EE
O2
Vodafone
Three
giffgaff
Sky Mobile
SMARTY
Talkmobile
iD Mobile
Asda Mobile
Virgin Mobile
Missed call text service
for mobile hairdressers & barbers
You cannot stop mid-colour. You cannot put down the clippers halfway through a fade. A hairdresser or barber is holding someone else's appearance in their hands for the entire appointment, and the phone rings through all of it — usually with somebody trying to book the slot you have free next week.
Why hairdressers and barbers miss calls
Every call arrives mid-appointment, because appointments are what you do all day. Answering would mean stopping work on a paying client to talk to a potential one, which is both rude and bad business. So the phone rings out, and the person who wanted a Saturday slot books it with someone who happened to be free to answer.
The maths
What one missed booking is worth
A single cut is modest money. A new regular client is not: someone who comes back every five weeks for three years is worth many hundreds of pounds, and every one of them started as one phone call. That is the real number to weigh here — you are not losing an appointment, you are losing the whole relationship that would have followed it.
TextTheCaller is £6.49 a month. Set against the value of the work above, it only has to keep one caller from ringing the next name on the list to have paid for itself several times over.
What to write in your text
You write the message once and it goes out on every missed call. Here's one that works for mobile hairdressers and barbers:
Thanks for calling Rowan Mobile Hair. I'm with a client and can't answer. Text this number and I'll reply between appointments with my availability.
It sends from your business name
The caller sees your business name, not a phone number — so there's nothing for them to reply to. Give them something they can act on instead: a booking link, an email address, or a time you'll ring back.
160 characters
One SMS segment. The example above fits with room to spare, and we'll show you the count as you write so nothing gets cut off.
How it works
No app, no new number, no contract.
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1
Sign up with your mobile number
Enter your number, pick your network and set your business name. No password — we email you a magic link.
About 30 seconds
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2
Set unanswered-call forwarding
Follow the tailored dial-code or handset instructions for your carrier, then make a quick test call.
One time only
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3
Write your text-back
Use the example above or write your own. Next time a call rings out, the caller gets it within seconds.
Change it any time
It works on your existing number on every compatible UK network, and only ever triggers on calls you don't answer. Pick up as normal and nothing happens at all. If you want the general version before the mobile hairdressers and barbers detail, read the missed call text service overview.
Step two is the only one that changes depending on who your line is with. We have written the unanswered-call divert up for each network separately — EE, O2, Vodafone, Three, giffgaff, Sky Mobile, SMARTY, Talkmobile, iD Mobile, Asda Mobile and Virgin Mobile — because the menu names, the codes each one accepts and what happens after a SIM swap are genuinely different. If you are not sure where to start, the general guide to stopping calls going to voicemail covers the part that is the same everywhere.
Questions from mobile hairdressers and barbers
Yes, and it is the single best use of the 160 characters. A caller who can book themselves never needs you to ring back at all — keep the link short so it fits comfortably.
Only once a week at most, and not at all if you add them to your skip list. Most people put their regulars on it, since they are ringing to rearrange rather than to find out who you are.
Same thing happens. The rule is about calls you do not answer, not about why you did not answer them — driving between appointments is covered exactly like being mid-appointment.
Also built for
Every missed call is a job someone else gets
Keep your number. Two minutes to set up. Cancel whenever you like.
7 days free, then £6.49/mo. Cancel any time.