They are also having to leave the procedure room for an hour between patients to let any aerosols settle, so are seeing maybe 1 patient in an hour and 15 minutes, instead of 5 patients. They have to claw that money back somehow.

Look, I don’t mind the PPE surcharge as long as they are upfront about it.

My salon wasn’t upfront about this, and they asked for a £100 non refundable deposit to secure the appointment. I paid the deposit as it works out the same cost overall, but now I’ve found out that my services will be more expensive. I am a bit blindsided as thanks to the deposit, I can’t really go anywhere else. I would have rather been able to make an informed decision.

Sorry £5 is cheap for PPE - they will be in visor, mask, pinnie and gloves if they have any sense. The suppliers of much of these items have more than doubled the price to those having o pay - can't blame them for passing on. Even if using cloth face covering they can cost around that but can be washed and used - then you have cost of washing etc

They have to claw that money back somehow.

Business may be suffering financially, but so may their clients? We have all been impacted by COVID. I have personally been worried about furlough and redundancy etc and paying my own bills. £5 here and there is okay, but if it gets to the point where it doesn’t make financial sense for me to support these businesses anymore - I simply can’t and won’t. They may lose clients.

My hairdresser is charging £5 for PPE. I’m to wait outside until I’m called in. Wear a mask. She is going to wash my hair. Blast dry it. Do my T-section, cut and blow dry. I was unaware that a blow dry might not be possible.

I have some dentist friends, they are saying the COST of the PPE is £55 per patient, obviously they have far more elaborate stuff than hairdressers. Plus they are limited to patient numbers. Many dentists can’t afford to remain open, we are going to have a colossal dental care shortage crisis in the near future.

@healththrowawayx

Well for now supply and demand is in the hairdressers favour; my hairdresser is prioritising all the appointments that were cancelled due to lockdown, and they've got a 8 week waiting list to get through after that! If they lose a lot of clients then they will probably put their prices back down or do some offers.

A hairdresser in my town is charging £6.00 extra for PPE for each client.

@Inspiralcarpetry

Price increases to cover additional cleaning and fewer customers - makes sense. My hairdresser isn't stupid, he's absolutely fab and reaps that back in well deserved tips. This thread has been super useful though thanks, it hadn't even occurred to me that there will likely be a PPE charge for my own hair next week and why that might be a reasonable ask, as long as it isn't too expensive!

Tip or not, he will still be worse of by not charging for the extra cost that PPE and extra cleaning time is. (That's assuming he will receive the same amount in tips than beofre the lockdown - no idea if it will be the case or not)

They are taking the mick.
All the PPE could be bulk bought, and sanitising could be also be bulk bought from wholesalers with no VAT works out at a fraction of £10. So I don’t buy these excuses.
These masks won’t be your posh N95 either....
I do feel sorry for them for losing money from covid but hey everyone is in the same boat.

I will stick to my home hair dyeing for now. Risk of infection is still there, so it’s not worth it for me.
I had already cut my own hair twice. Looks fine.

My hairdresser has said prices are increasing 'slightly' but I've missed 2 scheduled cuts during lockdown so I've saved €100. So I'm more than happy to pay an extra tenner or so to help cover their costs . I'm so thrilled they're reopening I'd pay anything

DH has a hair appointment booked for next week. They are adding £5 to cover the extra cost of PPE.

My physio charges £3.50 extra for PPE.

The extra charges also cover the time needed to clean down between customers.

Mine have put prices up, they were due to go up in april anyway but they have now added extra 20% on. This is because they can now only have 2 customers in at a time and have had to add an extra 15 mins on to each appointment to give themselves time to properly deap clean the equipment and station area after each customer. So the extra cost is to cover the fact they are unable to cover as many customers as usual each day, which will soon add up and eventually make the business unviable as they wont make any money. As it stands I can't see that they will make anywhere near the amount they usually would even with the price increase, as there are usually 4 stations in the salon and I'd say that 95% of the time I've been in there all 4 stations have been in use. I'm no mathematician, but I can see that even with the 20% increase per customer, they are still going to be making less than they usually would, add that to increased costs of all the PPE they've had to buy in extra I can understand why some salons have decided to pass that on to the customer as well.
My salon have said that prices will fall back once restrictions are eased and they are able to resume "normal" business.

I'm a mobile hairdresser and I've spent a fortune on PPE. It's not just a mask and a pair of gloves. I've bought duplicate sets of brushes and combs, plastic tubs to put disinfectant in so that I can have one set sanitising while I'm using the other set. Several new gowns so that I can use a clean one for every client. Antibacterial gel, extra barbicide (which you can't get in any of the usual places at the moment) A card machine so that clients don't have to handle cash, Several face shields because I couldn't find one I could actually see through- the list goes on...... I have had to space my clients out so that I have time to clean between houses, get a cup of tea, eat! I'm not charging my clients for any of that, so I'll probably lose out. The only thing I am charging extra for is colours. This is due to needing to use 3x the amount of product that I would normally. I'm adding 10% to all colour services for the first appt back. Tbh- I've loved having so much time off but I'm lucky that mine is a secondary income to my husbands. The best thing about the whole thing is that after 30 years of being 'Only a hairdresser' we're suddenly being appreciated!!

Won't PPE be tax deductible? Personally I think that an additional £5 charge is about right - any more than that is a bit cheeky IMO.

Mine are charging £5 to cover the PPE and extra cleaning time between clients.

I have a relative in Spain, they said that she was able to have her hair blow dried without any issues.

The only changes were she had to wear a mask and sanitizer her hands. No tea/coffee/magazines. And the hairdresser wore a face shield, apron and sanitizer equipment more.

Interesting how countries differ.

You certainly are appreciated very much!

Questionmarknow, not arguing anything - when I booked for next week, my hairdresser didn't mention anything about PPE charges so the question about mum's hairdresser was out of curiosity really. Chances are there will be an additional fee and thanks to posters explaining on this thread, I understand why. I was obviously not complaining, just asking if it's a thing now. Sounds like on the whole, yes.
Wouldn't surprise me if my salon has a price increase too but that won't bother me either as the value is phenomenal. Currently £25 for a FANTASTIC cut and blow! That plus any PPE charge and a nice tip is amazing value.

Why should the customer bear the extra cost? Unfortunately it's something that is required for the hairdresser to run their business at the moment
I agree!
I work in retail, not the kind where I sell goods but there's no extra charge to customers for ppe. I know the price of it and it's expensive so we probably should charge customers to pull some money back if they want a mask but head office has not asked us to as we chose to open to start turning a profit again. Customers shouldn't have to pay for that.
My own hairdresser has put her prices up by 15%. There was only a price rise in January!
I've not requested an appointment and won't be. I'm quite happy DIY'ing for now but when I'd like my highlites done I'll be going elsewhere.

The ppe charge will be for disposable towels disposable gowns disposable gloves hand sanitiser extra cleaning products and disinfectant not to mention the fact they can't do as many clients due to the social distancing so yes it's 100% reasonable. Also blowdrying hair has no extra risk as it's clean hair so if a salon isn't offering a blowdry it's so they can fit more clients in

Also cost of gloves etc had rocketed unfortunately so yes this must be passed onto clients it's down to individuals whether they want to pay it or not same way if a loaf of bread is increased in price you don't need to buy it .

Sorry noooo way would I expect to pay for the ppe too .
I'm paying for my cut & colour + tip if they insisted no tip .
It's a cost that unfortunately will have to be adhered too and they will just recoup by gradual increases but to just say it's a extra £5 will be a no from me .
The cost of various things in supermarkets have gone up probably to pay for ppe but can you imagine every time you shopped they added a £5 onto your bill ? .

I had a colour, cut and blow dry on Friday, wore mask as did hairdresser, hand sanitiser at front door, with a foot pedal. The hairdresser had everything wiped down chair, surfaces etc between clients, no magazines to read, no products on sale, but no price increase at all for anything. I actually think it very cheeky to charge for ppe as everyone will be wearing their own masks.