To stop tipping?

[DimpleHands]

Just that really.

It's always so awkward and feels so patronizing. And now that the minimum wage is going up significantly surely employers should be paying their staff sufficiently?

Up until now I have always tipped - £10 to my hairdresser each month, 10% to taxi drivers, waiters, etc. but actually everything's so expensive anyway (£169 at the hairdressers this morning! ) that I kind of feel like I am paying enough already!

Is this really mean of me?! Do you all tip?

[Toffeelatteplease]

If you can afford £169 at the hairdresser you can afford to tip

[howtorebuild]

Yes to the hairdresser and waiting staff, also direct in cash, others it depends.

[hibbleddible]

Why are you spending so much at the hairdressers each month? /totally misses point of thread/

I think it would be quite rude to not tip in restaurants.

[DimpleHands]

Yes I can probably afford to tip, although I certainly don't have money to burn (I don't always spend that much at the hairdresser! And I'm in London where that's not even that expensive compared to many places!).

But it's more whether the whole concept is a bit outdated now? Why can't employers just pay their staff a decent wage? Why should employees have to rely on the goodwill of customers?

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

I always tip, but always feel a bit awkward and patronising doing it. I think it's the right thing to do though.

I meet a friend for lunch every couple of months who refuses to tip, and I find that more mortifying than any embarrassment in giving a tip.

[ThursdayLastWeek]

I always tip when I feel like I've had good service.

I spend many years as a waitress and in housekeeping so I understand how useful that little extra cash be.

It's an appreciation of a job well done, usually in areas where standards can vary.

[YakTriangle]

Tip whatever you can afford, but only for outstanding service. If your hair is costing that kind of money, I don't see why you'd feel the need to add anything on top of it, unless they have really done an amazing job that you couldn't have got anywhere else.

Don't tip just because you feel forced into it.

[ilovesooty]

My sister refuses to tip
After the last meal I had with her where the waitress had been lovely and my sister loudly said "I don't see why I should leave a tip. No one tips me at work" I haven't eaten out with her since. Come to think of it I've hardly seen her since.

[BojackHorseman]

I tip and the minimum wage going up won't stop me, it's not going up just yet anyway.

[ShamefulPlaceMarker]

I tip when paying cash but not with card as not sure how?

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

YABU, you tight bugger

[AutumnLeavesArePretty]

I don't tip hairdressers, they get paid enough as it is.

I will tip good service staff in restaurants as mostly college students round here.

[Leelu6]

Why don't you tip a bit less? £10 to the hairdresser seems a lot... I give £2. But then my haircut costs £15

[WhereYouLeftIt]

I vaguely remember reading somewhere years ago that for certain jobs e.g. hairdressers, where payment is usually in cash and tips are commonplace, HMRC actually assumes that the person receives tips in cash, and taxes them accordingly. So they'll pay tax whether they receive the tips or not .

[BackforGood]

I'm inclined to agree with you.
My argument against tipping is the lack of fairness / equality.... the fact some jobs traditionally get 'tipped' and others don't

• why would you tip a taxi driver but not a bus/coach/train /tram driver
  
• why a waitress and barmaid but not a supermarket cashier or the people that work in the kitchen at the pub?
  
• why a hairdresser but not a chiropodist?
  
• why not a carer or cleaner who comes into your home?
  

There are SO many jobs where people are on low / minimum wage that don't get tips, I've never grasped why the small minority seem to 'expect' a tip, even where there has been nothing special about the service, sometimes even no prolonged contact (people sometimes argue about the 'personal' nature of service).

Also, if a hairdresser is charging you £169.00, then I suspect they are doing very nicely for themselves anyway, so hardly in need of a tip.

[Tanfastic]

I rarely tip my hairdresser as she charges a fortune as it is. I rarely tip taxi drivers for the very same reason. I always tip in restaurants.

[SunsetSinger]

Where that definitely happens in the USA. I lived with a waitress there and she used to get pay cheques for e.g. $2 because her wage was so low, and then she was taxed assuming she had received a 10% tip on all the tables she had served, so by the time that tax was taken out there was practically nothing left. She lived on tips alone. That doesn't happen in the UK though, unless things have changed since I was a teenage waitress.

In Australia we don't tip at all and I much prefer it. I find the whole tipping thing embarrassing. I just want to know how much things cost, and pay it. The waitresses are much less smiley and attentive than American ones but overall I still prefer it

[WMittens]

And now that the minimum wage is going up significantly surely employers should be paying their staff sufficiently?

The minimum wage goes up because the cost of everything goes up - it's still not a living wage.

but actually everything's so expensive anyway (£169 at the hairdressers this morning! shock) that I kind of feel like I am paying enough already!

Yes, and everything's also expensive for the people working for minimum wage - things aren't just expensive for you, although I'd call £169 at the hairdressers 'extravagant'.

I'm in London

As above, so are the people you're tipping - they're subject to the inflated prices of living in the capital.

[WMittens]

- why would you tip a taxi driver but not a bus/coach/train /tram driver

Tipping is usually for a personal service - a taxi driver has transported you, a bus driver has transported 50 people.

- why a waitress and barmaid but not a supermarket cashier or the people that work in the kitchen at the pub?

Tipping is usually for people who provide a service - a supermarket cashier is not providing you with a service. Restaurant tips are sometimes pooled and paid to kitchen staff as well; I imagine it varies.

- why a hairdresser but not a chiropodist?

I don't know on that score.

- why not a carer or cleaner who comes into your home?

A cleaner, possibly. However, the general consensus I've come across is to tip an employee (who obviously doesn't get to set their own wage) but not a self-employed person (who can set their fees (and therefore earnings) as they see fit).

A carer: I don't know.

[harshbuttrue1980]

I tip in a restaurant as its the done thing, but I do question it. I can afford to leave a tip as I've got a decent job, but why should a minimum wage supermarket worker eating in a restaurant give a tip to a minimum wage waitress? Why does one of these jobs lead to tips while the other doesn't?

I don't tip my hairdresser - she has a brand new car and goes on lots of foreign holidays so seems much better off than me and definitely isn't poor!

[MotherOfFlagons]

I always tip. Usually about 10-15%. Hairdressers, beauticians and waiting staff are on minimum wage and frankly, I'm not going to quibble about adding an extra few quid to the bill. If you think because you paid £170 for your highlights, the stylist gets that money (unless they're the actual owner) you are being naive.

It's not embarrassing or awkward, I just leave a few quid and they say thank you and that's it.

[sugar21]

If you're hairdresser charges you £169 what do you get done? Seems very extravagant !

[LunchpackOfNotreDame]

I don't tip, never have done. That's what their pay slip is for.

I don't get tipped for my job why should they get tipped for theirs?

[ThursdayLastWeek]

Because some people do the job LOADS better than others, which isn't reflected in pay packets at all.

[orlakielyimnot]

I'm a reliable tipper, but like a pp mentioned, I also feel patronising doing it. I would prefer set charges that were all inclusive. For what it's worth I also never haggle. You tell me how much you want to charge for something. I'll then decide if I want to pay that or walk away. I don't want to debate it or offer you more (in the form of a tip) for reasons neither of us shall discuss.