Citysearch – Astor Place Hairstylist

[rating:2]

So as usual I got stuck at the office late tonight. It wasnt due to
microsoft office upgrades, today the head of a trading desk had his PC
blow up. So I had to get it up and running.

After I finished, say around 830 or so I decided I wanted to cut off
this annoying mop that I have been experimenting growing. I simply
dont have the patience to keep growing it past this “in between
stage”. I cant take it anymore! Plus I did a quick length survey on facebook and twitter and all replies said “short”. I hope they meant my haircut. Ahem, ahem. Okay!

So being from NYC I know that in the downtown area one of the more
reliable places for a quick decent haircut is Astor Cuts. I’ve gone
here several times over the years, and as far as the haircut itself
goes, I’ve not been disappointed for the most part.

Upon descending into the depths of the shop I was greeted by an older gentleman, he asked “you want a haircut”, I said yes, then I asked my usual question “do you know how to do a proper fade sir”? I observe the body language eyes and the reaction overall as they answer. It was apparent to me quickly that this gentleman would not know how to give me a proper fade. After he confirmed what I already knew he asked one of the other guys to trade customers.

Marcello was tired and wanted to go home, initially he tried to pass
me off to another guy, but after a moment he agreed to cut my hair. I
said dude, if you need to go, then go. (According to them a fade takes
longer and it’s harder to do, in his defense he started at 830am.) He
said it’s ok he would do it. Fine, let’s move on.

I told him what I wanted to do and he got to work. While he worked I
noticed that he cuts “the old spice guy’s” hair, cool! Does that make
me the man your man wishes he was?

We didn’t talk much, he was mostly all business. So about 20 or so
minutes later I had an ok fade and was looking fresh. I gave him a
tip and thanked him for staying around late to cut my hair. We shook
hands and I moved to the front to pay.

When I got up front there was a large gentleman with his back to the
“greeting” area speaking with a woman about how some people are happy with the service and some are not. “When you see 100 people a day some are bound to be unhappy with something.”

I stood there for a few moments without being acknowledged, I wondered if I made to walk out without paying if he would talk to me then? Personally I think he was being rude. While talking about how sometimes customers are “not happy” with service, he in turn created another unhappy customer.

After a few more moments I decided to stop waiting for them to
greet me, and I interrupted their intense conversation. I said “sorry
guys, but is this where we pay, seems like it, but based on what’s happening I’m not sure?”

He reached for the charge paper, still not acknowledging me or even
turning around, he continued talking to the woman. He looked at the paper, then put it down, and held his hand out. I fished in my wallet for the fifteen dollars they charge for the haircut, he continued talking and moved his hand as if he were impatiently waiting for me. Really?

I put the money down on the counter and walked out. I stopped being
polite at that point and kept it moving, I didn’t say thank you, I didn’t wait for him to pick up the cash or count it, nada, whatever big boy, you want to be rude, I can be rude too.

The haircut experience overall was ok, except for the feeling like I
was a burden when paying and during the customer shuffle early on. Also now that I am home as I look closely I found several stray hairs in the areas of my head visible to me, so I found myself in front of the mirror with scissors clipping away. After showering I saw that the front of my head is uneven as well, this is more troubling because now I’ll have to go to my local spot and have them fix it. So in essence I’ll be paying 2 times for 1 haircut. This is not good. I wonder if there are more strays or problems in the areas I cannot see?

This place costs a bit more than my local spot in Jamaica Queens, and it’s less in quality. Going forward, unless I really need
to get an emergency haircut immediately during the week I’ll continue going to my spot in Jamaica.

http://www.yelp.com/bi…

The bad exit experience and slightly less than great haircut doesn’t make paying extra money worth it. Maybe if the overall experience was great then I’d feel it’s worth it to pay a bit more.

It’s like he said, “You can’t please everyone right?” Truer words have never been spoken. Ridiculous. I kept them at 2 stars because in the past with different barbers and exit people the experience wasn’t this bad.

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