Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids in Durham, NC

First I love the look of this place and how it appears to make kids feel at ease.   But my experience didn't match the fun and carefree vibe.  Our appointment was at 2:30 and we weren't taken back until 3:15 or after.   After being contained for 45 minutes my toddler started to grow cranky from the wait.     This did not make for a good start to an already anxious experience of getting a first hair cut.   They didn't have the package with the picture as their picture machine was down.   And no one came to apologize for the wait after I waiting for so long.  I had to ask when we would be up.   The hair stylist was patient and kind and that was the only nice thing about the experience.  I won't be back because unfortunately long waits with a small child is not ideal.

This place has problems on multiple levels. I took my daughter to get her hair cut there a little over a week ago and it was pretty mediocre. It's pretty overwhelming. The stylist was late, so we had to wait even though we had an appointment. There are kids everywhere! I felt like I was in a disorganized chucky cheese. Each station has a tv on and the stations are super close together. I kept bumping into the parents next to me. I was trying to keep my daughter in the seat, listen to the stylist, and advocate for what I wanted. I tried to tell the stylist to cut more off but I just gave up. After multiple attempts of saying " shoulder length, I'm not attached to her length, 2+inches..." and her continuing to repeat that we should come back in 6-8 weeks, I just gave up and let her do what she was gonna do. She trimmed her bangs and took maybe an inch of her hair. She was in and out in under 10 minutes. I left saying I probably wouldn't bring her back and just went about my day. Then yesterday came. I noticed she was scratching her hair. I began looking and sure enough, she had lice nits in her hair.  She isn't around any other kids and 7-10 days is the life cycle of lice... so coincidence? My daughter isn't around other kids in close contact like that so... I'm not sure if the stylist cleaned her combs, honestly I was just more focused on trying to keep my child from jumping out of the car while she was cutting her hair. I called the location to tell them and they just told me they would contact their supervisor. She didn't take a call back number, didn't say sorry, nothing. Just ok, we will contact our supervisor. I'm not saying we got lice here, but....

My 4 yr old grandson is TERRIFIED to get his hair cut. I was previously told by an employee of Cookie Cutters via FB messenger it would be fine to bring him in to "check it out." So Tuesday, 7/11/23, I brought him in. There was one lady working, finishing up a haircut. We went to use the restroom while waiting to talk to her (we did not get any sort of greeting from her when we walked in). We came out of the restroom, she wasn't finished, so my grandson (and granddaughter) played on the slide. When the lady was finished, she finally acknowledged us and asked if she could help us. I explained to her why we were there - to let my grandson see what its like there and let him "just look." Luckily, he seemed to be fairly comfortable just being there and playing on the slide. I asked the lady if her, or anyone there had been trained to work with kids who have special needs. Her response was, "Ma'am, we do the best we can. We do have kids with autism, etc., come in." So I took that as a 'no,' that no one was trained in that respect (the one positive is that she did explain the process of the haircut experience, but did so in a very 'scripted' manner). According to your website, "We provide a caring environment where we put both the child and the parent at ease. Our stylists are skilled in cutting hair for all children and provide that extra special touch for those with special needs." Because of that, I expected a warm, friendly, caring welcome for both me and my grand kids, which was NOT received. Then, since I could tell she was annoyed with us being there, I told the kids we had to go. As we were leaving, my grandson said he wanted to sit in a car (which I thought was a positive thing, that maybe we could let him sit real quick then make an appt to come back for a haircut). The lady heard him say he wanted to "ride" in a car. Her very quick response was, "No ma'am. The cars have been sanitized and only customers with appointments can sit in the cars." With that, I thanked her and we left.

My wife called me today, crying, because of the experience she had at this place.

I would like to thank the young lady working today, Vanecia (please excuse me if the spelling is incorrect.), for not making my wife's experience there worse.

However the assistant manager, Temea (I could care less if I spelled your name right.), was absurdly rude to my precious wife.

My wife and sister have been discussing taking my son and nephew to this place for months.

Instead of a fun experience where my child would receive his first professional haircut it was a nightmare.

Temia did everything in her power to give my wife a hard time. She shoved a sign in my wife's face, after my wife threw a diaper into a near empty trash can she angrily bagged it up and threw it outside, told my wife she wasn't watching my son correctly while my wife was babysitting my infant nephew and niece while my sister sat with her son for her first haircut, then to call the police because my wife asked her what her deal was.

If you are reading this, Tomiah, then please know I will be contacting this business until I speak to someone in charge and make sure they understand how rude you are to people being business to this establishment.

The one star on this review goes to the sweet lady who cut my nephews hair.

All the blank spots are because of THE ASSISTANT MANAGER.

I would definitely NOT recommend this place. I asked the stylist to do this hairstyle on my son and THIS is what I got. A bowl cut. My brother had to try and fix my sons hair. My poor son's hair looks ridiculous and he doesn't even like it! I'll continue to go to the Cary location from now on.