Rant: Client who booked for a full beard trim showed up with a 3-day stubble and got mad at me

Last Thursday I had a guy come in who booked online for a "full beard shaping and trim" but he had maybe 3 days of growth. I said hey man this is barely anything and he INSISTED I try to shape it. I did my best but he left grumbling about how I"m not a real barber. This is the third time this month someone has booked for a service that doesn't match what they actually want. Why do people think we can make magic out of nothing? Has anyone else had clients expect a full haircut with no hair to work with?

2 comments

2 Comments

morganhayes17d agoMost Upvoted

@davis.mia nailed it but 2 weeks is too short for a real shape up. Try 3-4 weeks minimum.

davis.mia17d ago

oh man I've been there way too many times. these people book "full beard trim" and show up with what i call "afternoon shadow" and expect you to pull a chinstrap out of thin air. i started adding a line to my booking confirmations that says "beard needs to be at least 2 weeks growth for shaping services" and it cut down on these situations by like 80%. also learned the hard way to just be super direct at the start before i even touch the clippers - i tell them straight up "this is really short, im gonna do what i can but its gonna look more like a cleanup than a shape up" so their expectations are already lowered.