Splitting Hairs

I had to make the painful decision to sever my relationship with my current hair stylist. Don't get me wrong. He's a whiz with the scissors and has an excellent eye for styling. I love him to bits and have been going to him since four years ago!
He's really got things going for him. His uphill climb has also led to an alarming increase in price. He's very sweet, trying to give me discounts and such. But, alas, i decided to end it.
So began my hairsplitting, hair pulling ordeal of finding me that hair dresser whom I can let handle my tresses with no fear. I've had many a harrowing experience BJ (before J****)- like before Christ... Ha Ha.
But yea, I was worried.
I spoke to people. My friends, my colleagues, even my client. Yes. My orbit was informed and aware of my big decision. I even entered a self help site to see what strangers had to recommend. In fact, I chickened out on a referral on the day itself (I'm sorry S**)!
Did you know the considerations a person has to comb through before deciding?
Here's a checklist in case you need:
Brand - this is to narrow down the salons. Often, with the name, you can guess the service level and expertise of their pool of stylists
Designation - who do you want cutting down your tresses? The lead stylist? The Director? Of course you must also be aware of the corresponding increase in costs. Usually, the designation implies a level of skill of the stylist.
Experience - This is incredibly important! A haircut is only good if it accentuates and refines a person's features. And having years of experience behind a stylist also means he has possibly had to deal with many different face shapes and hair textures. Hopefully, this may increase the chances of a satisfied haircut.
Regulars - I also like to find out if the stylist has a following. Like J, some of my friends are still following him faithfully. I guess their paychecks have correspondingly increased while mine kind of plateaued. This means a satisfaction and possibly good customer service!
Well, I've also found nanyate's write up particularly interesting. Three key things stylists need to know. Makes perfect sense.

So where did you get your last haircut?