Ripped Off in Dublin Hairdresser

naoise225 · 12-09-2018 8:27pm #1

Hi so today I got the biggest shock of my life when visiting the hairdresser. I went to a salon in the heart of Dublin city centre. The reason I chose it was because I heard it was good and reasonably priced.

I phoned to make an appointment last week and I warned the lady on the phone that my hair was really damaged and matted. She said that they could sorted me out and quoted me €80 with a blowdry.

I went for my appointment today and it was clear that the girl who was doing my hair didn't have much experience. It took her awhile and she didn't seem to be able to know how to handle it. I didn't really mind too much. Soon, another stylist jumped in and got through it much quicker. You could tell she had more experience. Anyway, the stylist got through my hair and did a lovely job.

I got to the till and was told I owed them €155!!! This is with a 10 minute mask, brushing and a blowdry. No colour or cut! I was there for nearly 3 hours and nobody intervened to tell me that the price I was quoted had significantly increased. I really don't mind investing in my hair when I can, but I thought it would've been decent of them to tell me it would be more expensive out of courtesy? At the same time though it feels like way too much to pay!

asked to speak to the owner so he could provide me with a valid reason as to why I was paying this kind of money, and the receptionist said he was too busy. He said he would email me, but I haven't heard a thing!! The receptionist made me feel guilty about the whole thing too. She kept saying, "well your hair was really knotty", I said "I know that's why I came in to get some help." To be honest I felt a bit humiliated and I felt bad. I appreciated the time the stylist had spent with me and I didn't have enough cash to give her a decent tip.

Can anyone please advise what the best thing to do is? Is this normal in Dublin?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 12-09-2018 9:31pm

Wtf did I just read?

L1011 · 12-09-2018 9:34pm

The OP is quite difficult to read due to no paragraphs... I think I've got the meaning of it though.

You were quoted a price up front and at no point was it mentioned that extra chargeable work was required. If this was a car going for a service you'd be asked before they started. I'm not sure of any specific etiquette involved with how hair salons work (frequenting a barber instead!) but I'd question whether it is legally acceptable to do this anyway.

Do they have a published price list online? If so, does the price make any sense for items on it?

skooterblue2 · 12-09-2018 9:35pm

You didnt get a haircut..... you were fleeced.

TheBeach · 12-09-2018 9:43pm

If it took them 3 hours to brush your hair there must have been a lot of work in it, but yes, it would be interesting to see how they broke down the price.

naoise225 · 12-09-2018 10:58pm

L1011 wrote: »

The OP is quite difficult to read due to no paragraphs... I think I've got the meaning of it though.

You were quoted a price up front and at no point was it mentioned that extra chargeable work was required. If this was a car going for a service you'd be asked before they started. I'm not sure of any specific etiquette involved with how hair salons work (frequenting a barber instead!) but I'd question whether it is legally acceptable to do this anyway.

Do they have a published price list online? If so, does the price make any sense for items on it?

I think that's my main issue. I was quoted something completely different and they did not consult me of the sudden increase. I'm not sure of what I'm entitled to do legally.

I am waiting for the owners response, before I post a negative review online.

The price list states €65.

naoise225 · 12-09-2018 10:59pm

sugarman wrote: »

€155??? I'd have said the initial €80 was mad money. It's €40 for a wash, cut and blow-dry in my local in Dublin.

I'll be looking for the name of that salon!

naoise225 · 12-09-2018 11:00pm

TheBeach wrote: »

If it took them 3 hours to brush your hair there must have been a lot of work in it, but yes, it would be interesting to see how they broke down the price.

Yes, I agree with that. I think the fact they quoted me something different was the issue. I'm waiting for the owner to reply with a proper breakdown of the price. It still doesn't seem right as I've never been charged that much before.

skooterblue2 · 12-09-2018 11:11pm

wrote:

Yes, I agree with that. I think the fact they quoted me something different was the issue. I'm waiting for the owner to reply with a proper breakdown of the price. It still doesn't seem right as I've never been charged that much before.

You arent going to get that unless you walk down with your solicitor. Some of these hairdressers think they are gods and a hairdressers if you own one is a lisence to print money.

screamer · 12-09-2018 11:22pm

3 hours of work is how many blow drys, cuts, colours etc.... A lot. You're paying for their time and to be fair most salons charge more for longer or more difficult hair......

naoise225 · 12-09-2018 11:51pm

screamer wrote: »

3 hours of work is how many blow drys, cuts, colours etc.... A lot. You're paying for their time and to be fair most salons charge more for longer or more difficult hair......

It's more the fact that I was quoted a different price...

dudara · 12-09-2018 11:55pm

You shouldn’t have paid until you were given a justification. Now that you’ve paid, you have very little to stand on.

I can understand the salon charging extra if there was a heavier workload than expected (for the sale of comparison my regular wash, cut & blow dry is c €80 and takes ~1hr), but they need to have told you and explained it to you.

mickdw · 12-09-2018 11:58pm

They should have looked at you when they started and said, we need to do x y or z to get things right and unfortunately it will be an extra €75 if you want to go for it.
What if you only had €80 on you?

Cabaal · 13-09-2018 6:35am

You mentioned the staff member changed, some places charge different rates for different hair dressers

ArthurG · 13-09-2018 9:17am

Aside from the fact that I'm flabbergasted that it took 3 hours to brush/de-tangle your hair (I can't even imagine.....), if you were unhappy with the charge you shouldn't have paid.

As a poster mentioned above, once the cash has changed hands it will be very very difficult to do anything about it. As for feeling embarrassed, the only person who will suffer as a result of that is you - calmly & politely raising your concerns and requesting action is nothing to be embarrassed about, and the sooner more Irish people get over themselves and start doing it, the better our service industries will be.

Lux23 · 13-09-2018 9:30am

I really think it was out of order to double the price and not tell you. I think it might be no harm popping into them again and asking to speak with a manager - if only so they won't do something this stupid again.

Dial Hard · 13-09-2018 1:52pm

Were you getting dreads taken out or something? Or really badly cared-for extensions??? I'm genuinely struggling to think how else your hair could have been so badly matted that it took them three hours to deal with it. And if that is the case, then booking in for a wash & blowdry was a bit disingenuous on your part.

Either way, something isn't quite adding up here.

LizT · 13-09-2018 2:29pm

Dial Hard wrote: »

Were you getting dreads taken out or something? Or really badly cared-for extensions??? I'm genuinely struggling to think how else your hair could have been so badly matted that it took them three hours to deal with it. And if that is the case, then booking in for a wash & blowdry was a bit disingenuous on your part.

Either way, something isn't quite adding up here.

But the OP explained the situation over the phone, it wasn't disingenuous. They should have informed OP that the price might rise if there was significant extra work.

Dial Hard · 13-09-2018 3:54pm

LizT wrote: »

But the OP explained the situation over the phone, it wasn't disingenuous. They should have informed OP that the price might rise if there was significant extra work.

They said their hair was damaged and matted. To me, that wouldn't immediately shout "This is going to take three hours of someone's time to sort", so I'm just asking them to clarify.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 13-09-2018 4:42pm

Womens hairdressing must be the biggest racket on the planet.

155 to brush somebodies hair. GTFO

penno · 13-09-2018 9:26pm

And did it really take 3 hours to do the treatment?
Reason I ask is, a lot of the time when the hairdresser will have two clients on the go at the one time and if the other client needs a little extra attention, you'll very often be left over the sink for a long time with a 'much needed' treatment doing marvels for your hair while your hairdresser buys themselves more time.
They're killing two birds with the one stone and everyone wins.
Where they off doing someone else at the same time and may have dragged your treatment out to suit themselves. Then it is very unfair to expect you to pay extra for it.

pleas advice · 13-09-2018 10:05pm

I appreciated the time the stylist had spent with me and I didn't have enough cash to give her a decent tip.

this is the bit that gets me

Sleeper12 · 13-09-2018 10:22pm

naoise225 wrote:

I think that's my main issue. I was quoted something completely different and they did not consult me of the sudden increase. I'm not sure of what I'm entitled to do legally.

The big question is where you given a quote or an estimate?
If an estimate then they did no wrong.

If it was a quote & it took 3 hours instead of one then they have to suck it up and charge you the quoted amount. Even if it was a quote over the phone & they realised that on seeing you that the quote was miles off they had an opportunity to renegotiate BEFORE they started the job & not after. Once started they have to commit to the price.

Tradesmen deal with this every day of the week. If you under price in your quote you just have to suck it up even if you lose on a particular job.

An estimate is a totally different situation though.

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote:

155 to brush somebodies hair. GTFO

155 for 3 hours labour. There is a difference

L1011 · 13-09-2018 10:36pm

I would guess there was prolonged periods of sitting and not being worked on in that 3 hours

Sleeper12 · 13-09-2018 10:44pm

L1011 wrote:

I would guess there was prolonged periods of sitting and not being worked on in that 3 hours

I suppose she'd have no hair left if it were brushed for 3 hours solid

ZX7R · 13-09-2018 10:53pm

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The big question is where you given a quote or an estimate?
If an estimate then they did no wrong.

If it was a quote & it took 3 hours instead of one then they have to suck it up and charge you the quoted amount. Even if it was a quote over the phone & they realised that on seeing you that the quote was miles off they had an opportunity to renegotiate BEFORE they started the job & not after. Once started they have to commit to the price.

Tradesmen deal with this every day of the week. If you under price in your quote you just have to suck it up even if you lose on a particular job.

An estimate is a totally different situation though.

155 for 3 hours labour. There is a difference

That's over €50 an hour labor , I'm in the wrong trade.

CeilingFly · 13-09-2018 10:56pm

ZX7R wrote: »

That's over €50 an hour labor , I'm in the wrong trade.

Rent, rates, service charges, light, heat, insurance etc etc etc.

If it took 3hours, then €150 is not far off the mark.

ted1 · 13-09-2018 10:58pm

You agreed a price. Pay that price.

uck51js9zml2yt · 14-09-2018 7:35am

CeilingFly wrote: »

Rent, rates, service charges, light, heat, insurance etc etc etc.

If it took 3hours, then €150 is not far off the mark.

I'd agree. It took a more experienced stylist to do the job.
It was worse that was portrayed over the phone.
Granted they should have said at the start but sometimes you can't judge a job till you start.
The op accepted the increased price when paying.
50 an hour isnt unreasonable.

14-09-2018 7:46am

Cash Abundant Jukebox wrote: »

I'd agree. It took a more experienced stylist to do the job.
It was worse that was portrayed over the phone.
Granted they should have said at the start but sometimes you can't judge a job till you start.
The op accepted the increased price when paying.
50 an hour isnt unreasonable.

50 an hour is nuts. It’s a hairdresser. Hair. Half of that would be about right if it took them 3 hours of faffing.

Pelvis · 14-09-2018 7:51am

Cash Abundant Jukebox wrote: »

50 an hour isnt unreasonable.

To remove a brain tumour it's not.

Ripped Off in Dublin Hairdresser

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