Please don't take consultation for granted

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Reidebot

Down the Rabbit hole.
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
702
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91
Location
Australia
So I went to a salon and I don't think the fact that I am a trained stylist is impacting my opinion. I know my hair is damaged due to coming from black to blond. Now I was willing to lose 4-5 inches because I understand it's better to have healthy hair then long and matted hair. The conversation went as such;

Me: *notices she is not consulting me at all before picking up shears* Umm I know my hair is quite damaged. I am happy to lose up to five inches
Her: No you're not. I'm going to bring it to your layers (I didn't have layers. There was some minor breakage due to a colour remover then bleach)
Me: It's really allright

Now I am a soft spoken person but she cut my hair and then basically kicked me out of her chair (it was a dry cut too). I feel it's really bad because a stylist really should consult. They should listen to the client. It's okay to advise a soloution that may better fit the client but it isn't okay to outright disregard their wants. And to be frank the unmanageable breakage needs to come off. This is clearly unhealthy hair.

hair sadface.JPG

Part of being a professional is having a client trust. It would be one thing if I:
a) had healthy long hair and was on a whim
b) had no idea what I wanted
c) had an unrealistic expectation

But this was not the case. I as a client had a request and was told "No" when I was paying for a service. It maddens me because not only do I feel I have wasted money. I feel even worse about my hair and how I look. That tangling on the left of the image happens all the time which is part of the reason I wanted it cleaned up. It doesn't look nice at all. Please if a client comes into your salon asking about a style, please negotiate with them and meet a mutual agreement. Consultation is so important and it will build a rapport.
 
Why didn’t you stop her?
You need to have more confidence in yourself and be prepared to stand up and say “No, this isn’t what I want.”

I agree that having good consultation skills is a vital part of the service but equally, the client needs to take responsibility for themselves and not be afraid to say when they’re unhappy with something.
 
Why didn’t you stop her?
You need to have more confidence in yourself and be prepared to stand up and say “No, this isn’t what I want.”

I agree that having good consultation skills is a vital part of the service but equally, the client needs to take responsibility for themselves and not be afraid to say when they’re unhappy with something.
Beleive it or not I did. She kept saying "no that isn't what you want trust me." The worst part is I booked this in prior to going to a job interveiw
 
Beleive it or not I did. She kept saying "no that isn't what you want trust me." The worst part is I booked this in prior to going to a job interveiw

I know she’s the bad guy here but I would have just got up and left and not paid
 
So I went to a salon and I don't think the fact that I am a trained stylist is impacting my opinion. I know my hair is damaged due to coming from black to blond. Now I was willing to lose 4-5 inches because I understand it's better to have healthy hair then long and matted hair. The conversation went as such;

Me: *notices she is not consulting me at all before picking up shears* Umm I know my hair is quite damaged. I am happy to lose up to five inches
Her: No you're not. I'm going to bring it to your layers (I didn't have layers. There was some minor breakage due to a colour remover then bleach)
Me: It's really allright

Now I am a soft spoken person but she cut my hair and then basically kicked me out of her chair (it was a dry cut too). I feel it's really bad because a stylist really should consult. They should listen to the client. It's okay to advise a soloution that may better fit the client but it isn't okay to outright disregard their wants. And to be frank the unmanageable breakage needs to come off. This is clearly unhealthy hair.

View attachment 209998
Part of being a professional is having a client trust. It would be one thing if I:
a) had healthy long hair and was on a whim
b) had no idea what I wanted
c) had an unrealistic expectation

But this was not the case. I as a client had a request and was told "No" when I was paying for a service. It maddens me because not only do I feel I have wasted money. I feel even worse about my hair and how I look. That tangling on the left of the image happens all the time which is part of the reason I wanted it cleaned up. It doesn't look nice at all. Please if a client comes into your salon asking about a style, please negotiate with them and meet a mutual agreement. Consultation is so important and it will build a rapport.

If you can’t speak up for yourself as a professional how do you expect clients to?

You should have stood your ground. Giving the rest of us a lecture because you are angry you didn’t speak up to your own stylist isn’t what this site is about.

We all know the importance of consultation. However not a single person can say they have not had a bad work day. This hairdresser could have just lost someone, be distracted, be overworked, not have had any sleep. It happens in every industry not just ours. As consumers we have a responsibility to ourselves to say what we are comfortable with and what we will accept.

It sounds like you may have trouble with self esteem. CBT can really help with assertiveness and I’d really recommend you try it. Being passive in the situation and aggressive after isn’t how to cope with things, it will eat you up and isn’t good for your health. You can learn to speak up for yourself. Your hairdresser thought she was doing good by you and by you just sitting and taking it and not again repeating ‘no that’s not what I want,’ is why this happened. A consultation is back and forth conversation. It sounds more like you said one thing, she said another and you didn’t disagree, just agreed with your silence.
 
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If you can’t speak up for yourself as a professional how do you expect clients to?

You should have stood your ground. Giving the rest of us a lecture because you are angry you didn’t speak up to your own stylist isn’t what this site is about.

We all know the importance of consultation. However not a single person can say they have not had a bad work day. This hairdresser could have just lost someone, be distracted, be overworked, not have had any sleep. It happens in every industry not just ours. As consumers we have a responsibility to ourselves to say what we are comfortable with and what we will accept.

It sounds like you may have trouble with self esteem. CBT can really help with assertiveness and I’d really recommend you try it. Being passive in the situation and aggressive after isn’t how to cope with things, it will eat you up and isn’t good for your health. You can learn to speak up for yourself. Your hairdresser thought she was doing good by you and by you just sitting and taking it and not again repeating ‘no that’s not what I want,’ is why this happened. A consultation is back and forth conversation. It sounds more like you said one thing, she said another and you didn’t disagree, just agreed with your silence.

I'm not sure if i'm understanding your point of view correctly here but i think OP is in the right.

If a client specifies what they want, the stylist then says no it's not and assumes that because the client hasn't repeated themselves they automatically agree is a bit too strong. As stylists isn't it our responsibility to ensure that we understand the needs of our guests and to listen to their desires whilst forcing more conversation until we do?

Personally I think taking the absence of a correction to mean your doing the right thing causes alot of confusion and in all honesty saying a client is wrong for not participating more in a consultation is quite odd. I mean we're the ones providing a service and shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to ensure client satisfaction with that service?
 
I'm not sure if i'm understanding your point of view correctly here but i think OP is in the right.

If a client specifies what they want, the stylist then says no it's not and assumes that because the client hasn't repeated themselves they automatically agree is a bit too strong. As stylists isn't it our responsibility to ensure that we understand the needs of our guests and to listen to their desires whilst forcing more conversation until we do?

Personally I think taking the absence of a correction to mean your doing the right thing causes alot of confusion and in all honesty saying a client is wrong for not participating more in a consultation is quite odd. I mean we're the ones providing a service and shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to ensure client satisfaction with that service?

I’m not saying I would take their silence as agreement. I’m saying HER stylist did. But you can’t be shy all the time and then whinge to other people the importance of a consultation when you don’t get what you want from not speaking up.

Anyone doing a consultation will think they know best. We are professionals and we have to presume we know best, or what good would we be. However just as there are people like me that would listen to what the client wants, find an appropriate treatment plan and get feedback from them, then work towards a common goal..while they get what they want and I can provide the best service to achieve that or find an alternative if it’s not suitable, not everyone is like that. Expecting everyone to be the same in this world isn’t going to happen. Some people have different ways of conversation. Some people ask more questions. Some will make their voice heard. Some will not speak at all and assume. Some don’t take no for an answer. We all have to be assertive in finding what’s best for our client but we also have to be assertive as clients ourselves. If you want something in life you have to ask for it. If someone says I think this is best for you and you say no but they say it again, then you stay quiet and totally close up, it’s hardly surprising. It’s clearly just a conflict. Quiet clients that need more help to speak up need more patient therapists that know how to get the info they need and help them speak up for their wants and needs. Another client could think this is really odd and would have just sat there, had it cut and gone home and not cared. That could be the type of place op went to.
 

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