No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

Anonymous asked:

So I'm a new-ish hairstylist... how do you deal with clients that dislike you? Theres a lady who didn't like how her was laying after I cut it, so the manager of my salon brought it shorter/layered it differently, but this lady has come in now three times to complain about me. On one hand I know its valid, because it was my mistake, but its also really getting to me. Have you ever experienced anything like that?

defydamage answered:

(Sorry for mucking up your shizz, but I feel uncomfortable talking to the girls at work because I feel like I’m making excuses) but I also knew this lady wasn’t happy with her hair at the time, but she couldn’t tell me what was wrong/kept saying it “felt right” so I told her flat out that she could come back and we’d fix it for free if there was a problem and she responded with “well you were so thorough, I’m sure its fine” and keeps saying I was dismissive and inattentive and im just frustrated.

Well I typed out a big long answer and then tumblr decided to be more useless than a bag of wet hammers and deleted the entire post.

So first off! Welcome to the profession. It’s a job that combines being a therapist with the hell of retail work with the added bonus of slowly destroying your entire body of you do it for more than 15 years!

Second off. Talk to your coworkers about this. Talk to your manager about this. I will personally guarantee that the girls in your salon will have at least three stories each about a nasty client like the one you’re dealing with.

Your manager is going to be in your side(because they’ve been dealing with people like your client for a long long time) but if they’re only getting one side of the story it’s hard for them to help you out. And trust me your manager values you more than some cranky witch who comes in once every two months to complain.

Thirdly, and this is the most important part.

The type of client you’re dealing with doesn’t actually give a shit about what you did to their hair. I know it sounds crazy but bear with me.

The type of client you’re dealing with knows you’re just starting out as a stylist and has decided to take this information and climb up the asshole tree with it. Which is unfortunate because it sounds like they got to the top and then fell, hitting every asshole branch on the way down and then landing face first, into a giant puddle of asshole.

See. This sort of client sees hairstylists as a type of indentured servant. We’re meant to run on her schedule, we’re meant to read her mind, we’re meant to put up with all of her verbal abuse and have no reaction.

This sort of client is also five toddlers in a trench coat. And what to toddlers do when they don’t get something they want? They throw massive screaming tantrums.

The client you’re dealing with wants a free service. Plain and simple. And they think that throwing a Jr. Stylist under the bus is the best way to achieve that. Because, once again, they fell down the asshole tree and hit every single asshole branch on the way down and then landed in a giant puddle of asshole.

It takes a few years to build up a thick skin to these sorts of people, but eventually you’ll grow one.

P.S. The fear that you’ll screw up every haircut and get fired and die penniless and alone under a bridge goes away when you start to really trust in your skills as a stylist. I promise.

Hope this helps! 😘

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.