Is a blow-dry mandatory in hairdressers?

Does anyone know if you are obliged to have a blowdry when having your hair done?
I called Peter Mark to enquire about the cost of getting a colour done and was advised it would be eighty plus euro for a colour & blow-dry.

In these recessionary days I wanted to forego the blowdry or at least just opt for the heat lamps to keep the cost down, but I was told that I would be charged for a blowdry either way
Surely they can't insist that you pay for a service you don't require? It's a big cost when you need to get your colour done every month.

I would imagine they wouldn't want people leaving with wet hair to then come back and complain about the colour (which potentially could have been tampered with in the interim). As regards heat lamps, you would be occupying a station which could otherwise be used by another customer so I guess it makes sense.

Peter Marks are not the cheapest out there, try neighbourhood salons for reasonable prices that feel less like an assembly line.

I get my colour done in one high class salon and the cut in another. In the colour salon I decline a blow dry since I'm just going home to wash my hair anyway cos I hate the "just coloured" look. They have no problem at all with this and it hugely reduces the cost.

I wouldn't imagine you are 'obliged' to do anything you don't want. You're the customer. If they won't meet your needs, go elsewhere.

True, but it's not as easy as picking another hairdresser these days cos they all want you to come in two days beforehand to have an allergy test done which is a lot of hassle when you're pressed for time & have to get a babysitter etc.

Plus I was happy enough with the colour but I would just like to be able to choose myself which treatments I avail of Just wondered if they're actually legally entitled to insist on a blow-dry cos it seems like a money-making venture otherwise. I always let my hair dry naturally anyway so I don't see why I should be forced to have it blowdried. I thought a compromise would be to have it dried with the heat-lamps - then they can see the colour when it's dry before I leave.

As regards occupying a station for a heat lamp - I thought that's part of the service a hairdresser provides!? Plus I did expect to pay for that - but not as much as for a blow-dry as there's no effort or skilled involved for them.

Last time I said I said I didn't want it blow-dried and she said she would just dry the ends (I foolishly thought she wasn't charging me for that) but I left the salon on that occasion with wet hair and no-one seemed bothered about that fact - once they had my cash.

I don't think the law goes into that level of detail on hairdressing.

They are entitled to say that the service they provide is a colour and blow dry for 80.
They have advertised the price honestly and told you that they do not provide a
colouring service without drying the hair and the set price is €80.

I can't imagine that a law exists that says that you can arrive into a shop or service provider and insist on a service which they do not currently offer.

It would be like having the legal right to demand that a restuarant that only has a set menu, offer you the main course only and charge you half price.

If you do not like the service and the price, you cant demand that they change their service to suit you.

All you can do is take your business elsewhere.

Agreed and it looks like I will just have to take my business elsewhere.

Just seems a bit of a strange inflexible attitude in a service industry, especially the beauty industry. But maybe they have so many branches that they don't care.

I will just have to take the lead from putsch and find a more accommodating salon

Why don't you find the manager on your next visit and have a good chat with her? She might just do some kind of deal for you, like vouchers off your next visit or something.

Charley said:

Does anyone know if you are obliged to have a blowdry when having your hair done?
I called Peter Mark to enquire about the cost of getting a colour done and was advised it would be eighty plus euro for a colour & blow-dry.

In these recessionary days I wanted to forego the blowdry or at least just opt for the heat lamps to keep the cost down, but I was told that I would be charged for a blowdry either way
Surely they can't insist that you pay for a service you don't require? It's a big cost when you need to get your colour done every month.

Click to expand...

You can get the colour without the blowdry and save yourself E28.50 in peter mark. I did it a few weeks ago. Just tell the person doing your hair that you dont want the blow dry. They looked at me funny but I didnt mind. She kept asking if I was sure I didint want it dried. And I kept saying No. Saved myself E28.50.

They advertise on their price list as "colour and blowdry" and each are itemised seperately on the bill (i know from previous experience)

I regularly get my colour done without a blowdry in my local salon (Jazz Sandymount). It means I can get the colour done on a day when I'm not going out & save the blowdry for a day when I am. I used to go to Aidan Fitzgerald and it was them that advised me I didn't have to get the blowdry. They will let you dry it yourself using their hairdryer too so you don't have to go home with wet hair.
If you are a regular customer I'd have a word with the manager, I'm sure they would oblige & if not, take your business elsewhere.

It's the golden rule that applies.

She who pays the gold makes the rule!

My last visit to Peter Mark resulted in a query about the same thing. I got a receipt which had two lines - highlights + blow dry. Bearing in mind that I did not request the blow dry, I queried 30-odd euro charge and the receptionist insisted that that's just the way it is. It's either the highlights + blow dry or highlights + cut. Now, I remember paying similar amount of money for having about 2mm taken off my fringe a while back, which infuriated me.

Personally, I don't care whether this is legal or standard practice. If I don't request a service, I don't want to pay for it. If they want to see the colour when my hair is dry, they should dry it without charging me for it since I have already agreed to pay for a more expensive service. I love the girl who does my highlights but I will be taking my business elsewhere as I hate being taken for a fool or conned into paying €30 on top of what I planned to spend.

Yes, I agree. I did actually email their head office about the issue and this is the reply I got;


"All colour and cutting services with Peter Mark salons are priced inclusive of a wash and finishing or blow dry service and our price list is clearly displayed in each salon window for reference. Our receipts have the price broken down for commission purposes only as there may be more than one member of staff carrying out the service.

The majority of the appointment slot is actually spent in the colour or highlight application, the colour then has to be fully removed and to establish that a professional result has been achieved the hair should be dried (by hand or lamp).

It is therefore not the case that a simple deduction for a shampoo and blow dry service will be made from a colour service should a client chose not to have the hair professionally finished in the salon.

I must stress however that our price list will apply should you chose to have ongoing colour services."



So needless to say, I haven't been back. I got the colour done elsewhere - albeit it with some confusion when I said I didn't want it blow-dried
It just seems to have become the norm somewhere along the way to 'include' the blow-dry in the colouring price.

Out of interest, do you also go to a restaurant expecting to be only charged for what you actually eat rather than what was on the plate???

As I see it, if they had intended to sell the services separately then they would have priced them accordingly. At the end of the day if you don't like the service, vote with your feet - go somewhere else...

As in all businesses, they days when they could say "Take it or leave it, we don't need your custom" are long gone. You are, as someone who is still getting their colour done in a salon rather than doing it yourself at home, a valuable commodity. And if you're not valuable to them you will be to somebody else.

Peter Mark are neither the cheapest nor the best and somewhere else will be just as good, possibly cheaper, and most likely nicer about accommodating your needs.

I take your point about the allergy test, but if it ends up saving you €20-30 every time you go it will be more than worth it.

(And as far as I know it is reasonably common to not be charged for a blow-dry you don't have)

What I find most annoying in Peter Mark is the fussing and waiting around the stylist does at the reception. It is most obvious they are waiting for a tip and while I do give one I hate being presurized into doing so.