Opinions please: tipping hairdressers

mandy296

Silver Member
As the thread title says - I'd like some ideas on this.

i dont go that often, but have an appointment booked for tomorrow and really not sure what the etiquette is these days.

I'm sure its got more confusing since more and more people pay by card so dont necesarily have the opportunity to say "keep the change" - which doesnt work anyway if the price is a round number (if it was £30 would you give them £33 and say keep the change - would be a bit odd)

Also, I'm going as a model for quite a modern, funky place, price of getting a student to do it is just £10. Apply the generic rule of 10% to that would mean tipping £1 to a fully grown adult which is frankly ridiculous. But to tip any more, and it becomes a bit less of a bargain.

TBH, I probably wont bother - I havent done so before, and I tend to flit around between hairdressers so its not like they will remember me.

Are there any actual hairdressers on here? Do you normally get tips? Do you find it rude if you dont?
 
Personally, if I've rec'd good service & happy with the cut I leave a tip. I usually leave 10% irrespective of whether it is as little as £1 it's all relative.
 
I leave 10%, rounded up a bit if necessary. In addition, I give £1 to the junior who washes my hair (if the stylist doesn't do it herself).

I have been going to the same hairdressers for over 30 years - not always the same stylist - and have never had a bad cut or any problems whatsoever. The young woman who is my current stylist is brilliant, and does exactly what I want her to do, and is worth every penny.
 
I am another one who tips.

Personally I think it is down to the individual and if £1 is all you can afford, that is what you give.

If I were a hairdresser and had 10 clients a day tipping me £1 each I would be delighted. That is an extra £50 or £60 a week...........
 
I go to quite a 'dear' salon - so only tip when i feel i have had a great job done on my mop.

I sometimes only have my foils done, and then skoot off, as they charge for different things and I have different people doing my colour to my blow dry! it can get complex! plus if you are tipping 10% it can then be nearly £10 tip - which i think is too much. I usually put a little in the tip jar as i am paying if i am happy - sometimes though i feel like i am on a conveyor belt of people and then i dont know who to tip! x
 
I dont tip hairdressers, waiters, taxi drivers or anything. Im paying for the service theyre providing as it is, and theyre doing that service as a job and being paid at the end of the month for it. And while that maybe makes me sound mean, well sorry, but noone tips me for doing my job well, nor would I expect them to.

My mum has only just stopped tipping her hairdresser, she goes to the girl who owns the salon who drives a new convertible sports car and lives in a luxury apartment... yet you still see customers tipping her??

The thing I seriously object to is this new trend of when youre paying by card where it comes up on the pin pad 'Do you want to add a gratuity' I think thats totally out of order.
 
My mum has only just stopped tipping her hairdresser, she goes to the girl who owns the salon who drives a new convertible sports car and lives in a luxury apartment... yet you still see customers tipping her??

The thing I seriously object to is this new trend of when youre paying by card where it comes up on the pin pad 'Do you want to add a gratuity' I think thats totally out of order.

I could not agree more. We do not use credit cards but have often heard that being said. It makes my blood boil.If I did use a credit card and it was said to me not only would it make me not want to tip at all and also not to return there.

My hairdresser has a much better life style than me. I was at her house recently to buy some old Capo di Monte , and was amazed by her beautiful home. She has it up for sale at an enormous price. There is no husband or partner in her life, so well done her she has worked for it by herself. I admire that. But if every person she "does" tips her 10% she can well afford it.
Strangely enough she drives a red, convertible car.

I had already decided to stop tipping and this has confirmed my decision.
 
Funnily enough I've just been to the hairdressers! I do tip my hairdresser...she's been cutting my hair for 15 years, and she does exactly what I want to it every time I go, so she's worth it. Mind you, I only pay £7 for a dry trim, so an extra £1 doesn't break the bank :) If I'd paid a lot of money for the cut in the first place I'd be less inclined to tip :eek:
 
I tip because I feel guilty if I don't.The worst experience I had was on a cruise ship in the spa. The girls would point to the bill and tell you they didn't get any of the tips deducted as a service charge by the company. They then told you their tips would be added to the bill and showed you where to sign whist asking how much you were giving them .I was so appalled I complained to the company as I could hear a lot of them almost demanding tips from other customers. They replied that the staff would be suitably advised.
 
I think guilt is behind a lot of peoples tipping but look at it this way, youre paying for your haircut or whatever, theyre not doing it for nothing and you could take it to extremes.... why should hairdressers get tipped as opposed to the checkout operator whos just put through your weekly shop. Hairdressers etc like the rest of us get paid to do the job theyre doing and you pay for the time they spend with you. Dont feel guilty :)
 
I don't tip hairdressers - you usually pay upwards of £30 odd quid for less than an hour of their time!! But I don't go very often, and get a bit annoyed about how much it costs usually. It never looks the way I want it too and I've been told I have 'funny' hair by more than 1 hairdresser that makes it difficult to style (would think that as a professional this would be something you could overcome, but apparently not)

On the subject of the tipping via card- not only is it just annoying, but the waitresses/waiters rarely get that cash and if they do, its taxed, which other tips aren't unless you declare. Therefore even if I pay for food on a card, I always tip the waitress in cash.

My big bugbear (though not an issue anymore as I don't go in them) is all you can eat buffet restaurants adding on service charge - What sodding service??? grrr
 
I do tip hairdressers, as it isnt just their time you are paying for, its the cost of any treatments, their skill, potentially rent on the chair in the salon, their taxes, as many hairdressers are self-employed and rent a chair in a salon, rather than owning their own salon, and therefore like taxi drivers, have a rent to pay each week on their "vehicle" that needs paying whether or not they get any customers.

It is different IMO to a shop assistant, who will be paid the same whether they serve five hundred customers or one during a particular shift. If a hairdresser is good, theoretically their business should do well, but in times of national hardship the first thing we tend to do away with is luxuries, so hairdressers will struggle to fill their books. When I do go, its a bit of a treat, and so I dont mind tipping the person who made me feel a bit better about myself.
 
I do tip hairdressers, as it isnt just their time you are paying for, its the cost of any treatments, their skill, potentially rent on the chair in the salon, their taxes, as many hairdressers are self-employed and rent a chair in a salon, rather than owning their own salon, and therefore like taxi drivers, have a rent to pay each week on their "vehicle" that needs paying whether or not they get any customers.

But is that not what youre paying for in the cost of your treatments??? Surely they should be factoring that into their rates, not expecting people to pay extra

I must admit the salons I go to the staff are employees, not self employed, so like the shop assistant, are getting the salary regardless how many customers they see in the week
 
I do tip hairdressers, as it isnt just their time you are paying for, its the cost of any treatments, their skill, potentially rent on the chair in the salon, their taxes, as many hairdressers are self-employed and rent a chair in a salon, rather than owning their own salon, and therefore like taxi drivers, have a rent to pay each week on their "vehicle" that needs paying whether or not they get any customers.

Then they should charge a fee that is commensurate with their costs like any other business. Many self-employed people do not have the luxury of receiving tipping for their services.

Thank the lord I don't live in the US where tipping is a nightmare! :)
 
I don't tip, unless there's change, like 2 quid or under from my note. Otherwise, nope. I've paid for my service. Though, if they do something amazing i.e. above and beyond, then I tip.
 
my hairdresser charges £22 for a cut/blow dry and i always give her £3 tip.

i go to the same girl every 6 weeks and i like the way she does my hair so am glad to give her a tip :D
 
I get my hair coloured and cut once a month and always give the 'junior' (the girl who washed my hair) a £1 tip - this is the standard as junior stylists over here work in the salon 4 days per week and attend college 1 day a week and they only get paid £40 while they are learning.

I never, never, NEVER tip for anything else. I am totally against tipping. I am the Anti-Tipster. I'd have an awful time if I ever went over to the states, they seem to tip for everything over there! :D
 
Tipping in the states becomes a way of life - besides, everything is usually so much cheaper than over here anyway.

I'd have thought it would depend on how much coffee and biscuits you were served/offered as to whether you tipped and how much;)
 
I do tip hairdressers, as it isnt just their time you are paying for, its the cost of any treatments, their skill, potentially rent on the chair in the salon, their taxes, as many hairdressers are self-employed and rent a chair in a salon, rather than owning their own salon, and therefore like taxi drivers, have a rent to pay each week on their "vehicle" that needs paying whether or not they get any customers.

It is different IMO to a shop assistant, who will be paid the same whether they serve five hundred customers or one during a particular shift. If a hairdresser is good, theoretically their business should do well, but in times of national hardship the first thing we tend to do away with is luxuries, so hairdressers will struggle to fill their books. When I do go, its a bit of a treat, and so I dont mind tipping the person who made me feel a bit better about myself.


Does that mean that as I pay an exorbitant amount of money for my unit in the antiques center, spend hours sourcing beautiful old objects, spend me even more hours researching the pieces, giving the clients a full history of what they have bought. Often spending time and expertise cleaning and restoring pieces, am always helpful, cheerful and pleasant to my clients, that I qualify for tips.

My clients too have become scarcer, antiques can definitely be cut out and lived without but those who do buy from me go away feeling great about their purchase AND THEMSELVES FOR FINDING THEM.

No one has ever tipped me nor would I expect them too. I am doing the job I chose to do and just like a hairdresser I know my overheads and cost my items accordingly.

We give extra services free of charge. We pack goods for taking back on flights or in a car We carry heavier objects to the clients cars for them. I have never been to a hairdressers that has given me any extras for free.
 
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