Why is this place so lousy for haircuts?

[anonymoose]

I just went to a barber here. Sometimes I go to the big chains where a simple haircut usually costs 20 or 30 yuan, although sometimes this includes a rince. But usually the results are not very good, and often it is a lot of hassle insisting that you just want a cut without any hair perming, straightening, highlighting or whatever other crap they try to force on you.

So this time I thought I'd go to one of the small family owned salons - the cuts are often better than at the larger places, and what's more, they don't try to pressure you into getting any unwanted treatments.

So everything was going quite well, until it came to paying. As I was handing over my 10 yuan, the hairdresser said it's 20 for a cut. Now I'm not the most chatty guy, and especially when it comes to getting a haircut, I just want to get it over and done with as quick as possible, so I avoid engaging in any superfluous conversation when I go into a barber's. This probably gave them the impression that I don't understand much Chinese. But the thing is, it said very clearly on the window, 10 yuan for a cut (单剪 10元).

I asked the guy how come it's 20 yuan when it says 10 yuan on the window. He said that's the price for kids. Nowhere on the sign did it say anything about kids, so I asked if that's the case, why isn't it advertised clearly. His excuse was that none of the prices are listed clearly (WTF kind of excuse is that?). He was probably assuming that I could only see the figures without understanding the characters, so pointing exactly at the characters 单剪, I retorted that it's very clear - haircut 10 yuan!

Then one of the other hairdressers, maybe the manager, just said, let's not argue and settle at 10 yuan. At that point I just turned around and walked out.

But I was quite pissed off. What do you guys think? Were they obviously trying to scam me? I don't often encounter scams here, and I'm probably overly wary. Once I wanted to buy some plums and was surprised at the high price quoted to me, especially when I though I had heard them being offered at a much lower price to a Chinese customer, so I confronted the seller about that, and she said the price quoted was for something else. Believing this was another scam, I just walked off in a huff, but later at the supermarket, I noticed similar plums for a similar price to what I was offered. I felt quite awful that maybe I had insinuated to that seller that she was being dishonest. So now I don't like to be too quick to accuse people here of trying to take a chance with the foreigner, but going back to the hairdresser's, this seems like a pretty clearcut case, right?

Now the other thing is, my Chinese is quite good when I'm calm and have time to think, but I get a bit tongue-tied when suddenly faced with an unexpected situation. After I had left the barber's, I wished I had said a bit more before departing, just to rub in the fact that they failed in their attempt to cheat me. I would have loved to be able to spontaneously say something like, "你们把我当傻子啊，太不像话了！我再也不来这个破地方了！". Now I know how George Costanza must have felt when he was told the ocean called to say they were running out of shrimp.

Rant over.

[xianhua]

My local 'convenience' store here in the UK also appear to forget their quoted window-price for certain goods on occasion. The trick is to hand over the exact money (as quoted) when paying - a measure you've obviously adopted.

[LA Guy]

To avoid any misunderstanding, tt might be prudent to verify the price when you sit down in the chair "before" the haircut ?

So, how was the "discounted" haircut ?

LA Guy

[anonymoose]

To avoid any misunderstanding, tt might be prudent to verify the price when you sit down in the chair "before" the haircut ?

I usually do verify prices in advance when there's any doubt, but when the price is clearly marked on the window, then that's the price you expect to pay.

So, how was the "discounted" haircut ?

I've had worse.

[Yang Rui]

On the quality side, 20 to 30 kuai is pretty cheap these days. I used to spend 130 and was really pleased with the results every time. Now I'm back in the UK and wish I could get such a good haircut for the equivalent of 13 pounds. 東田造型 was always pretty good and has outlets in the big cities. Of course, it will always come down to the individual hairdresser.

[langxia]

Thats why I cut my hair myself since 20 years Much cheaper and less hassle.

[skylee]

Then one of the other hairdressers, maybe the manager, just said, let's not argue and settle at 10 yuan.

I think this was the most frustrating part, very patronising and as if you had done wrong, were being cheap, and they were doing you a favour.

But these things do happen, even to local people. Take a look at this blog which is relevant. I suppose you are very sure that the price of the haircut was 10 RMB. I agree that it is good to clarify the price beforehand.

[imron]

When you get a haircut that you like (either in China or abroad), take a photo from the front back and sides, and put it on your phone (or if your phone doesn't support this, you could always print it out on a card or something to put in your wallet). Then everytime you go to have your haircut show them the photos and they'll usually get a close approximation of it. I also recommend going to the same place each time you get your haircut and letting them know if they didn't cut it quite as you would have liked the previous time. Gradually they'll get to know what you want in a haircut and you'll also get to know their regular price and you won't run into either of the problems you mentioned

[Brandon263]

Thanks for sharing that story anonymoose! It's really frustrating sometimes, I can’t figure out why some Chinese have a predilection for swindling foreigners; in 2007, a guy tried to charge me 400 yuan for a taxi ride from Shanghai's Pudong airport to the city center! I mean on the whole 不象话 aspect anonymoose raised, doesn’t it create a guilty conscience or some kind of internal loss of face?

[Kenny同志]

I can’t figure out why some Chinese have a predilection for swindling foreigners; in 2007, a guy tried to charge me 400 yuan for a taxi ride from Shanghai's Pudong airport to the city center!

I don’t think they specifically target foreigners. It is often the case that if they judge you’re new to the place, they’ll tend to decide you are their easy prey.

When I arrived in Guangzhou in February this year I stopped a taxi to take me to the railway station. Before I got in, I asked the driver his price and he told me it’s 50 yuan. I said thanks and turned to another cab driver who had just seen me approaching the former. He offered to charge me 30 yuan. Two possible explanations for this are that he was a reasonable person or that after seeing me go away from the other driver, he thought it’d be wise not to scare me off by charging a ridiculously high rate.

[rezaf]

Don't be too 小气. I wish all the scams going on in China could be just 10 yuans. I had a classmate from Singapore who was scammed for 4000 kuai (if I remember correctly) for a simple perm at people's square. Of course after our school called them and threatened to report them they agreed to give her back some of it.

[anonymoose]

So because it's only 10 yuan, it's OK to be cheated? What would you have done in that situation?

[rezaf]

Of course not but don't get angry about it because as you know it's very normal in China.

[amandagmu]

It's the principle, dammit!

At least, that's what I keep telling myself whenever I fight getting ripped off for even 1 kuai....

Honestly, people here wonder why I don't want to live here permanently, and the issue you have raised is one of the main reasons.

[Scoobyqueen]

Thanks for sharing this story. You did the right thing in taking your transaction elsewhere. Then they not only lost 20 kuai but the opportunity to earn ten. I might have pointed to that calculation. Pity you did not get to say the parting words. Well done for confronting them about the price and for walking out.

[anonymoose]

No, I had the haircut, and they got the 10 yuan.

[paike]

Anonymouse, I simply flip out on occasion and that's life. I've spit on cabbies who drive me five minutes and want 50 yuan or more. I live in Shenyang and on a snowy night the cabby said he wouldn't take me unless I paid 200 yuan, should have been 20-30. I threw a bottle at his face. Whatever, if you act like a barbarian, so will I.

Thieves and liars should expect their own medicine. I would knock the shit out of them, but in China you have to pay the medical bills and they will fake a stroke or something.

More than once I've walked out of restaurants after eating, or away from cabs when they pull that stuff.

[xianhua]

I threw a bottle at his face

Wouldn't it just bounce back towards you off the protective cage?

[amandagmu]

AHHHHH it just happened to me too, but I think I got my revenge. Serves me right for walking through a touristy section of town, I suppose. I had just finished a workout and running in the park, so I went to buy the same popsicle I always buy from the roadside stand (绿豆沙 is its name). It's always, no matter where I go in Beijing, 1.5 kuai, except on the university campuses where it's sometimes 1 kuai. Well, I picked it up and handed the woman my 2 kuai (I hadn't yet said anything) and she stood there and looked at me and said in English "3!". I gave her a dirty look, put down the popsicle and snatched the 2 kuai out of her hand. I then proceeded to walk up to her neighbor two doors down and asked "绿豆冰棍儿多少钱？" when she said "1 kuai wu" I gave her my money and picked up my popsicle. I didn't look back at the neighboring woman, but let's just say it was a prouder moment.

by the way, it also begs the question of why they even bother to try to do this? I mean, she's got competition everywhere in that area, no customers to speak of, so why bother trying to cheat me out of 1.5 kuai for a lousy popsicle?

[rezaf]

I think it's more like a cultural gap for most of you guys. These things are very normal in China. When they say a price they actually expect their customers to start haggling and if you don't do that then it's odd(maybe not from a foreigner :rolleyes: ). There is really no reason to get angry about it because you can negotiate about everything in China.