Away from my usual groomers while on vacation
I decided to…read moretry this guy.
The barber, who never introduced himself, came out from the back room looking disgusted, and annoyed (verified by the wife) that customers had arrived. He took me as a walk-in (no information regarding the ability to make appointments) and I sat down. I believe, but am not 100% certain, that the license on the mirror behind me said "Harry" tho i can't be sure it was "Harry" who cut my hair. So if you go there you'll know what and who to be aware of. It was the first chair.
I told him how I usually get my haircut which includes a blending in the back, and a hard part when at that point he interrupted me and said "I won't do that. I think it looks awful." Dumbfounded and needing to confirm what I just heard I asked " the hard part? You won't do that for me?" His reply was "no, I think it looks stupid and I won't do it. I do quality work and I take pride in it."
Absolutely shocked I said "so even if I, the customer want the hard part, you won't do a quality job on the hard part so you could still retain that QUALITY and PRIDE in your work?" To which he replied again "no, I won't do it. I think it looks dumb." At which point he did offer to let me out of the chair but badly needing a trim I declined.
He continued "I take pride in my work and I can AFFORD TO BE PICKY." So he was basically saying I'll only cut hair the way I want it, when I want it regardless of what the paying customer wants. Realizing I was spinning my tires in the mud and was making no progress trying to be rational with this geriatric, hateful, and sad old man I stopped trying to get what I wanted. Cuz that's normal in customer service right? But it gets worse.
I have a regular barber back home that always does the hard part and is very very good. They were overbooked and I had to go to a new guy in town. He was new, young, and did his best. But it was truly not a good haircut.
As the old man cut my hair and was obliviously irritated with me he noticed the poor work effort done previously by that kid. He said " See? There are all kinds of hairs here that are not the same length. It's uneven and really bad in the front. Whoever did your hair the last time and gave you that hard part did a really poor job and it looks bad and I WISH THEY WOULD HAVE THERE FINGERS BROKEN." Yes, this man wished that a young kid, in the same business he was in when he first started, when there were still dinosaurs on earth, would have his fingers broken because this kid did what the customer asked to be the best of his ability. The kid was also polite, introduced himself, and personable.
For those of you unfamiliar with a hard part it's when they take a straight razor where you usually part your hair and create a narrow but semi permanent part by shaving a strip down to the skin. I like it, and it's easy to do and only takes a minute. I could prob do it.
Again shocked and in disbelief that this ignorant old man was arguing with me that the hard part was the reason my haircut looked bad, and had just wished harm and injury to someone he didn't even know, when in fact it was a bad haircut overall and had nothing to do with the hard part I realized it was simply time to shut up.
However there was one more incident. When he was finished he gave me the mirror for approval. My wife and I noticed an area that needed a little attention and when we pointed it out he made the adjustments quickly.
I have always had very very thick hair. Every barber, beautician, or cosmetologist that has cut my hair regularly throughout my life would occasionally recommend running the thinning shears thru it. So when I asked if he could do that he said NO again. I'm sure you're surprised right? I again literally LOL'd and smiled. This pissed him off. Angrily he explained "I've been doing this for a long long time and I think I know what I'm talking about. Thinning sheers are for lazy barbers who don't know how to do their job right." So all those other stylists were ALL wrong??
He finished and I so badly wanted to say "so if you get to give me that haircut YOU want I get to PAY the price I want right?" But after realizing that what I was dealing with was simply an aging, out of touch, ignorant, lazy, hateful and rude old man who only wanted to give the simple, lazy haircuts that he likes to give to other like minded people there was no point in saying anymore.
In conclusion I unfortunately have to say that it was a "good" haircut but certainly no better than any other cut I've ever had before. And in no way was good enough to justify his absolutely rude and childish behavior. Considering it was NOT the haircut I wanted and that "Harry" is an outstanding display of truly world class, lazy, ignorant , hateful, and epically poor customer service avoid his business at all costs. The experience was not a good one I can recommend.
