This Salon Has Very Bad Reception

(I am a client at a very busy hair salon. They never take walk-ins and usually there is a four- to six-week wait for appointments. Since they are amazing at their narrow specialty — and the only ones around in this particular specialty — I am always willing to wait for an appointment. They have just hired a new receptionist, and she knows none of the clients.)

Receptionist: “Hi, welcome to [Salon]. You’re [Other Client], right?”

Me: “No, I’m—”

Receptionist: “Sorry, we don’t take walk-ins. I can schedule you for sometime next month.”

Me: “I don’t need an appointment. I just need—”

Receptionist: “Look. We aren’t like those cheap places where you just walk in, sit down, and wait. We are professional specialists and—”

(The salon owner notices what she’s saying and rushes to the front.)

Owner: “Stop! That’s not how we speak to clients.”

Receptionist: “But she doesn’t have an appointment!”

Owner: “So, we ask why she’s here.” *turns to me* “Sorry, [My Name]. She’s new, and I guess the training isn’t going as well as I thought. What’s up?”

Me: “I was just stopping to buy some shampoo and some travel sizes before my trip.”

(The owner apologizes to the client she has in the chair and personally rings up my purchases. All the while, the receptionist is fuming and muttering under her breath about needing an appointment. A month later I come back for an appointment and there’s no receptionist.)

Me: “What happened to the new receptionist?”

Owner: “I had to let her go. I found out you weren’t the first person she yelled at about appointments. She sent two other people away without letting them buy their products because they didn’t have an appointment. She insisted they needed an appointment to buy shampoo and conditioner.”