Barbershop Friends — Attraction in Los Angeles

Do not book a haircut from Rafa. This is the first review I've ever written for anything because I thought it was necessary. I've gotten my hair cut here for the last 2 years and never had a bad experience until now. This is the only bad haircut and surprisingly unprofessional interaction I've had at Barber Shop Friends on Santa Monica Blvd and it was with Rafa. Will never book with him again. I called and booked a haircut appointment with Rafa for 2:15. I show up at 2:17 feeling bad for being a couple minutes late but am relieved to see he is still giving a hair cut to a previous customer... That feeling of relief quickly fades. I sit down and wait for 25 minutes for him to be finished and it constantly looks like it will only be a couple more minutes at max because the guys haircut was clearly done and Rafa wasn't cutting his hair anymore, just slightly poking at the edges every 15 seconds. This continues until 2:40. At 2:40 he takes the smock cover off of the guy so I stand up glad the wait is over because I have a busy day, only for Rafa to put it back on and continue the poking at the guys hair. I politely ask Rafa how much longer he needs, a woman sitting next to him translates my words into Spanish as if Rafa doesn't understand. I didn't get an answer so after an awkward silence I said "10 more minutes?" hoping he would understand. He nodded and said "ok" so I got up and went on a quick walk so I wouldn't have to wait on the plastic chair watching him do nothing for 10 more minutes. I come back 10 minutes later and thankfully he is done. Without greeting me he just looks at me and then the empty chair, so I sit down and point to one of the templates they have on the wall for a simple haircut. He changes it saying I may want a different one. Rather than arguing or trying to explain what I wanted again only for him not to understand, I agree to a different template because it was similar and I was already tired of having my appointment delayed by 35 minutes. From the start, he was very rough with the trimmer, felt as though he was dropping it into my skull on purpose with every cut. At the end the upper side part of my head had hair that was much longer than I wanted and longer than both the images that had been referenced so I asked him politely to cut it a bit shorter. Then in broken English he replied "next time tell me from the start you want that", I was surprised, because minor adjustments at the end were common, every time I had been there before they had had no problem and always asked at the end if you want anything changed, but not with Rafa. He was clearly annoyed I had asked him to change something very minor. I pointed to the picture on the wall and said how the image showed shorter hair than I had, and he repeated in broken English that I should "tell him next time". He started to put the hair cover smock back on but I having had enough just raised both of my hands and politely said "its ok" signaling I was done. At that point I had accepted that a suboptimal haircut that I didn't want was more palatable than interacting with Rafa any further. I had to repeat a few more times "its ok" and started to lift the smock before he understood I was done and unbuttoned it from behind. I stood up, politely asked how much it was, and tipped him 5 dollars, although I should have tipped zero. He aggressively just looked at me and said "BYE" and so I walked out.

I WOULD recommend getting your hair cut at Barber Shop Friends, just not from Rafa. Besides him they are all very friendly, polite, and professional, and they serve...

I been coming here for about a year .i usually cut my hair with the Lebanese gentleman such a good guy. He does a good job. However with all that being said, his co workers are rude unprofessional and are constantly bickering. They seem to have a lot to say to each other, not paying attention to the details with customers. I asked him to push my fade up just a bit after he showed me his work at the end of my cut the guy next to us gave me a bunch of grief about that. On another occasion they must have assumed I could not speak Spanish while they bad mouthed me after I told him I was waiting on the guy who usually cuts my hair. Those are only a couple examples on how these so called barbers behave. I won’t be coming back anymore. I had it with these jokesters. Completely rude guys who don’t appreciate people coming to spend their hard earned money. I would stay away if a professional courteous and welcoming environment is what you’re...

I want to be fair when I write this review,

I’ve been there twice, the first time it was great , the guy on the left when you enter the shop who cut my hair was great and polite.

But the 2nd time I went he was busy so the first guy on the right side once you enter the shop cut my hair and it wasn’t a pleasant experience at all. I literally left so upset.

Started that they have the weirdest rule where the client doesn’t face the mirror so everyone I need to see the process I have to ask which absolutely nonsense. Then the guy kept asking me to relax and he repeated it 3 times which actually got me upset. Plus he kept talking to all his coworkers in Spanish and his mouth just an inch from my ear which not appropriate as he was loud and I didn’t know if he is making fun of me by speaking in another language. BAD BAD experience.

The place is...