A terrible shave experience.

[Boti2634]

Good evening all!

My apologies in advance for the rather lengthy rant.

Here goes...

Since I'm lucky enough to live in a city (Cincinnati) where you can actually still get a decent straight razor shave, I've actually got quite a bit of experience with "traditional" shaves by qualified barbers. (Even though I'm terrible at it myself) This being the case, and since I'm also fortunate enough to do a great deal of traveling on the company dime, I tend to seek out barber shops during my travels that still offer a traditional shave. While I rarely have any luck, based on the reviews I read, I thought on my last trip to the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, I had hit a homerun.

This place had great atmosphere, they were as friendly as they could possibly be, and they offered a fairly decent selection of high-end products; e.g. Truefitt and Hill, Geo. F. Trumpers, etc. That however, is where it all starts to go wrong. The first "red flag" goes up when their receptionist casually mentions to my co-worker that he and I are scheduled for 4:00 and 4:15 respectively, with the same barber. (At this point I'm doing the math in my head and not liking what I'm coming up with) Still, undaunted, I press on. Big mistake!

Ricardo sits me down in the chair, applies a pre-shave balm, and then a hot towel. (I'm starting to feel a bit better here) However, that all ends abruptly when he tells me he has somebody in the chair next to me, and that he'll be shaving and cutting him at the same time. Honestly, I thought I had misunderstood him until he assured me he often "worked" two chairs simultaneously. So, he's bouncing back and forth between chairs, comes back to me momentarily, and applies what I'm fairly certain was Barbasol foam out of one of those cheap "hot foam" dispensers. Then, just like that, he starts shaving me at a speed which you would not believe. I'm just about to ask him what the hurry is, when he tells me that in Sicily he shaved as many as 63 faces in a single day! Now I'm not saying I'm a genius here, but again, I'm doing the math and not at all liking where it's leading me. While I'm doing the long division and carrying the one, he pauses just long enough to tell me that he's training for some sort of a "speed barber" competition in NYC, and thinks he has a fairly good chance of placing in the money! (This would have been a handy piece of information to have BEFORE I sat down) It's right about now that he takes what is honestly the largest gash out of my face that I've ever seen taken out of anyone's (I wish I had taken pictures), says "your skin is too sensitive for me to do a "close" shave", bounces back over to the other chair, and has somebody else come by and apply cocoa butter, which to be quite honest, I was still wiping off about twenty minutes later.

For all of my perseverance, I still got charged the full price of $30, and believe it or not, a lot of attitude because I didn't tip.

The moral of the story is, sometimes, when it just doesn't "feel" right, trust your instincts and get out of the chair. Reviews be damned.

Sorry for the rant, gentlemen.

Have a great evening!

Regards,

Paul

 

[franz]

Ouch!

 

[Hen]

That sounds like quite an experience... You're lucky to be alive!

 

[TheGRman]

As a barber myself, and one who truly has a passion for giving my customers an awesome luxury shave experience, I'm very sorry that this has happened to you. I wish those who are licensed to barber would faithfully understand what customers SHOULD BE experiencing when booked for their hot-towel shaves. In today's day and age, the barber shave should about the luxury of everything involved with the shave, and giving your customer the most comfortable shave they've ever had... and each customer absolutely deserves the barber's undivided attention (especially during the luxury shave!) Pour on the luxury I say!! Shaving is something that most every man can give himself at home, regardless of what he uses to shave with. But only the best shavemaster-barbers can administer the shave with unparalled comfort, luxury, and skill.

Again, I feel terrible that your experience was awful, and I wish there was something I could do to help restore your faith. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Boti2634]

Thanks, Troy! Next time I'm near Ames, I'm heading your way!

- Paul

 

[Jimbob]

Customer service has pretty much gone down the drain IMO but poor customer service with something as deadly as a straight razor is reprehensible

 

[The Dean]

I feel your pain. I have had the best, and by far the worst, shaves by professional barbers. After the worst shave I have ever had, the barber had the nerve to blame me for his poor performance. What can you say? Lesson learned, I suppose.

 

[Craig_From_Cincy]

Hi Paul, a fellow Cincinnatian here. I've had some of my worst shave experiences from professional barbers. My worst ever shave was from Boris at the main AOS store in Manhattan, he simply tore my face up, and it cost an arm and a leg at that. I have only had one decent barber shave, and that was from Nick Salzano at Salzano & Sons Barber Shop in the Atrium Building on 4th Street here in Cincinnati. Nick's been a barber since he emigrated from Italy in the 1950's and is the best barber I've ever found. He's a nice guy too, but he's pretty much retired now and his sons are running the shop (I've never had a shave from the sons, but since Nick trained them I'll bet they're first class). I only shave my ow face these days, it's much less expensive and I always end up with better results.

Cheers,

Craig

 

[John Von Wuggz]

TheGRman,

Please move to Arizona and open shop. You'll love it here.

 

[The Dean]

Hi Paul, a fellow Cincinnatian here. I've had some of my worst shave experiences from professional barbers. My worst ever shave was from Boris at the main AOS store in Manhattan, he simply tore my face up, and it cost an arm and a leg at that. I have only had one decent barber shave, and that was from Nick Salzano at Salzano & Sons Barber Shop in the Atrium Building on 4th Street here in Cincinnati. Nick's been a barber since he emigrated from Italy in the 1950's and is the best barber I've ever found. He's a nice guy too, but he's pretty much retired now and his sons are running the shop (I've never had a shave from the sons, but since Nick trained them I'll bet they're first class). I only shave my ow face these days, it's much less expensive and I always end up with better results.

Cheers,

Craig

The ultimate YMMV. By far, my best shave have been from Boris. No question, hands down.

I've also had good shaves from "regular barbers" on Long Island and San Francisco. Of course, some local regular barbers have torn my face up almost beyond repair,

 

[bsmith]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, that sucks!

I have had two straight razor shaves in my life. My first will probably go down as the best shave I will have ever received and the second mediocre at best.

Ill start with the second which was at the hands of a barber at the local AoS. I am very talkative by nature and from the get go, Andrew didn't seem to be the best at carrying a convo even though I was asking him questions pertaining to his profession. I cant entirely blame him for my discomfort because admittedly, my beard is no joke and shaving it without the aid of a long hot shower directly beforehand just was not an option obviously. His pre shave seemed decent, pre shave oil, hot towel for a min or two, hot lather. But the shave pulled on my beard something awful and the resulting burn on my neck later that evening was quite severe. I did warn him I had very sensitive skin prior to beginning FYI. It also was no closer than the worst shave my M3 afforded me and cost ~$45 after tip too.

The first shave I had from a pro was in the small Japanese town of Sonobe by my cousins barber Sharake San. He shaves my face with what seemed like lotion and covered it with a hot towel and wonderful smelling oils/lotions every few minutes for a few minutes each time. When I was in the chair his paramount objective was to eradicate my skin of any hair that dared to extend from my follicles. He went over every square inch of my face multiple times lathering/shaving/soothing without fail. This had to have lasted over an hour and has been the only time post-puberty I have had a baby butt smooth face against the grain. Not only that but it lasted for two whole days!!!

I have probably been ruined by the unwavering relentlessness he executed what I could only refer to as beardocide that day in Japan, but like was said once long ago "it is better to have been shaved masterfully once then to have never been shaved masterfully at all"!

 

[tomharr51]

I had a one shave from a barber 15 years ago, which was my first and my last. It was so bad I've never been comfortable having another barber do it. Maybe one day I'll build up enough courage to give it another shot. For the guys who get shaves from a barber is there anything that you would recommend looking for or asking to make sure your going to get a good shave?

 

[Boti2634]

Hi Paul, a fellow Cincinnatian here. I've had some of my worst shave experiences from professional barbers. My worst ever shave was from Boris at the main AOS store in Manhattan, he simply tore my face up, and it cost an arm and a leg at that. I have only had one decent barber shave, and that was from Nick Salzano at Salzano & Sons Barber Shop in the Atrium Building on 4th Street here in Cincinnati. Nick's been a barber since he emigrated from Italy in the 1950's and is the best barber I've ever found. He's a nice guy too, but he's pretty much retired now and his sons are running the shop (I've never had a shave from the sons, but since Nick trained them I'll bet they're first class). I only shave my ow face these days, it's much less expensive and I always end up with better results.

Cheers,

Craig

Craig -

I agree completely about Salzano and Sons. I miss Nick, but Guido (his son) is really starting to come into his own as well.

Have a good one!

- Paul

 

[Craig_From_Cincy]

Craig -

I agree completely about Salzano and Sons. I miss Nick, but Guido (his son) is really starting to come into his own as well.

Have a good one!

- Paul

Dominic cuts my hair, and is very good barber too.

 

[Boti2634]

Customer service has pretty much gone down the drain IMO but poor customer service with something as deadly as a straight razor is reprehensible

I hear you, Jimbob. Sad, but true in many cases.

I should've told him to stop and headed for the door. I actually thought about it several times, but I just kept sitting there thinking "it has to get better soon".

It was one of those situations you sometimes find yourself in that's so surreal, it almost seems like it's happening to someone else. (If that makes any sense)

Have a good day, gentlemen!

- Paul

 

[VolpeVerde]

I have never had a barber shave and most likely never will because I enjoy doing it myself, but something about this thread puzzles me. Paul mentions that his "speed" barber took "the largest gash out of my face" and Craig from Cincy says that Boris "tore my face up", yet it appears that both barbers were paid. Am I missing something or is there some etiquette that states that the barber shall be paid, no matter what facial damage they cause? If I went to have a "Professional" shave my face and his carelessness drew more blood than a weeper, there is no way that the so-called "professional barber" is going to get paid by me. And I find it disgusting that any barber would still try to charge for a shave while he is washing the blood off his hands and razor.

 

[bsmith]

I have never had a barber shave and most likely never will because I enjoy doing it myself, but something about this thread puzzles me. Paul mentions that his "speed" barber took "the largest gash out of my face" and Craig from Cincy says that Boris "tore my face up", yet it appears that both barbers were paid. Am I missing something or is there some etiquette that states that the barber shall be paid, no matter what facial damage they cause? If I went to have a "Professional" shave my face and his carelessness drew more blood than a weeper, there is no way that the so-called "professional barber" is going to get paid by me. And I find it disgusting that any barber would still try to charge for a shave while he is washing the blood off his hands and razor.

While I agree with you on principle the practice of receiving a service then not paying for it could present a much larger problem then the gash ever could.

 

[ironfist]

Ive had one barber shave before. Was from a turkish guy. Was nice, explained everything he was doing (I silently knew everything anyway but chose not to say out of politeness). It was an ok job but he clearly didn't pay any attention to my beard growth. The burn on my neck I had later....the burn

 

[Evbo]

My worst ever shave was from Boris at the main AOS store in Manhattan, he simply tore my face up, and it cost an arm and a leg at that.

Was it the store @ 46th & Madison? I think the same guy shaved me once, years ago. I'll never, ever do that again.

 

[geunho]

I am very sorry to hear about your experience! I have not had the opportunity to seek out such barber shops myself... but I will do so with care when I do!