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!

Hairdresser training involves working for a low wage but so do most careers. What is the point in tipping a hairdresser that is earning mega-bucks becaue they were paid less than the minimum wage when training? It doesn't make sense.

Actually, when dd was born, we had received such tremendous care and support, dh sent a generous donation to the maternity deparment and a massive box of chocs for all the staff.

What a surprise! Marriedinwhite mentioning money in a post.

Yawns very loudly

Well said RachelWalsh. I have done all these jobs too and agree about the hairdressing. I was at college for 3 years and consider myself highly skilled in what I do.

No one is doubting hairdressers are highly skilled. The point many of us are making is that many professions are highly skilled but don't have this bizarre tipping culture. The DCs teachers are highly skilled, I don't tip them. Our GP is highly skilled, we don't tip her. The pharmacist at the local chemist is highly skilled, as is no doubt the pharmacy technician that works there too, but we don't tip them. DH is highly skilled and has trained for a lot longer than 3 years in his profession, but never receives tips.

I don't know anyone in real life who lives in the UK and tips hairdressers .

I tell a lie actually, the american girl I used to live with did. Even the hairdresser was bemused when she gave her an extra 15 pounds on a 20 pound haircut, hairdresser tried to hand it back thinking she'd made a mistake!

My hairdresser isn't earning megabucks, she is a small business owner who started up about a year ago during a recession, works really, really hard, has a young child at home, provides employment in the local area and charges at the lower end of the scale. I know all that because we talk to each other as two people - one of whom has worked hard to become very skilled at cutting hair. She charges 26 quid for a cut and blow dry and I usually round it up to 30 quid. I'm hardly la-di-dah-ing about like miss moneybags!

Hexagonal I was responding to another poster. If I lived on three and six a week I would have observations to make about it and I very much doubt you would have a problem with that. The difference between you and I is that I try not to be rude to those who are different from me.

Everyone on here draws from different life experiences and that's what makes such a forum an interesting place to be. However, I don't recall being purposefully rude to anyone but if that's what floats your boat do carry on.

tyler - where do you live? I don't know anyone who doesn't tip a hairdresser.

I think you are being rude and presumptive by assuming my financial situation is different to yours, marriedinwhite but if a superior attitude makes you feel better then feel free to fill your boots.

You do always mention money though....

I haven't made any assumptions about your financial situation. If what I post bothers you, ignore it. This, however, is forum for everybody and the subject matter is tipping. My posts on it have been pertinent to the subject matter. I don't believe your post, directed at me personally, was.

Well you can rationalise why you choose not to tip any way you like

and argue why it is customary only to tip for certain services and how you never get tipped at work so why should you tip others and how the person you are tipping has more disposable income than you so that gets you off tipping or how you paid by card so that gets you off tipping or how you are serving a political aim by not tipping and therefore have he moral highground

At the end of the day in my view it is simply mean spiritedness not to tip for services where custom dictates that you should - unless of course the service has been poor.

Yy EFA.

Agree completely.

Completely agrees with EFA.

Ohhh that all makes sense now. It's "mean-spirited" to not abide by a "custom" that's hardly society-wide.

This "custom" could be broadly defined as "giving an unspecified extra amount of cash, where it is not requested by the service-provider, not expected by them nor incorporated into the price, to various persons providing a grooming service. The amount paid may or may not be based on my perceptions or knowledge of the financial circumstances of the service-provider. The ultimate basis for providing this extra cash is because my mum and sister do it, and I'm worried the hairdresser will give me the evil eye or not do a good job next time."

If your hairdresser does a bad job next time because you didn't spot her an extra two to five quid, then she's unprofessional and needs to rethink her pricing model for her business.

I call bollocks on this stupid pseudo-custom.

It's not a custom. It's people being too bothered about what others think of them, and hairdressers expecting a tip on top of their wages

HQ - the only thing I will add is that you are citing your personal knowledge of one highly paid hairdresser to encompass them all.

Your friend (in my world) would be a rareity.

I would expect long-standing salon owners to be in her bracket.

It is "custom" in both law firms I've worked at (and many others) to round up the number of hours worked on a file to a nice round number.

Do you like that "custom" too? Would it be mean-spirited to challenge your solicitor on that...?

Bollocks bollocks bollicks.

I know more than one hairdresser.

One friend (the one earning £200 per day) rents a chair in a normal,middle of the road salon. We are not in London.

Another friend rents a chair in a village salon and again earns well

My hairdresser rents a chair in a salon towards the higher end of the scale, but not extortionately priced, and seems to be raking it in.

In addition, the hairdressers that work with my friend in the mid-priced salon all live in the lap of luxury too. There are about 6 audi TT's parked in their car park! And they are all always going off on holidays to somewhere exotic

My hairdresser has a salon in Clapham. I can only begin to imagine the rent on a non prime location shop. She has two children and nursery bills to pay and a DH who earns less than her. Their family car is 8 years old. They service a £120,000 mortgage on a house worth about £250,000 near Croydon. It's a very small terrace. She works 10-11 hours a day six days a week with the occasional afternoon off if she hasn't got customers. I know that things have been very very tough for her over the last few years.

She doesn't charge London prices but she is London quality although wouldn't want the cut and thrust of the top jobs. Monthly/weekly trips to the hairdresser were one of the first things to go in nappy valley where many of the £million + houses have massive mortgages and no longer the bonuses to match.

I am guessing that in the counties and beyond where property prices are so much lower there might be more left over for hair and spa's etc.

I am very happy to tip my hairdresser - I admire her and want to support her business.

marriedinwhite EVERYONE you buy a service from has their financial struggles. It's not a justification in of itself for a tip.

OOOH but wait I think I have it worked out now!! As a filthy forriner I often wonder the basis of these bizarre behaviours.

I hypothesise that... you're meant to tip for working class services but not middle class ones. And cos it's a race in the UK & Ireland to show everyone how middle class you are, you can't NOT tip.

Hahaha! I love how this will probably provoke a flood of "I'm working class and proud and I tip" responses. This class nonsense is so deeply ingrained people can't even recognise it anymore.

I want my hairdresser to charge me what my haircut is worth. I don't want the awkwardness of tipping. So I don't tip my hairdresser and he charges me a fair price.

I have no idea about his financial circumstances, but he needs a business model where he charges enough to make it sustainable. Not one that relies on gratuity.

which incidentally is about £40

I usually give a tenner tip to my hairdresser at Christmas, but don't tip every time I go. She does a good job & the prices are reasonable (£45 for a colour & cut).

I was surprised to learn recently that my SIL, who is a 'senior stylist' gets a salary of over £20k!!! Plus she gets tips & comission on any products she sells on top of that!! And she's done my hair before...a 'senior stylist' she aint, which is why I go to my own hairdressers now :)