I had been to Rebel Rebel once before in early 2010 and came away satisfied with the cut I…read morereceived. It was expensive (£18), but at least the quality was high and the staff seemed pleasant enough.
After my second visit, I can't say the same. In fact, I won't be coming back.
Without placing a reservation, I walked into Rebel Rebel while it was empty, which seemed fine to me. The senior barber was snippy with me about my lack of reservation, but begrudgingly took me on. Alarm bells.
I'm not the kind of person that brings in a firm "style", like a photograph, and this seemed to irritate the barber, leading to more snippy talk about my few guidelines being "not enough to know what you want". Fair enough, but I don't feel like I've ever had this problem before, even in highly regarded barbers I've been to in the past, like the House of Lords in Toronto, Canada. Later on, another customer arrived and supplied much of the same general guidelines as me with no trouble, which I can only assume means there was a problem with me personally.
After being seated, I realised I was in for quite a ride. The barber cut my hair as quickly as possible and in a very aggressive manner (complete with angry sounding deep breathing). It actually hurt me as she cut into my hair and she didn't really seem all that interested in what she was doing. In fact, listening to the radio seemed more of a concern.
After more pain on the end of a hot hair straightener to my neck, the haircut was finally over and I was free to pay and leave. I was left to ponder if I'd done anything wrong. Maybe my lack of reservation was an issue. If it was, I'd have come back later on or on another day. Maybe I was snotty in some way? I don't think so. I do have a mild speech impediment and maybe this put the barber off on talking to me properly. Who knows.
As I've said, I didn't have a firm style in mind and won't comment that the haircut wasn't what I wanted. I know that barbers aren't telepathic. That's fine. I took a gamble. However, my treatment by Rebel Rebel did not fit the "cool" image the place puts out. I shouldn't be sunk into the chair, hoping the haircut ends as soon as possible. I also shouldn't be treated as an outlet for someone else's frustrations. I'm a customer, not a punching bag. Maybe the barber was having a bad day. Perhaps I insulted her somehow. If so, I sincerely apologise.
Just please, don't come at me with those scissors ever again.