the rest of the story

I'm feeling guilt over not blogging more regularly. I hope to fix that soon, but until I have a regular writing schedule that I can stick to I will just have to try harder to get here more regularly. Over the Christmas break I brainstormed some new blog post ideas to help me write more here. I categorized these blog ideas and under the ethics category I have written that I should update you on the conclusion to my haircut drama. It's probably a good idea to start the year with a finished story, but I'm not very happy with what has turned out to be the end.

I stood my ground. I wrote a letter which I let Andy, my faithful stylist, read before I gave it to his boss (the owner and manager of the salon). Andy went straight to the boss-man and explained that he was willing to cut my hair for only £18 and that he didn't want to lose me as a client. Boss-man begrudgingly let me have my £18 haircuts, but it appears he's not prepared to make this a standard practice for female customers with short hair. I feel as though I have fallen short of my goal by accepting my price cut despite his insistence that he doesn't have time to decide who gets a short, medium, or long cut. Surely that's what he hires stylists for, as well as cutting hair they could decide just how much to charge.

It seems that because I am a long standing client of Andy's he is willing to bend the rules, but not change them. He, this boss-man, also felt a need to explain that there are all sorts of women who begrudge paying full price because they have short hair or because they have a trim around their single length of long hair. Boss-man also pointed out that he owns a men-only barber shop as well but he allows women there because they are seeking a decently priced short haircut. Neil thinks he's just reasonably widening his customer base, but I'm not exactly comfortable with how he's going about it. He'd have every woman in Cambridge flocking to his salon for a reasonable priced haircut if he could see to change his pricing, while having a salon with good business and ethical practices.

I will keep going there because that is where Andy, my trusted stylist, cuts hair. But I am not surprised that the salon has opposition to their pricing scheme. I hope that other women stand up to it. And I only hope that my stand has made boss-man think. A disappointing result, although I got what I was after..