I walked in about 2 and a half hours before closing and was immediately told they did not have time to take me. I kind of thought that was bs since there were a few hours before closing, but I said okay and started to walk away when he said, "actually, we have an apprentice if you don't mind having him. He could take you in about 5 minutes." I'm not super picky so I said okay. Now let me start by saying this review is not purely based off of this kid's cutting skills, more so over the management/owners handling of this situation. The kid was very nice, talkative, trying to do a good job, and listened to what I wanted. The only reason I gave this review 2 stars instead of 1 is because I liked the kid.
I move often so I've had a ton of different people cut my hair and I've had a few of my friends cut my hair when they were first learning. So when this kid starts cutting my hair, I almost immediately realize he has no idea what he's doing and seemed super nervous as if this was his first day. Not just his first day on the job, but his first day using clippers period. I assumed "apprentice" meant he was at least licensed and had some basic experience since you HAVE to have your license to legally cut in a shop. I end up telling him a few minutes into the cut that he can just give me a fade and not even touch the top...that way he can practice, but also not mess up my comb over. He did exactly what I asked (which is rare in a barber lol) and cut my hair on the conservative side so I was overall happy about that, even though the hair cut was not good. It was definitely not a fade, though he tried.
Now during this time, there were a couple times where he asked one of the other barbers for help and they both seemed super annoyed and told him to more or less figure it out and kept ignoring him. IN FRONT OF ME. I can't see how the back of my head looks, but this is not something you want to hear while someone who has no idea what they're doing is trying to cut your hair. Finally the one guy comes over and is literally making "ugh..." sounds while trying to fix what the kid did. He spent maybe 20 seconds "fixing" the lineup on the sides and said "good to go."
The kid wrapped things up and was done. I got home and was able to look more closely in my mirrors. It was supposed to be a fade 1.5 down to 1. The back started at literally like an inch long and then jumped down to a 1.5 and then stayed a 1.5 until the very bottom, which was closer to a 1. Again, not super mad at this cuz I knew what I was getting into and it's an easy fix.
I'm mainly upset that 1) he was misrepresented as having some experience since he's working in a barbershop. I find it hard to believe that he has any experience with clippers at all. Apprentice should be fresh out of beauty school where you've had experience cutting and are now newly licensed, 2) the other barbers did not help him at all and had horrible customer service skills in front of me when he was asking for help (this kid, was very nice and communicative so no reflection on him). It was so rude! That alone made me not want to come back again, even if these other guys are as good as their reviews say they are, and 3) they still charged me full price. If this kid has no experience and you're training him (I use that loosely, since I saw very little training or help from anyone), I find it hard to understand how you'd still charge me $20 or whatever it is to have him practice, especially if you're not really helping out. I would have been way less upset and probably would have come back if they charged less so that this kid could practice and then increase to normal price once he learns how to fade and use clippers.
For these reasons, I will not go back. read more