Salon etiquette: the UK's awkward hair salon misunderstandings

Every day across the UK, thousands of people visit the hair salon. In fact, the UK hair and beauty services industry is worth a whopping £5.1 billion every year. 

Whether it’s a quick trim, a special occasion blow-dry or a complete colour overhaul, hair appointments are a universal and often non-negotiable part of our grooming routine.  

However, despite hair salon etiquette familiar to almost all of us, are we always completely comfortable in a hair salon environment? Have we made friends for life with our hair stylist, or is the appointment sometimes filled with awkwardness and even the fear of committing a major faux pas?  

We surveyed 2,000 female-identifying UK adults to find out, asking a range of questions about their experiences when it comes to hair salon etiquette. We also surveyed 100 UK hair stylists, to compare their thoughts on the topic (spoiler: sometimes they were wildly different).  

Finally, we put the data to a focus group of females who regularly visit the hair salon, of mixed ages and hair types, and asked for their thoughts. We also got the view of expert hair and beauty writer Lucy Thorpe. 

Who is the average hair salon customer? 

British women visit the hair salon an average of almost seven (6.7) times per year, spending £55.40 per visit. That equates to an annual spend of £371.18. 

They also spend an average of 59 minutes at the salon per appointment. Over a lifetime (calculated on 65 adult years), that equates to a huge 25,695 minutes, 428 hours or nearly 18 full days in the chair. 

Hair professionals and clients: do our opinions differ? 

However, we found significant differences in the way hair professionals perceive salon interactions compared with those of their clients. Following a series of statements to both groups, it was clear that while some viewpoints matched, others were completely out-of-sync. 

Given that UK women visit the hair salon on a regular basis, you might expect that interactions between clients and hair stylists would be straightforward.  

Almost two-thirds of clients we surveyed see hair salons are gossipy places, which can lead to anxiety when entering a salon setting.  

Our focus group agreed: 

• “You get a feeling that everyone is talking about you—it can be very unnerving. I never feel completely at ease in the salon.” 
• “I hate going to a new salon, they have a reputation for being gossipy and in my experience, it’s for good reason.” 

Encouragingly, though, far fewer hair professionals (44%) believe that salons can be gossipy places, so it may be that clients have less to worry about in this area than they think. 

Lucy said: “Two-thirds of clients surveyed said that they felt that salons were a gossipy place, leading to anxiety at appointment time and less re-booked appointments for salons.

"Salon owners and managers can combat this with staff training on customer service and what is or isn’t appropriate to say, such as avoiding sharing personal information about other clients or being unprofessional about colleagues. This would lead to everyone being clearer and more comfortable in the salon space.” 

We also asked about the price of hair services, and whether both groups believe that they are fully transparent.  

Given the multiplicity of hair types, most salons will offer dozens of treatment options to suit their clients’ needs—not to mention upsells recommended throughout the appointment. For this reason, the pricing of these services can sometimes lack clarity.  

In fact, just 42% of hair salon customers believe that salon cost structures are transparent, suggesting confusion and even mistrust when it comes to paying the final bill.  

Unsurprisingly, far more (58%) hair stylists agree that their pricing is transparent. But with two in five (42%) admitting that this can be confusing, it seems there is work to be done by salons in this area. 

Lucy added: “Just 42% of clients feel that the price of hair services is transparent, meaning more than half of people don’t know what they’re about to spend when they visit their stylist.

"Having set prices for services - and displaying them clearly on the website, social media and in salon - is one way to do things, as is charging a set hourly rate for services. A consultation ahead of the appointment can also clear up any concerns about price in advance.” 

To chat or not to chat: that is the question.  

Interestingly, around the same number of hair professionals and clients said they like to have a chat during their appointment. However, the figures were lower than the age-old stereotype may have you believe. 

Just 44% of hair stylists and 47% of clients said they like to have a conversation while in the chair, suggesting that the remaining number would rather happily conduct an appointment without the need for the dreaded “do you have any holidays booked this year?” question coming up. 

The focus group shared their thoughts on the topic: 

• “We always seem to chat for the sake of it, I wish there was an agreement you can make at the start of the appointment that the other person doesn’t want to talk. But it just seems too rude. Often, I overshare details about my life that I wouldn’t usually, just to fill the silence.” 

• “Normalise not talking—this is my time to switch off from the stress of the day, and I find it difficult to make conversation when I’m tired.” 

• “I absolutely love chatting to my hair stylist, I’ve been going to them for more than 20 years. I wouldn’t say we’re close friends as such, but they have helped me through some very difficult periods—notably when a family member had to “brave the shave” during her cancer treatment.” 

• “My hair pro knows everything about me—if I ever got married, she would have to come. If you stick with someone, it’s crazy how much you tell them about your life.”  

Finally, we asked respondents about their booking preferences. While the same number (38%) of both groups agreed that they prefer to handle booking online, via an app or digital platform, there was a significant disparity elsewhere. Almost half (47%) of hair professionals highlighted this as their preferred method, compared with just 17% of customers. 

Lucy said: “The reality is that clients of every age and walk of life step through the salon doors at some point, so offering a variety of ways to book appointments and market your business is key. Ideally it needs to be as straightforward as possible so there’s no confusion around booking time - if you prefer bookings via social, but your clients prefer an online booking form then add your booking link into your social bio.

"If they prefer to call for an appointment, you can always ask them to text or voice note (if you’re happy with that) and then you at least have a record.” 

What’s evident from this data is that in many cases, hair salons and their clients don’t perceive the salon experience in the same way—leading to confusion and in some cases, exasperation. 

Hair stylist etiquette pet peeves 

As we have seen, there is a degree of hesitance and confusion when it comes to the hair salon experience. For many hair stylists, frustrations also arise when it comes to the conduct of their customers. 

We asked the panel of hair professionals to share the most challenging client behaviours—many of which the client in question may not even realise they’re doing. 

The top-most-cited pet peeve was when clients change their mind halfway through a service, followed by when a client makes an appointment for the wrong service. This was followed by clients coming into the salon with no idea of what they want, something that may take additional consultation and push the stylist for time. 

Our focus group said: 

• “The first two are understandable and must be a real challenge. But the job of a stylist is to provide advice and expertise.”  

• “You do just think that you’re the customer, so you should get what you want. But obviously that isn’t always the case!” 

Lucy said: “It’s easy to see why most of these are the biggest frustrations for a hair stylist. They all affect a client’s appointment time which can have a knock-on effect on appointments and bookings throughout the day. This leads to stress, confusion and unhappy clients who have to wait for appointments or feel that they haven’t quite got the service that they booked.  

“It’s much harder to manage client expectations when you’re against the clock or don’t have clarity around what they want. Again, a consultation could help to solve these types of issues ahead of time.” 

How common is poor customer service in hair salons? 

The goal of any hair professional is to provide exceptional customer service at all times. Unfortunately, though, this isn’t always the case. We asked clients about when their salon has fallen short on this expectation. The following instances of poor service were all experienced within the last year. 

Almost half (45%) have been disappointed with the outcome of a hair appointment, with a further third of respondents saying their hair stylist hasn’t listened to what they want. The busy nature of salon appointments was also highlighted, as 31% said their hair stylist has been late and 30% believe their hair professional has rushed their appointment.  

More than one in five (22%) have witnessed their stylist be rude about someone else and 13% have overheard their stylist be rude about them—both undoubtedly feeding into the belief that salons can be gossipy places.  

How do customers deal with poor service? 

Of course, experiencing poor customer service is one thing—acting on it is another. For those clients who have received bad service in the past, we asked what action they took afterwards.

A huge 44% of clients said they didn’t do anything. When asked why, respondents cited a range of reasons—with awkwardness coming out on top (38%). A further 27% said they wouldn’t rock the boat because, in general, they like the way their stylist does their hair.  

• “You don’t want to say anything because you’ll be accused of being a ‘Karen’—and these days that’s just not acceptable.” 

• “Stylists can get quite defensive—in the past, I’ve asked for small things to be changed at the end of an appointment and they’ve reacted badly. Everyone’s listening because you’re in public, so you don’t want to come across as that awkward person. I’m not normally shy in saying something isn’t right, but at the salon I feel awkward.” 

More than one in five (22%) of clients said they’re too shy to take action in response to poor service, with the same number being unwilling to hurt their stylist’s feelings. Interestingly, nearly one in 10 (9%) said they’d be too worried their stylist would talk about them behind their back. 

Lucy said: “Complaining about anything isn’t easy, especially if you like your stylist but just don’t like what they’ve done to your hair or something about the service has left you feeling underwhelmed. Salon owners and managers should be looking for feedback from clients on an ongoing basis, whether that’s through surveys, conversations or online reviews.

"Anonymous feedback can make this easier but isn’t always as helpful. This feedback can then help to spot any patterns and identify training opportunities that can in turn support stylists with their customer service skills, and ensure that clients are leaving the salon space feeling happier.” 

Amongst those that did act:

• 28% said they didn’t return to the salon
• 15% complained to friends and family about their experience
• 8% left a bad review
• 5% said they left immediately
• 5% didn’t pay for their treatment

Ultimately, poor customer service does have consequences. Taking the percentage of women who, following a bad experience, decided not to return to the salon and multiplying it by the average annual client spend, we calculated that poor customer service is costing hair salons upwards of £1 billion every year. A figure which is likely to have enormous repercussions in today’s post-pandemic marketplace.  

Finally, we looked at who is most likely to act after experience poor customer service at a hair salon. We found a clear trend: younger clients are far more likely to do so than older generations. In fact, 72% of 16-24-year-olds stated that they would respond to poor customer service, versus just 44% of people aged 55+. 

Cutting the confusion 

What’s evident from our research is that, despite UK women visiting the hair salon many times in their lives, there is an underlying awkwardness when it comes to the overall salon experience. Overall, this is caused by miscommunication between clients and their hair stylists.  

The onus is therefore on salons to communicate clear expectations around client behaviour and create a more transparent, friendly environment. This would not only help to improve the customer experience, but it also has potentially significant financial implications for their businesses moving forward.  

Methodology

• We surveyed 2,000 UK women and 100 UK hair stylists in March 2023. 
• To calculate the £1 billion statistic:
• 33,750,000 women in the UK (29% have had bad service - 9,787,500)
• 28% didn’t go back to the salon after receiving poor service (2,740,500 women not returning)
• £55.40 x 6.7 = total spent in salon every year = £371.18 total spend
• £371.18 x 2,740,500 = £1,017,218,790

 

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