This is my second time going to a famous hairstylist in Toronto for a haircut. I was so pleased with the result from the previous time that I have had no doubt about coming back for subsequent haircuts. The haircut is pricey, but worth it.
I was happy throughout the process, until an intern / apprentice went up the stylist (who is also the salon owner) and talked to him almost all the way through. The salon is located at one of the most expensive shopping areas of Toronto. The intern looked as if he was a street kid (bad first impression). The hairstylist talked to him, as if it is OK to do so while cutting a client's hair.
It was not OK to do so.
I felt as if his focus was not 100% on my hair. Usually I just close my eyes and snooze off when I get haircuts. This time I made sure I paid attention to what he was doing. And I'm glad I did - because from the first instance of the appointment I said to the stylist I wanted short bangs. He left them longer than I liked. So I mentioned this at the end when the cut was done - then he cut them shorter. After that, he looked at the work and said that it did look better shorter, and was glad that I said something about it. The last time it was even shorter than this, and it was better cut than this time. I only realized this when I got home and checked my pictures of the previous haircut.
What else did I do? When I got home, I took pictures of my head from different angles, because I'm not about to go back to him anytime soon. I know other hairstylists - I can show the picture of this hairstyle to them, and have them cut it the same way. They aren't as creative as this hairstylist, but I have confidence that they can do a similar job if pictures are shown.
The experience also shows that the intern / apprentice doesn't care enough about customer service - he was NOT the customer. The person in the chair - I was! Someone who cares enough would know to give 100% of the focus to the customer, rather than gossiping about others. Of course, my hairstylist, being the "mentor", should have let him know that he would talk / gossip some other time.
Not focusing 100% on your customer when s/he is present will make you lose the customer.
