Not to tip spa/hairdresser?

[becsparkel]

Went to my local spa/salon the other day as a treat (have a 7.5 mo, so this has been a long time coming). Had a lovely relaxing massage & haircut, which was brilliant. The whole thing was pretty expensive and they charged me an extra £10 because I was having a restyle. I don't usually tip spa's as I think they already charge extortionate amounts anyway but I might have tipped the hairdresser if they hadn't charged me an extra tenner.

What's the etiquette and AIBU not to tip the spa therapist and/or hairdresser? The receptionist gave me a dirty look when she saw I hadn't added anything, which makes me wonder if people generally do tip.

Hit me with it!

When I got haircuts in a salon I tipped a fiver although as someone upthread said it was embarassing when they come to where you pay and chat errr you've just struggled with convo for 30 mins in the chair

Now to save money someone comes to my house and I must admit I have never tipped her . I suppose shoving my head under the kitchen mixer tap and sweeping up hair afterwards it hasnt occured to me

Nannyogg, employed hairdressers, usually junior ones, aren't paid well but the money comes with self employed, established hairdressers. The ones I know are all in their thirties and forties. I had my hair cut last week and my hairdresser has just been to st Lucia and was telling me that she is going to 3 weddings in coming weeks and has bought 3 Karen millen dresses to wear to them!

It depends on if I liked the hairdresser and what they've done to my hair. I certainly just don't tip as a matter of course.

If they were nice enough and they haven't butchered my hair then I usually just tell them to keep the change - often just a few quid.

If they've done a really amazing job and managed to not annoy me with stupid chit chat - like the guy who last cut and styled my hair, then I do tip well. I think I actually tipped almost as much as he charged me, so he was a bit boggled bless him - but he was very cheap, as only a trainee at a little local salon. I certainly wouldn't be tipping big in an expensive hairdressers... mostly because I wouldn't be in there in the first place.

I've never tipped a hairdresser in my life. To be honest, it never occurred to me until I read another thread about it on here a few months ago. So that's why they hang around at the till - they're panhandling!

I don't feel comfortable tipping anyone because I'm from the peasant class myself and think being tipped is a badge of servitude. And because I'm tight.

I never know the answer to this. I tip my present hairdresser, but that's because (a) the price is very reasonable in the first place and (b) she's really efficient and I'm normally in and out in half an hour. In the days when I went to a swanky salon I never tipped, but I used to give my regular hairdresser a card at Christmas with £50 in it.

10% plus is usual for any personal services imo.

I'm a bit shocked by those who think paying by card exempts you from any need to tip!!!! Tips are always best left in cash do you pay by card and then tip in cash - how hard is that?

Typo - imeant to say so you pay by card then tip in cash

£50 in a card at Xmas for your hairdresser?? Why?

This is why I cut my own hair

I also really resent tipping in restaurants. I had two waitressing jobs whilst at school/uni, we only ever recieved half the tips. The other half went towards paying the chef's wages. This is not unusual practise (I know a fair few chefs)

So if you must tip the wait staff, make sure you give them the cash in their hand.

I worked in a national restaurant chain a few years ago and we weren't allowed to keep any tips as they were shared between management! Whilst we all earned minimum wage. Mind you that was the tip of the iceberg for their arse hole-ness

I'm with LST. Oh, and tip £20 for a haircut?! Spending over £100 on one haircut?! Crikey, some people have more money than sense. That £20 tip is what my entire haircut costs!

I work for the nhs with children with learning disabilities. I always try to provide a good service and no one has ever tipped me although I did get a sack of potatoes once. Anyway that is why I don't tip at the hairdressers. I guess they earn more then me and no one ever tips me, apart from the spuds.

Just seen the £50 for their hairdresser in a card at Christmas bit. [shocked] Really?! Do you know what, I've always wondered why some salons charge upwards of £100 for a single haircut. By looking at this thread, it's becoming a lot clearer.
It's because there's clearly lots of women out there daft enough to pay their extortionate prices.
If people can afford to throw £50 at a hairdresser on top of the usual cut, they've obviously got far too much money on their hands, and if they feel the need to throw it away then they can throw it in this direction.

I dont see the need to tip someone I've just given 100 quid plus to. Paying by card skips the awkwardness. In saying that I have left tips when I've left feeling they've done an amazing job...Tips should be at your own discretion. Things are expensive enough.

I really need to get my hair done it's been five months. Don't want to give up Saturday though and have no one to mind the Los during the week. Hmmm

This type of thread always amazes me.
Not the tipping/not tipping argument. That's personal choice.

It's the 'How dare a hairdresser charge more than £20 for something that takes training, skill, experience and talent and that will affect you personally every day for months.

A bad haircut will have a very upsetting effect on you for ages, depending on how fast your hair grows. A good haircut can boost your mood, your morale and leave you feeling a million dollars.

Hairdressers have overheads. The chair you sit in. The products they use. The scissors alone cost £Hundreds, they're not a £2.50 pair from Boots. Their time. Their experience and skill.

But how dare they earn more than minimum wage! Sports cars! Foreign holidays!

How very dare they!

Howmanymoresleeps

Mobile stylist?

I go to Toni and Guy. So a cut coats me about £40. If I have it coloured too it costs £100-110

We're not talking about earning a bit more than minimum wage are we NannyOgg? I have no problem with someone having sports cars and foreign holidays but I am using that fact to illustrate the fact that many hairdressers simply do not need tips. A £100 haircut does not cost much in materials to do and only takes an hour. You don't need to be Carol Vorderman to work out that that is very profitable indeed.

And as I said, a hairdresser friend of mine has openly said that she earns £200 per day AFTER paying for materials (including expensive scissors!), chair rental AND childcare. Which other professions can earn that much after expenses? Not many! And those that do are certainly not in need of a £5 tip.

Sometimes I tip my hairdresser, sometimes I don't. Depends how I feel.

I always tip cabbies unless they've been surly. I like a chatty cabby

If you do tip in restaurants and pay by card - please ask for service charge to be left off your bill and leave the tip in cash - that way it will go to your server. When it's added in as service charge it rarely makes it to the waiting staff and usually goes to the 'house'.

Cut and blow dry £45
Half head of highlights cut and blow dry £90.00
Full head of highlights cut and blow dry £110.00

Go every six weeks on a cycle of c&b, half head, full head. Always tip - £10 when I have highlights and £5 without. Have been using the same hairdresser for about 12 years. She is lovely, she works incredibly hard, has younger children than me, her husband is a chef, she took over the salon from the previous owner at the start of the recession, she is exceptionally good and on her feet, smiling and chatting from 9.30am often until 8pm. She certainly isn't living the life of riley but I admire her grit and skill hugely.

Those prices are cheap btw for SW London where hers is a "local" salon, not upmarket or part of a chain. Oddly enough she can always fit me in and in the evenings will always give me a glass of wine . And she has never ever given me a dodgy cut.

Can't comment about spas and beauticians - never visited.

hexagonal, because I was too disorganised to have 10% of the price of the cut in cash on me when I went to the hairdresser's, but I liked my hairdresser and didn't want her to think I was too tight to tip - so the Christmas card was my way round the problem. My cut used to cost £70 and I went every 6 weeks, so £50 was actually slightly less than she'd have got over the year if I'd been organised enough to tip her.

I tip everyone. It isn't about if they earn more than you. I rarely get my haircut but DD's haircut costs £8, so I give her £10. Dustmen and postman get £10 at Christmas as they both provide a great service. I always tip in restaurants, unless service was awful, but i ask waiting staff first if they get the tip. I'm not rich and would never pay £100 for a haircut but I do think it's polite to tip for good service irrespective of the listed price. Gratuity.

I never tip my hairdresser, i find it very awkward,if they had a box on the side i would always put a few pounds in, but handing over a couple of quid makes me cringe .