To ask what hairdresser tipping etiquette is now in the UK?

[Mummyontherocks]

I haven't been to a hairdresser in the UK for so long, just booked at appointment for tomorrow - do you still tip and if so how much, do you tip the junior as well as the stylist etc etc?

Wow thanks everyone, such a variation. I'll have to see how much the cut is and play it by ear. Thank you.

I don't tip either and have never seen anyone else do so at my hairdresser either

I think that tipping taxi drivers might be a regional thing

It isnt . Taxi drivers are routinely tipped everywhere in the world. I've never been anywhere where this doesn't happen and yes agree with pp that if you don't know anyone that does this then you know a lot of tight fisted folk!!

My hairdresser does the whole lot, washing, putting colour on, cut and blow dry. I tip £10

I tip the salon juniors when I did that job I made 30 quid for an 8 hour shift with no breaks so I always try to remember a couple quid now for them.

This. My eldest (15) lasted 3 months as the Saturday girl at a local salon and it broke her. She was exhausted after every shift and her hands broke out in terrible eczema.

I'd wrongly thought it would be a nice, easy first job for her.

She said that although the staff were fun to work with, she got no breaks and was on the go constantly. She also got treated like she was thick and spoken down to by grown women repeatedly.

Her best customers were elderly ladies and they always tipped her a few quid and it really made her feel like she had achieved something.

Always tip the person who washes your hair.

(I pay about £50 for wash, layers and blow dry and tip a few quid - they always seem taken aback and very grateful)

I never tip. Why do people do it? I have a job which i never get tipped so why do people insist in tipping certain professions?

I tip my hairdresser(s) because I appreciate their work, they are geniuses with hair and I have fun when I’m at the salon. Tipping means they’ve opened at 8am for me, have stayed open past 7pm for me and get me in a short notice, having moved previously booked clients around (to be clear, I’ve asked them for this; they’ve just offered if I’ve had to cancel and reschedule at short notice). In short, I tip them for and to get good service.

I tip waiting staff because been there, done that and I know how hard it is and what a difference tips make (but I don’t tip bad service). And cabbies get a ‘round up’.

I never tip. Why do people do it? I have a job which i never get tipped so why do people insist in tipping certain professions?

I tip because it's such a small gesture but it goes a long way. My hairdresser has been doing my hair for years and years, I always come away feeling a million $$$ so a few quid is the least I can do. And it shows her how much I value her friendship and juicy gossip

I don't. They own the salon and it's expensive enough already. If i had a wash from a junior i might, but i don't.

Don't tip cabs. They are on a meter so i pay that, unless they've waited for me or lifted stuff into the boot.

I tried once and it was weird so I stopped, and my hairdresser seemed relieved. Also american so I probably over-did it.

My best friend does my hair so I’m probably a bit over generous. I round it up the the nearest 5/10 pounds then add a fiver. So say it came to £24 I’d round it up to £25, so that’s £1+£5=£6 tip.
I know my friend is a great hairdresser but if I went to a salon I’d only tip if it was good service and they’d done a good job.

Tipping is common in countries where serving staff etc are literally paid almost nothing & it's a cultural known that a portion of the expected wage is in the form of tips. Eg in the US in a restaurant you are paying for the food & location, the service of the waiter is extra and paid via tip.

I really don't see that this applies in the UK. I don't know anyone who regularly tips! I live in SE & work in London). If a restaurant bill states service not included of course we leave 10-15% depending on quality of service/group size etc. We will sometimes tip extra where service has been excellent. I will round things up to nearest pound (taxi fares etc) but that's simply to reduce the faff for everyone of hunting for small change.

I can see the sense in "tipping" apprentices but really i would rather apprentices were paid minimum wage, I feel it's a scam and too many organisations abuse them as a source of underpaid labour.

I used to tip but my last cut and colour at a standard hairdressers cost £95! - I was there around 90mins which works out around £60/hr- half that time I was on my own whilst the colour set so the hairdresser fitted other clients in during the time!

So no I don't tip anymore - tipping was intended to make up the wages of the poorly paid - national wage is ever increasing and many employers are paying the national living wage now so I don't feel there is a need to supplement hairdressers anymore - they earn more per hour than I do!! I don't get tipped for doing my job so I don't see why anyone else needs to be.....

I am following as I have no idea. I tend to tip about £5 on a £50 cut but it's actually super awkward if I pay by card and have no idea what to do in that situation. When either DC get their hair cut I ten to just give £10 on a £6 cut which is probably overly generous but the hairdresser is really sweet with them.

Find this all baffling. The hairdressers set the prices. If they want 10% more they should just increase the price. Unless I'm being terribly naive and this is actually a VAT or income tax/NI dodge?!

can I ask a daft question? How do you physically give the tip to people? When I tip I just give it to the person at the till, but should I be specifying X for the person that did the shampoo, Y for the stylist? Or should I hand it to each person individually?

The hairdressers set the prices. If they want 10% more they should just increase the price

But they don't though - unless they actually own the salon. Where I go the salon sets the prices and either pays the hairdresser a set wage or takes a cut of the cost of the cut.

A fiver for the colourist and a fiver for the hairdresser who cuts my hair.

I tip the junior but not my stylist as she owns the salon.

But i still don't get it. Why can't the price just be the price. It is for everything else. I don't tip the postman, or the childminder, or the plumber or the till worker in Sainsburys, or a nurse in hospital. They are all paid wages too (often relatively low ones).

I have long, thick, curly hair and have had many terrible haircuts by people who can't cut or finish curly hair, especially as I also wear it straight. I've paid £130 for a simple haircut and it wasn't amazing. Out of desperation one day I walked to the salon five minutes up the road having booked online the evening before, my stylist is brilliant, she also has thick curly hair, she cuts and styles it brilliantly, can blow dry it straight without too much volume and without using straighteners, can blow dry it curly without me looking like Russell Brand and has taught me to do these things for no charge and without trying to push products. She only charges me £36, I tip £10 and would tip more but DH says it might be a bit OTT

All this tipping of hairdressers probably goes back to before the NMW when professions like hairdressing were very low paid compared with other work, now they are no different from other apprentices or NMW workers so surely no need for tips.