My Favorite Shampoo ‘Saved My Hair’ But It Was Discontinued After 39 Years, So I Begged the Company to Bring It Back

The anti-dandruff shampoo that Phil had been using since 1985 was suddenly discontinued, forcing him to travel to try and get it back.

You may have heard the “Hi, it’s Phil from New York” intro on TikTok over the last month.

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This is Phil DeGorter (@Fildegorter), who posted a TikTok begging Neutrogena to bring back its T-Gel shampoo.

He told The US Sun that in the 1980s he was dealing with an embarrassing case of dandruff, and a dermatologist recommended Neutrogena T-Gel to cure it.

Phil, 65, started using it straight away and the problem was resolved after three weeks. After that, he never looked back.

He even credits the shampoo for his full head of hair.

But then tragedy struck.

Phil was low on T-gel and asked his wife to order some for him again.

She went online and was shocked to see that the price of a small bottle had skyrocketed from just $7 to $68.

“That’s when I really got angry. I said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been using this thing for so many years and I didn’t want to pay that amount,'” he said.

He was used to it being out of stock at BJ’s, where he used to buy it, but was devastated to learn it was discontinued.

Phil tried to speak to “someone important” at Neutrogena but couldn’t get past the customer service representatives.

“I am an unhappy Neutrogena customer,” he said in his TikTok.

“Someone at Neutrogena made a very poor decision by canceling this item.

“It is high time we tell Neutrogena that we are unhappy with the decisions being made by their senior management.”

Phil encouraged viewers to comment if they were also missing products or if a Neutrogena product they were using had also been discontinued.

The video went viral and “all hell broke loose,” he said.

More than 24,000 people flooded the comments to support Phil and help him get his beloved T-gel back.

“T-Gel is the best! It should be illegal to discontinue,” one person wrote.

“If Phil from New York is unhappy, we are all unhappy. Buy this man’s shampoo, Neutrogena,” commented another.

A third viewer added: “Neutrogena, he has been a very loyal customer for a long time!

REACHING

Neutrogena apologized in the comments and even sent Phil a box with some of their best sellers, like sunscreen and makeup wipes for his wife, but no T-Gel.

The company sent him a direct message suggesting he use the T-Sal formula as a replacement.

“After reading their message, I realized it was the end of an era for T-Gel,” he said.

Neutrogena promised to send him a sample, but before it arrived in the mail, a dermatologist suggested he try Walgreens brand T-Gel.

“After more than ten days of use, this is the new Holy Grail item,” he said.

“If I put this in a bottle of Neutrogena T-Gel, I wouldn’t know the difference.”

The only difference he noticed was that he got better foam with a smaller amount than he used with the Neutrogena brand.

I know I still have hair because of that T-gel

Phil De GorterTikToker

Walgreens sells its T-Gel for $15.99 for a 16-ounce bottle.

Phil finally tried Neutrogena’s T-Sal, but after using it for several days, he said it just didn’t work.

A LESSON IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Phil has worked in retail for many years and understands that sometimes products are discontinued, but he has a message for Neutrogena.

“You won’t stay on top if you don’t make sure your customers are happy,” he said.

“This has always been one of our biggest concerns as retailers. At all costs, they didn’t care if we lost money.

“If we could satisfy the customer, that’s what we had to do. And I certainly agree with that philosophy.”

Over the years, Phil introduced the product to some of his friends, and they were equally upset that it had been taken off the shelves.

One of his friends spent more than $600 to buy the last T-gel he found on Amazon because he was “scared of losing his hair.”

“I said he must be crazy to do that, and he said, “Phil, is it cheaper than buying a wig?

Although the Walgreens replacement is working well for him, he admits he’s a brand loyalist, and if Neutrogena ever brought back T-Gel, he would go back to using it.

“It’s a mental thing in my head because I know I still have hair because of that T-gel,” he said.

In other retail news, Walmart fans have found a perfect replacement for a discontinued treat at Kroger.

Plus, Rice Krispies brought back a popular flavor for the first time in 20 years.