comment: >
  
  You gotta look at the reviews and ask for pictures of their past clients hair. 
  I noticed small business salons tend to have more experienced staff. Chain barbers that have a higher turn over rate aren't going to have many seasoned people. 
  I know the pain because I have never looked good cutting my hair myself.
context: I once chose a new barbershop because it was close to my work and had a good review on Google.  I was moving soon, so I wasn't finding a forever-barber, just needed a cut.
  I go, and it's all old men getting their hair cut with clippers.  There's playboys in the waiting area and a beer fridge for customers.  This is a place where old guys go every 3 weeks or whatever and "get the usual," which appeared to be with clippers.  
  I got in the chair with my curly hair and asked for the cut, but insisted he not use clippers.  Everyone started making fun, saying he probably didn't know how to use scissors anymore.
  The dude nailed it, gave me one of the best haircuts in years.  He was even shocked that I found his place on Google, says he hates it.  I'd love to go back, but live nowhere near there anymore.  Some people DO have the skills. >
  
  So many great barbers exist. All my barbers even went to start their own shops with money they made from cutting hair. If they sucked people wouldn't traffic it like that. OP is just ignorant in this area. It's like saying there's no good restaurants anywhere and all any can serve is hot dogs. Not how it works in reality. OP logic is nonexistent. >
  
  Reality is, there's no good chain barbers. Just like there's no good chain restaurants. How can something so personal as skill be packaged into an instruction set? Answer is that it can't.
  So finding a good barber means finding a hole in the wall joint with likely no marketing to speak of. It's just not something that Google can really help with much.
  Same goes for hairdressers. Women find that one woman who's got a chair in her basement and hope she never dies. >
  
  I think part of being successful in the modern business world is the ability to market. You do not need to be a big chain to market effectively. Plenty of small businesses can and should capitalize on the digital tools available to drive their business upward. 
  That being said, I do agree chain establishments seem to suck the life and charm out of an enterprise. You can tell when you walk into big chain establishments that there is no soul there. >
  
  These sorts of small businesses live off word of mouth. >
  
  My barber is a retired Marine in his late 30s, maybe 40. He says maybe 10 words total through his entire day and always has dvds of 90s shows like Tool Time running. The waiting line is always over an hour because he doesn't suck and can do anything you describe to him. You yell him what you want and he just does it with no further explanation needed. I've even seen him do "exotic" hair cuts and designs in people's hair.
  Find a different barber.
  Edit: Home Improvement...Tool Time was the show inside the show 😆 >
  
  What a legend lmao >
  
  Dude needs to up his price if he has a line out the door >
  
  But at a certain point he's gonna start getting compared at least price wise to other higher end places, and lose customers.
  Anecdotally, my barber who I went to well into my mid 20's had a $15 haircut and $20 haircut + beard trim for the longest time. Like long enough the paper it was printed on got yellowed from age. He didn't have a line out of the door (we're a smaller town) but from what I heard he never was hurting for customers. He never advertised other than just having his shop window and barbershop pole. Really good guy, barely said five words to you, etc etc. >
  
  That's how much he charges for a basic cut and beard trim as well, $20. >
  
  I told him to trim some off the top and he gave me a fucking fade.... >
  
  I moved across the country, but I got my barber to write a little instruction/ notes for the next person before I left with what I usually had done. It literally spelled out 1/2 inch off the top with scissors. Guy gave me a buzz cut. Went right down the middle with the razor as his first move so it was too late to go back. >
  
  Really hope you didn't pay for that shit >
  
  Sadly I did. Didn't tip though. It was only like $20. The guy was recommended to me and so I didn't want to make a huge stink. >
  
  It’s like he literally said “fuck this i don’t want you as a client” in the first few seconds after reading the note >
  
  Then he could just have said "fuck this, I don't want you as a client" and not have ruined the guys haircut... >
  
  Yeah but then he doesn’t get ~$20 and a story about messing with the guy with a note from his old barber >
  
  Barbers really are a spoiled bunch of elitists nowadays tbh.
  Most of them are from who I've met.
  My barber didn't even do a fade after I asked him to, and then still charged $35. An absolute disgrace. >
  
  Can literally give my barber a pic of any cut I want and he does it flawlessly.  Your barber sucks find a new one. >
  
  Little do you know every pic you give him, also a fade. >
  
  He cuts men and women's hair, so nice try though. >
  
  Those women probably look very handsome in their fades >
  
  😂 >
  
  The owners of barber shop chains have been pushing for a race to the bottom in terms of training hours at cosmetology schools for a while now.  This is the result of that.
  Yes, you do need that extra 500 hours of training.  No matter how much you want it to be, cutting hair is not unskilled labor. >
  
  This problem could be solved by going to old barber >
  
  I've cut my own hair since 12yo, went to an old barber a month ago, and it was a nice experience.
  $17 for full service, cut, straight razor shave, the works.
  The new guys wanted to schedule multiple appointments, the first being just them "getting to know you". I just wanted my damn hair cut. >
  
  "The new guys wanted to schedule multiple appointments, the first being just them "getting to know you"."
  Lol wtf.  Nice scam if you can pull it, I guess. >
  
  Ahh yes the "consultation" appointment. Because they can't possibly cut your hair without a 15 minute meeting you pay for and then a couple weeks to think it over. >
  
  They need time to do the hand sketches and then the 3-D renderings. >
  
  I have a barber (in NYC) that I've been going to for 11 years. I've had 1 haircut elsewhere in that time. Leo is a real professional. His English is mediocre at best, but bring him a pic of what you want and he delivers. Every. Damn. Time. His shop also serves free shots while you wait. >
  
  In my experience the best barbers in NYC are from somewhere else. >
  
  In NYC, I feel like this paradigm applies to most things >
  
  Maybe the ones you saw just suck? There's a reason many people stick to one barber. >
  
  I've just moved back to Canada after living abroad for years. My barber there was great. 
  I've gone to a different barber each time since I've been back, and they have all sucked. 
  I will show a photo of what I want, and walk away looking nothing like it. 
  My photo is just short sides, a little longer on top. Something easy that doesn't really need much styling. 
  They always leave the front super long, and style it brushed back. 
  I don't understand... If you see the photo, do it to the photo. Don't just do whatever you want. >
  
  Why not just say at the end "I wanted it shorter, can you fix it please?" >
  
  Because it doesn’t matter… I’ve been getting an undercut for years and everytime I go to the barber and say that’s what I want I they always try to talk to out of it or react openly disgusted that I want that hairstyle, professionalism is dead >
  
  Undercut was my fav cut growing up then I became a barber and I think because we’re so used to blending cuts/fading the undercut goes against everything we’re taught, it’s complete opposite. So the first time I had someone ask for that (they didn’t call it am undercut) I was quite iffy and thorough out the whole cut I would ask if they were sure and is this what you mean because I didn’t want to screw it up if they weren’t explaining it right to me ya know?! I hope to them I wasn’t looking disgusted it is just so rare to do them now a days & I’ve had many people explain things way different then they mean. >
  
  I mean it’s the most classic cut, a timeless look so I don’t really understand why my barber was so hesitant >
  
  That's why I don't go to barbers anymore. I go with hairdressers. They don't stick to clippers only. >
  
  That's literally the difference. Barbers specialise in clippers and shaving. Hairdressers specialise in scissors and styling. >
  
  No, the difference is that barbers primarily cut men's hair. >
  
  You wanna google that and see? Or you wanna ask the barber I live with?
  I don't dispute that barbers primarily cut men's hair, but that is not the difference between their professions in the first place. Plain and simple, barbers are trained to specialise in clippers and shaving, hairdressers specialise in scissors and styling.
  Gender doesn't come into that, other than men tend to have shorter hair that favours clippers, as well as beards that they may want tamed, and women tend to have longer hair that they would like styled. A woman going to a barber isn't going to get the colouring, styling and treatments she would like, and a barber can only do so much due to their training to favour clippers, rather than scissors. There are of course exceptions to this, where men have longer hair they want styled and vice versa. In this case, that man would have a better time going to a hairdresser than to a barber. That's nothing to do with gender, and all to do with hair.
  Funny that. A discussion about barbers and hairdressers actually being about hair, and not some other thing?! Who would have ever imagined?! >
  
  Alright, I guess my tone could have seemed bad so your aggro response is warranted. Given my history going to barbers, I've basically never met one who wouldn't cut my hair well with scissors, so I thought your distinction seemed off. 
  I did Google it since you asked me to. If I Google "what do barbers specialize in" the answer it gives me is "A barber's primary focus is cutting men's hair". The true distinction (according to the internet lol) is that barbers can use straight razors. >
  
  "barber vs hairdresser" will give you several results that will tell you it's the tools of their trade that differ. There's even such things as "men's hairdressers", who primarily cut men's hair, but again will focus on using scissors and styling techniques over clippers. And it's not that they won't use scissors, or hairdressers won't use clippers - it's just not the PREFERRED tool for the majority of their work. 
  I dunno. I guess it just irks me when people don't know the fundamental definition of something, and then complain about that very thing. It pays to learn what you're getting yourself in for, before doing it. Saves a little disappointment in the long run. >
  
  I think it has more to do with the fact that those who go to school (idk wtf the course is called, styling or whatever) all pay for the same cheap, shitty classes and come out with the exact same skills.
  My aunt is a stylist/hair dresser, both her and her coworkers actually put in the effort and money to learn.
  It's the same with makeup tbh. Everyone takes the same class and learn the same shit from some idiot who only knows how to do ONE thing and they all do the same shit then teach others how to do said shit, so everything becomes boring and everything's the same >
  
  This is the most accurate answer. These people here need to go to a salon not a Barber if they want a nice haircut. The haircutters there are on different levels of expertise. You pay more for someone who's more experienced and less for someone who's just starting out in the salon as a stylist.
  Reddit is very lowbrow, and they don't understand that you'd have to pay more for something that's quality, and that includes haircuts.
  And if you're a woman, at least around here.. women at  paying at least $300. We Men men get off easy.. we're only paying 40, 50, $60 to get better haircuts. >
  
  Wtf even are those prices? I live in Sweden and my cousin always goes to high end salons to get her hair done and it's never more than the equivalent of 150$. A decent haircut for a man with a good barber is about 20$ >
  
  Prices for hairstyling vary wildly by location within the US alone. >
  
  As a dude, I gotta say your best bet is go to a woman. I go to Sportclips and my lady always does a pretty good job.
  I find women are more excited to give men a good haircut since men don't usually care about their hair as much as women do. If you are very particular about your hair than I recommend finding your one you trust. I understand why artists and performers bring their hair people on the road with them. >
  
  Yeah I've also generally had a better experience with female stylists. Also just... not going to a barber helps. Like go to an actual hair salon and try those out. >
  
  Bingo. I've always had the best luck at salons, male or female stylists. Plus you get the shampoo, which is awesome. >
  
  My female stylist/hairdresser double shampoos (or maybe it's shampoo & conditioner? ). One about midway through and then again at the end to get rid of any cut hair before she styles it.  So relaxing and almost puts me too sleep. 
  The barbers I've gone to just vacuum it. 
  But the barber spends about as much time or longer perfecting my beard compared to my head. The hairdresser leaves it mostly to me besides a slight touch up. However I've never really asked for much on that end whereas the barber just does it implicitly. 
  The downside of the hairdresser is I pay $60 flat vs $40 flat at the barber. Idk the actual prices as I always pay in $20s & round up to nearest $20.  The hairdresser gets a massive $20+ tip while the barber gets a roughly 15% tip.    
  The hairdresser gets a massive tip bcus I once missed an appt due to being sick and when she got off, she brought me like $50 bucks worth of groceries, drove like 30min across town, dropped them off on my door step, and then wouldnt let me pay her. The whole deed had to take  1.5hrs of her time. 
   That was about a year ago & I haven't gone anywhere else since, once every 2 months massively tipping customer for life now lol. >
  
  I typically tend to just stick to salons. And I always make it clear I want a female stylist. Almost every time I've had a male cut my hair It's pretty much the situation. I tell them what I want and instead they just decide to shave all my hair off and give me a fade and it takes them 20 minutes to try and perfectly shave the angles of everything. Of all the people I've had cut my hair have had maybe about six or seven males do it. Only one of them was amazing and he knew what I wanted and he didn't stick to that b* so I am 100% on your side.
  Be like me and just go to a salon. I don't care about that Toxic macho BS. That's cool as some barber shops might be, a salon is just where it's at >
  
  I’m a dude with long hair.  Gone to a chain a few times, but a salon is where it’s at. And they give me a female cut so no fade biiiitch >
  
  Ya, but don't you pay twice as much? >
  
  If you have longer hair it makes sense that you pay more since it takes more time >
  
  Does it, though? I usually just want it trimmed which takes like 10 minutes and I still pay out the ass. >
  
  Find a salon that charges less for trims vs a full on haircut >
  
  any barber born after 1993 can’t trim. all they know is fade, charge they phone, rip vape pen, listen rap music and lie. >
  
  They phone? >
  
  Did he stutter?? >
  
  I suppose that’s a plausible explanation for such a monumental abuse of language. >
  
  Ahhh lmao r/whoosh for me. >
  
  There’s this old school barber a neighborhood over from me. He gives cuts out of his garage but he’s a great stylist. You got to find the right barber bro. >
  
  Yep, and don't even try getting a beard trimmed. Mine is quit solid and I'll only ask for that if I can see that the barber has a beard himself >
  
  100%. I'm a barber and I tell my clients that I'm going to be as picky with their beards as I am mine. And for the guy who cuts mine, I've followed him around to 4 shops over the last 7 or 8 years and won't go to anyone else. Too many people want to slap a guard on and go to buzzing vs actually trimming and shaping a beard. >
  
  
  Too many people want to slap a guard on and go to buzzing 
  
  That's what I do, to be fair.
  But at home, myself. If that's the level of service why would anyone go to a professional and pay them a fair amount of money. That's simple enough for anyone to do at home.
  There's definitely a lot to improve there... which is why people learn how to do it much better... >
  
  I can’t even find a barber who can actually fade. They just go skin to hair, no fade. And then tell me that “my hair is a struggle for them”. 
  Finding a trustworthy and skilled barber will always be a challenge. >
  
  Where are you finding barbers that know how to do fades? >
  
  NYC. Every single one. >
  
  That's required because of the amount of black and brown people there >
  
  I remember going to a barbershop and complaining that the last barber gave me a fade when I explicitly asked them not to. She sounded shocked, asked for a picture of what I wanted, and.... gave me a fade. >
  
  Not much better as a woman…
  Nobody LISTENS. >
  
  As a barber, I'd mostly agree. I'm 28, have been cutting for 4 and a half years now, and own my own shop. I'm fortunate enough to have spent time during my days off from barber school watching and learning how to cut hair from a man who got his barber license in 1955. Flat tops, pomps, mullets, slick backs, regular old gentleman's cuts, and long scissor only haircuts are no problem for me. Every haircut gets finished off with a hot lather and straight razor neck shave the old school way. 
  Most of the shops in the area only do fades or one length all over well, and get lost using a pair of shears which leads to me and the barbers I've trained fixing their mess. They don't even do shaves, or if they do, they use cold gel and no hot towels. The only ones we don't get weekly repair jobs from are guys who have been cutting 30+ years and learned correctly. I blame schools only teaching to pass a test, not how to cut hair. Since I'm licensed as a master barber, I spent more time learning color, perms, facials, and nails in school than I ever did learning how to cut hair. It's super detrimental to everyone in the chair, not just those behind it. >
  
  Bro where do you live you sound like what I’ve been looking for >
  
  Go find a barber shop near any military base.  It's always ran by old dudes who could be your grandfather.  They know what they're doing. >
  
  Was it just me or were the shops on base the absolute worst haircuts you’ve ever had? I don’t know what it was but man it was always bad. So yeah I went off base for mine lol >
  
  Sounds like you need a new hair dresser >
  
  Bald is always an option. Join us >
  
  I'm on my way! Only a matter of time. >
  
  Find yourself a self employed barber and stop going to chains. >
  
  I actually agree with OP. My barber of 8 years moved out of state a few years ago and I tried a new barber every month or two since and finally found one suitable about 3 months ago. I feel like I’m settling though because I’m still only about 80% pleased with their work but there’s not many left in my immediate area to try. It sucks. >
  
  Go to a salon then.. most barber shops do mainly men's cuts. And most men's cuts are a fade of some kind. 
    If you want medium length hair and no fade or long hair and just a trim up. Then a salon is what you need. Unless you have stylist type barber shops near you.
  Wear I live there's basically 3 types a hair places. Military.. hipster.. salon...  I go to the military one. Because I can do a low or medium fade and style the top and sides how I want and still cost 10.95..  verses getting the same thing at the hipster place for 28bucks and they fluff it up a bit for you. >
  
  This is the way. I've had my hair short and long at different points, and like you said salons do it way better for medium/long and barbers tend to be more skilled at the short men's cuts. I went to a barber instead of a salon once when my hair was 8" and I wanted like half cut off, that was a humbling experience >
  
  a bit unrelated to your point but im kinda tired of seeing fades on everyone >
  
  Hood barbers are like this. They know nothing else aside from a fade and that’s why each time I thought of leaving the little hair salon I used to go to for a barber that can do a nicer fade I was more disappointed because that nicer fade took an hour and then the top of my hair was only cut just a little because they don’t know how to cut hair on top right. If you’re a barber reading this, learn to cut the top of the hair. You’ll keep clients if you can do this. >
  
  Have you, perhaps, asked for something other than a fade? >
  
  Upvoted, in my area they just learned how to do the fade, it was only an option at one or two barbers now they all offer it. I like to cut my own hair since it saves me money, every couple months I'll get a professional to do it and it never looks quite right. When I wanted a fade 4 years ago I found a barber to do it and it wasn't even good it was uneven, so I honestly just don't trust the barbers in my city. >
  
  Gotta agree with you. The quality of barbers has gone down and the quantity has increased along with their prices.
  Had a dude screw up a 1… a GD 1! Like that’s the easiest thing you can do! >
  
  After we moved from Ukraine to Ireland my husband complained a lot about irish barbers. He had to finish his haircut at home himself. Then he found some Iraqis barbershop and it’s fine. I advise you to look for places where immigrants from Eastern Europe or Middle East work. Due to the culture in these countries beauty industry clients’ expectations may be higher >
  
  I might just have bad ones in my area but they tend to be worse for me. >
  
  Yep, our experience is not statistics >
  
  It obviously depends on which barber you go to. You could be talking about barbers in your area though. In which case, maybe you could book a hair appointment when you are on vacation or at grandma’s house? >
  
  I'm going to agree with this. I went to a barber in town at the recommendation of my brother, he loves the place and I got the worst cut of my life. Guess which one of us has short hair and which got their 8" hair trimmed to half the length
  It's a highly regarded place, they just only seem to know how to do the short fade type cuts >
  
  Find a women. They are the best. I have short hair, I mostly buzz it myself, but on special occasions I got to my girl Elvira and she is the only person I've found that can actually do a tape up. Everyone else it turns into a mid to high fade. >
  
  "A women" >
  
  Sorry I made a mistake. God forbid. >
  
  You said nothing wrong, wtf 🤣 >
  
  I find that women or places that mainly focus on women’s hair are best for me since I have long hair and they know how to work with it >
  
  
  Barbers really suck these days and have next to no skill.
  
  Add a "my local" in front of this sentence and it might actually be debatable. >
  
  Or any of the chains.  
  I've heard this complaint from guys before, or something like it and when I ask where they go it is always something like Cost Cutters or Great Clips.  Kind of the whole you get what you pay for thing at that point. >
  
  Anyone who goes to the McDonald's of hair cuts and complains they didn't get a top tier hair cut or style is borderline brain dead and should just stick to the classic bowl cut so the rest of society knows what they're about. >
  
  I’d say my barber is very good. I go in and he does the same thing every time and it’s great. >
  
  I honestly dont know how to judge a barbers skills since my style is quite simple. >
  
  I've been going to the same gay Asian hair stylist in the city for 10 years. He gives me a great traditional haircut and has earned my business as long as I'll live here, probably for life. >
  
  I only let men over 55 get near my hair. No matter the cost. >
  
  My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy because if I go to a new barber, I interview them first. I like to know who is cutting my hair and how long they've been doing it for.