London hairdresser sparks outrage for appearing to charge extra for 'special needs' cuts - 'Awful!'

London hairdresser sparks outrage for appearing to charge extra for 'special needs' cuts - 'Awful!'

Watch: GB News' Mark White's barbershop investigation

GB News
James Saunders

By James Saunders


Published: 05/04/2024

- 07:58

'I was told to never bring my child back again in front of my son which caused him to have a meltdown', one reviewer claimed

A hair salon has sparked outrage after images appeared online of its price list - which appeared to charge customers extra if they had "special needs".

Leanne Caffrey, from Sutton, South London, posted photos to social media of Rayna Unisex Salon's price list after she had brought her children there to have their hair cut.


But Caffrey captioned the image with some scathing comments; she said: "I never out small businesses. But this has made me really cross."

The photo shows the salon's price list - the barbers charge between £12-£15 for boys' trims, but being disabled apparently carries a surcharge of at least £2.

\u200bRanya Unisex Salon/pricing

Ranya Unisex Salon came under fire online for its "special needs" surcharge

Google/Facebook

The publicisation of the salon's prices drew some ire - and it too took to social media to defend itself. In a statement on Wednesday, it issued a strongly-worded apology, and vowed to remove the "special needs" pricing altogether.

The salon claimed the prices had been on display for "a long time", and insisted it hadn't actually charged any disabled children extra.

It added that the surcharge was in place to account for the different lengths of time it took for barbers to carry out the cuts.

But the salon's owner told the Express that the idea was, in fact, aimed at special needs children - to show that it could give them the "extra time and attention that they need".

MORE LIKE THIS:

Salon social media post

The salon took to social media to defend itself against the backlash

Facebook


The salon said: "My apologies to everyone. This is a total misunderstanding on my behalf - please allow me to explain what I mean by this: I treat all adults/children the same - I don't discriminate any children/adults that have learning difficulties and disabilities.

"The prices sign shown in the picture has been in the shop for a long time, and I can assure you we haven't charged any special needs children that price.

"However, sometimes we do charge an additional £2 just to help towards costs, due to the length of time that it can take for me to cut hair - as this can vary from child to adult.

"[It has] nothing to do with disability and is communicated at the time. We are very trained to deal with disabilities and... we try our best to make having a haircut a happy place for everyone.

"I'm saddened by the way this has been taken; me personally and my staff have always done our best to be strong members of the community and we love to speak with you all on your visits.

"Thank you for highlighting this - we will remove that pricing from our board, and I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding."

But the apology was not enough for some customers; one said: "If you are charging extra to someone with a disability it doesn't matter if its £1 or £2. It is discrimination which is against the law."

Another commenter said: "What if it doesn't take longer despite a child having additional needs? Do you still charge extra? I really think you need to be fully inclusive and charge the same rate regardless."

While a reviewer said: "Please do not go to this hairdresser he is awful to autistic children. I was told to never bring my child back again in front of my son which caused him to have a meltdown."

GB News has approached Ranya Unisex Salon for comment.

You may like