For the past five years I've had the same barber. He's an amazing barber and has built a huge following of raving fans. The only drawback has been that he doesn't take appointments – only walk-ins. So, when I needed a trim I would call him to ask how many people were waiting. The average time for a haircut with him is 20-30 minutes so depending on how many people were waiting it could be a while. Up until recently I was able to justify my 60-90 minute wait for a haircut – take the Blackberry and work while I waited.
At the beginning of June he reduced the days that he's open which only caused there to be a longer wait time. Six weeks ago I stopped by to get my haircut and there was one person in the chair and eight waiting – at least a three hour wait. I could no longer justify the wait time, even though I absolutely love the guy, so…I've found a new barber.
Bottom line is that people can love our products, our services and our brand but if we can't take care of them when they need us to take care of them they are probably moving on.