How to "fake" a haircut....

A practice I've been watching, and need to address, is the practice of "faking" a haircut.  What is "faking" a haircut, you might ask??  Is it waving the shears over someones head and saying "SHAZAAM!  You have a new haircut!!"??  Unfortunately, no, that would be too easy.

"Faking" a haircut is this:  wetting down the perimeter of the hair, or even going so far as to actually shampoo the hair, trimming up the perimeter so the edges are even again, maybe cleaning up the back hairline, and cutting the bangs so they're not heavy again.  Now, in all fairness, sometimes, this is needed to be done, like when you are growing your hair out and just want the edges cleaned up.  Usually, you and the client go into the haircut knowing that this is what you're doing.  It's no where near the work you are doing when actually cutting someones hair.

However, when you and the client discuss the haircut they are wanting, and you tell them you have no problem giving them what they want, you had better darn well be actually cutting that hair, not "faking" it.  Today, for example, my mother came in, just wanted her back hairline cleaned up and her bangs cut shorter.  She's quite undecided as to what to do with her hair (I'm hoping she doesn't grow it out again....it doesn't look good on her), so that's all she wanted this time, which is fine.  When I got done, and brought her to the register, Tina was at the desk, watching me ring her out.  And, she questioned why it was so cheap (I only charged my mom for a bang trim, because, really, that's all it was).  And I explained "It was just a bang trim".  It didn't occur to me, until now, that she was thinking I would charge for a haircut.

I guess I'm part of a weird breed.  If I don't cut someones hair, I don't charge them for a haircut.  I'm rather honest that way.  However, I know that I work with people who are shady enough (for lack of a better phrase) to do their best to get away with that practice.  Personally, I feel that if you're going to start the process, you should complete the process.  I had another client today who just wanted the back of her hair dealt with.  She's working on growing into the "Kate Plus 8" haircut (lord help us....I don't think she's wanting the real thing....) and needed the back cut and razored out.  Which I did.  And she was more than willing to pay the full price.  However, I also made sure the front of her hair blended with the back, so the growing out process is relatively pain free.

Are these two procedures different, or the same??  I definitely did work through her hair, cutting exactly what was essential to cut.  There was no pretending to cut her hair, going through the motions to make it look good.  There was a PILE of hair on the floor when I was done.  And, to me, that makes the difference.  When Rita did it to one of my clients, I couldn't believe she charged the poor kid for a haircut...unfortunately, I was with another client and couldn't get to her in time to stop it from happening, nor knew how to confront her about it.  Definitely some things I need to work on.