thank gawd for "by appt. only"

i'm wondering if there are other "clientele" who have gone into beauty salons that accepts "walk-in's"? It's hard on a few clientele, and i wonder if the beauticians really see this?

Here are a few of my horror stories:

when i first began coming to this one beautician, i asked if she was sensitive to some clientele who liked privacy while getting their hair done. "yes..i make sure that i schedule my appt.'s...blah, blah.." well, this was true for a while...about 2 sessions..

then while my hair was getting done, she'd have visitors...people just dropping by to "say hello"....well...ladies...the visitors would walk up and some of them would actually put their hands in my hair, "oh, i didn't know you people" had such long hair!" no kidding! This statement usually comes from other women of color - whom i'm sure have seen every type of hair in the spectrum on every skin color in most cultures. - or so i thought...

or i would be laying back with my head in the basin, and the beautician is washing my hair, and of course the "visitors" or "walk- ins" would be having a conversationn with the beautician...and i'm looking at their spit flying in the air - over my face...they can't see it from below, but it's there!

or after having made an appt. and have a "walk-in" come in and i'm left with my head dangling in the sink for more than an hour for a deep conditioning. This is a universal maneuver a lot of clientele would complain about.

or some of the walk-in's bring "family" with them, usually, a pretty big "brood"....while getting my hair done...and they're just sitting there staring, ...taking up half the waiting room..

or the late freighters...One beautician was always late for my appts. as well as other clientele. they complained but they still kept going to her. One day, I waited for my stylist, her name was Janice...she never showed up. I found another one very quickly that day...Janice calls me up at 10:30 p.m. that night and tells me she had been ill. I in turn told her that was unfortunate, and it would have been nice to call me the night before, or to have left a message...and that i had found another beautician.

funny..she called me back 2 min. after we hung up and demanded an apology for going elsewhere...what?

Or i had to sit across from a "friend" of my beautician. she just came in and flopped down in the opposite salon chair - and began chatting. I'm sure many ladies have seen and done this. Then they get into an argument...or let's say a heated discussion...and my beautician has the hot comb...standing over my head....

the worst one, a guy friend of the beautician was always "hanging out" in the salon. and when i'm seated in the styling chair, he walks up and starts talking to her.....she's standing in the back of the chair, and he's asking questions while standing in the front of the chair. There i am "eye to eye" level with his crotch...and believe me, ladies, it was nothing to write home about...

and of course, the beauticians who gets so caught up talking to someone else in the salon, i wind up with platinum streaks in my hair, versus a soft brown highlight.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? i have left many a "professional" salon because of these universal mishaps. Before I take on a beautician, i interview her thoroughly...but even though she might answer the questions correctly, it does not mean that she/he will conduct themselves in that manner.

I have an older beautician who i've been seeing for over 5 years...and we both sometimes laugh at the horrors that i've been through just trying to find her. the moment i sat down and looked at her, i knew she was exactly what i had been looking for. Since i've left Las Vegas, I still get on the plane every 6 weeks to have her work on me...i wouldn't trust anyone else..unless she refers me to them...i was soon shocked to find her client base is from all over the country..she's pretty low profile..but those qualities of being on time, respecting people's privacy (especially cancer and chemotherapy patients), and being very honest and reasonable in her pricing makes all the difference!

Jeez! That's awful! I too don't let anyone else touch my hair, and haven't since I was 17. I haven't had nearly as bad experiences as all that though...but the spit certainly would've done me in!

I agree with the OP stick with by appointment only.
Also sometimes you can find colorists that go to homes instead of working in a salons, you might be able to find one where you are.

Layla wrote: Those same things happen to me. Also since I'm muslim i can't let men see my hair so when I call to make the appointment I tell them this and they schedule me when only women are coming and stuff and then I get there and men just walk in and start talking and stuff and I'm like hello I told you men can't see me.

The average American hairdresser isn't going to care that your belief system doesn't allow for men to see your hair, nor may they be able to jump up from styling your hair and shoo out any man that may come in.

Also, chances are good that not only your hairdresser works in the shop, so you would essentially be asking them to stop anyone from coming to visit the other hairdressers while you're there, which probably won't fly.

I think that you should see a Muslim hairdresser, or at least one more used to Muslim clients.

SummerM wrote: While I can understand wanting the salon to be completely free of men while processing unreasonable, expecting a colorist to be competant and not distracted by a friend stopping by isn't. I understand the annoyance at a colorist talking to friends while they are supposed to be concentrating on the client at hand.

Your stylist talking to a friend while doing your hair is not quite the same thing as requesting that no men enter the shop at all while you're in there, I think.

Supersugar wrote: SummerM wrote: While I can understand wanting the salon to be completely free of men while processing unreasonable , expecting a colorist to be competant and not distracted by a friend stopping by isn't. I understand the annoyance at a colorist talking to friends while they are supposed to be concentrating on the client at hand. Your stylist talking to a friend while doing your hair is not quite the same thing as requesting that no men enter the shop at all while you're in there, I think.

Right, thats why the above statement.