The hairdressers I used to go to (till the lady became seriously ill and had to stop) did young children for free if at the same time as mum, sitting on my knee. They are boys, so now go to the barbers (both excellent ladies hairdressers but now just doing boys/men) and pay £5.50 each for a good cut. (Every two-three weeks, why do boys hair grow so fast?) I dont tip, but at Xmas give a huge box of chocs.

The hairdresser I go to now is fantastic, but just does a few from home (she sold her salon after she had the kids, hubby wanted her home.) Very reasonable, the only one I will let near my hair as she dosnt 'scalp' or say it should be short at my age :) and she always does a wonderful job, colours everything. I give her a nice christmas prezzie, and birthday prezzie, and a huge Easter egg! So, no tips, I think as we are friends she would be insulted anyway, but something at times.

Toni and Guy.........not for me lol..........couldnt afford £80 + for a cut and blow thankyou very much lol

>Toni and Guy.........not for me lol<

LOL, very wise!
They are a franchise now anyhow (:( ) I think its best to pay for your Hairdresser not the name Sadly though he now works in a 'Celebrity' Salon in Soho London so I am paying throught the nose (and £80 would a bargain) But he's extremely good, takes hours, is a perfectionist and a therapist I get great relationship advice from an acerbic old Queen oooh and the bessst 'Celeb' gossip and people watching :D Its a real 'day out' for me!

One of the things I hate about going to the hairdresser is that chat - because my hearing's not great anyway, and with music playing and the phone ringing and people talking and dryers going I find it very difficult to hear what I'm being asked. By the fourth "I'm sorry, I still didn't catch that, could you repeat it slowly?" I'm mortified with embarrassment and the hairdresser's fed up. :( If they speak clearly I can generally lipread (even in the mirror!) but too many people don't. I'd rather not go at all.

JG, next time take a book and bury your nose in at every possible moment ;)  or just keep asking them questions about their holidays, nightclubs, pets and then you can just nod and smile whether you hear the responses or not :D

The worry that you'll say 'yes' when you should have said 'no' ... :( If they talk to you it's rude not to reply ... no, I'd rather not go, and I certainly object to paying through the nose to be humiliated! :)

Well I have mine done by a hairdresser who works from home.  Five pounds for a re-style (would be charged about £40 in the hairdressers) and £20 for a full head colour, would be about £75. at the hairdressers.

As a single person who has to pay her bills, mortgage, buy food for myself and my dogs (the dogs get fed better than I do :d).  I just cannot justify paying that money every 8 weeks or so as my hair grows extremely quickly!!

I know that hairdressers work hard, have overheads to pay etc. but many people like myself just cannot afford that kind of expense.

Those are far more acceptable prices, SWD! :)

I also have a problem with hearing when other things are going on and I also feel extremely embarrassed and the hairdressers as you say then just switch off :d :d

it  all depends as well were you live in the uk as well.on how much you pay,

I was born with hearing in only one ear and as I grow a little older the other one ain't all that great but even as a child I never felt embarassed about it, why should I?  I find the best way to stop any messing about is to just to mention it to people, never had a bad reaction, nobody has ever treated me oddly or like an idiot :)

I have the same problem JG.  To make matters worse, I have to take my glasses off for the cut so can't even lip read. :(

point taken but I assumed albeit wrongly that my custom vs a dozen snips of some juniors scissors would result in reduced priced i.e 5.00 at the most.  Lesson learnt........never assume or it will make an ass out of u and me!

I must admit I hate the whole concept of tipping.  the person giving the service or the person employing them should charge the appropriate fee for the service and that's it.

I feel it encourages employers to pay poorly and people ahving to rely on tips.

for example a waitress gets a tip because the people enjoyed the service and the meal.  Now if the meal was awful yet the service still just as good, woudl she have had the tip.  If the reason for the tip was the quality of the meal, shouldn't the cook get the tip?

There are plenty of low paid jobs where the employee provides a service but we seem to be stuck in this tradition of tipping particular trades people.  Before my daughter went to Aus she was a lifeguard.  Obviously they have to learn lifesaving skills and first aid.  It certainly was a surprise to me how often lifeguards have to help people in trouble, whether they are having asthma attacks or children getting out of their depth and need pulling out.  She had to check the chemicals, do pool bacteria checks, clean up sick, poo and pacify children.  She was on minimum wage but no one ever thought to tip her.  Just one example of a service not traditionally tipped but more worthy than some.

That is why I think tipping is bad, a charge should be set for a service, a  fair wage paid to staff and that is that.

It is like prices quoted for goods without the VAT, really annoying as few of us can get off without paying the VAT,a dn those who do know they will pay less.

What an interesting mix of responses!

I do always tip for the service, not the meal. In the states the waiters don't get paid much salary, it's all down to tips. Plus they get taxed on 15% of their food tickets. So if you don't tip they probably end up paying for the privelage of serving you.

You would love the last Jamaican resort we stayed in Brainless. No tipping allowed anywhere on the premises!

I think maybe those who have to watch the pennies and be careful with their spending resent not knowing in advance how much something will actually cost them, or sit there having to add in extra's to their budget

I watch my pennies but i always tip (i'm such a sucker lol) from the hairdresser to the refuse men/postman at xmas!
To be honest they do remember you for it and i get a better service, i know that it should be expected anyway but the hairdresser on her feet all day then i turn up at 4pm for a cut & blow dry and she must feel awfully tired but makes the effort for me to feel relaxed and enjoy being pampered for a little while.
For example they fit me in at xmas when i've forgotten to book early and its full or they let me just walk in other times and they try their best to fit me in.

Then theres the time my home dye went terribly terribly wrong :D :D

I rarely tip.  Certainly not the dustman or postman, they are paid to do a job the same as the rest of us.  You don't tip the shop assistant that has served you.

The only time I tip is for exceptional service in a restaurant and service above the norm in a hotel, for example on a recent holiday the guy that does the room in the evening remembered we liked an ice bucket when we came back to the room. 

On the whole I think it is an excuse for employers to pay low wages, hoping the customer will top them up.

> On the whole I think it is an excuse for employers to pay low wages, hoping the customer will top them up

Exactly :) My daughter works in a Beefeater in her holidays from uni. She gets a low wage and it is only the tips that make her wage up to an acceptable level :)

I would much prefer a world where there was no tipping at all - just pay the bill :)

Daisy

I work as a waitress for Beefeater and we get paid minimum wage, the tips I get means I dont have to claim any benefit and can support myself and my kids as I am now a single mum. I tip my hairdresser but only if I like what has been done to my hair, same in a restaurant if I get rubbish service I dont tip.
Mary

Well i'm not a tight arse, and value the service they do for me in all weathers if i can bring a bit of cheer into their lives at xmas then so what its my money.

It used to be like that in the good old days? what happened has everyone just gone mean or does it depend on where you live? I've always been brought up to tip the refuse/postman its a thankless task of a job.

The dustman just don't give a good service now - they leave some of our recycling in the box. We also are supplied with a sort of large carrier bag for recycling - the dustmen don't put the empty bag in the box and if it's windy it just blows down the road. If a fox has got to someone's rubbish, they make no attempt to pick up any of the spilled rubbish, they just leave it to blow around on the pavement/grass. So why tip them ??? No-one tips me :D :D 

Daisy

I don't get tips either, no matter how polite I am to the clients!, and I'm on only just above minimum wage. Mind you, I don't tip the checkout girl at the supermarket either! ;) :D

Most people get tipped - it's called getting paid :D :D

Daisy

Yes but the checkout girl is sitting on her bum for several hours with the requisite tea-breaks, not bending over clients all day, standing on their feet and having various chemicals splashed over their skin & clothes. 

Erm, surely these people chose to be hairdressers ?? It's not something you can fall into easily - it requires training :)

Daisy

Yes but it's like most jobs I suppose you don't really know the in's & out's of it until you get thoroughly trained and why then waste your training?   It's not like jobs grow on trees in this country.   Better to be working than not!

I must have missed the point somewhere in this thread. I thought that people did a job and got paid. Lots of people do unpleasant jobs or boring jobs or tiring jobs or .............. lots of people don't really like their jobs - but WHY should they get tipped ??? :D :D :D The best that I get at work is a 'Thank You' (plus my pay) :D

Going to have a stiff drink now :D :D

Daisy

Have you had to shell out for equipment with your job?   As I've said in a previous post, my sister is a hairdresser and she has had to shell out for 3 sets of scissors at over £200 a pair, clippers, combs, brushes and lots of other items.   Scissors need regular sharpening which she has to pay for when the scissors get sent away.   Her tips are taxed too.   So she really has little benefit from them.    She has to look through some 'nasty' heads of hair, some of them 'alive'.    It's not just floating around and talking about the latest fake tans & boyfriends.    

There are downsides to all jobs - why are some jobs which involve dealing with the public considered deserving of tips but not others?

When I go to the hairdressers I find out how much it is going to cost. My hair is done and I pay what is asked. That is the end of it - it is nothing to do with me, as the customer, how the hairdresser finances her scissors How can your sister get 'little benefit' from the tips - surely she only pays 22 % tax on them like everyone else ??

Daisy

I have never tipped anyone in my life however it's totally an individual's choice on who they tip & where.    Tips help fund the buying of salon equipment.  Bleached clothes & clothes with colour stains over them are hardly a good 'advert' for someone involved in a beautifying job, having that little bit extra helps out.

If the business isn't making enough money to pay for things like that, then they should either put the prices up or face going out of business. Relying on tips to keep a business going isn't good management :)

Daisy

That's exactly the point, Daisy. Have the full payment up front - the cost of wages and equipment and all other overheads.

it is nothing to do with me, as the customer, how the hairdresser finances her scissors

Ok so you would let someone cut your hair with nail scissors would you?  They are cheap and the hairdresser then could pocket all her tips.

I wouldn't be happy seeing my doctor with another patient's vomit down his jacket, but I don't tip him to pay for his dry cleaning.

I repeat - it is nothing to do with me how the hairdresser finances her/his scissors. I pay a price for a service - for that I expect the hairdresser to have suitable scissors. The same with an electrician, plumber, taxi driver etc etc

Daisy

I'm not posting anymore on this as it's just turning into a slanging match - yet again.

To answer the questions at the beginning, stylists & juniors really do appreciate the tips you give them.   The salon owners do not fund clothing, equipment etc. so tips help them with that especially when they are training and trying to build up a clientele.

Plumbers &  electrician's have standard call out fees that they will charge you handsomely for and then their hourly rate on top, likewise a cabbie has starting rate and you pay per mile after this.  A hairdresser only charges you want their bosses have instructed them too, they don't make up the prices to suit themselves!

If you want a cheap & cheerful haircut and not worried about what style you are after then going to one of the salons catering for the more older person, you will find are a lot cheaper.

>I'm not posting anymore on this as it's just turning into a slanging match - yet again.

Why on earth would differing views have to become a slanging match? Surely we're all adults who can hold and state opposing opinions without becoming personal and taking offence?

Sorry Christine, but I don't see what having a job where you need to buy expensive work related equipment or undertake some unpleasant tasks has to do with tipping.  There are many professions where this might also be the case who are not tipped.

Precisely fees and wages should be set at a proper rate to cover fair renumeration for those carrying out a service and to cover overheads.  Everyone then knows where they stand, how much the charges are and how much their pay will be, and can accept it or not.

The arguments FOR tipping prove exactly what I beleive is so wrong with the practice.

I never tip, unless I have been made to by it being added to the bill without me noticing.

Erm yes sitting on her bum:rolleyes: packing bags smiling at unpleasent abusive customers who don't expect to wait a second and you'd be suprised what can get spilt over them. As for requisite teabreaks hmm yes if there are no queues,otherwise you may get off the checkout at the end of your shift early but you won't be able to leave until finishing time as you have to clock out. All occupations have good sides and bad sides and arent always as they seem from the customers point of view. 

Yes exactly so why is it a tradition to tip people in certain occupations and not others?

I suspect its because hairdressers really were very badly paid, and probably still are in comparison to that that goes into the pockets of the salon owner!

So doesn't tipping simply encourage that? Isn't it a bit like 'rescuing' a puppy from a puppy farmer? Yes, you're helping one but doing nothing to stop the bad practice. Just a thought. :)

Yep. I don't tip because I know the ones I use are well paid, but they do work hard and long hours.

I do give them a fiver each (stylist and colour-ist) at xmas because I have been going to them for years and I am very fond of them :)

So really what we're saying is that certain professions are tipped because they used to or still do get low pay?  What about all the other professions in the same boat who don't get tipped?  Not getting at you here Chloe :) just that I don't think the concept makes sense in the modern world.  Some of the people who traditionally get tipped are probably far better off the the person doing the tipping!

I am saying they did get low pay, but in the better salons I doubt that is quite so much the case. But then I doubt they get tipped nearly as much as they used to with folk paying by card etc :)

Well i guess it depends on your area, i'm very pleased with them and me tipping them at xmas reflects that :)