Man, I moved to a new city a little over a year ago and am still struggling to find a barber that can give me a proper cut. I thought it would be easier out here because I'm mixed and moved from a city that's 86% white to one that's that's like 46% black. Nope. The black barbers look at me like "wtf are you doing here" and give me a rush job. The Latinos give me the cold shoulder because they think I'm also Latino and seem offended I don't speak Spanish, so they give me a rush cut too. The white folks do try, but they don't see a lot of clients with textured hair. I just miss the rude ass Brooklyn Puerto Rican that cut my hair back in my old city. He wasn't friendly, but you didn't leave his chair looking like a clown.
This is going to sound risky, but when you sit down in the chair, and they ask you what you want, just vaguely let them know and don't get descriptive. Any styling questions outside of the broad "longer on the top shorter on the bottom, a fade, etc" just say I'm gonna trust your judgement on that. I used to get my shit fucked up constantly then tried the hands off approach and have never gone back. I don't even have any one barber, works pretty much every time.
I always bring a hat when I go to get a cut, as soon as I get back to the car it goes on. I mostly pay them to do the back I can't see well. I can fix the front myself, and usually touch it up a couple of days later.