I have been going to Blaze for almost a year now to get a short buzzcut, and have always had lovely experiences there but on Saturday I had an awful time. I went in to ask for a number two haircut, all over- very simple, usually takes about 10 minutes. The manager at first frowned and said that wouldn't be possible, when I asked, 'You really don't have any appointments AT ALL?' she said they did, but she would charge me £55. For a shaved head???? That makes literally no sense, I'm not 100% sure where she pulled that number from because firstly, the last few times I've been in I paid £15 or £10 (I've checked past bank statements to confirm this), and secondly on the website it looks like most of their standard haircuts are around £26. She looked me up on the system and said that last time I was in I was charged £22- again, completely false. She said that it was a mistake to undercharge me like that. I have no idea how in the world a buzzcut could ever cost £55, it takes such a short time, I never have any particular styling (just the same length all over), I have an easy hair type to manage and my hair is only about an inch long right now. I have never paid more than £35 for this haircut, and haven't ever been turned away from a salon before.
I have suspicions that this was a tad racially motivated. I had brought my sister in to get a haircut. We are both mixed race, but my sister has very thick curly hair and is more obviously black than I am. They turned her away, which honestly I expected because not everybody is trained in that hair type. However, the manager made it weird, was very rude and negative about it, overused the word 'afro' to describe it (no need to make it about race, could have just said 'curly' or 'we're not used to that hair type'- I can't imagine you'd use the word 'afro' if it had been a white girl with thick curly hair come in), kept whispering with other hairdressers in the salon. It seemed like after that, she just didn't want to serve me either and was trying to insinuate that my hair was hard to manage. Again, I've never had a problem before and I've been to plenty of white hairdressers who've done great jobs with my hair even though they don't specialise in black hair. It's an easy haircut and my hair's not particularly thick. I'm always willing to pay a little extra for a good job, but £55 is extremely excessive and frankly ridiculous. I'm also pretty sure it's some kind of discrimination or illegal to let me pay £10 one trip but then say it's £55 another time for the same haircut. That just doesn't add up.
I'm so disappointed, I've always loved this place and could rely on it for good service, but now I'm scared to go back in in case I get treated the same or get turned away if the manager is present. The staff have always been fantastic, really friendly and polite and I've always had great haircuts from there and left feeling pampered. It's a shame that the management is so negative and rude. read more