My hairstylist now requires a signed contract before services are rendered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hairstylists are wilding out lately, I swear.

Mine just upped her prices for a one hour curly cut from $85 to $100. That was hard to swallow, but she does a good job and I hate finding new stylists.

THEN she announced if you go more than 16 weeks between “maintenance haircut” appointments, you have to book a $150 “new client cut.” I think that is a disgusting way to wring money from your clients who can’t afford a $100 haircut every 8 weeks, told her so, and canceled my next appointment.

If she said 16 weeks, why did you jump to 8 weeks in your rant? Is it reasonable to say that for many people, 16 weeks is enough to make the difference between a trim and a full cut that takes more time? I imagine that many people who stopped getting their hair cut while observing COVID precautions returned to the salon with more time consuming needs.

PP, it’s obviously fine for you to cancel your appointment and go to another salon. My sympathies though, lean towards the salon. Many closed, or lost a lot of money over the course of the last two years. Some are spending money to reorganize their shops with updated safety precautions. Many are limiting the number of clients in their spaces at any one time, when before, they could overlap some services for maximum efficiency, and, as a client, I appreciate the concern for my safety and for their own, and I recognize the financial impact of these types of decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, below are a few of the requirements from the contract that jumped out. I'm not interested in being under contract for hair service so I will likely continue the at home haircare process. When I cancel, I am considering mentioning the contract and a few of the terms as being the main motivator. Another reason is that I've moved so I getting to her is now a 50 minute down the beltway.


4. I understand there is a 15 min grace period from start time *

5. I understand if I am more than 15 min late I will need to reschedule and will pay missed service in order to reschedule. This is to reassure all clients get their respected one on one time. *

6. I understand I must call/text soon as I am aware of my lateness or my appointment will be canceled. *

8. I understand that all services are non-refundable and prices are subject to change and are non- negotiable *

9. I understand and agree that if I need to cancel my appointment I will do so 48hrs prior to service time. If I do NOT cancel within time frame I will be charged 50% of service *

10. I understand that all color services require a deposit when booking and will pay invoice when sent. (New and existing clients) *
I agree
11. I understand that the cancelation fee is 50% of the service fee if appointment is canceled 48hrs or less prior to appointment and appointment will not be rebooked unless service is paid *

F that. Prices are subject to change and non-negotiable? And if prices do change upon arrival are you still required to pay 50% of services if you then disagree? Becuase she's taking this contract to the next level, she'd then need to add verbiage regarding what happens if prices do in fact change. You should be permitted to back out of appointment without paying any cancellation or services fees.....though this whole idea is just ridiculous.

Find a new salon.

+1 That jumped out at me, too.

I agree with you, OP, that some of the salons and stylists are going a bit crazy right now. I don't know what the answer is but I can tell you that when I am paying as much money as I am, then I expect stellar customer service ... and I am not getting that.

I am not the enemy. I am the person paying you hundreds of dollars every four weeks for a color job. Start being nicer to me before I go somewhere else. Because I am close to the edge.

Madison Reed, get ready cuz I may be coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, below are a few of the requirements from the contract that jumped out. I'm not interested in being under contract for hair service so I will likely continue the at home haircare process. When I cancel, I am considering mentioning the contract and a few of the terms as being the main motivator. Another reason is that I've moved so I getting to her is now a 50 minute down the beltway.


4. I understand there is a 15 min grace period from start time *

5. I understand if I am more than 15 min late I will need to reschedule and will pay missed service in order to reschedule. This is to reassure all clients get their respected one on one time. *

6. I understand I must call/text soon as I am aware of my lateness or my appointment will be canceled. *

8. I understand that all services are non-refundable and prices are subject to change and are non- negotiable *

9. I understand and agree that if I need to cancel my appointment I will do so 48hrs prior to service time. If I do NOT cancel within time frame I will be charged 50% of service *

10. I understand that all color services require a deposit when booking and will pay invoice when sent. (New and existing clients) *
I agree
11. I understand that the cancelation fee is 50% of the service fee if appointment is canceled 48hrs or less prior to appointment and appointment will not be rebooked unless service is paid *

When you said contract, it sounded bad. This type of thing I would just skim through and hit “ok”. They clearly have had lots of cancellations.

+1

Except for number eight. But I think they pulled this wording from the Internet without much thought of what it actually meant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hairstylists are wilding out lately, I swear.

Mine just upped her prices for a one hour curly cut from $85 to $100. That was hard to swallow, but she does a good job and I hate finding new stylists.

THEN she announced if you go more than 16 weeks between “maintenance haircut” appointments, you have to book a $150 “new client cut.” I think that is a disgusting way to wring money from your clients who can’t afford a $100 haircut every 8 weeks, told her so, and canceled my next appointment.

Haircuttery is taking appointments

Best thing about the pandemic is that I learned to cut my own hair. Curly hair is especially forgiving to cut.

Me too! It is so freeing to know I can do this myself, and look pretty darn good. I used to pay $85 for my curly cuts and they have jumped to over $130... combined with transit time to and from the salon, waiting for the stylist... I just figured I had nothing to lose by giving DIY a shot. Never going back to the salon. I also cut my daughter's hair now - gave her an awesome wolfy-shag that she loves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't had my hair colored since September of last year, so I reached out to my stylist earlier this week for an appointment. She followed up with a text scheduler confirming the appointment, and shortly after that, I received a second text with a service contract. In the contract, were about 15 questions. The first few pertained to Covid, which I thought were reasonable. However, the remaining questions involved deposits for service, retention of the deposits for no-shows, and a few other requirements that I found off-putting.

I will likely cancel the appointment and find someone else to do my hair, but just wondering if anyone else has encountered similar contracts for a stylist and if this is the new norm. For the record, I've been a client since 2019.

Maybe if she was Jose Ebert I could see this There are more tactful ways of doing this - like a cancellation fee of $50 if you cancel in less than 24 hours. That is fair. Most of the rest is BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't had my hair colored since September of last year, so I reached out to my stylist earlier this week for an appointment. She followed up with a text scheduler confirming the appointment, and shortly after that, I received a second text with a service contract. In the contract, were about 15 questions. The first few pertained to Covid, which I thought were reasonable. However, the remaining questions involved deposits for service, retention of the deposits for no-shows, and a few other requirements that I found off-putting.

I will likely cancel the appointment and find someone else to do my hair, but just wondering if anyone else has encountered similar contracts for a stylist and if this is the new norm. For the record, I've been a client since 2019.

Maybe if she was Jose Ebert I could see this There are more tactful ways of doing this - like a cancellation fee of $50 if you cancel in less than 24 hours. That is fair. Most of the rest is BS.

If someone is significantly late, it ignited not be possible to provide the services that the client booked OR provide any services to another client. This is especially true for salons that, with COVID, no longer overlap client visits or have full waiting rooms. Do you feel there should be any penalty for this? Sure, the salon can blacklist customers one by one, but that won’t be good for anyone. If salons have to eat all of the costs for inconsiderate clients, there will soon be even more of them permanently closing their doors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hairstylists are wilding out lately, I swear.

Mine just upped her prices for a one hour curly cut from $85 to $100. That was hard to swallow, but she does a good job and I hate finding new stylists.

THEN she announced if you go more than 16 weeks between “maintenance haircut” appointments, you have to book a $150 “new client cut.” I think that is a disgusting way to wring money from your clients who can’t afford a $100 haircut every 8 weeks, told her so, and canceled my next appointment.

That is WILD.

That’s some sh!tty terminology. Just charge different amounts for different types of cuts. Chances are, if I went 16 weeks without a cut, I was intentionally growing out my hair.

Yeah it really makes no sense. When I got an actual “new client cut” my first time she sat with me to talk about my hair, routine, products, etc, so it made sense for it to be longer and more expensive. It’s not necessarily going to take longer to cut my hair if it’s been 8 weeks or 8 months. What if I want a dramatic reshaping after 8 weeks, or just a small trim after 8 months? Nonsense.

This is for a curly cut? I have wild curls and don't get a haircut every 16 weeks because it just doesn't grow much. 26 weeks, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Well hairdressers aren't the brightest bulb, so it's likely this one doesn't even have a clue what the terms mean or how it's being received by the clientele.

Just go elsewhere, OP.

I get a haircut every 5 years, preferentially not in the DC area, where they don't know how to cut hair (last time was in Paris when I visited my parents who live there), and trim it myself in between, so I'm not any salon's loyal customer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, below are a few of the requirements from the contract that jumped out. I'm not interested in being under contract for hair service so I will likely continue the at home haircare process. When I cancel, I am considering mentioning the contract and a few of the terms as being the main motivator. Another reason is that I've moved so I getting to her is now a 50 minute down the beltway.


4. I understand there is a 15 min grace period from start time *

5. I understand if I am more than 15 min late I will need to reschedule and will pay missed service in order to reschedule. This is to reassure all clients get their respected one on one time. *

6. I understand I must call/text soon as I am aware of my lateness or my appointment will be canceled. *

8. I understand that all services are non-refundable and prices are subject to change and are non- negotiable *

9. I understand and agree that if I need to cancel my appointment I will do so 48hrs prior to service time. If I do NOT cancel within time frame I will be charged 50% of service *

10. I understand that all color services require a deposit when booking and will pay invoice when sent. (New and existing clients) *
I agree
11. I understand that the cancelation fee is 50% of the service fee if appointment is canceled 48hrs or less prior to appointment and appointment will not be rebooked unless service is paid *

I think all of that is perfectly reasonable except (1) she should not be able to change prices on you AFTER you book your appointment and (2) most people have a 24 hour cancellation and not 48. That said, a lot of people will charge 100% if you cancel in that 24 hour period.

Are you routinely 15+ minutes late, OP? I think that's a perfectly reasonable grace period for late shows.

[Anonymous]

A stylist that I used to go to started requiring that customers book a color service along with the cuts, and anyone who didn't want color was "fired" as a client. Which is fine for her to do, if she only wants the most lucrative clients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hairstylists are wilding out lately, I swear.

Mine just upped her prices for a one hour curly cut from $85 to $100. That was hard to swallow, but she does a good job and I hate finding new stylists.

THEN she announced if you go more than 16 weeks between “maintenance haircut” appointments, you have to book a $150 “new client cut.” I think that is a disgusting way to wring money from your clients who can’t afford a $100 haircut every 8 weeks, told her so, and canceled my next appointment.

If she said 16 weeks, why did you jump to 8 weeks in your rant? Is it reasonable to say that for many people, 16 weeks is enough to make the difference between a trim and a full cut that takes more time? I imagine that many people who stopped getting their hair cut while observing COVID precautions returned to the salon with more time consuming needs.

PP, it’s obviously fine for you to cancel your appointment and go to another salon. My sympathies though, lean towards the salon. Many closed, or lost a lot of money over the course of the last two years. Some are spending money to reorganize their shops with updated safety precautions. Many are limiting the number of clients in their spaces at any one time, when before, they could overlap some services for maximum efficiency, and, as a client, I appreciate the concern for my safety and for their own, and I recognize the financial impact of these types of decisions.

Not when the salon owner goes to those lengths, sorry. You want to force people to go more then every 16 weeks? That doesn't work for me. Particularly when prices for women's haircuts, as basic as the trim may be, are ridiculously more expensive than a similar trim, using the same techniques and utensils, as men's haircut. My husband and son pay less than $25 each for a very good haircut at their barber's. When I just need a trim, meaning something much easier than what my husband and son need, I was quoted $100, at my nearest women's salon. One time I ended up asking the barber. Another time I just did it myself. I reject this gender-biased pricing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A stylist that I used to go to started requiring that customers book a color service along with the cuts, and anyone who didn't want color was "fired" as a client. Which is fine for her to do, if she only wants the most lucrative clients.

Wowwww. That’s nuts. So glad I can trim my own at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like she's gotten last minute cancellations and no-shows, all of which result in loss of significant money.

+1

[Anonymous]

You seem to bizarrely think that a hair stylist is making a ton of money with lots of buffer for no shows etc. Let’s say she does get $150 for an hour long haircut. $50 probably goes to rent her chair and other overhead, $30 to taxes as an independent contractor, leaving her with $70 as a high estimate for every 1.5 hours of work. In an 8 hour workday she can probably see 6 clients leaving time between for cleaning her station, 14min late arrivals etc. So if there’s a last minute cancellation - yes it’s a big deal.

And my colorist also only sees people being color. She’s very talented at it, so she charges more and can easily fill her schedule. Why in the world would she make any room in her schedule for less profitable haircuts without color. It’s wild to me you all would criticize a sept employed person with no leverage for trying to maximize and protect the income they can make with their talents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seem to bizarrely think that a hair stylist is making a ton of money with lots of buffer for no shows etc. Let’s say she does get $150 for an hour long haircut. $50 probably goes to rent her chair and other overhead, $30 to taxes as an independent contractor, leaving her with $70 as a high estimate for every 1.5 hours of work. In an 8 hour workday she can probably see 6 clients leaving time between for cleaning her station, 14min late arrivals etc. So if there’s a last minute cancellation - yes it’s a big deal.

And my colorist also only sees people being color. She’s very talented at it, so she charges more and can easily fill her schedule. Why in the world would she make any room in her schedule for less profitable haircuts without color. It’s wild to me you all would criticize a sept employed person with no leverage for trying to maximize and protect the income they can make with their talents.

An hour long haircut? It takes my high end salon hairdresser about 15 minutes to cut my hair and then another 10 to blow dry it. That's way too long. He books like 3 clients an hour...