Thursday 17 May 2007

Salon Scams

Have you ever walked up to the register after having your hair done to be shocked by the pricetag of your new do? This seems to happen often in my experiences. There are signs posted outside a salon stating a big special for certain services and next thing you know the person at the register is telling you those services aren't on special with the person who did your hair. This seedy practise at salons makes me so angry. It it not like I can't read and don't know better but I have been caught in this trap more times than I care to count. Usually the difference in price is fairly significant too (like a $150 cut/color compaired to the $79.99 sign in the window) On several occassions an extra charge for "styling" has been added to the cut, Can I ask, who goes to a salon and doesn't have their hair styled along with the blow dry (First Choice clients excluded) and how can the salons justify charging an additional $10-$15 for this "service"???
I suppose one way to avoid this nasty surprise is to inquire before the stylist starts as to the price, another could be to always go to the same salon/stylist (which i never do, BTW) but part of the appeal of walking-in to a salon is that i can go spur of the moment. I don't have to plan and schedule my day around my hair appointment....or perhaps salons should learn the word HONESTY and UPFRONT?!?!

9 comments:

  1. What a scam Dina! Those deals are always too good to be true. Did you at least like the cut?
    After I had kids I didn't find a regular stylist until just this year - it's taken me almost 7 years to find someone up here who won't give me a huge "pouf" that screams "north of highway 7 suburban mom" - I know that's what I am, but I don't need to look like one LOL!
    I go to O'Hair at Yonge south of 7 - Sandy is great, she's also mom to a little boy who's about 18 months old, so she knows what it's like to be a busy mom. She's mid-range - $50 a cut.

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  2. karen, so far the cut is great but i haven't washed and dried it myself yet (the true test IMO) I can tell that she left a lot of hair around my neck area which generally means it will be poufy when i do it myself- since my hair is super thick i need the stylist to really thin it out which so many don't know how to do.
    I usually try to pay less than $30 for a cut alone and about $90 for cut and highlights combined. I know i can find someone good in my price range the problem is the place i usually go to has a revolving door for stylists ANYWOO...hopefully i'll like the cut in the morning and if it's good i'll go back for the cut only...
    my mom has also had the same problem but has actually spoken up and said something whereas I just get so angry inside!

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  3. Anonymous9:49 am

    UPDATE...well the exact reason I didn't want her to layer my hair came back to haunt me this morning as i attempted to blowdry my hair. I now have "triangle head" because the layers are too short in the front and my super thick hair cannot be controlled unless I have someone else do it for me...argh!!!

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  4. Anonymous5:38 pm

    I love my new hairdresser, but she is $$, $65.00 a cut. It is the first time I have stuck with one stylist though (but I go to a different colourist) so i don't mind. At least I am always happy with my hair now!

    Those signs abotu deals are always lies!

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  5. OMG! You are soooooooo right, Dina!!! I just went on a day trip with my mom yesterday and we went shopping, had lunch and got our hair done. OMGoodness! I thought I'd be spending wayyyyyy less than I did! The bill came up to $99.75!!! I was so shocked. Of course, they convinced me to buy this hair product, which I'll blog about later. Holy smokes though! I just went out for a little treat and didn't intend on spending that much on my haircut! My regular hairdresser on the island is AMAZING (but she was fully booked until Tuesday). She charges $15 (it's way cheaper on the island than in the big cities).

    *aigh* Great post. Sorry you aren't happy with your haircut. Maybe you should try out Jill's hairdresser. She seems to do a good job and Jill seems to be pleased with her work. I really love Jill's hair!!!

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  6. Anonymous10:18 am

    Oh no, don't even start with my hairdresser or my colourist!!!

    They are both expensive...as I said my hairdresser is $65 a cut, and my colourist is $95 for highlights (yesterday I got highlights and lowlights, $130)...but they are both so good I cannot give them up. I wish I had never found them, I was happy with my First Choice (or wherever I happened to walk in) haircuts and at-home colour until I found Carol and Annie! Now I look at pictures of my hair back then, and cannot go back.

    I did stop at a place in Scarborough Town Center for a cut last week, as Carol was all booked and my ends were awful. It was $40 and she did a great job, but I know I wont go back to her as it is too far-and she is very young and I bet she will move around.

    I am gonna look for a new hairdresser I think though, as $65 is just way too much. I will NEVER leave Annie though!

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  7. Anonymous10:39 am

    yeah i almost started crying when i was told $150!! I said "but i thought there was a special on cut and highlights" and the receptionist said "only for 2 specific people, who are not here right now" PUKE!!!
    I have the opposite problem, i can have my highlights/color done by almost anyone as it usually turns out really well it's the cut that I have a problem with. They just don't seem to know how to handle really thick hair. I loved the style when she did it but knew right away that i could never perfect it that way again. I don't have time to fuss with my hair nor do i want to put in tonnes of product like she did (actually my hair was so sticky when i got home i couldn't even run a wide tooth comb through it without pulling out hundreds of hairs!)
    I like Jill's cut too but really can't afford $65 a pop. I know I'd love her and then feel like crap every time the VISA bill came (even though if it's a really good cut you don't have to go as often...hmmm let's reconsider!!)
    anyway let the hair grow in a little and we'll see...

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  8. Yes, good point! Okay, I think I conveniently forgot to see how much it costs since I was so excited about Jill's hair! LOL!

    I got an amazing cut and style yesterday and it was about $35 or so. That's not tooooo bad, but the lady on the island that I go to does a fabulous job and for only $15. Anyway, I was roped into buying a package of hair products by Nioxin. I've used the shampoo and conditioner before and they really worked well with my thin/fine hair. I don't know why I always get suckered into buying things at the salon. I just can't seem to say NO! Which meant, my $35 hair cut + products ended up being almost $100. Insane!

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  9. Anonymous4:38 pm

    It is true about needing cuts less. I last got my hair trimmed late January, it is just started looking ratty last week! My old cheaper cuts used to start getting ratty and lose thier shape after 3-4 weeks!

    But still, $65 is a lot, and I don't think I'll stick with her...since the $40 cut I got last week was good too, I just asked her to follow the lines of the old cut. Actually, I go through Scarborough often for work, so maybe I could stick with this girl, at least until she moves on..

    As for colour, I think it is important for me to stick with the one I found because I now have higlights that are a big contrast, and lowlights as well-that can easily go wrong and make me look like a zebra or a punk rocker!! Your highlights are very natural Dina, so I think any decent colourist can do a great job. When I had all one colour, or more subtle higlights-I did it myself (even higlights)and could do it well.

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