I felt the need to write this post to help people understand why hairdressing salon’s may have a cancellation fee as part of their company policy. One of the good things about having a blog is being able to express my opinion through it especially as I know this can be a touchy subject.
In all my years as a hairstylist in various salons, one of my pet peeves is how people/clients either no show or cancel late. For some unknown reason I have personally found this more noticeable since my move to California, USA. (maybe due to the laid-back casual attitude?)
In most reputable salons, there will be a 24hour cancellation policy, (as with Dr’s offices, massages, beauty treatments, even nail salons) some salons will choose to charge for the full service price while others may be more lenient opting for a 50% charge instead, no matter what the policy, it is there to protect the stylists time, especially as more and more stylists work for themselves nowadays, their time becomes their livelihood!
When someone makes an appointment, that time slot is then taken up and no one else can book during that time, so if a client does not show OR cancels very late, this does not give the salon/stylist an opportunity to call someone else that could be on the wait list to fill the slot. So without a cancellation fee to cover for the loss, the stylist could potentially lose out twice. Most salons will not charge if they are able to fill the slot even under 24hours, but we are not always so lucky.
In situations where color is involved this could mean a time slot of up to 3hours is being held and again if the client no shows or late cancels, this is a huge loss to the colorist, who will have been there ready and waiting to work.
Of course life can be unpredictable, emergencies happen and clients don't mean to miss their appointments, but all we (as stylists) ask of you is to please be more considerate and respectful of the stylists time, and understand that the policy was put in place for the protection of the stylist or anyone else in a professional situation. Thanks for reading...
