Tell me about your hair salon mishaps

@bamakelly (5191)
United States
April 29, 2009 9:52am CST
I would like to start a discussion for anybody that has had an issue with the way a hair stylist cut your hair or even any other type of hair style tragedy. I have had a couple of experiences where my hair was cut way too short and not really the look that I was after. If you have had something like this happen to you how did you handle it? Did you pay the hair stylist or did you make sure you stood your ground and lodged a complaint? There is nothing quite like leaving a salon and not having the hair do that you really wanted. I would like to have your opinion on this and find out just how you handled a situation like this.
8 people like this
16 responses
@onlydia (2808)
• United States
29 Apr 09
I have never really had that. As my hair was really long and she cut it the way she wanted as I trusted her. And I came out looking good. When I was 17 and was getting my hair done for prom I told them no ringlets and they said oh no you won't have them. I made sure they understood if that is how my hair came out I wasn't paying for it as My hair went into ringlets all the time. Well, it did and they wanted there money my Mom came in and made me sit down in there chair and fixed it and did this and that and no ringlets. She gave them $2.00 and the lady started to say something and my Mom smiled and said the lesson is free. I asked her why didn't you just do my hair to begin with. She smile and said take away all the fun of going out with my friends. Never. Ok I would be calm and tell them here fix this please or I'm not paying as I wanted it this way not this mess. Other wise I'm not to sure.
@onlydia (2808)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Yes my Mom is very good at letting people know that they are wrong with out yelling or cussing. She is all calm and nice in a scary way. It always scared me anyway. You have a good day.
3 people like this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Thank you onlydia for the response. I realize that there are many mishaps that could happen in this line of work and perhaps many a customer leaving the salon and not wanting to pay. You have an interesting story here. It sounds like your mother is a strong lady that stands her ground. I wouldn't really blame anyone for not wanting to pay for a hair cut or special style if it turns out a mess. I also believe that it sounds tactful to explain to the hairdresser that you are not going to be pay for unsatisfiable services.
2 people like this
• United States
29 Apr 09
Kelly- I've had a few in my life that were just disasters. One was there they took off four inches, when I asked them to trim my hair. I was so angry, but I didn't know what to do so I just left the shop. The other time was when I wanted to go to red hair, and they turned a color that looked a deep ruby in the store and when I stepped outside in the sunshine it turned purple. Now, today I'd not mind that, but back then I hated it. Of course, that said I've had some really great exeriences that keep me going back! Namaste-Anora
3 people like this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Thank you Anora for your reply and jumping in on the conversation. I was interested in learning what some of your experiences in the beauty salon might have been. It sure sounds like you had your share! Wow, four inches off your head from what was supposed to be a normal trim up job! Your hair at one time went purple in the sun light? Gees what a disaster that must have been. You must have been pretty beside yourself during these situations. I am glad to hear that you have had some good experiences in that you are still trusting enough to return to the salon.
3 people like this
@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
29 Apr 09
I have never liked my hair after I have gone to a salon. I am used to not liking it so I would not complain and just pay for it. I think it that I am not used to the look or that what I envisioned isn't quite what I ended up with. I have gotten so frustrated at the cost of going to a salon though. Here it is at least $20 for a simple cut, plus a tip, which I never understood. So I ended up getting me a hair dresser kit for $25 and it has everything I need to buzz the boys hair and to trim and cut mine and my daughter's hair. I haven't been to a hair dresser in 4 years now and I like my cuts better than I did when I went to a salon. Plus I save a lot of money doing it myself. I also dye my hair myself and usually have a coupon for the dye and buy it on sale so even that is only about $5 to do. That is way less than a salon and I am usually happier.
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
1 May 09
Last year I went to Walmart for a haircut and told the girl to make it short so it wouldn't bother my ears or get in my face. When she was done I swear she'd almost shaved my head! I never went back and never will. But the nice thing about hair is that it grows and in a few weeks it didn't look so bad. I didn't really stress over it since it was temporary.
1 person likes this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
3 May 09
Thanks for sharing your experience dragon54u. Once again always good to hear from you and and it is also good to hear the information that you share. I have a friend that just recently got her hair cut. She even brought in a picture of a model with the image of the hair style that she wanted. My friend's hair was pretty short as it was but it ended up that the beautician just got too far with the scissors leaving my friend feeling like a bald Marine! She was left devastated and was almost considering buying a hat or even a wig! You are right in the idea that hair does grow back and your situation sounded a little frustrating. It is that time in between where you have to wait for it to grow. I suppose you will never go back there again as you said. And I am glad that you didn't end up stressing over it too much. Take care friend.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
29 Apr 09
u are talking to an ol' hairdresser of 47 years. guess i better plead the 5th. lol.
2 people like this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Hi antiquelady. Thank you for your response. I wanted to make sure that this conversation was started just to get some opinions of what some people might have experienced. You were a hairdresser but that doesn't mean you weren't good at it. There are some things that just happen in life and sometimes customers just walk away dissatisfied if there were given a bad cut or hair style. This is definitely not any kind of attack on the hair or beautician field. Once again thank you for the reply and take care.
4 people like this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
29 Apr 09
i didn't take it that way at all,bama.i'm very open minded about things. i was a good hairdresser but i'm sure i didn't please every body. i know i didn't. if i had i'd had more customers that i would have known what to do with. lol. u just have fun w/your discussion. bet u hear some "hairy' tales. have a good day.
3 people like this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Oh thanks friend. I am glad that you didn't take my discussion topic the wrong way and I think that you have a great sense of humor. Take care and have a great day. By the way, thank you for taking the time to respond to some of my discussions.
2 people like this
@deejean06 (1952)
• United States
29 Apr 09
Hi bamakelly...I did have a mild mishap years ago - I never went back to that place after the mishap. I had scheduled a perm and the person rolling my hair felt that she was running out of time because her other appointments were getting backed up in the salon. So she asked someone else to come over and help with the other side of my head. Needless to say since two people were working on my head at the same time it was a bit uneven in the curl. I did not lodge a complaint - just didn't go back. I don't get perms anymore but it's difficult to find someone even to cut your hair nicely these days. Thankfully I have found someone who is close to my home who does an awesome job every single time!
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
3 May 09
just one time, really that I can remember, I wanted to die my hair blonde and the hairdresser said that blond would not be a good color for me, and she convinced me to get a light brown and I did and absolutely hated it.
1 person likes this
@lazeebee (5461)
• Malaysia
30 Apr 09
Yup, it happened before; and furthermore, this was at my regular hair-stylist. I had been frequenting this salon for many years; and this particular time, I wanted a trim. I really couldn't understand how she could have cut off my fringe so short - the result was terrible. She insisted that it looked good and all that...I was really fed-up, wondering what to do with the disaster. I had to use a hair-band until my fringe grew. Of course, I didn't go back to this hair-salon again!
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
30 Apr 09
I am sorry to hear that such a mishap occurred. These kind of things could possibly happen more often than we think. The bad part is that you had been frequenting that salon for many years and didn't seem to encounter a problem until this one. The thing that would get me frustrated is when the hair dresser insisted that it looked good. I guess that is a sort of deviation from what she did and she wanted you to just accept the hair cut. I have a friend that recently got her hair cut. She is so devastated by it. She even brought in a picture of a model sporting the hair style that she wanted however it seemed that the stylist went too far with the scissors and my friend feels bald now. Now my friend doesn't want to go out anywhere until it grows back and even talked about buying a wig! I don't think that she will return to that hair dresser again.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
29 Apr 09
The worse one that ever happened was a perm that made my hair fall out. My hairdresser had taken care of me for several years and I had just had a baby. I needed a pick me up so we decided to perm my hair. Neither of us considered my hormones being strange at the time. Anyway the perm reacted with the hormones and the next morning I woke up with my hair all over my pillow and none on my head. The poor girl who had done my hair felt so bad and I felt badly for her. Anyway it grew back in several months and she wanted to give me free hair cuts for a year. I didn't let her because i knew she hadn't done it on purpose.
@eztuner (450)
• United States
30 Apr 09
That happened to me way long time ago, it was when I used to work in a local TV station, and that they I had a special presentation, I told the stylist very specifically "trim the tips only" they where bragging about this expert that has just returned from NY and had all the new techniques ( I was at Dominican Republic)to make a sory short, my hair end up short!I was so mad, that I ended up in another Salon fixing the "Style" the expert gave me. For few years after that I frequented another Salon and it wasn't all that bad,But eventually I end up cutting my hair myself. I have no one to blame, I have become quite handy at the task and I enjoy it, sometimes friends ask me to cut their hairs but I always, tell them that I want to keep their frienship and cutting their hair is not the right track to it!
@smartie0317 (1610)
• United States
2 May 09
Yes, once I got my hair done but this woman who my uncle knew as a favor. She dyed it nice, thankfully. However, since it was a favor, i.e. free, she scheduled me right before she had to leave and had no time to style it. i had no idea and asked her to blow dry it straight and she agreed, but ran out of time and refused to stay and put some weird hair gel in my hair, it must have been some professional product I had no idea who makes it, and scrunched up my hair. When it dried, I cried! I looked like a poodle. That was the worst thing that a stylist ever did to me. It makes me believe stylists don't care about their customers only their money.
1 person likes this
@csrobins (1120)
• United States
29 Apr 09
I let my dad cut my my bangs once when I was thirteen or fourteen. It was when big curled bamgs that were stiff were in and mine were getting to olong to curl anymore so I though I would just trim them a bit. I had my dad cut right below my eyebrow (or so I thought) but I had been pulling them tightly from the roots so when I let go I had three inch bangs that could not be repaired or hidden I was devestated. Luckily though I was only a preteen and was pretty awkward anyway plus I had cool friends that weren't mean about it.
1 person likes this
@Ritchelle (3790)
• Philippines
30 Apr 09
i've had an instance when i followed the so-called required 6 weeks of growth for short hair maintenance before the next salon visit. my hair was cut short because of this. i've always had this feeling anyway that 6 weeks is way too short a time to wait. anyway it was my fault. the people at the salon thought it was my eccentricity as a disc jockey then that is making me opt for an almost crew cut. however, i asked for a remedy the next visit and i guess i was one of those that made the streaks go back to fashion again . they suggested this and it was fabulous!
@rizam03 (31)
• Philippines
30 Apr 09
It is sometimes depressing that you don't get satisfied after a makeover that you want from a salon. Usually, one seeks a hairdresser to be able to look good and of course, feel good after which. There was one time when i had my hair done and the hairdresser made a terrible thing.He put some bangs on me. He did not consider the shape of my face.Aaaggh! It was a nightmare! Although i still paid him and said that it doesn't look good on me in a nice way. But i asked if they have any senior hairstylist that can do some repair. Indeed, good alterations made and from that on, i always find the same senior stylist and never sought another one because that stylist is very experienced and knowledgeable in ways.
1 person likes this
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
29 Apr 09
They always cut my hair too short and I have very long hair now and I do the trimming myself. I had tried several places and still found that I am happier with the results when I do it. I just wont go back to a place that does what they want. It all depends on what happens and what it costs, ect as to what I would do.
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
30 Apr 09
Well, I am not that kind of a person who yells for anything. Actually, I don't go for a hair style. The only hair style I went for was a bald head and I would not leave my seat unless and until there is no hair left cutting on my scalp LOL! You can call me a little lazy but I use to have a hair cut once in 3-4 months and I go for bald head then the time can be extended for 6 months too!