Get what you pay for ? (Toni & Guy)

Member Name: Timestar

Product:	Toni & Guy
Date:	15/11/02 (1497 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality cut, Well-trained

Disadvantages: Cost (?), Attitude

As a long term (ish) customer of Toni & Guy it has been interesting to read the various opinions about the salons. I think it is important to realise however that most of the views are based on only 1 salon, and that many of the salons are franchises who pay to use the name. My own experiences that follow are based on regular visits to 2 T & G salons over a period of about 5 years:-

1) What do you get for the money?

The salons are done out to a high standard and they look like you would expect for such a well-known high-style place to look. The 2 salons that I use are always kept clean to the extent that when the weather is wet the floor is regularly dried to keep it looking neat (and indeed safe!).

2) Customer service:

I have always been well treated and offered a variety of drinks (usually more than once) and never been kept waiting longer than 10 minutes. I kind of agree with one of the reviewers in that some of staff can appear to be quite stand off-ish and aloof. With some of them you do get the feeling that you are being looked up and down when you walk in and being checked out to see if you are fashionable enough to come in! Most staff wear the obligatory all black of the modern hairdresser and carry high fashion styles. Maybe it is just this that leaves us feeling like mere mortals?

I know that some people, and indeed a couple of the reviewers here, feel they have sometimes been pressured into going for a particular look or style. I have not had this problem although I had one stylist who used to cut my hair shorter than I wanted. But, once I pointed this out she stopped. We are after all paying customers and they don?t want to lose a client!

3) Professionalism:

T & G are rightly proud of their high level of training and all salon employees, no matter how experienced, have to undergo the T & G training when they join the company. I have had my hair cut by a range stylists from a junior (or &quo
t;stylist" as they call it) up to a creative director. Even the junior staff cut hair very well and you can see them taking time and care when cutting your hair. However, things can be slightly less than perfect if you go during a busy period - such as on a Saturday. Then you do sort of feel as if you are on a production line and - apart from the actual cutting - you can be left in the hands of the trainees. To be fair however, aren't all shops like that when they are busy?

4) Cost:

Going to a T & G salon is not cheap, unless you go to one of their academies or have your hair cut by a trainee. You have to bear in mind that the nice décor and the complimentary drinks have to be paid for some how and so these overheads are obviously factored into the cost of your haircut. As a well-known brand you are also having to pay part of the cost of their advertising/marketing and for the fact that it is Toni & Guy.

Based on my own experiences I think that it is a price worth paying and I have always been satisfied with the quality of the cut. Also, I currently pay £30 each cut and go about every 6 weeks, which equates to £5 per week. I personally don?t think that is excessive. Think how much you would spend on a pair of shoes or on cigarettes!

Summary: