to not tip my hairdresser?

[MrsSatsuma]

Just wondered what everybody else thinks about this - as I always go to the hairdresser on my own, I've no idea what anybody else does! I occasionally tip my hairdresser (eg if it's £37 I'll round it up to £40) but not always - came to £75 last time as I had highlights too and I didn't know what to do so just left it.

I don't want to tip and risk offence, if it's against convention, but I don't want them to think I'm mean. On the other hand it's pretty expensive! As far as I know people don't tip for other luxuries, like massages or manicures (do they?) so I assumed hairdressing was no different. I don't tip taxi drivers as a taxi ride usually cleans me out anyway! and I do usually tip in restaurants provided I've had good service.

Would love to know what others do!

I have similar pre-conceived notions about those who tip regardless or out of habit.

Go you share yours and I'll share mine:

Resistant none tippers - mean, self interested, don't give to charity, I'm alright Jack, cold and detached etc etc

Missed some words out 'Go on then,'

People who tip out of routine and insist all others should do the same. Smug, self-righteous people who show little generosity in other areas of life and actually harm workers rights by excusing business owners who decide to pay shit wages.

I agree mayorquimby personally if I go somewhere and the service wasn't good then there won't be a tip. A tip is supposed to say that you appreciate the good job that was done. Having been a waitress I'm very critical of wait staff and base their tip on how good or bad of a service I received. There have been times when the service was so bad I didn't leave anything.

Afraid I can't take that seriously (shrugs)

Self righteous or just 'right' [runs....]

Well in fairness I wouldn't expect you to, you are of the polar opinion to me. Much in the same way I doubt you'd expect me to agree with your assesment which I view as ridiculous and I assume you view mine as ridiculous.

Indeed - we can agree on that!

I tend not to tip because of the cost. I once chatted to the colourist about it and she said 'it costs enough to start with' so I took my lead from that. I also get a discount for being a regular, so it seems a bit odd to then tip.

However, last haircut was dramatic - from a chin-length bob to a crop, and it was beautifully done. (I'm a new client to the hairdresser who did it - my previous one left!)
So, I gave him my 10% off back to him IYKWIM - and he said, 'what, really, are you sure?'.

Don't know if that means it's unusual, or what! Maybe he was just being nice - he's a lovely lad. Anyhow, I explained great haircut, he spent time on it = happy customer = bonus for him.

Am I weird?

If you cant afford the tip you cant afford the cut. You should tip the stylist AND the junior who washed your hair- do you know they dont even get the minimum wage!

I dont tip taxis though, unless they get off their fat arses and help you with your bags.

nope just wrong and self-righteous.
Unless of course you tip each and every person who you encounter in the service industry and who is on minimum wage or close to it then you could argue that someone who tips out of routine as rather hypocritical and in fact is judging people based on their job.

Can't possibly know who in the service sector is on minimum wage - I think tipping waitresses and hairdressers has evolved out of a useful shorthand; that these groups are frequently poorly paid and tip dependent, hence the practice. Consider it an excuse rather than a reason to argue that you shouldn't tip them because it offers no incentive for management to up their wages

Common sense also need - a senior stylist in a swanky salon is highly unlikely to be minimum wage.

I used to tip the hairdresser, but I never bother now because I hardly ever carry cash on me, and they don't accept tips on a debit card. I am not grabbling through my purse counting out a couple of quid in coppers. TBH I don't think they mind.

I always tip in restaurants, at least 15%. I would be horrified if I went out with someone and they refused to tip in a restaurant, and yes I would judge them.

what if your hairdresser is mobile and uses your shampoo, conditioner, hot water, towels and you make them a drink - do you tip then??

I only tip a hairdresser if I'm pleased with the result. Some people are awful at cutting hair and shouldn't be doing it; there seems to be little customer protection.

A new hairdresser is complete lottery - you have no idea if they are competent until they've done a decent or terrible job.

Having encountered both over the years I always tip a good one. If a hairdresser does a bad cut and doesn't get tipped it's a good sign that they need to get better at it. I can't see the point of tipping regardless, especially as the cost of a salon cut can be very high in the first place. Why would you reward poor service?

No, I wouldn't tip for bad service. Have found that to be a rare occurence though

People I tip (unless I receive a really shoddy service) - taxi drivers (between £1 and £3 depending on how far they've taken me), hairdresser (£5 on top of my £53 tint, cut and blow dry), person who delivers a takeaway (£1 or £2), waiting staff (10%).

I once went to New York with DH and we didn't understand the tipping etiquette at all. We spent all the money we had, as you do, just leaving enough for the cab to the airport to go home. We knew that it would be $20 each, so we kept $50 back, thinking that cab would be $40, we would tip the driver $5 and then get something to drink at the airport after check-in.

When we left the hotel (quite a smart one) and got into the shared cab which was going round a few hotels picking people, the manager stood at the doorway eyeballing us, and took some bills out of his pocket and counted them whilst staring at us. It made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I couldn't work out why, and then it dawned on DH as we were driving away that he was waiting for his tip. For doing what, I don't know - the only things I can think of are opening the door so that we could carry out bags to the cab, and actually ordering the cab for us from Reception.

When we were in the cab, there was a sign displayed saying that the fare was $20 per person, but that a tip of $5 per person was expected for the driver. After feeling so mortified by the way the manager was when we left the hotel, I felt that I couldn't repeat the mortified feeling, so we did give the driver the $10 tip, leaving us nothing for the airport.

Looking back, we should have been more clued up, espeially as we'd been in NY for a few days and had tipped everywhere. But its such a contrast between how we generally tip in the UK. Are salaries for those who generally receive tips much lower in NY (and in the US generally for that matter) than in the UK?

My hair costs £120 a time for a cut and highlights, can't afford to tip, need to take out a second mortgage to pay the blinkin' bill !

Usually comes to £70 every 2 months and usually leave 2 quid, is that mean? I think I'm paying enough!

I just paid my hairdresser £155, so no I didn't leave a tip.

vouvrey I know for a fact that the juiore wher I go get more than the minimum wage.
My hairdresser is also on a basic plus commission, is a single mum, has her own house and a brand new convertable car....she told me not to tip.

*juniors where

i am a hairdresser and NEVER 'expect' a tip or am never annoyed if i dont get 1! it is totally up to the client if they tip or not, as i stylist i would never give better service to a tipper than i would a non tipper because it just doesnt work that way, of course it's nice recieve a tip and yes i feel a little more appriated but this is my job and i get paid for it.

i would say about 50-60% of my clients tip regular then others just at christmas.

in our salon tips arent shared but i do share mine with the assistants sometimes if they've helped me alot through the day

Are salaries for those who generally receive tips much lower in NY (and in the US generally for that matter) than in the UK?

My experience is of a decade ago now: I was a waitress in New York in 2000, at a restaurant on Broadway. My wages were $1.20 (then about 60p) per hour. It amounted to about $40 per week. But I made $100 per day in tips: as others have said, in the US the tips are your salary.

I've also worked as a waitress, bartender etc at a whole range of bars, restaurants and agencies across the UK when I was younger, never being paid less than £4.50 per hour at the very least (pre-minimum wage).

I think MayorQuimby put it very succinctly People who tip out of routine and insist all others should do the same. Smug, self-righteous people who show little generosity in other areas of life and actually harm workers rights by excusing business owners who decide to pay shit wages.

Many, many of the tips 'given' to me in the years never ended up in my pocket, because of managers creaming it off. Or, if I worked in a bar with a communist-style 'tips in one pot, divide equally at end of shift', it was infuriating that, as a young vivacious chatty and hardworking woman I earned the majority of the tips in a bar, while older cynical colleagues lazed around all night, doing the bare minimum, then taking a substantial share of the money I'd been given. (Another reason communism isn't always so popular, I guess).

I'm happy the UK is a much fairer society than the US, and as a result we don't need a tipping system. People who tip automatically here, one could argue, are subsconsciously trying to return to the old days where the poor and under-educated have to rely on charity and good-will, and some luck that they can work hard with a cheery smile on their face, to make up their incomes. We have the minimum wage. We have free healthcare. We have free education. Etc etc. Don't let automatic tipping (and at ridiculous percentages too) corrode a hard-won system that is more ethical and works better for the majority, than the US one.