Wow! Such good value I think I'll have two! (Toni & Guy)

Member Name: Boonoiy

Product:	Toni & Guy
Date:	05/04/02 (5212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Coffee and a magazine while you wait for the dye to set in

Disadvantages: Price, price, ahem.....

I've been warned about being sarcastic on the site before but I really can not condone the prices charges at these "salons" for the haircuts and the hair products (all just vosene with a bit of perfume chucked in you know).

Toni&Guy - the bass and tenor sections of a Midwest barbershop quartet for all I know - is a hairdressers. I presume you all know that and will cajole me for my stating the obvious, but there you are.

I'm in a bad mood today.

In the past 2 weeks there have been 3 people I know duped into being saloned (you know what I mean) by these people and a total of over £300 has entered their hands for haircuts (and dyeing and stuff too but haircuts is basically it) which have now, well, call it "expired" I suppose. I really can't understand these peoples' happiness.

(Names changed to protect the innocent)

1 - Meredith's story:
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Good old M, she's always been a bit vain and a bit keen on the whole "Image" thing so, after advice form friends and others who are equally vacuous she headed off to T&G to get her hair lowlighted (apparently this involves a plastic cap with some holes in it and a tub of dye darker than her actual hair) . The appointment was made and she duly turned up to be greeted by a hairdresser and shown to her seat. Down she sat, on went the cap (must've cost them about £2.50 - I'm sure there's a hairdressers' "condom machine" type thing for these somewhere in the UK) and some hair was pulled through and duly dyed.

Now I'm told that there's about 3 years of training goes into the staff of these salons, after 3 years you can fly aeroplanes and direct companies, so you'd expect the results to be pretty fantastic.

Sorry, back to Meredith. Her wait was made pleasant, cups of coffee were offered (think of the price of a jar of Maxwell House - quality ser
vice is nothing without it) and magazines were proffered and 20 minutes later she was rinsed off and had a haircut.

"Haircut" n. The cutting of hair involving a pair of scissors or clippers as appropriate and, usually, a comb.

Off went a couple of strands and a charge of £130 (how I wish I could write that in a much larger font) was processed on her credit card.

Waiting patiently in the pub were a group of 3 mates (Myself included) and in she came with, well, I can only call it a haircut! I think I expected miracles and a total change in her appearance but NO, NO NO NO NO NO!?!? a slightly darker sheen had been added and not a single noticeable change had been made to the length/thickness/waviness/anything of her hair. I'm assured that there are huge changes going on but I'm really not sure. Jennifer Aniston's hair has not magically appeared on the head of my friend which, from the photo she took into the salon with her I imagined it would. For that price you can get a great look-alike wig and still have change for a curry for 4!

Now, 2 weeks on, there is nothing to differentiate between the Meredith of last month and this.

She is still very pleased with the result and is planning to return next month for a touch-up.

2 - Eva's story:
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Same shop (salon or barber or whatever) in London, quite possibly the same barber (stylist/professional con-man) as Meredith and a very similar price.

Now Eva has much shorter hair than M and, I wouldn't have thought, it would need a lot of work done on it.

T&G prove us wrong - an hour in the chair, the use of some hot tongs (these have been known to slightly scorch the delicate cheeks of certain unnamed parties of which I'm aware) and a trim.

£80 less off and a couple of days (Days mind you) later she looks just like she did the morning before her appointment.

An additional
£51 was spent on hair products from the salon. They used to run travelling medicine men out of towns all over the world for selling bogus "miracle cures" for a fortune in this way.

3 - Lorraine's story:
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There's no point in hiding it, my very own girlfriend has been into a T&G salon and blown £100 on her hair.

She's got great hair, really thick and VERY curly. Cropped short on the top and with a bit of a fringe she should never (in my humblest of humble opinions) have much trouble keeping it in order.

NO.

T&G have seduced yet another young girl into their clutches with a promise of eternal beauty for a minimal (hah) charge.

A cut and a change of colour on the fringe - KER-CHING - that'll be a hundred quid please.

The salons and Overall:
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London, Paris, New York, Edinburgh etc. Their dominance of the world is almost complete. Addis Ababa is holding them off for now but they're firing up the siege engines as we speak.

The salons in London are the only ones I know anything about Putney High Street is the scene of the (can't really get away with crime can I?) activity on M and E's hair and the lonely north London (OK, swinging Camden Town) was responsible for Lorraine's experience.

To get an impression of what you expect when you walk in think "rows of mirrors, chairs which rotate and both raise and lower and a lot of men with scissors and combs walking about cutting hair" It's a barber's shop is it not? Just because you pay a fortune does not mean you are getting a fortune's worth of hairdressing expertise, you're getting a haircut. Pure and simple

(gonna be there) STOP THAT.

so why pay more than the odds?

T&G have the world mapped out for them, they make money hand over fist and provide mediocre hairdressing that is very ofte
n unnoticeable.

I won't even comment about my recommendation/lack of it - just leave you to guess for yourselves ;)

Have a look but go next door for the same thing at a tenth of the price.

Summary: