About a year ago someone on Reddit’s r/auckland started a thread called “Hair salon prices are getting out of control”. It ran to more than 160 comments, and one of the answers Google still shows from it is about a salon on Karangahape Road: The Cut Co, “about $60”, with parking out the back. That salon has 358 Google reviews averaging 4.85 and another 791 on Fresha averaging 5.0. It has no website. On 26 October 2026 we read every Google review, checked the menu, looked up the company records and compared The Cut Co with the hairdressers around it. The first half of this review is for anyone deciding whether to book. The second half is a free audit for the people who run it.
Quick answers
- The Cut Co, 125 Karangahape Road, has a 4.9 rating from 358 Google reviews (26 October 2026) and 5.0 from 791 reviews on Fresha. 328 of the Google reviews give five stars.
- Customers praise friendly staff (71 written reviews), fair prices (61) and getting exactly the cut they asked for (46). Remi, listed on Fresha as the director, is named in 36 reviews.
- Eleven reviews (3%) give three stars or fewer. Five of them are about timing: queues, late appointments or being turned away near closing. Two have a reply.
- On Fresha, a ladies restyle is $70, a men’s cut from $50, a wash, cut and blow-dry $105 and balayage from $280. Booking is online or on 09 302 2838.
- SEO4 Audit Score: 12 out of 30. Strong reviews, but without a website most search checks fail. It measures what people find online, not the haircuts.
Should you book?
If you want a precise, no-fuss cut at a fair inner-city price, the reviews say yes, and they have said so steadily for ten years. Book online rather than walking in, give yourself time if you are getting colour or straightening, and if your hair is wavy or curly, say so when you book.
On this page
- The Cut Co in one table
- What 358 Google reviews say
- What it costs, then and now
- Haircut budget check
- When it goes wrong
- The Cut Co and its neighbours
- Can you check them?
- Who answers a search for The Cut Co
- Marketing audit
- SEO4 Audit Score
- Where The Cut Co could grow
- For salon owners: reviews and your own app
- Common questions
The Cut Co in one table
| Address | 125 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD 1010 |
| Phone | 09 302 2838 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday 10:30am to 6:30pm, Saturday 10am to 5:30pm, closed Sunday |
| Booking | Online through Fresha (the “Book online” button on Google), or by phone |
| Company | More Hair Limited, registered 31 May 2005, trading as The Cut Company and The Cut Co |
| Google rating | 4.9 from 358 reviews; first review May 2016 |
| Fresha rating | 5.0 from 791 reviews |
| Website | None |
Tip: click or tap any chart or screenshot to see it full screen.
What 358 Google reviews say
267 of the 358 reviews have text. The salon’s regulars write short and to the point, much like the haircuts they describe: friendly staff, a fair price, the cut they asked for. Price comes up in 61 reviews, mostly as “reasonable” or “affordable”. About a fifth of the written reviews read like a regular talking: “always”, “every time”, “for years”.
A few reviewers mention the atmosphere, the music and a quiet hour away from the city. Google’s own summary of the reviews picks out “careful cut” and “no rushing”.
Remi is named in 36 reviews, more than anyone else. Karen appears in seven and Oxwin in four.
The reviews have kept coming since May 2016, between 24 and 52 a year, never more than three in a single day. It reads as customers writing when they feel like it, with no sign of a review drive. 2019 was the busiest year and also the lowest-rated, at 4.69. Every year since has averaged 4.76 or better.
A cut above
There are two kinds of people on Karangahape Road on a Saturday: those who just had a great haircut, and those who are about to tell you where they got theirs.
What it costs, then and now
The Cut Co publishes its menu on Fresha, so you can see the price before you book. These were the prices on 26 October 2026:
| Service | Time booked | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Fringe only | 15 min | from $25 |
| Buzz cut (fading $10 extra) | 15 min | from $35 |
| Men’s cut | 25 min | from $50 |
| Men’s restyle, scissors, undercut | 35 min | from $55 |
| Men’s long hair | 40 min | $65 |
| Ladies clipper cut | 25 min | from $55 |
| Ladies long hair, ends trim | 30 min | from $60 |
| Ladies restyle, layers, bob | 40 min | $70 |
| Ladies wash, cut and blow-dry | 1 hour | $105 |
| Perm | 1 hr 30 min | from $150 |
| Japanese straightening | 2.5 to 3.5 hours | from $210 |
| Balayage, highlights, colour correction | 3 hours | from $280 |
So is The Cut Co still the cheap option the Reddit thread described? Reviews let us follow the price back. In late 2018 a customer noted that men’s cuts had “recently gone up to $30”. In 2019 a women’s cut was $35. In 2022 one reviewer gave three stars because a simple cut cost $45. Today a men’s cut starts at $50.
For comparison, Live & Let Dye on Mount Eden Road lists a haircut with wash and blow-dry at $55 to $70, while The Cut Co charges $70 for a restyle and lists the wash, cut and blow-dry separately at $105. Google’s searchers ask whether $30 is a lot for a haircut and what a good price is. In central Auckland in 2026, $30 buys little more than a buzz cut, and a restyle at the salons we checked runs from about $55 to $110, depending on whether a wash and blow-dry are included.
Haircut budget check
Haircut budget check: The Cut Co’s menu
Pick the service and how often you go. The calculator shows The Cut Co’s listed price, how long the appointment is booked for, what a year costs and a few tips from 358 Google reviews.
Prices and times: The Cut Co’s menu on Fresha, viewed 26 October 2026. “From” prices can rise with length, thickness and product, so a year’s cost is a minimum for those services. Tips come from patterns in The Cut Co’s 358 Google reviews. A budget check, not a quote.
How the calculator works
Prices and appointment times come from The Cut Co’s Fresha menu, viewed 26 October 2026. Visits a year are 52 weeks divided by the gap between visits, rounded down. Where the menu gives a “from” price, the yearly figure is a minimum. The tips come from patterns in The Cut Co’s 358 Google reviews.
When it goes wrong
Eleven reviews give three stars or fewer, 3% of the total. They fall into two groups.
- Timing. Five are about when, not how: a queue outside before opening in 2019, a customer turned away twice near closing time in 2020, a colour appointment that started half an hour late in 2022, someone who expected a walk-in salon in 2023, and a dispute over an early arrival in April 2026.
- The result. Five are about the hair: a rushed fringe on a busy Saturday in 2019, colour that came out redder than asked in 2022, a perm and undercut touch-up that didn’t go to plan in 2025, and layers on wavy hair that needed several fixes, also in 2025. One from 2019 says the staff had changed.
- Price. One, from 2022, found $45 for a simple cut too much.
The salon has replied to two of the eleven. In 2019 it answered politely that the staff hadn’t changed. In April 2026 it replied at length, saying the review contained inaccuracies and setting out its side. Replying is right; setting the record straight in public is always a judgement call, because future customers read the reply as much as the review.
Two little words
Every hairdresser knows the two most dangerous words in English: “just a trim”.
The way to avoid both groups: book online and arrive on time, mention wavy or curly hair in the booking, and for colour, bring a photo of the shade and ask the stylist to describe it back to you.
The Cut Co and its neighbours
Among the hairdressers Google lists around Karangahape Road, The Cut Co has the most reviews and one of the best ratings. Killer Hair @ The Workroom is closest on volume, with 312 reviews and more new ones this year, 41 against 30. Hairfit has the highest rating, 4.95 from 109. Where The Cut Co trails all of them except Kaya is in replies: 3% of its reviews have an answer, against 94% at Hairfit and 52% at MO’S Hair.
| Salon | Google rating (reviews) | New in 12 months | Reviews with a reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cut Co | 4.9 (358) | 30 | 3% |
| Killer Hair @ The Workroom | 4.8 (312) | 41 | 36% |
| Hairfit | 5.0 (109) | 31 | 94% |
| MO’S Hair | 4.8 (109) | 9 | 52% |
| Colleen | 4.7 (96) | 11 | 32% |
| Kaya Hair and Beauty | 4.2 (109) | 6 | 0% |
Can you check them?
- The company. More Hair Limited (NZBN 9429034741016) was registered on 31 May 2005, trades as The Cut Company and The Cut Co, is classed as a hairdressing service and has its registered office at 125 Karangahape Road. Its status on 26 October 2026 was Registered. The phone number on the record matches the Google profile.
- Council registration. Auckland hairdressers register their premises with the council, according to Auckland Council’s application form. We found no public list to check online.
- Complaints and news. We searched for news stories and Commerce Commission actions about The Cut Co on 26 October 2026 and found none.
Who answers a search for The Cut Co
From here on, this review is for the owners. Customers can skip to the questions at the end.
Google suggests “the cut co reviews” as people type, and on a phone in central Auckland it answers with The Cut Co’s own profile: 4.9 stars, 358 reviews and 789 photos. That part works. Below the profile, the ordinary results are Fresha, an Instagram account, the Reddit thread, a Yelp page called “THE CUT CO _ APPOINTMENT ONLY” with one review, the Facebook page, a barber-booking app from the United States, an Urban List guide to Auckland hairdressers, and a salon called The Cut in Kawerau.
The best line about The Cut Co on the first page was written by a stranger on Reddit. That’s the power of a good reputation, and the risk of not having a page of your own: the salon doesn’t choose what people read next.
The Google profile
The profile does the important things. It shows the right address and hours, has a big “Book online” button that opens Fresha, and is full of real photos. The description says the salon works by appointment and offers men’s and ladies’ perms, balayage and highlights. What’s missing is a website link, any reply to 349 of the 358 reviews, and prices, which sit one tap away on Fresha. A 2023 reviewer arrived expecting a walk-in salon because of older photos and wording on Google; the message “appointments only” belongs in more places.
Marketing audit
The Cut Co has done the hard parts. It publishes prices, takes bookings online and has built 1,149 reviews across Google and Fresha, its Google reviews arriving month after month for ten years. What it hasn’t done is tell its own story.
- Fresha’s 791 reviews and Google’s 358 never appear side by side, and neither appears on a page The Cut Co owns.
- Remi is the reason many customers come back, and nothing online introduces Remi or the team except a short list on Fresha.
- The salon is twenty-one years old as a company and ten years old on Google. Nobody searching for it would know.
- Instagram (about 370 followers) and Facebook (about 700) are linked from Google, but neither leads to a page with the whole story.
- Nobody advertises on The Cut Co’s name, competitors included.
SEO4 Audit Score: 12 out of 30
The same thirty yes-or-no checks we use for every business. The Cut Co passes seven of ten on reviews, which is better than most salons we have looked at. It fails nine of ten on search because there is no website to check, and the score says nothing about the haircuts.
| Part | Passed | Failed |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews (7/10) | Rating 4.85; 358 reviews; 30 in the last 12 months; no day with 5 or more; low reviews 3.1%; 791 reviews on Fresha; Remi named in 10% of reviews | Replies to 3% of reviews; 2 of 11 low reviews answered; no regular personal replies |
| Search (1/10) | The name on Google has no added keywords | No website, so no title, heading, description, speed, schema, service pages, tap-to-call or HTTPS to check; no own site in the results for its name |
| Marketing (4/10) | Prices published (Fresha); real photos; online booking in two taps; no competitor ads on the name | No promise of its own, no guarantee, no visible registration, no reviews on a site of its own, no recent post confirmed, no page answering Google’s price questions |
How we score
- Reviews: (1) rating 4.8 or higher; (2) 100 or more reviews; (3) 20 or more in the last 12 months; (4) no day with 5 or more reviews in the last two years; (5) replies to most reviews; (6) replies to every review at 3 stars or fewer; (7) replies are personal, not one template; (8) reviews at 3 stars or fewer under 5%; (9) a second platform with 10 or more reviews; (10) staff named in 10% or more of reviews.
- Search: (1) the Google name has no added keywords; (2) the Google phone and website match the site; (3) service and suburb or city in the page title and H1; (4) a meta description; (5) mobile PageSpeed score of 50 or more; (6) LocalBusiness schema; (7) a page for each main service; (8) tap-to-call on mobile; (9) HTTPS and no broken key links; (10) the business’s own site in the top 3 for its name.
- Marketing: (1) a clear promise above the fold; (2) prices or “from” prices; (3) a guarantee explained; (4) licences or memberships that can be checked; (5) real photos or examples of work; (6) a quote or booking within two clicks; (7) reviews shown on the site; (8) a social media post in the last 60 days; (9) the top “People also ask” question answered on the site; (10) no competitor ads on the brand name, or the business defends it.
- Each check scores 1 or 0. Published prices and online booking on a booking platform count; checks that need the business’s own website fail without one.
Where The Cut Co could grow
The Cut Co doesn’t need more praise; it has 1,149 reviews across two platforms. It needs a place of its own to show them. Our view:
| What | Why, from our data | Effort | Likely effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| A simple website: menu, team, reviews, Book button | No site; the first page for its name is Fresha, Reddit and strangers | Medium | High |
| Add the website to the Google profile | Google links Facebook, Instagram and Fresha, but no website | Low | High |
| Reply to reviews, starting with the low ones | 9 of 358 have a reply; Hairfit answers 94% | Low | Medium |
| Ask Fresha reviewers to post on Google as well | 791 reviews on Fresha against 358 on Google | Low | Medium |
| Say “appointments only” on Google, Fresha and the door | Five of 11 low reviews are about timing | Low | Medium |
| Introduce Remi and the team | Remi is named in 36 reviews; the team is invisible online | Low | Medium |
| Show “from” prices on the Google profile | Price comes up in 61 reviews; prices sit on Fresha | Low | Medium |
| A small advert on the name | Nobody advertises on it today, so it is cheap insurance, not urgent | Medium | Low |
A website in one afternoon of content
- A title and heading that say “The Cut Co, hairdresser on Karangahape Road, Auckland”.
- Address, hours, the parking at the back, a map and a tap-to-call button.
- The menu from Fresha with “from” prices, and the Book button.
- Remi and each stylist with a few photos of their work.
- Six or eight reviews from Google and Fresha, and the line “appointments only”.
The first 30 days
- Week 1: reply briefly and calmly to the nine low reviews without an answer.
- Week 1: add “appointments only” to the Google description and the first photo.
- Week 2: add a line to the Fresha booking confirmation asking happy clients to review on Google too.
- Week 3: publish a one-page website and link it from Google, Fresha, Instagram and Facebook.
- Week 4: search “the cut co” from a phone and check what comes first.
For salon owners: reviews and your own app
The Cut Co shows what ten years of reviews with no bursts looks like: 358 Google reviews, with no bursts. Here is how long it would take your salon to get there:
Salons near K Road: how long to catch the review leaders?
The Cut Co has 358 Google reviews and adds about 30 a year. Hairfit has 109 and added 31 in the last 12 months. Put in your own numbers and see how long it would take you to pass them.
109 and 358 are the Google review counts of Hairfit and The Cut Co on 26 October 2026; the calculator lets them keep their pace of the previous 12 months (31 and 30 a year). Reviews alone don’t decide Google’s map: distance, categories and the website count too. The defaults are an example, not any salon’s figures. A year is 48 working weeks.
Quote and Job Organiser: SEO4’s free app
Quote and Job Organiser is a free Android app on Google Play. We built it for tradies, and salons use it for the jobs that need a quote first: balayage, colour corrections, straightening, bridal hair. No account, no subscription, no ads, and your data stays on your phone.
- Quotes with your own prices, NZ GST and a quote number.
- A PDF on the spot, sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp.
- An accepted quote becomes a booking, with the client and price carried over.
- Notes and photos for each client, so next time starts where the last one ended.
Salons usually want more: their menu, a reminder when a regular is due, a review request after each visit, each stylist’s day on one screen. Send us your idea, even if it’s scribbled on the back of an appointment card. We build custom apps for salons and any other trade, and it costs less than most owners expect. We are easily persuaded by a good flat white from K Road, and the occasional custard square. Tell us what you need.
Common questions
Its customers say so. The Cut Co on Karangahape Road had a 4.9 rating from 358 Google reviews and 5.0 from 791 reviews on Fresha on 26 October 2026. Reviewers praise friendly staff, fair prices and getting exactly the cut they asked for. Eleven Google reviews give three stars or fewer, five of them about timing rather than the haircut.
On Fresha on 26 October 2026, a ladies restyle was $70, a ladies wash, cut and blow-dry $105, a men’s cut from $50, a buzz cut from $35, a perm from $150, Japanese straightening from $210 and balayage from $280. “From” prices can rise with hair length and product.
Yes. The salon describes itself as working by appointment. Book online through Fresha, from the Book online button on its Google profile, or phone 09 302 2838. It opens Monday to Friday 10:30am to 6:30pm and Saturday 10am to 5:30pm, and is closed on Sundays.
At 125 Karangahape Road in central Auckland. A Reddit comment recommending the salon mentions parking around the back.
According to the NZBN register on 26 October 2026, The Cut Co and The Cut Company are trading names of More Hair Limited, a company registered on 31 May 2005 with its registered office at 125 Karangahape Road. Fresha lists Remi as the salon’s director.
Sources and how we checked
- Google reviews: SEO4 collected every public Google review of The Cut Co (358) and of Killer Hair @ The Workroom, Hairfit, MO’S Hair, Colleen and Kaya Hair and Beauty on 26 October 2026, with date, stars and owner reply. Themes and names are keyword matches in reviews with text. Low reviews are paraphrased, and we don’t name reviewers.
- Google search: “the cut co”, “the cut co auckland”, “the cut co reviews” and “the cut co prices”, 26 October 2026, from New Zealand. Results depend on where and when you search.
- Menu and Fresha rating: The Cut Co on Fresha, viewed 26 October 2026.
- Comparison price: Live & Let Dye online booking, viewed 26 October 2026.
- Reddit: r/auckland thread “Hair salon prices are getting out of control”, as shown in Google results on 26 October 2026. We don’t name commenters.
- Company: NZBN register, More Hair Limited, viewed 26 October 2026.
- Council registration: Auckland Council, application for registration or licence of premises.
- Screenshots of Google are used for review and criticism and credited in each caption.
About this review
SEO4 is not connected with The Cut Co. They are not our client and did not pay for or see this review before publication.
If you work at The Cut Co and something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it: contact SEO4.
Corrections: none so far. Facts checked on 26 October 2026.
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