2.5 min readBy Published On: July 13th, 2017Categories: Lifestyle, Style and Shopping1 Comment on Salon Etiquette: Cancellations

I’ve been guilty of canceling an appointment or two for a facial or a hair cut and probably did not give a significant amount of notice to the salon and you know what? Shame on me.

We don’t always stop to think that these professionals are dependent on our loyalty and timeliness – that many of them are paying rent for their physical space and the rent is due whether you had clients show up or not. Some stylists and estheticians rent a chair or a room from a salon owner and again, rent is due when rent is due regardless if all your clients showed up or not.

Dyan LaRosa, owner of South Boston’s The Beauty Bar wants us to understand this analogy: “You showed up for work but your boss didn’t give you anything to do for two hours and when pay day arrives, your check is less than usual because money was deducted for those two hours that you didn’t do anything,” she explains.

Frustrating? You betcha. And can be financially devastating for a stylist or spa technician just starting out who was counting on those th colors and 6 eyelash extensions for her daily take home bounty.

“Let’s just consider it a PSA for clients who may not realize that a cancellation with anything less than 24 hours notice can be an enormous hit on a salon or a stylist,” added LaRosa. “The first REALLY nice Saturday we had this spring/summer we had three back to back calls starting at 9:15 am for a foil and keratin treatments, all canceling. That’s huge revenue out of our pocket and a tremendous amount of time scaling the cancellation list and trying to fill up the day,” she added.

This latest uptick in less-than-24-hour notice in canceling has many salons instituting rigorous policies that are explained in detail upon making an appointment. Take SHAG for instance, and they do not mince words: “All stylists require a 48 hour cancellation notice for all services. Any same-day cancellation or no-show will be charged 75% of the total service, as well as 15% gratuity of the total service charge. All other no-show or same-day cancelled appointments will require a credit card to book future appointments. Please be patient while booking appointments or being put on hold because we are a very busy salon.”

Patti at Salon de Cheveux shares the concern and has too tweaked her policy on no-shows or less than 24 hour cancellations: “Basically if they miss once we will take the hit but the next time when they make an appointment we will take a credit card to avoid loss income and wages. It is not meant as a nefarious act but rather a fail safe for us and the stylist. Most clients are fiercely loyal to their stylists but every now and then it is helpful to have an actionable plan for recovery,” she explained.

Moral of the story: If you MUST cancel do it in a timely manner and remember – we are all working stiffs at heart! 

One Comment

  1. Pauline wozney July 13, 2017 at 4:01 pm - Reply

    Great article ❤️Patti wozney is awesome❤️

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