Choppers Family Hair Salon Shamblehurst Lane South, Hedge End, Southampton SO30 2FX

"My daughter came in today who had a haircut. The haircut itself was OK, but the person cutting the hair on this occasion doesn't seem to be too well suited to cutting young children's hair. Quite abrupt and unfriendly."

"I brought my son here for his first haircut, which I booked the appointment under after hearing some good reviews about them being children's experts. However, the experience we had was just awful. From the get-go, the hairdresser didn't even acknowledge or say hello to my son and just asked me to put him in the chair (or car). Given this was his first haircut experience, he wasn't quite sure and got a bit upset. Still, the hairdresser didn't acknowledge him and his uncomfortableness and continued to proceed with the haircut and put the cape around him. Of course, with this, he got more upset - as any one-year-old would in this scenario. After a while, the hairdresser finally acknowledged him, but not in the manner you'd expect from a 'trained professional' who deals with children on a day-to-day - she just directed his attention to Peppa Pig on the TV and asked him to 'stay still'... He was still quite upset at this point, so I decided to get him out and hold him in my arms to let her finish - or start - the service I was here for. She then proceeded to tell me 'I will just trim the back', after I had asked her for the full haircut, which felt like an effort to get me out of the door quicker. At this point, my son was a lot calmer in my arms, so she managed to 'finish' the haircut this way. (She trimmed the sides and top, leaving a lot of hair still around his ears and back.) After the haircut, with my son still being upset, she asked if we'd like a photo (we booked a ‘first haircut’ option which was £13 and includes photo and lock of hair), but of course I refused, considering it wasn't a pleasant experience for us both. It just showed me the lack of empathy or understanding she had. By the end of the appointment, I felt as if the job hadn't been done completely, but I thought it best to just pay for the service and leave to not further upset my child. The whole thing felt rushed, and a nice moment was made to feel terrible. In hindsight, I wish I said something, as it may have made them change their attitude for the rest of the day. I am just disappointed of this experience of my child's first haircut, when they are meant to be 'children's experts'. Even their website description reads: "children’s specialists who are particularly experienced with children who find having their haircut distressing", but this isn't the case - certainly not in my experience anyway."

"We have been here before and have had good experiences with other hairdressers. Today was different. No greeting just a mumble to “sit here”. My 3yr old son asked to sit in the car, she refused. She was quite rough with holding his head and made inappropriate comments such as his ears being cut off if he moved. She told him off for moving each time. He told her she did something “ouchy” and she just kept going and ignored him. She even dismissed me when I repeated it was hurting him! We most certainly will not be back for a haircut. Poor attitude, impatient, awful with children."

"Wouldn’t reccomend this place to anybody wanting to go with their baby for their first haircut. We imagined it to be quite a special moment but it just ended us feeling really disappointed. We arrived and a lady came up to us and said ‘put her in there’ pointing to the cars…didn’t welcome us, or try and make our daughter feel welcome. She’s 1 and a whole new experience for her. Our daughter instantly started crying and the lady just started chopping at her hair and continued even with my daughter screaming and arching her back etc. she didn’t allow us to try and settle our daughter, she just continued trying to cut at her hair even with our daughter being our arms to try and calm her down. We had a few comments thrown at us about how little boys sit their calmly and that we’d have trouble with our one in future. We booked a ‘first haircut’ option which was £13..which includes a lock of hair, and a photo. She basically rushed us to stand against a wall and took a camera out which we weren’t expecting at that time whilst my daughter was still visibly upset. We don’t reccomend this salon, we feel the lady needs to put some time in to welcome babies better in the salon and have a baby friendly approach. The whole thing felt rushed, and a special occasion was made to feel terrible."

"Would NOT use again! Took my 2 year old son for a haircut today, our usual hairdressers was fully booked so after having a look online decided to try choppers as it states on their website & i quote "children’s specialists who are particularly experienced with children who find having their haircut distressing" Well my son has always found haircuts distressing as was upset before we enter the salon. The stylist said 'whats wrong with you' , told him to 'stop being silly' 'it doesnt hurt' , when i said he doesnt like clippers she replied 'im not even going to attempt it with scisssors' , apart from some length being taken off the top, his hair looked almost exactly the same as we came in, at the time my son was very upset and shaking and my first thought was to get him out so i paid but i wish i hadnt! I had to take my son to another barbers today put him in more distress to rectify this terrible job. We were in & out within 10 minutes, the stylist was not welcoming, patient, engaging with my son to make him feel at ease at any point & actually stated his crying was upsetting the other ladies quiet afternoon. Either you need to change the wording on your website or train your staff to deal with children with extra needs better!"