Peoples Barber

I’ve come to this barber 3 times and even twice at the Oakland location. Every time, I have experienced their pretentious staff, outstanding inflexibility with time, and overall bad customer service. The haircuts are generally cut mediocre and don’t warrant their inflated prices. They attempt to justify their 50 – 60 $ haircut with the warm shaving cream and hipster interior, but I am disillusioned by their business model and I’ve gotten better haircuts and experiences for significantly cheaper.

This place is a real crap shoot. I’ve been a dozen times over the past couple of years because it’s close to my work, but I’ve seen a steady decline in the quality of the cuts and customer service. You might get a great barber and wonderful service, but about half the time you’ll get a surly amateur who rushes you out the door with patchwork sides while you wipe your own hair scraps off your face. Peoples’ trendy rise is it’s own worst enemy. They’ve become sloppy. Just look at the polarized reviews here… it’s about ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ good to bad with not much in between. Unless you have a trusted go to stylist, I recommend the many other shops in SF that still pay attention to detail and customer service.

For jonathon — the big dude in the back who is not good at listening to customers. Gave me a terrible cut and was just one lf those barbers who talks to you for ten seconds and then assumes he knows what you want and does that. Told him halfway through that it was enough and I didn’t want to go shorter. ‘Not done yet’. Ten minutes and a hack job later i was outta there.

I come to this shop for one reason and one reason alone: Irish Paul. The last time I came out they called me just before my appointment to let me know he was no longer working at Peoples and that they had someone else available for me (who gave me the worst, most uneven haircut I’ve yet had — I think she just ran out of time and pretended it was there, despite some random locks being twice as long as others). I was crushed, when you have curly hair it’s such a frustrating thing to bounce between barbers who can never seem to cut your hair and give a clean, even look.
I actually lamented the loss of my favorite barber to my friends. Seriously, it weighed on me — Paul is the most precise, balanced, fastest, most professional, and most pleasant to work with barber I’ve had, full stop. Every week or two I’d Google «Irish Paul» to try and find out where he’d ended up.
Lo and behold I found a Unilocal review saying he was back at Peoples and was in to see him within days. As ever, he was the perfect barber and my hair is immaculately cut.
I don’t want to muck about with half-​assed haircuts anymore, so for as long as he’s cutting hair — no matter how far out of my way he’s working — I’ll be coming to Paul.

Absolutely incredible. Had my haircut with Irish paul, he made every other hairdresser I’ve ever had seem like a monkey with scissors. Great atmosphere, quick cut and reasonable price. 100% recommend.

This has been one of my favorite barber shops I’ve gone to of all time. Currently, I’ve been going here exclusively for over a year now and have nothing but good things to say. I’d even go so far as to say I consider some of these folks my buddies as I’m local and often run into them at the nearby watering holes.
Throughout that time I’ve mainly seen Josh and he has helped me evolve my look to fit my style… The days of cutting my own are over… Im tired of that guessing game… lol
Josh is great and its come to the point where I barely need to open my mouth and he delivers awesome work from memory of what I like. If I have a tweak I want to make, he is able to decipher exactly my meaning from my layman rambling. I am always leaving the spot feeling fresh and more confident.

Great cut by Josh!
Took years off hubby! What a cool place to get cut. Free drink and cool décor! It is where you are hip or want to be hip come to get a cut!
We will be back !

Josh is my guy!
hair by Josh Barry — People’s Barber
photos by by Ryan Johnson —
I am obsessed with changing my look. I am also from Barcelona so for years I had the most fabulous hair stylists one could want, so moving to the US was hard. I have paid hundreds of $ in Washington DC and NYC for mediocre haircuts. No one seems to want to take the risk to be creative and propose something cool, but they charge you like they did. I found a really good salon, but having chopped my hair, my new look requires monthly visits. I decided to try People’s barber because it looked cool, was affordable and is just a couple blocks from my house. I did not know anyone there but Josh had an opening the next day. I literally feel like I won the lottery! He has been cutting my hair regularly for months now, and I love it. It’s basically the best haircut I have ever had. Last time I went to see Josh I was going out and at least 20 strangers told me how amazing my hair looked :)
A few things to know:
— This is a barber shop, so you may be the only woman around. If you are not cool with that this is not your place — I love it!
— When booking an appointment tell them you want a woman’s haircut because even if you have very short hair like me it still requires more time than a man’s haircut — this is especially important if you book your appointment with Josh, because he is a perfectionist and will not rush!
— Josh is a true professional, so he will give you his opinion. He knows hair, how it acts, how it grows, and how it looks with different face features, so i) be ready to hear an honest opinion; and ii) listen to him. A couple times I have suggested something and he told me it would not look great because the shape of my face, my cowlick, etc. I now just let him do what he wants, and my hair has never looked so good.
— Whether you want something classy or something edgy, Josh is the guy. My hair is the perfect combination of both ;)
I have now recommended Josh and People’s to many of my friends, and everyone seems to love it. Ah, and they give you wine!
Photographs by Ryan Johnson —

Really quite woeful customer service.
The first bad experience was when I booked an appointment and then something came up at work on the day I was meant to go. It was easy to book an alternative, but hard to let them know I needed to cancel the original booking. I emailed them, but didn’t receive a response. As a courtesy I decided to call them to let them know that I couldn’t make it. I tried twice and the phone wasn’t answered. The third time I tried the phone was answered and I was told they needed to put me on hold. This meant putting the phone down on the counter without silencing their end and proceeding to bitch about their staff and customers whilst I could hear them. I waited about 5 minutes whilst this went on and finally hung up as I listened to other calls go unanswered and the staff continuing to bitch. I would suggest that if you put someone on hold you should make sure they can’t hear what’s going on, if you know they can, then take a professional attitude. Also, make an effort to get back on the phone to them, at least to offer an update as to how long they’ll be on hold and maybe even to offer to call them back. I had a very quick query, but was not given the opportunity to ask it.
Today I went for my appointment. I arrived on time and was checked in relatively quickly and asked to take a seat. I sat down and waited, and waited. 20 minutes later I had heard nothing. So I went to ask at the counter about the delay. I was told the reason was that my barber was «running late». No apology was offered. It was clear none of the barbers were about to finish so I told them I was leaving. They asked me if I wanted to reschedule and I said no.
It would have been great if the delay had been communicated to me when I checked in. Or if they had kept track on me waiting and offered an update. Also, an apology for the delay wouldn’t have gone amiss.
The cost of this place is significant. I would expect good customer service as a result. I wouldn’t say the above represented good service.
I will not be visiting again and I will be recommending to other people I know not to go there.

I have been going to People’s Barber for over a year now. I learned Jonathan was working there and was THRILLED because it’s so close to my home. I always feel like a MILLION DOLLARS when I leave the Shop because Jonathan not only cuts my hair to perfection, but we have the BEST time chatting and laughing about all topics under the sun! He is very talented at his craft and one of the funniest people I’ve ever known. A great combination for a barber extraordinaire!

I’VE BEEN HERE TWICE AND CAN OFFICIALLY SAY IT’S TERRIBLE. The ambience is nice — your typical old school barber shop — but if you care about your actual haircut or friendly service, go elsewhere. The first time I went I saw Logan and the second time I saw Jonathan.
LOGAN
Logan was extremely unfriendly, borderline mean, and was argumentative when I asked her to use scissors instead of clippers. She at first told me it would cost me more money if I wanted her to use scissors (in addition to the $ 40 which isn’t a cheap cut).
She didn’t shampoo or even wet my hair before the cut. Event Supercuts will shampoo your hair first.
She didn’t ask me how I wore my hair or what I wanted. Just jumped right into it.
SHE CUT OFF MY SIDEBURNS. Not like trimmed them or shortened them a bit. She CUT THEM OFF without even asking me if it was okay. That’s a cardinal sin in my opinion. You don’t just cut off a dude’s sideburns.
JONATHAN
I foolishly decided to go back because I felt it was unfair to judge the place on just one of the barbers.
Next time I saw Jonathan, who was also a dick. Didn’t say a word to me the entire time and just rushed through the haircut as fast as he possibly could. I felt like I was in the military or prison and was just being herded through the assembly line on haircut day. It took him under 20 minutes from start to finish — typically my hair takes about 45 minutes or more to cut.
I also asked him to take off a quarter of an inch — clarified this a number of times — and he took off at least a full inch.
I don’t know if they instruct their barbers to be assholes or what, but in 30 years of haircuts, I’ve never experienced anything like it. The quality of the haircuts here are on par or worse than a Supercuts or Fantastic Sam’s and I genuinely mean that. Plus, the barbers treat you like crap. Don’t make the same mistake I did and pick a place because it looks cool. There are many other good options in the area for less money.

In my 25 years, I have probably gotten hundreds of haircuts, and this was not only the WORST haircut I have ever gotten, but it may have been one one of my worst customer service experiences ever.
Mistake 1: Booking a same day appointment
Mistake 2: Booking one near the end of the day
Mistake 3: Not walking out when I had the chance
I have visited Peoples 2 – 3 times before and am used to a 4 star service here. Nothing to rave about, but I left satisfied each time.
I was able to get a same day appointment with Michael for 8 PM on 4÷26÷16. I walked in, and as usual, they offered a drink as I waited. About 10 minutes later, Michael cordially brought me to his chair. We had a short chat about what I was looking for and we started making small talk. He had me facing the outside as opposed to the mirror, which is common as barbers usually want to stand on mats that they keep in front of their chairs. As soon as he started, I had a bad feeling as I could feel he was rushing me. A few minutes in, I could tell he was going further up the sides than I wanted, so I asked him to turn me around. As soon as he turned me around, I noticed how he had basically shaved off the entire left side of my hair. This is not what I had asked for, and he could see the shock/​fear in my face. I immediately told him we had gone too short, and that is not what I was looking for. He acknowledged the mistake and asked to let him continue. I complied, and began thinking about how I was going to fix this. Another 5 minutes go by, and he could see the disappointing look on my face. Instead of asking me how we can fix this, he immediately stopped, and told me: «We are done here, you are not making me feel good as a barber. I will not cut your hair, you need to get out of my chair.» As I was trying to gather my emotions and trying to reconcile how I was going to cover up my hair, he took off my robe and asked me to leave. I looked at the mirror and noticed we were only about half way done the haircut. I absolutely lost it at this point, and reminded him that it’s my hair after all, and I am entitled to my opinion of how it looks. Also, my job is not to make him «feel good» about being a «good» barber. Instead of helping calm me down or fixing my hair, he started shouting at me and told me that he is done with me. After an entire 60 seconds of the entire barbershop watching this go down, another barber (Juan) stepped up and escorted Michael out of the barbershop. The front desk manager proceeded to yell at him outside while Juan tried to rectify the situation with me. Juan brought me to his chair and salvaged what he could to finish the haircut. He finished the haircut but the damage is done — I literally have the sides and back of my head shaved while I wanted to keep the length there.
To my surprise, after his nervous breakdown, Michael came back and was allowed to continue cutting other customers’ hair.
I tipped Juan for salvaging the haircut but did not pay for the haircut. Needless to say, I will never be going back. I am not looking for immaculate customer service, but just common courtesy and basic decency. To clearly ruin my hair and then proceed to kick me out of your chair halfway through is not only unprofessional, it is downright petty and childish.
When you go for a haircut, you are putting trust in your barber. I would not trust your hair to any of the barbers here.

Great place, great vibe. I’ve come three times and had three different barbers. All of the cuts were great.
I would love to give them 5 starts, but their appointment system gets a 1 out of 5. Absolutely garbage. Every time I make an appointment there is a problem. Each time I go on line and make an appointment and then get a confirmation. Once my barber cancelled and they couldn’t get a barber near the same time… okay I got that no problem. Twice they couldn’t’ find me in the system… I had called ahead the last time to confirm and the receptionist was pretty snotty… pretty lame.
Hopefully they’ll get an update to their online appointment system.

It really sucks that it has come to this. Peoples Barber has consistently given me amazing haircuts BUT… this is the second time where I’ve made an appointment and was told that they didn’t see me in the system. This is frustrating, especially since I tend to book my haircuts at least 3 or 4 days in advance.
Today, I called Peoples Barber to confirm my 2:00pm appointment, she insisted that I did not make/​have an appointment and that the only option was for me to wait utill 7:30pm. This is extremely unprofessional and exemplary of the lack of organization that has plagued this one amazing place. I have an event to go to today, and I’m forced to go on a last minute quest to find a *decent* place to get a haircut. Crappy.
I’m very disappointed that, after years of great haircuts, I’m forced to find another, organized, and professional establishment. Hopefully that won’t be ridiculous hard in this city.

I keep coming back to this place, because I consistently walk away with a great Haircut. My last visit, I got a cut from Josh B, who was great. It was really quick, took less than 30 minutes. I gave him a general idea of what I wanted, he did his magic. I was very pleased with the result.
The space is really chill, you get a hot face towel, and it’s reasonably priced. This is my new regular Haircut spot, I will be coming again.

Update ⁵⁄₂₃ — moving from 1 star to 3 stars
Went in to get my free haircut but yet another scheduling issue. My appointment was removed from the specific barber I requested. Apparently an employee for an unknown reason was screwing with the calendar and took my barber off and gave me a generic open time slot! Luckily Juan was able to fit me in but I had to wait an extra 25 minutes and it cut into my haircut time. He’s an awesome dude but it was a bit rushed and no hot shave or wash and product at the end. After looking in the mirror the rush job shows. It’s a generally good cut but lacks detail.
I may try once more but seriously guys. Get the front desk in order!!!
— — — — — — -
2 strikes your out!
First strike, a few weeks ago with the worst haircut I’ve had in ages. How do you mess up a simple cut! its possible when your boyfriend is next and your BS’ing and rushing.
Strike 2, I set up an appointment yesterday, Today I show up and Im not in the system.
Bummer

To start off. I don’t think most people care about their hair as much as i do. I used to get cheap haircuts in chinatown but really started looking for something other than the all so famous $ 8 «Bowl Cut»
The search for a barber took me about 3 years. I went to all the «hip» barber shops and was never really satisfied with the service or cut. This all changed i went to peoples barber.
My Barber Josh is honestly one of the greatest in the city. I have sent many people his way and no one has ever been disappointed. Loyal Customers for life. The attention he puts in to what he does almost makes it seem like he is the owner of the shop. Why does he care so much? Why finish the cut, wash my hair… then spend another 10 minutes touching up things he is not happy with? I should ask him this but its actually pretty crystal clear. This guy takes pride and loves what he does. It makes him happy to see his clients happy.
I actually think I’m a pretty good looking guy. Better looking than most of you reading this. As of lately i have become known for my clean a$$ haircut Josh gives me. Girls have makeup and all this stuff to make them look way better than what they look like when they wake up. Ugly guys just have hair to make them look good. Let Josh make you look good. I promise your tinder swipes will skyrocket like you were related to Bill effin Gates.
To check out his consistency visit
Im their unpaid male model. I move units.
XoXo
Robin

I went to this Barbershop like 1 week ago in Spring Break, i didn’t have a appointment so Dante make me wait like 20 minutes and he find me a barber, they are very friendly and the services its perfect, the barbershop is very cool and pretty. Roberto made me a excellent haircut. I really live this barbershop. Amazing. And i will be back soon. Im not from SF so i hope to go back again. Thks a lot Dante and Roberto

About a year ago, I started getting my haircut from Josh B at People’s Barber. It never ceases to amaze me what a clean job he does. In my honest opinion, Josh is an expert at what he does, and he is an awesome person to chat with. Josh has never let me down, and I always receive compliments from coworkers and friends on my haircut. If you are looking to schedule an appointment at People’s Barber, I highly recommend that you schedule it with Josh B.

I’ve been going to Josh B. at people’s barber for almost a good half year now. Josh is one of the best stylists there, and has always done an amazing job keeping my hair clean with amazing fades. One time he even helped me out last minute, before my company Christmas party, even though i was 20 minutes late. He won’t disappoint you, plus a cool a guy to talk to. Just ask him about Super Nintendo and gundams.