Not to tip the hairdresser?

[coochybottom]

Having your hair done now is soooo.. expensive I find. Mine grows really quick and so I go every 5 weeks. I dont tip the hairdresser thou. I show my appreciation at Xmas and get the salon big tin of chocs to share but that is it. AIBU?

I don't tip my hairdresser, although she is lovely and does a great job. I don't know how on earth to do it and I feel sooo embarrassed!

One time I said to her, 'And that's for you' at the end, and handed her a fiver. She was like 'Oh no, don't be daft!, honestly!' and I felt like an absolute plank.

I pay her tons just for the cut/ colour, and she is roughly my own age so I feel a bit odd tipping her anyway. We feel like equals, not patron/ server. I get on great with her so it would feel like tipping a friend. Just wrong.

I've never tipped my hairdresser. I never will. I don't tip the girl who serves me in Boots either. Or Tesco. Can you imagine if this was the norm too.

I know it is seen as a horrible thing, but I don't tip people for doing the job I have paid the company to have done!

I won't tip a hairdresser for cutting my hair - I have paid for my hair to be cut and part of that payment is to cover the wages of the person doing it.

I won't tip a waiter for bringing my food to the table - I pay for the meal and service.

taxi? hell no! I just paid to be taken to my destination, now I have to pay a little more on top? What have I just paid then?

I don't tip someone for doing their job. That's what their company pays them for! I pay the company for a service. If my bill was more, because wages were higher, then I would pay the extra or go without the service if I couldn't afford it.

I object to paying twice and I particularly object to subbing an employer so they can pay shit wages, safe in the knowledge that the employee can make it up to a living wage in tips. Well no, pay them a decent wage and stump up the emp ni!

I only tip someone for going above and beyond, so I wouldn't tip a delivery person for bringing my parcel to the door, but I would tip them if they brought it in and assembled it for me! (if that wasn't part of the service)

It drives me crazy! Can you tell?

Glad I'm not the only person who doesn't tip left right and centre.

Maybe if I could afford it I'd be a little more flahoolock (sp?) but somebody raised a good point about minimum wage. I would actually love an evening waitressing job on minimum wage, couple of nights a week. I wouldn't look down on it at all. I'd be very glad of the money.

ps, I've a good mind to forward this thread to my friend who emigrated to Boston in 1993. She thinks I'm as tight as a knat's chuff, and I think it's a disgrace that people should feel obliged to pay for a meal twice.

Only tight when it comes to tipping. I'm generous to my friends, I hasten to add!

Hey! I wanted to say in response to what someone above said, I am American and we do tip for everything.

I also wanted to say that I have family in England and visit all the time and everytime I go I am extremely upset with the service that I recieve. I am a picky person when it comes to customer service and my idea is why would I possibly shop at say Macy's, when I can go to Nordstrom and have them wait on me hand and foot?

As a hairdresser myself I'd say less then half of hairdressers work on wages. Most work on commission and/or tips because this creates an environment where they HAVE to give you amazing service or they go broke. When I am pleased with quality customer service then I tip the person because they don't have to give you that service. Quite simply they don't. If you're not going to tip, what's the point? They could all just be Supercuts and charge $8 a haircut and get a hundred people in and out in one day. If they are sitting you down and taking the time to create a personalized look and giving you the attention you deserve then don't you think they deserve something? Think of their wages as paying for their time (or the cost of your haircut paying for their time), and then think of the tip as payment for their service. Now if they had poor service and gave you a crappy cut then I say tip something humiliatingly low or don't tip at all.

I've had bad hairdressers, bad waiters, bad makeup artists, bad designers and bad wedding planners who all missed out on tips. I've also had amazing all of the aboves who I have tipped.

I tip. I like her, she does a good job and I've usually enjoyed a damn good natter.

Have to say it doesn't cost me anything like as much as most people on here (in fact I'd be embarrassed to say how much) so it's not such a big deal to leave a tip.

Bradlem (small hijack) I am off to the States in a few weeks, is it common place to tip everyone?
Don't want to seem rude by not tipping if it is the norm.

Coochy, I do not see anything wrong of unreasonable about taking the chocolates.

"(or the cost of your haircut paying for their time), and then think of the tip as payment for their service"

but their time and the haircut is one and the same. i'm not paying them whatever the cost of my haircut is to hang out with them and be mates.i'm paying that money to get my haircut.the business is receiving money for providing a hair cut.and i see no reason why i would then pay again because it excuses these business of providing a fair wage. provide a decent wage and then set your prices accordingly.don't charge astronomical prices and then expect the customer to pay staffs wages out of their own pocket.

No, I never tip mine. She is lovley and does a good job but I pay her enough already.

@ Needsomeonetotalkto

I truly understand what you mean because from behind the chair I wish more salons paid reasonable wages and had benefits! It isn't fair for you to have to "pay twice" either. But you not tipping me when I bent over backwards for you only hurts me twice. Change in almost any industry comes from the consumer & employer, not the employee. If you think their time and the haircut are one and the same then you might really like Supercuts.

@Mayorquimby

Americans don't tip for "everything". As a rule of thumb when somebody performs a one on one service for you it's nice to leave them a little something.

If you got a haircut it's customary to tip, taxi driver is someone you should tip, a waiter is someone you should tip. Just think about what they did for you, and think "Did they do a really great job? Did my taxi driver get me here as fast as possible? Did my hairdresser really listen to my needs? Was my waiter friendly, helpful and was he prompt on bringing me my food and refills?" and then tip what you feel they deserve. A rule of thumb with most places is %15. In fact many salons and restaurants will take on a %15 charge to your bill to make sure their employees get what they deserve. BUT if you get crappy service, DO NOT hesitate to not tip them.

Not to go into too much detail, but there are a lot of articles on the internet that discuss tipping. They give reasonable information and are from formal sources.

I tend not to as I shouldn't spend the money on the hairdo in the first place!! But I do go back for a free fringe trim sometimes and tip £3-£5 then as it saves a haircut.

Bradlem - lots of badly paid jobs don't get tipped. Do nusery nurses?

To keep things short and sweet for once.

Nursery nurses work with lots of children and are not tipped.

Babysitters work with individual children and are quite often tipped.

Bus drivers work with lots of riders and are not tipped.

Taxi drivers drive individual people and are quite often tipped.

It is people who perform a service individually to you that are traditionally tipped.

If you feel that they shouldn't be, that's your opinion and you are well entitled to it. I think it's these differences in cultural mind set that have lead to the US having more acccomodating customer service then the UK.

But you are being paid already.