Barbers on 25th — Local services in New York

Paul has done a great job cutting my hair several times.

This last time I tried to get a haircut here went poorly, unfortunately. When I walked in for my appointment, another employee (despite being on a video call with headphones the whole time) curtly informed me that Paul was out of town. Even though I'd scheduled with Paul, no one had bothered to contact me to let me know. I expressed surprise, and this employee said that I had no reason to be concerned and that I should just get in the chair. No thank you... and then he decided the best direction to take things was to make condescending remarks about the customer's hair.

Yikes. Mike and Paul are both chill, but I hope they can address this issue in the system and the tone of the other employees before I come back.

Ps. After posting this review, I received a dm on social media from the rude employee (NOT Mike), criticizing me for leaving the review. Thanks for the reply, Mike, but...

Giving 2 stars instead of 1 because it's possible the other barbers are of a higher quality. This is for George. Arrive for an appointment, he's outside smoking and seems annoyed I'm there. Fine, I'm just here for a cut, not conversation. I try and be super specific about what I'm looking for (most specifically about which parts not to cut) but he just goes to town on my hair like it owes him money. Two times I say to him hey bro, no more off on that part and he just barely acknowledges / still seems annoyed by life. I just shut up at that point and let him do what he wanted. Inevitably it turned out poorly, which he then realized at the end when he blow dried it and it was cooked. He became a lot more sheepish after that.

It's one thing to have a bad attitude, it's new york I don't care, it's another to let that interfere with your ability to do your job and consequently the service that a customer is paying...

I found Mike after my old barber went MIA. I had been going to the same guy for almost a decade when he disappeared, hopefully to retirement and not “disappeared”, but who knows. After I was barberless I hopped around looking for a good barber who wasn’t going to overcharge me and who wasn’t going to butcher my hair. One kept me waiting for two hours, one would never be open when he said he would, and one used thinning scissors on my hair which resulted in one of the worst cuts of my 30+ years.

Then I found Mike, who was tucked away on the block behind me. Mike fixed the thinning shears issue, and has consistently given me a quality cut for what feels like over a year or two. He takes card (but bring cash), doesn’t over charge, and remembers you. Everybody is a part of the conversation and it’s a welcoming experience. Highly recommend him to all of my friends...