Pantene Awash with Disgruntled Customers

October 5, 2006, 12:00AM. By Jane Mundy

Lycoming, NY"Pantene is lousy," says Sandra Desautels. "You are supposed to leave the conditioner on for three minutes and it will mend your hair. But nothing has changed, if anything my hair is worse.

I used Pantene products every second day for about 5 years; I have been a loyal customer. But this stuff doesn't do what it says; I definitely think this is false advertising. If you came over to my house, you'd find a lot of half-empty bottles of Pantene products in my bathroom cupboards. I tried just about every product they have on the market but nothing worked. They aren't cheap and over the last few years I have spent a good deal of money.

Just add it up: $6 each for conditioner and shampoo; that comes to about $12 per month, and I'm not even counting all the other hair repair products I used. That totals $600 just for the basics. And none of this stuff works. I wonder if the people at Proctor and Gamble have actually tried it themselves - it makes you wonder.

Lincoln, CA"I bought a lot of Pantene products," says Darlene, "one for damaged hair, Daily Renewal, Restore, and the one for thin hair that promises your hair will get ten times thicker. Instead, my scalp got real dry and itchy and my hair started to fall out. I pulled hair out of my drain daily. I didn't even use up all these products - the frizz control, root lifter, the works. They just take up a lot of space and a lot of money. Now I see commercials on TV for Pantene Ice that is supposed to make your hair shiny. There's no way this stuff will work. The repair product I bought is useless; Finesse works better, at half the price.

Pantene, who are you trying to fool? I guess me, for one. I even bought the bottle that supposedly makes your hair blonder but people said my hair looked darker. I am not going to buy any more Pantene products.

Magalia, CA "Pantene promised results within 14 days and you keep buying more bottles thinking it is going to work when it doesn't," says Nancy Owens.

Every time I saw a TV commercial or an advertisement in a magazine I was convinced that the next bottle would work. I thought it would strengthen my hair, but it never did. My local drug store showcased Pantene in the aisles so not only are you bombarded with false advertising by the company but the store you trust is also pushing Pantene.

Procter and Gamble just spends more money in product placement. It'll catch my eye and I will buy it. It's marketing 101. If you put snake oil at eye level and package it convincingly, it'll sell.

I want my money back because I spent a lot of money in good faith, thinking that I was purchasing a product of superior quality and I was disappointed time after time, thinking that there was something wrong with my hair because it wasn't working. My hair is medium-thick and curly; I thought it would give me longer and stronger hair, easier to manage, just like the ads promised.

I kept buying Pantene religiously with no results. Then I saw a lawsuit about Pantene on your website and thought, I am going to do something about this! I would like my money back and have Proctor and Gamble come forward and make a statement, They should say the following:

'When we were marketing this product, we made claims that Pantene would improve everyone's hair and didn't put a disclaimer saying results would vary.'

Proctor and Gamble has been around a long time and the company isn't hurting for money - they don't need to falsely advertise products. If you come to trust the name, you trust the product. I won't ever buy this product again. From now on, I will think twice about buying anything from Procter and Gamble. Why should I trust any of their other products?"