Hairstylist refuses to continue doing her cousin's hair for free after she complains that she ‘overcharged’ for $30 of product expenses: 'I am done, go to a salon and pay full price'

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Feb 16, 2026 5:00 PM EST

She was only charging her cousin $30 for braid work that required a full day of work, and even after a year of doing her cousin's hair for free, the relative still complained about being overcharged.

The service industry is tough for small business owners. When you're selling a service, over a product, oftentimes, customers will get the idea that they can haggle, devaluing the time and expertise required to perform that service. This is extremely apparent in the world of hair styling. For some reason, when customers buy a product, the price is set, and that's that. There's no arguing the cost of an iPhone at the Apple store or a laptop computer at the electronics store. The price marked is the price you pay. And yet, when it comes to services, those principles don't apply anymore. 

Suddenly, the proprietor providing those services must be open to discussion surrounding their pricing, and customers lose all sense of normal purchasing instinct. 

This goes double for family members of a hairstylist. 

After spending a lifetime as a hair style guinea pig to their now-professional family member, relatives feel entitled not only to special pricing but maybe even services free of charge. This is convoluted, though, because despite knowing that a loved one relies on the income from their professional career, relatives will still insist on getting some freebies. 

A cousin started to take advantage of the family discount with a family member who was a professional hair stylist. After over a year of coming in on a weekly basis, stealing weekends, and making her cousin work double overtime to get her hair just right, she started bringing along her kids and, evetually, their friends. Now, everyone was demanding free hair styling. They say that if you give an inch, family members will take a yard, but this cousin took more than that, she started negligently stealing her famiyl member's time and money 

So when the hairstylist finally mustered the courage to call her out, she decided that it seemed fair to simply charge her cousin for the products that they used. Frankly, for a service that normally costs upwards of $500, a $30 product fee was still a steal. But this entitled cousin wanted free free, not the new family discount. 

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  • Woman doing her cousin's braids in the salon.
    via RoGina

    Woman doing her cousin's braids in the salon.

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • AITJ for refusing to keep doing my cousins hair for free after she told people I was overcharging her
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • So I do hair on the side. Im not in a salon or anything I just learned from youtube and practice and honestly Ive gotten really good at it.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • Braids, twists, silk presses, protective styles, all of it. Its something I enjoy and I do it from my apartment on weekends when I have time.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • My cousin started coming to me about a year ago asking if I could do her hair. She has two daughters and wanted all three of them done. I said sure and because shes family I did it for free. Every time. For a whole year.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • At first it was like once a month which was fine. Then it turned into every other week. Then she started showing up with her friends kids too asking if I could just squeeze them in real quick.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • My whole Saturday would be gone. Sometimes Sunday too. Im talking eight nine hours on my feet doing heads for free while she sat on my couch watching tv on my phone.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • Woman getting her braids done at the salon.
    via NickyLloyd

    Woman getting her braids done at the salon. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • I finally told her I needed to start charging something. Not even full price just like thirty dollars a head to cover the products I was using because that stuff isnt cheap and I was going through it fast. Thirty dollars for hours of work.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • She lost it on me. Said I was being money obsessed and that real family doesnt keep a tab. Then I found out she told people at a family cookout that I was trying to overcharge her for basic hairstyles. OVERCHARGE. Thirty dollars. For braids that take three hours.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • Woman getting her braids done at the salon.
    via NickyLloyd

    Woman getting her braids done at the salon. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • I told her Im done. Dont ask me anymore. Go to a salon and see what they charge you and then think about what I was offering.
    via Outside-Mortgage7765
  • virexaine Thirty dollars for three hours of skilled labor isn't overcharging, it's charity with a tiny handling fee. She spent a year treating your Saturdays like her personal salon and your
    via virexaine
  • couch like her waiting room, and the second you asked for gas money she branded you a scammer. That's not family, that's a customer who never intended to pay. Let her find out what a real stylist charges.
    via virexaine
  • Any-Atmospher... She's probably trying to save money by scamming you. Start saying no and MEAN it! You need rest and downtime. Plus she's entitled, rude, and up to something.
    via Any-Atmospher
  • PompousTart ⚫ I'd lay a bet that she is charging her friends to get their kids done.
    via PompousTart
  • AgateCatCreati... This is no different than a family member using you as a wallet/atm and expecting it permanently.
    via AgateCatCreati
  • You need to set a boundary. You m need to do what you did, stop and tell her no more. Products and equipment arent free for you Even worse bringing other NON FAMILY and expecting you to do their hair too. No asking first just expectations.
    via AgateCatCreati
  • You did the right thing. "I AM DONE GO TO A SALON AND PAY FULL PRICE". She is pissed you asked for anything to replenish the supplies that you used, as I said the equivalent of an atm or wallet.
    via AgateCatCreati
  • TheMarkMatthews You have been a doormat too long you are better off - without family like that
    via TheMarkMatthews
  • Woman getting her braids done at the salon.
    via NickyLloyd

    Woman getting her braids done at the salon. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

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