Confusing client now asking for correction..

[MissLou]

Hey geeks,
went to a client yesterday for the first time. After completely confusing me with apps and directions to where she lives and asking to have her hair done at my place then at a friends place I was slightly put on edge by her behaviour but put it to the back of my mind and just thought she maybe scatty like myself lol

Nearing the app she emailed me 3 emails in a row stating in one that she wanted me to apply a dye to her hair that she brought, fine. Then it was can do full head highlights on her, really blonde especially around the front, ok thats fine too. The third she wants some lighter brown bits in it and some strawberry blonde bits her hair is aurban then tells me it's a shade 5.0?!?!?!??! What the hell???Oh and her last hairdresser left her hair longer on one side and she wants a really good cut but is nervous because of this...phewwww

Anyway in the end i went over and was very cautious and was kind of thinking maybe i should cut my loss here and not do her hair. But as I'm way to soft for my own god i thought i'll go she'll be fine she's just a nervous client and i'm real good dealing with these types as i really take my time and only do things they are 110% happy/comfortable with-like we all do.

After 30 mins chat about what she wanted i was well confused. She was pointing out red/orangeie tones on the shade chart, said that she wants to go lighter but not as light as 9 or 8 max. She had previous colour on there with a lot of red in but she's not keen on bleach, ok i'll cut to the chase here cuz this is going to send u all to sleep!
the only option was bleach so i done very few fine weaves of bleach, the colour was brill actually, i caught it at a nice 8/9 shade and there wasn't too much gold tone to it so i was chuffed. whilst it was lifting she said actually i don't mind if it goes lighter to a 10, i wasn't taking any chances 8-9 it will be lol Cut and blow dried her hair i was very happy and so was she. she was over the moon with the result and asked me to come back in 3 weeks to do the full head for her before she leaves the country for a few months. we booked it in, then i get an email this morning saying that she should be able to make the app but is there something i can do about the highlights i did as they are about an inch away from the scalp and she doesn't like this and someone has pointed it out to her. Now she examined it yesterday while i was there, i don't leave an inch gap when i highlight and i didn't notice that yesterday after i checked it and whilst i did it. The only thing i can think is that she insisted on having some right at her very front and i did them on an angle and i did this very very fine so possible there the foil could have slipped away slightly and left more of a 'gap' but still it wouldn't have been an inch!

So now i'm just thinking shall i just cut my looses here? the next job would have been 45-50 quid but im worried i'll do all this work and she'll kick up a stink and not pay me and i work bloody hard! Going from what i said with the emails etc and her odd nature should i just be selfish for a change and not go back again, i don't even feel like replying to her right now, i'm quite annoyed about this as i put a lot of effort into this and i just want to say stuff you! lol terrible attitude hey but thats how im feeling right now! grrrrr!

What would you do in this situation?

 

[jenny miles]

oooh you have my full sympathy! It does sound like this client is 'hard work', maybe if you go back to her & let her explain to you face to face what she thinks the problem is you can either offer to put in a few more foils or if you cant actually see any 'problem area' you could explain to her that there is nothing wrong with her colour & if she would like some more H/L then she will have to pay extra! I know what you mean though when you say you feel like just ignoring her....some people just havnt got a clue what they want!x

 

[LindaHR]

Get her to send you a pic of the problem area. A friend could take one on a mobile.

Linda

 

[MissLou]

Thanks guys. I would go back over but she's not exactly in my 'catchment' area as it is, with the whole nonsense with where we were doing her hair by the time we got to it i felt like i could'nt then say then oh your too far away i'm not coming lol so i'm going all the way over there for her to spend hours moaning about it.

I'm really torn on this one. Normally if a problem like this occurs i am straight back to my clients house asap and talk over the problem and fix it as I want them to be happy otherwise it makes me feel rubbish.

She actually emailed me again yesterday, saying the exact same thing but just wording it different, again why email me twice about the same thing? and before it was 3 in a row....??

I don't know I just feel theres something not right about this client and i think she have mental issues perhaps? its not for me to judge at all and im not but trying to put myself first i don't want to end up being done over. I'd hate to do a £50 job and end up not being paid. But on the other hand i need the money and if i have done a few foils not quite right then I'd be more than happy to re-do it.

I guess i should follow my gut feeling right? £50 would be so handy for me right now but is it worth the stress and hassle??
Has any of you been in this type of situation?

 

[NeelieGel]

Me personally I think you should cut your losses and run. You will never be happy dealing with this person. You won't just get the next £50 job and be done with it. You will go and spend an absolute age with and will go through the same angst again. Some people are just not suited to each other.

I bet if you go and do her hair again you will just find more frustration and hassle. I have had a client like her and I just told her, after several broken appointments, that I couldn't afford to do her hair again. If she's out of your catchment area it will probably cost you more to do her hair than you will ever make out of her in fuel, products etc.

I have to say that if I had someone changing that much I would have turned my car round and gone home.

 

[cazzi]

I totally agree with the Neelie, cut your losses. Nothing will ever change with this client, except your stress levels!!
I've had similar situations, been too nice and pandered to them,waste of time! Like you say,suspect possible mental health issues!:twisted:
I know its difficult to ditch a client when you need the money, but someone else always turns up-who's nice and normal!!!!!:biggrin:

 

[Beanhead]

I really sympathise with you. I have a lady calling me at the mo wanting me to do her hair. She first called me back in march and she told me where she lived which is outside of where I would normally travel for work but not far from where I go to get my supplies from so I figured if I killed two birds with one stone I had nothing to lose, so I booked her in and took her address which is actually a village about 12 miles away from the town she originally said she lived in. I was a bit annoyed but thought I'd just do it, she had had a few bad salon experiences and there was nobody in the area mobile. She had booked in for a colour and I tried to tell myself it could be a good thing as there may be other people wanting a mobile hairdresser and I could make a day of it every so often. As the appointment grew closer I was just dreading it and the day before she called and cancelled, said her dog had been run over and it wasn't insured so she couldn't afford to have it done. Within two days she was ringing me again, her husband was trying to juggle some money so she could rebook as he wanted to cheer her up, so I said I can do it on such and such a day I'll pencil it in can you confirm with me if you want it done or not once you've spoken to your husband, nothing. I ended up texting her just to say I'd not heard from her and had to give someone else the appointment. She has now started calling again, I had a voicemail so I called her and got her machine and said that I only had one appointment available between now and the end of June which I could do it for her and to let me know but nothing. I know how you feel about the money side of things, I don't ever want to turn work away but I would rather not do some people and would be happy if they went else where, with the lady I was saying about I have just not bent over backwards for her. We all want to earn the best we can. X

 

[MissLou]

Thank you all

Yeah she is already a nightmare and last time I went around there under the impression it was going to be a £50 job then so already i have lost out in some respect what if that happens next time?with the added stress of it all uh i'm going to leave it i've decided

So next question is how do i tell her? Do i be a bit rude and just ignore her or shall i say i'm not doing it or lie and tell her i can't do it due to some circumstances???tough one....

omg beachhead that client sounds like a nightmare! more trouble than it's worth i'd say going from my experience lol Id live it, thats what worries me when they are this bad with appointments what would they be like when it comes to their hair?!?!?

Nellie and cazzi i agree with you i think it's a case of being too nice and sometimes you just got to stand up for yourself and say no! lol thanks for the advice girls just not sure to tell her now or ignore her??? :S

 

[dantespeak]

Well the next time you have your appointment to her...explain to her properly what you feel about doing so with hair..and tell her the simpliest method around thatits not complicated the moment you repeat the process...i symphatize you of your effort...sometimesthe client hasa lot of wishes...but this type of client os difficult so you need to educate this type of client.

 

[jacquelineanna]

I think perhaps you should email this lady and advise her that you do not feel you are the right person to do her hair and that she should find someone who can accomodate the constant changes of mind.

Advise her that you are the professional and you can do anything she wants you to do but it is clear to you that she doesn't really now what she wants from one minute to the next which in turn means whatever you do is going to be wrong the next day.

Tell her it was lovely to meet her and that you hope she finds a hairdresser who is more suitable to her.

Jacqui xx

 

[MissLou]

Thanks everyone

Well just as an update, i went to email her and surprise, surprise i had another email, this time cancelling her appointment as she is now saying that she is ill thats why she's going away and she needs to cancel, also said as she's ill she feels she shouldn't have any more colour and can't afford to have it done again...gosh some clients really need to come with warnings attached! lol

So glad this happened, can you imagine if i was to have gone back i think my instincts were right, def going to listen to them more!

thanks again everyone for the good feedback :hug:

 

[NeelieGel]

phew! Well avoided. If she gets better I would still say I'm fully booked until 2020.
:lol: