Do you tip your hairdresser?

seagoon

I am now retired but worked in the service industry for 36 years. Tipping is usually a reward to a person for good service. If you are employed by a company to provide a service, then you should always give your best, irrespective of whether you are tipped or not. So if you look at it from another angle, do you get a better haircut if your hairdresser knows you are a tipper?

EDNA

Not a fan of tipping on the whole, unless for particularly good service above and beyond what is normally expected - but I usually tip a hairdresser if he/she is an employee and never if it's the owner of the business whether in a salon or mobile.

Soleil_lune

My two cents worth.

I understand people's attitude when they're saying why should one profession get paid more than another, but I think I know why it's 'tradition' to give hairdressers and waitresses tips.

Many years ago when I started work (mid 1980s,) I originally worked in a local factory. I picked up around £85 a week, which was equivalent to around £250 in today's money. Very good money for a school leaver. My friend 'Lyn' was a trainee hairdresser (and 16/17 y.o. like me,) and she picked up £25 a week! (approx £75 in today's money.)

So I picked up THREE time more than her. I think I was on about £2.00 an hour and she was on about 60 pence an hour

I knew several other hairdressers through the 1980s and part of the 1990s too, and even when I moved into office work in the late 1980s I was STILL on 3 or 4 times more pay than young trainee hairdressers.

Same with waitresses: I remember one of my nieces in the late 80s being on a pound an hour or something (as a waitress.) I was earning four quid an hour at the time in an office job!

So certainly trainee hairdressers and waitresses were VERY poorly paid pre mid 1990s.

I even knew a few people who worked for their local family firm who were on a pound an hour in the 1980s. I remember the woman who co-owned the company being disgusted when she had to start paying the workers £3.60 an hour, when she had been getting away with £1.00 to 1.50 an hour for years!

Thanks to the minimum wage act in the late 1990s, it's not possible to exploit people this way anymore, and there is a law to ensure they are paid what they deserve. However, before that, some professions were very very poorly paid.

So I reckon that is where 'tipping' people came in.

However, as everyone is not on stupidly low pay now, and previously very poorly paid professions get the same as every other job, it really isn't necessary to tip now.

The little intern hairdresser may be on rubbish pay as she may be on an apprenticeship, but then so is every other little teen on an apprenticeship, no matter what the job.

happyinflorida

Of course you should tip. People are not on high wages/salaries and need the tips to live on.

If you're pleased with the service then leave a tip. It is rude not to do so or it shows you are not happy with the service.

I am shocked at the number on here saying they don't tip - that is wrong.

tea_lover

happyinflorida wrote: »

Of course you should tip. People are not on high wages/salaries and need the tips to live on.

If you're pleased with the service then leave a tip. It is rude not to do so or it shows you are not happy with the service.

I am shocked at the number on here saying they don't tip - that is wrong.

That is your opinion, not fact.

My opinion is that if you work in a service industry you should provide great service as part of your job and the stated price. It's not an added extra you should charge more for.

Soleil_lune

happyinflorida wrote: »

Of course you should tip. People are not on high wages/salaries and need the tips to live on.

If you're pleased with the service then leave a tip. It is rude not to do so or it shows you are not happy with the service.

I am shocked at the number on here saying they don't tip - that is wrong.

So then you tip every last person who is on minimum wage when they serve you do you?!

People serving at checkouts
People serving in takeaways
People serving in Greggs
People serving on market stalls
People serving you in McDonalds
People serving in clothes shops
People serving in the petrol station
People serving in convenience stores
People serving you in the opticians
People serving you at the dentist
People serving you at the doctors
People serving you in hotels

I could go on all day......

Every last person on minimum pay should be tipped yes?

This is what you do is it? Tip EVERYONE who is on minimum pay?

I am pleased you have such a vast amount of surplus income.

Not everyone does.

As I said in my post above; previously poorly paid professions now have the same pay as everyone else.

No need to tip anymore.

kpaton

I don't tip my hairdresser. I already pay a small fortune every 6 weeks and that's with a small discount I got by negotiation for my work.

jw92

I only tipped the first time I went as they were offering 50% off so I just rounded it up to the nearest £5. Since then I haven't tipped, and part of me doesn't agree with it. I work in retail and my job involves making customers happy but I would never expect a tip as it's my job to provide that service. I think the same should apply to everyone else and I think it's down to the company or the individual to reflect the 'good service' in their wages/prices. My partner is a self employed labourer and will often get paid extra as a thank you but he says he never ever expects it even now as he charges for what he does. As other people have said, if you start tipping people on minimum wage you'd have to tip almost everyone you come across. I think it's not right to only tip certain people, e.g waiters and hairdressers but not others, e.g. bus drivers, retail staff etc.

fairy_lights

I don't tip my hairdresser, I pay by card and imagine it would be pretty awkward to then hand over a couple of quid.
My hairdresser is similar in age to me and probably earns a similar amount, so for me to try and tip might also seem a bit patronising. Plus a haircut costs me £30 and if a salon is charging that for a basic cut and blow dry then I would expect them to be making enough to pay their staff a decent wage.

mustang121

People have a regular hair dresser?


I don't tip other than leaving behind change. God help me if I ever go to the US.