Haircut - am I being overly sensitive? Or would this bug you

[Anonymous]

She was giving you the hard sell on salon products. The stylists earn a commission on product sales. Usually, they get the hint after you say no a couple of times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's just hard upselling of product. I absolutely hate it. And IME upscale salons are just as guilty. Maybe even more so. They work on client insecurity and desire to keep up with everyone else and not be though of as "cheap".

Yep. I’ve seen upscale salon stylists act like people are cheap for not wanting to buy their products. Nope, and I’m not going to be shamed for it.

[Anonymous]

This would totally annoy me.
The assumption alone that I don’t take care of my own hair would have ticked me off.

[Anonymous]

Pre Covid, I used to get my hair cut for free by having a student stylist cut it during a class at a salon. This particular place was great because it taught "advanced" techniques and you had to have been licensed for at least 2 years to take the class. The classes were at a very high end salon which has its own line of products. People would fly in from all over the country to take them and for most the trip was a reward from their salon.

Still, the stylists could make money or get free products--I'm not sure which--by selling us freebie customers the high end salon's products. Once, I got a stylist who started to try to sell me a shampoo. She asked what I was using and I told her Trader Joe's Tea Tree shampoo. She started laughing and told me the expensive shampoo she was trying to sell me was Tea Tree based so she was about to sprout all the advantages of tea tree oil. "Guess that won't work!"

[Anonymous]

I honestly wouldn’t think twice about this, OP.

[Anonymous]

I had someone really give me attitude about washing my hair 2 to 3 times a week. I don’t think she was even selling anything. She just wanted to educate me on some thing. Mostly it felt like she was annoyed that I wasn’t getting more services like color.

It was really lame. She was a referral from a friend and it was my birthday. Was still working out right products for my peri hair texture. I tried to kind of play it off so that we could not talk about detoxing my scalp so much but she just wasn’t having it. It was aggressive. And my hair wasn’t gross. My scalp wasn’t funky and yeah, it was dry because it was my first pandemic haircut so I needed to have 2 inches taken off. I didn’t go back there.

[Anonymous]

Lady, you didn't have a problem at all. She was doing her job of trying to sell you products AND get to use good products on your hair. She was doing exactly what she is TOLD to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lady, you didn't have a problem at all. She was doing her job of trying to sell you products AND get to use good products on your hair. She was doing exactly what she is TOLD to do.

That seems like a problem to me. OP paid to have her hair done at a place that tells it's employees that their "real" job isn't doing hair, but harassing and haranguing the unsuspecting clientele who books there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lady, you didn't have a problem at all. She was doing her job of trying to sell you products AND get to use good products on your hair. She was doing exactly what she is TOLD to do.

That seems like a problem to me. OP paid to have her hair done at a place that tells it's employees that their "real" job isn't doing hair, but harassing and haranguing the unsuspecting clientele who books there.

Then it’s on OP to go to a different salon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's just hard upselling of product. I absolutely hate it. And IME upscale salons are just as guilty. Maybe even more so. They work on client insecurity and desire to keep up with everyone else and not be though of as "cheap".

Yes until I started with my current stylist everyone did this to me. Where it varied was the approach - your hair looks terrible you should try X product. Or your hair is naturally amazing but to protect it, keep it looking better, etc, you should try Y product.

Comparing it to flossing gives some stylists too much credit. (Though some genuinely know their stuff).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's just hard upselling of product. I absolutely hate it. And IME upscale salons are just as guilty. Maybe even more so. They work on client insecurity and desire to keep up with everyone else and not be though of as "cheap".

I find it totally unpleasant too, and completely unprofessional. It takes away from what should be a relaxing salon experience.

I have gotten an unpleasant remark about finer, thinner hair. What is worse is that for me this is partly due to a medication issue. There is no better alternative. Its none of their business and I don't want to be harangued or insulted during what could otherwise be a relaxing salon morning.

I have actually dropped a stylist over this, who also commented on my hair versus my sister's (who is lucky not to have the same medical condition and need for medication, which I would not wish on anyone). Too unpleasant to deal with due to the nasty bedside manner, but otherwise this stylist was talented and was my choice for service/price/location. Dropped her without comment or explanation and other family have opted to go elsewhere too for various reasons.

I would love any stock lines to deal with this issue and add boundaries here. It seems like a common issue that resurfaces regardless of the texture of hair, basically trying to separate women from their money by being rude about what may be insecurities. I want to give stylists grace and benefit of doubt, and keep using a salon if I am otherwise satisfied with service/price/location -- good lines to shut that conversation down and add appropriate boundaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$35 for a deep conditioning, lol. Does this include taking the bottle home?

No. That is a normal price at any salon that is not a Hair Cuttery.

OP I think you are overly sensitive.

[Anonymous]

She was just trying to get that commission.
What I've noticed is that it seems like the young stylists don't really take pride in their work. I was tired of being unhappy so I went to one of the most expensive salons in my city. The stylist washed my hair and then while combing it said exasperatedly "You didn't mention you had curly hair." Sorry. "Do you want me to style it curly or straight?" I said I didn't like it stick straight so large waves/curls would be best.
She loaded it up with gel and diffused it. I looked exactly like Debbie Wasserman Schulz. I stopped her and said "Do you think this looks good?"
"You said you wanted it curly."
"But, do you think this looks good? Like, would you be proud to tell people you styled this?"
"If you want me to flat iron it I don't have time. I have another customer coming."
I spent hundreds on this appointment and my hair looked better before I came in.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it’s the hard sell and it’s extremely annoying/hurtful because it’s someone pointing out your physical “flaws” while you sit in their chair. I had this happen once when I couldn’t see my regular person. He spent the whole appointment interrogating me on my hair care and “habits” and passive aggressively suggesting that I wasn’t doing all I should. I was embarrassed the whole time. Then he suggested some extremely expensive hair care set that I needed to buy from that salon. I declined. It was an unpleasant experience and I never went back to that salon.

I had a similar thing happen recently when I tried out a new salon. It had just opened and there were a lot of hiccups but what set my mind on not going back was that the stylist pointed out some grays coming in at my temple (like I hadn’t noticed them?) and spent the whole time questioning why I wasn’t at least highlighting my hair to hide them, how they aged me, how she does color and much better I’d look, etc. Super rude and if I ever do decide to color my hair, I certainly won’t go back to her!

I can’t imagine this hard sell/insulting of the client really works out for them?? But idk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely hate this and it’s so common. I also have thick, curly, difficult hair and the products they push never actually work. But it can make me feel self conscious through the whole appointment. I started asking to snap a picture of the product and telling them that if it lasts through the day then I’ll come back and buy it. Of course, it never lasts.

+1 I've got 3 A/B curly hair and while it's not difficult, it is finicky. It's taken me a LONG time to figure out which products I should use when and under what weather conditions. I'm happy to try something new but I'm clear that I'm not buying anything until I know what it's like 12 and 24 hours after application. So yeah, I'll take a picture before leaving.