When we have an important event coming up, we tend to do some planning, like making sure we have an appropriate outfit or fresh haircut.
Sometimes our plans get unfortunately ruined, pointed out the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor idrinksapporo found herself without a Plan B when she’d organized her Halloween plans around a salon appointment.
When she discovered the salon’s reason for the cancelation, the Original Poster (OP) was furious.
She asked the sub:
“AITA for getting someone fired?”
The OP made an annual salon appointment for Halloween.
“So every year on Halloween, my friends and I go to this big party, we dress up and have fun, all that jazz.”
“So effectively every year, I make sure to schedule an appointment that day at 8 am (opening time) for eyebrows, hair, and nails.”
“I always make this appointment months in advance, since I know it’s a popular slot.”
“I’m a regular at this salon, not too close to the owner, but the employees and the owner know me since that’s where I usually go throughout the year anyway.”
The OP received a surprising call from the salon.
“So what happened? The salon called me up and told me the person who was supposed to tend to me for my appointment wanted to cancel because someone else was interested in my slot with her and the other client was willing to pay 100% tip.”
“I asked if she was serious, and she said yes.”
“I asked if there’s anyone else available for that slot (I’m not picky) and they said everything else was booked for 8 am, but there was a spot at 5 pm.”
“I told them that time was absolutely impossible.”
“They asked if I could come the day before but I couldn’t since I work.”
“I started getting angry and asked to speak to the owner, but she said the owner wasn’t available for the rest of the week.”
“I told them they’re being completely unprofessional and that if they cancel on me, I wouldn’t be returning there.”
“They scoffed and half-heartedly apologized and hung up on me.”
The OP responded online.
“So, I removed a 5-star review I left a long time ago and left a 1-star review instead because I was furious.”
“I explained in my review everything, from scheduling the appointment with months in advance, being a regular, to canceling on me for a higher tip, and the attitude over the phone.”
Then the OP received a call from the owner.
“A couple days passed and I got a call from the owner. She told me she felt embarrassed that she was gone when this happened.”
“She said that she would’ve never allowed for her employees to treat a regular like they did me.”
“She said after consideration, she decided to let go of the woman who canceled on me, gave more training to the woman who was on the phone with me, and asked me if I would reconsider coming back, and that she would personally handle my appointment.”
The OP was able to sort the situation out.
“I told her that since I was treated well in the past, I would remove the 1-star review, but since I was known there, I wasn’t comfortable coming back.”
“I was able to schedule an appointment at another salon.”
“My family members are saying I should’ve just let it go and not escalate it and causing someone to get fired.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some agreed with the OP about how unprofessional the salon was.
“NTA. That’s unprofessional AF (as f**k). If you had the appointment, you shouldn’t get pushed aside just because someone else offers to pay more.”
“That’s like me telling my clients that I can’t help them find a house because I can make more helping other clients that are purchasing bigger/more expensive homes.” – Goingkermit
“Being that salon professionals are almost completely referral-based, that was a horrible move. Bad online reviews, if the individual is named, will follow them everywhere and I doubt any reputable salon out there would not check online reviews.”
“Wow, what an outrageous attitude she had. It will certainly bite her in the a** for a looonng time to come.” – JuryNo7670
“She got herself fired by being greedy. Let’s hope the tip was worth being unemployed.”
“NTA” – Acceptable-Abalone20
“NTA. You didn’t demand anybody be fired, you shared your experience. Canceling an appointment made months in advance for a bigger tip is extremely unprofessional. Just as they expect advance notice of cancellation or a cancellation fee if you canceled last minute.”
“They should have involved the owner before you were ever contacted. She might have been able to get an extra technician in for the day or found a resolution. The real AH is the customer who started this BS.” – Far_Information5609
Others agreed and said they should value a good customer.
“So unprofessional and I totally get why the OP refuses to set foot in the salon again too. It’s a shame that thanks to that woman’s own greed, she’s unemployed and the salon has lost a good customer.” – Dashcamkitty
“It also completely negates the fact that OP set this appointment super far in advance. If someone can just come in the day before and place a higher bid in order to boot out a reserved appointment, I would absolutely take my business elsewhere. At that point, ‘appointments’ don’t mean s**t.”
“It’s a total lack of respect on the part of the cosmetologist. OP is NTA, and I support their decision to take their services elsewhere.” – RavenWolfPS2
“NTA. You didn’t get that employee fired, the employee got herself fired by doing something that was detrimental to the salon’s image.”
“A regular customer removed a 5-star review and replaced it with a 1-star review. Of course the salon owner would want to know what happened and, if it was an employee at fault, would want to fix the problem with that employee.”
“The salon owner had choices and thought firing the person that lost her a regular customer was the correct one.” – Charlies_Parkers_Mood
The OP may have had mixed feelings after hearing that the stylist who was supposed to handle her appointment was fired, but the subReddit reassured her that she had done nothing wrong.
Refusing to come back for another appointment and leaving a negative review would be more than reasonable after the phone call she received, the sub agreed, especially given how they admitted to wanting a better tip.