how to know if you're being scammed by your hair stylist

How to Know if You’re Being Scammed By Your Hair Stylist

Have You Been Scammed?

So many women have been complaining about the unprofessionalism and outright swindle practices of hair stylists lately. Women are fed up with hairstylists requiring a hefty deposit with little results. I’m talking about hair stylists that charge upwards of $400 but require you to come with most of the work done! Do you believe you’re a victim of a Hair Stylist Scammer? If so, this article is perfect for you. I’ll be detailing the top 10 red flags of a hair stylist scammer, and how to avoid them easily.

1. The Instagram Stylist

If you found a hair stylist on Instagram because they are famous for flawless frontal installs, beware. Many “hairstylist” on Instagram show off their frontal and closure wig and sew-in skills and gain thousands of followers as a result. This traffic allows them to book appointments and open their own hair styling business. However, a lot of these Instagram “stylists” are not licensed to practice! A lot of them have never attended cosmetology school and did not test at State board. When a stylist does not possess a cosmetology license, they do not know sanitation laws and regulation. What does this mean for you? This means that your hair can be severely damaged. Or you can be severely injured by your stylist because they are not trained or educated by any cosmetology school or by the State Board.

2. Your Hair Stylist Doesn't Have a Salon

A lot of hair stylists you meet online will give you an address to meet them up at that is not a salon or a Salon Suite. If the hairstylist works out of their home or out of a random location, this could be a red flag. Any professional stylist should work out of a salon or a Salon Suite. When the hair stylist works out of their home or any other random location that is not meant to do hair. They more than likely do not have the resources to professionally shampoo, condition chemically process, or style your hair. Aside from the logistical inconveniences or any other area that isn't public.

3. Bad Reviews or No Reviews

Whenever you go to a new business, you always want to check online reviews. Checking online reviews will prevent you from visiting a place that is not up to par with your standards. If you check out a new place online and all the reviews are negative, then it may not be good to visit. This is the same thing we do when we visit a new hairstylist. Most hairstylists have a Facebook page or Google business page that allows clients to leave a review. If you Google your stylist and see they have bad reviews or no reviews, this is a huge red flag. One or two random bad reviews are okay. But if most or all the reviews are bad, that means the stylist is inconsistent and is doing something wrong. If the stylist has no reviews this is also a red flag because as a "talented hairstylist", clients should want to leave a praise review. This can help others gain interest in your services. If your hairstylist doesn't allow clients to leave reviews, this can mean that they don't want other people to know what they are doing. There could also be a stylist that is not licensed and does not want to get arrested for practicing without a license.

4. They Only Accept Cash

In 2018 we live in a digital age where money can be sent and received using only our smartphones. Not only does this make paying for services way more convenient but it also adds an added layer of security. This can alleviate any misunderstandings and disagreements regarding money. Any professional hair stylist should want every transaction to be recorded electronically for personal records and tax purposes. Your new hair stylist doesn't accept money orders, credit card or any other electric form of payment then this is a huge red flag. There could be a myriad of reasons why they don't accept cash. But one could be that they aren't licensed so they can avoid paying taxes. Another reason is it makes it easier to say that you didn't pay your full balance for your service. They can easily say that you were short by $10 and will make you pay more. You can easily avoid getting scammed like this by simply only working with a hairstylist that accepts electronic forms of payment.

5. The Stylist That Requires You to Have Most of the Work Done Before You Show Up

Recently many women have been ranting online about an outbreak of hairstylist that require you to come to your appointment with your hair already washed conditioned and braid it down or sew in. These type of hair stylists will still charge anywhere from $300 to $500 for a basic sew-in even though you had to do most of the work. Trust me this is not normal in the professional hair industry. Any Professional Salon Service comes with a shampoo condition and blowout included in any service. Any sew-in service should include a shampoo condition braids down and sew in. If your new hair stylist is requiring you to wash, blow dry, and braid your hair down this is a huge red flag. This kind of hair stylist is lazy and wants you to do most of the work before you come in even though they are still charging you full price.

6. You Can Never Book Maintenance Appointments with Them

Some stylists are so booked and busy that you can never book a frontal maintenance appointment with them. If you receive a frontal sew-in or a frontal wig install from your stylist, it is best to go to the same stylist that installed your frontal to maintain it as well. Maintenance appointments can be every two weeks to 3 weeks. A lot of stylist book so many clients that you cannot book a maintenance appointment for over a month. Any professional stylist should know how to book enough appointments to pay their bills and take care of other financial responsibilities while also meeting the needs of their clientele. If a stylist has too many clients and cannot take care of all of them at the same time, then they need to raise their prices to make the same money but still take care of the clients that need maintenance appointment. Note: A frontal maintenance appointment should include a shampoo and style on your hair extensions. And your hair stylist should be removing all adhesive from your hairline and reapplying adhesive so that your frontal leg is flat and appears to be fresh. Frontal maintenance appointment can range anywhere from 50 to $100 depending on your hairstylist. You should always expect for your hair to be washed and styled during a maintenance appointment.

7. Your New Hairstylist is Not Building Clientele

A lot of stylists that you find on Instagram are traveling from City to City doing hair. While it's great to be in high demand, it's hard to keep up with your clients while traveling. If you choose to book an appointment, be aware they may be booked in the future. This means that you'll constantly scramble for a new stylist to maintain your hair or give you a new hairstyle. On the other end, if your stylist is always taking new clients, and old clients don't return this is a red flag. Once you find the hair stylist you like, you'll typically return to them for your hair appointments. If your hair stylist is constantly taking on new clients, but they're old clients don't return this can mean that they are damaging hair or they aren't good at styling hair. Either way, this probably isn't a stylist that you want to commit to.

8. The Late Stylist

Tardiness is never an attractive trait, but it's usually the hairstylist that has a thousand rules about tardiness that coincidentally cannot ever be on time. The purpose of booking an appointment is to block out space and time for you to receive services without interruption. A hair stylist defeats the purpose of an appointment when they are always late. It's also not fair because most hair stylists charge a late fee if you're more than 5 to 10 minutes late to your appointment. A hair stylist that is always late also communicates that he or she does not respect your time at all. It's not fair for you to have to block off your entire day because you don't know when you're going to be able to get seen by your hair stylist.

9. The Hairstylist That Doesn't Use professional Hair Products

This sounds like a no-brainer any professional hairstylist uses professional hair products right? Well, there are a lot of hair stylist that use drugstore hair products on their clients simply because it's cheaper for them to buy. Any professional hairstylist should be using professional hair products simply because you are paying for a professional service. Not only are you paying for a professional service but a lot of times drugstore products don't work as well as professional grade hair products. For example, there are a lot of hair stylists that use to install frontals with hair gel instead of a real lace adhesive. Using Got2b Glued is fine if it is at the client's discretion, but it should be standard to use a lace adhesive during a frontal install. Your hair stylist should not be washing your hair with VO5 shampoo and Suave conditioner. Any hair stylist that doesn't use professional hair products at all is a huge red flag because this can mean that they are not licensed and cannot purchase professional grade hair products.

10. Your Hairstylist Doesn't Educate You

Your hairstylist should educate you about how to care for and maintain your hair at home. Education is super important when it comes to hair extension installs especially when it comes to frontals. If your stylist simply installs your hair extensions and sends you home with direction, you can severely damage your hair extensions or your natural hair. We've all seen frontal horror stories on YouTube. Most of them could have been avoided by a simple conversation and education on caring for your frontal. Your hair stylist should be letting you know what kind of shampoo and conditioner to use at home. The can also tell you how to style your hair and the big do's and don'ts of your new hairstyle. If your hair stylist is using lace adhesive, they should tell you how to maintain at home. A simple conversation can avoid so much damage.

Don't Be A Victim

There you have it the top 10 ways to know and avoid a hair stylist scam. So many hair stylists get away with scamming women, and clients are not only are they losing money, but they're losing their hair as well. Please be careful when booking appointments with a new hair stylist that you meet online. Always look up their reviews and make sure that they're working in a salon setting, as this will avoid a lot of problems. Share this article with anyone you know who often visits a hairstylist.
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