TONI&GUY Covent Garden — Local services in London

Most disappointing haircut ever. I needed a haircut quickly and my usual place is closed on Mondays so I decided to go to a big brand chain thinking it would be an okay and reliable place, I mean I have the most basic long hair style so surely they should know how to do that. I asked for long layers which is what I've been getting for years and know what it's meant to look like on myself, I literally just needed a trim for split ends. I explained my hair is fine and even with styling it needs the layers to give it shape, otherwise it looks dull. The stylist looked like she watched a YouTube tutorial just before doing this cause she didn’t seem like she knew what she was doing at all. I'm not sure how to explain it but every time an experienced stylist cuts my hair they move with intention, however the stylist today was pausing before every move as if she wasn't sure what to do next, the strands kept slipping out of her fingers, the cuts she was making were uneven and it took her many tries to get a piece straight. In my experience stylists will usually get equal chunks of hair from both sides of the part and cut them together at the front to make sure they’re even - my stylist did the two sides separately instead and then kept comparing them to see if they’re even, which they weren’t, so she kept cutting more and more. If you’ve ever had layers you’ll know they will usually pull strands of hair from different sections and cut them at an angle, she did NONE of that, she literally pulled HALF of my hair directly up in one piece and cut it like that on both sides, then nothing else. The whole cut took less than 5 minutes and I promise I am not exaggerating. She looked confused the whole time. I think I honestly did better cutting my own hair during covid with no experience. She then rough dried it and proceeded to curl it with a flat iron (even though I told her curls won’t hold) with absolutely NO heat protectant or product, which was concerning because my hair is quite healthy and I should have spoken up about this while it was happening but I also don't think a stylist should need to be reminded to use heat protectant when using heat tools. I don’t know much about heat damage but my hair smelled bad as she was doing it and the smell lingers hours later. Apart from the heat protectant she also didn't use any product at all so I knew whatever style she does will be gone in 30 minutes anyway. She then put hairspray on the back of my hair only and of course the curls fell before I walked down the street. When I asked if she can add more volume she said my hair is too fine and heavy and she really tried (she used a round brush to dry the whole top of my head in one piece for 30 seconds max, again with no product). She then said I am "more than welcome to have a go myself" which I found ridiculous given that I was literally paying her to style my hair. I know my hair can hold volume because I do it at home, it just needs a bit of mousse and a blowout but she couldn't be bothered and would rather delegate that to me. My hair seems fine and definitely isn’t botched or anything, but it is at best a very sharp face framing rather than layers of which there are none, it's so flat it looks like it's stuck to my head, it appears thinner than before and smells burned. Usually I would just take the L and move on but what prompted me to write the review was even my boyfriend pointed out my hair smells strangely burned when I got home and I realised I should have spoken up and asked for at least a partial refund given how lazily the haircut was done. For £87 this was the most expensive wash and rough dry I ever had so I definitely cannot recommend. To add, the stylist was over 15 minutes late because of train delays which I completely understand, however I also arrived this morning by a delayed train, except I know how disrespectful it is to the other person's time to be late so I made sure to leave early enough to still be on time (not to mention if it was me who was late my appointment would undoubtedly just...

A while back I had a horrendous experience at this branch. The issue and my disastrous visit were flagged to HQ and I eventually received compensation in the form of products (which I didn't ask for or needed), but to be honest the brand had damaged its reputation for me so much, that I never went back here again.

Nevertheless, Tony & Guys shocking experience always comes up when I'm in Covent Garden as I remember it vividly, that once I got home after the treatment and experience I cried for a good while. I thought I should share what has happened back then, to make other consumers aware.

I had booked an appointment online through their booking system for a weekday at 1pm. I selected the cut and blow dry option and then checked which date and times the booking system suggested to me. I saw the next available slot was with Alex at the Covent Garden Branch for £45 and so I booked myself in for the appointment.

On my arrival I was greeted by a very rude receptionist. When I checked in she said there’s no booking in my name for 1pm, instead it was 12pm and I was harshly told “you’re actually late”. I was so shocked by the rudeness that I was left speechless at first. I explained that there must be a mistake as I’m at work at 12pm and always book my appointments for 1pm. The receptionist didn’t apologise for her snappy behaviour, instead she insisted that “this is what comes up on the booking system”.

I got my confirmation email out, which confirmed that I had booked a cut and blow dry with Alex for 1pm. She snapped back at me “that there was no need to become difficult now”. She further told me that Alex is a colourist and doesn’t do haircuts, which again I explained that I had booked through the online system and his time and stylist came up when I booked a cut and blow dry.

The receptionist disappeared and ignored me for the rest of my stay. After a while they allocated me to a stylist, called Elle. She didn’t introduce herself and went straight into “what needs to be done?”. I felt really intimidated by her as she was very short and abrupt which made me feel highly insecure. The following experience was one of the worst I’ve ever had with a hairdresser. The small talk was awkward and distant, at no point did I feel welcome at Toni & Guy. My hair was chopped off within ten minutes and when asked how I’d like my hair to be dried, I said I’d like it straightened. The stylist then started arguing with me why I want it straightened when I’ve asked for layers. Direct quote “why did you want me to put in layers when you want your hair now straightened?” I was not prepared for that attitude if I’m honest. I’ve also asked her to adjust my fringe so it falls naturally with my layers and she pretended to not understand me, which intimidated me further.

The rest of the “experience” was basically that I kept quiet and just let her finish. I wanted to leave so badly. She eventually finished my hair, which was barely cut and not what I’ve asked for. I went to the reception to pay, to be greeted by the store manager. She apologised for the “inconvenience with the booking system” which I said was fine. I do understand that technical faults can happen and it is ok, but I was not ok with the way the staff spoke to me or treated me throughout my entire stay.

On top of that I was charged £65 for the “haircut” which I felt was a rip off. I explained that I usually book a stylist for £45 as it was suggested to me when I booked the appointment online and that I’m now forced to spend more money when really I had no chance to choose the stylist myself. This has left me further upset and angry.

I wanted my hair cut and instead faced a toxic and hostile environment, the quality of the stylist’s work which wasn't good enough and on top of that got punished by being charged a horrendous price for...

I booked an appointment for 9 am on a Saturday at the Covent Garden branch the night before. I went in to cut my split ends, tidy up my fringe and refresh my undercut. The 9 am slot was the only one available for the day and therefore the only option was to go for the highest tier of professional for £85, which I expected would come with corresponding quality of service.

The whole time I felt like the professional could not be bothered with the service. The conversation would sometimes end abruptly without the professional replying to my questions that followed after what I thought was a normal conversation. But talking is not why I went to this salon.

When I asked the professional to tidy up my undercut they pursued to as they said "even out the sides" as according to them "they were uneven". When I asked whether they do a lot of undercuts they followed with a not-confident "Yes" that made it seem like it was not true. On one side of the head, the undercut was half cut to 0.5 and the upper half looked longer, more like a 1cm. After I asked the profession to even it out, not much has changed. I have not been shown what went on with the undercut at the back of my neck. I understand if that is not the usual area of expertise for the stylists at TONI&GUY but I would rather the professionals told me directly if they were not confident performing the undercut.

During the whole cut, all I was given was the white loose cape they put on everyone at the beginning of the appointment, regardless of the service. So after all the cutting was finished I was covered in tiny hair, especially from the undercut, because no special neck cover was put in place that is usually used when any cutting of hair is performed. I continued to brush my hair off and itch for the rest of that day. The professional attempted to clear the hair from my neck with a blow dryer but it was never going to work since the neck cover is what should have been used by a professional.

The fringe cut was alright but the transition between the fringe to the ends of my hair at the front was made to be more abrupt and careless than I had it before. I assumed that shorten the fringe would imply keeping the transition as it was before or that at least I would be asked clarifying questions about the transition between the two.

When I was asked what blowdry I wanted the professional seemed to not even be looking at me, no clarifying questions were asked regarding the blow-dry and I even doubted for a second whether the stylist even heard me. The final blow dry was not what I wanted and I did not bother correcting the professional cause honestly at that point I just wanted to leave the hairdressers as soon as possible. The blowdry that was done became undone in the 5 minutes after leaving the salon. I understand that perhaps this is not something that the professionals can control but nevertheless, it did not help with the feeling of unprofessionalism and carelessness.

I usually go to TONI&GUY for their professionalism and the high quality of service as I don't trust any other hair salons in London. So this experience left me rather disappointed as the quality of the £85 haircut was so much worse than what I usually get elsewhere. I wanted to treat myself for my birthday by going with the higher tier professional but only lived to regret that choice.

After sending an email to customer service i heard nothing for a month, hence the 1 star service, which would have been 2 star if this was resolved via email. I would avoid this practice and honestly do not want to attend any TONI&GUY...