Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    I go to inexpensive places where I just walk in without an appointment
    - so I generally give 25%.  When I used to get perms, I tried to
    give 20%-25%.  I think hairdressers give you more personal service
    than waitrons, so they deserve a higher % tip....
    
    -Jody
    

I usually give them around 15% if I give them anything at all.  Yeah, they 
give you more personal service - but then, that is what they get paid for.
I don't think I should give them something higher just because the nature
of the industry is different.

What a strange culture it is that we live in that we have this hidden 
charge on so many things, where we have to give people *extra* money for
doing what it is their job to do.  I have long wondered why it is *expected*
to give 15% tip - they don't the pay waiters and other people like that
salaries, and allow customers to give extra money if they feel the service
was *exceptionally* good, deserving something *more* than normal compensation.

But then, that's another gripe for another note.

D!

    As with the restaurant industry, the hair care industry does a good job
    at exploiting the people who work in salons.  The place I go charges
    $25 for a cut and dry, my hair dresser sees about %15 of that, the
    salon gets the rest to pay for the "overhead" expenses.  So I give my
    stylist a $10 tip.  This approach has worked well for me.  I get great
    cuts and have, in a pinch, dropped in without an appointment and he
    always makes time for me between other appointments.
    
    Laura
    

    I'll give 10-15% if I intend to make another appointment with the 
    same hairdresser and if I can give it to them directly (some shops 
    have an "anonymous tipping" scheme where they  collect tips at the 
    counter and put them in separate envelopes, others just merge all 
    tips and distribute them equally.  Since the basic reason for my 
    giving a tip is to try and get preferential consideration for 
    appointments, neither of these schemes is likely to work.)

    Currently I haven't found one particular hairdresser I'd like to 
    stay with, so I haven't been giving tips.  I don't usually tip someone
    the first time they do my hair - I like to give myself time to decide 
    whether it really was a good haircut first.  If it was, I'll be back.

	Sharon

    
    I don't tip hairdressers.  Period.  It takes the woman I go
    to about 20 minutes to cut my hair for $20.  That's $1 a *minute*.
    That's a rate of $60 an hour which equals an annual salary rate
    of $120K a year!!  Now I know she's not making all of that,
    but I'm *paying* that much.  A tip on top of that?  Don't even
    *think* about it.  And I sure don't feel guilty about not giving one.

	 I love my hair designer!  He's the greatest...we're constantly
	 exchanging stories on the "interesting places" we go out, the
	 people we see....he wears leather and chains...he's GREAT!
	 He's ALSO the best hair designer I've ever had (he does most
	 of the women I know at DEC here, too)


	 I tip him 20%-25% on a $20 cut......I tip that much because
	 hair dressers on the average only get 50% of what they
	 charge.  When he washes my hair, he gives my head a wonderful
	 massage, he knows exactly what style fits my personality and
	 my face...he's simply excellent....

	 And he makes me feel so good, so pampered, so special when I
	 leave that I can't help but tip big.

	 For treatment like that, I'll tip big.


	 kath

    I understand why some of you give lesser tips, but ya gotta understand
    I go to a place called "Great Cuts - $8" (pronounced "great cuts,
    eight bucks").  So if I just hand 'em a ten, I've given 'em a 25%
    tip already...
    
        -Jody

    Hmm...I *really* like the way my hairstylist has done my hair since
    I started seeing her last December...but I wonder if I'm paying
    too much...I'm usually out $100 for wash, cut, perm, and frost...
    she usually spends about 1.5-2 hours with me, every 4 or 5 months.
    And I'll have it cut once in between.  Tipping- usually about 20%.
    She does schedule me at the end of the day so I can get there after
    work, and she gets us a couple beers from the deli next door when
    I get there.  We talk about family and vacation and all sorts of
    stuff.  I guess I don't mind the cost, I like the experience and
    I like the way it comes out!
    
    But what do other people pay for similar treatments?
    
    DougO

    What if your hairdresser is the owner of the shop?  
    
    I have always heard that you don't tip the owner because
    they not only bring in 100% of what they charge, they 
    also receive a percentage of the other hairdressers payment.
    
    I have always had the 'owner of the shop' as my hairdresser.
    I have always tipped the owner.  But I usually only tip 10-
    15%.  

    Jodi-

    
    	I get my hair cut every 4 weeks and because of the frequency
    	with which I see my hairstylist, I only tip her 10-15%.  She
    	doesn't see anyone as often as she sees me and I've sent her
    	a LOT of business over the years from friends and strangers
    	who like the way my hair is cut.
    
    	She does OK.  And she definitely wears nicer clothes than I 
    	do.  =;-)
    
    	Carla
    

    My hair is long and straight and gets cut dry so except for the
    bangs there is little work involved. I pay $9 at Great Clips and
    sometimes tip a dollar depending on how I like the way my bangs turn
    out. liesl

    
    My hair dresser is also part owner of the salon and he does not
    accept tips.  However, it's usually one of the apprentice types
    who washes my hair (usually a $1 tip) and if I have a color or perm
    done they are the ones who get to deal with the smelly, messy
    chemicals.  I give them about a $5 tip.
    
    DougO (don't remember the note #) - I pay $25 for a cut, $35 for
    highlights.  Haven't had a perm in awhile.  Last time I did it was
    about $60 including the cut.  So, $100 for cut, perm and frost
    seems to be about in the ball park.

		<.5, be realistic>

You're just cheap!!!!  There are different prices for different services.
Plus the hairdresser only gets 40% to 60% of what he or she makes plus
Uncle Sams gets some of that also.  If you're not on commission you only
get $5-$6 dollars an hour.  I know, I'm a hairdresser. 


/JB

    
    
     Having worked in this business, I could not have said it better.
     Salons do exploit their stylist, and often pay them on commission
     basis only.
    
     The cost of the product is minimal, so you really are paying for
     the talent, and personally if I get the results , it is well worth
      a great tip.
    
                             Judy
     

    
    I'll concur with the 15-20%...that's about what i tip, if I go
    to my regular hairdresser.  She is the shop owner, but her prices
    are great ($7 for a dry cut, $35 for a perm) so, I don't think
    she is raking in too much in overhead....besides, she does a good
    job, and I like her!  The shop is small...just her and one other
    fulltimer, one partimer.  
    
    deb
    

    re .13:
    
    I do not think 20 minutes for a $20 haircut is worth anything
    more.  I don't even think it's worth that much, since I have
    just a cut - nothing fancy, nothing hard, just straight hair.
    
    Stop calling me names - it's not a matter of "cheap", it's
    a matter of what *I* think is worth my money.
    

    I tip $2 on a cut, 5 on a perm. The % method seems to penalize the
    less expensive shops.
    
    Also, for those of you who think the restaurant standard is 15%,
    many restaurants are tacking 20% service charges right onto the
    bills.
    
    One place in Maynard is doing 20% service charges when they're an
    All-You-Can-Eat buffet. I don't think it's fair.
    
    Kate (whose waitressed for the past 5 years part-time)
    

    20% service charge tacked onto the bill is common in Europe, which
    is why European tourists are such lousy tippers.  I don't believe
    its the practice to tip over and above this, so maybe the same should
    be applied here.  Maybe it's an attempt at standardization?
    
    I personally think it's a good idea, so long as the wait-person
    actually gets the 20%.  It eliminates the chance of being stiffed
    after giving good service.
    
    Paula (who also served a two-year tour as waitress)
    

    I agree with .16.  It gets me angry that I have to play a part in
    being the employer of a hairdresser.  In my job, I have a boss that
    takes care of my salary and decides when to give me raises, etc.
    Noone tips me when I do what's expected of me, or if I do more than
    what's expected of me.  I'm a coordinator and service a lot of people.
    And I don't think my wage class II salary does justice to all the
    hard work I do.  When it comes to tipping hairdressers, waiters,
    taxi drivers, and whoever else we're "supposed to" tip, I don't
    like being put in a position to play a guessing game about who I'm
    supposed to tip and how much is good etiquette to tip them.  I hate
    this part of our culture.  I usually tip waiters 15% because our
    culture says we're supposed to.  I only tend to tip hairdressers
    one dollar if they charge me $20.00 or more for a quick cut and
    blow-dry.  I feel it's the owner's responsibility to figure out
    how much of that 20 or more dollars goes to his/her hairdresser
    and how much of it goes to him/her.  I currently have a hairdresser
    who charges me $7.00 for a cut and blow-dry.  (She does it on the
    side, out of her basement.)  I tend to give her a $3.00 tip (round
    it off to $10.00) because it's such a reasonable price compared
    to what other hairdressers are charging.  And she does just as good
    a job as anyone else.  So I'm not cheap.

        Re .28, Paula,
        
        I  disagree regarding the obligatory service  charge,  for  the
        simple  reason  that it takes away my  right  to  reward  lousy
        service by witholding all or part of what I would normally tip,
        should  the  service  not  be  good for whatever reason.    The
        service  is  almost  always  better  where  there is no service
        charge (in my experience.)
        
        Andy
        

>        I  disagree regarding the obligatory service  charge,  for  the
>        simple  reason  that it takes away my  right  to  reward  lousy
>        service by witholding all or part of what I would normally tip,
>        should  the  service  not  be  good for whatever reason.    The

The question is - do you *really* tip less if the service wasn't good?
How much less?

If the tip is really a way for people to "rate" the service, then "average"
service should get 1/2 the amount of tip "excellent" service gets, and
bad service should get nothing!  I can see a system whereby people who do
a "fantasic *above* average" job get 15%.  Those who do acceptably well
(the vast majority) would get somewhere around 7-8%, and those who don't
do well get nothing at all.  But that isn't how it works.  In real life,
people give 15% if there was "nothing wrong with the service" (ie: it
was average) and very few people leave off the tip entirely for poor
service - because it is *so* expected to "reward" people for doing their
job, and because the places that encourage tipping don't pay their employees
reasonable salaries.  Places should adjust how much they pay employees
so that the employees' wages + *average* (7-8%?) tip is the amount they
want the employees to get, that way *excellent* employees get *higher* 
than expected wages.  And places who share all the tips equally among
employees should have a "no tipping" policy and just increase prices and
salaries acordingly.  Down with the hidden charge!!

As for "included service charges" bah, humbug.  If you really are going to
always include them, why not put them in the cost of the {food|haircut|
whatever} right up front, instead of tacking on a "hidden charge" and then
placing the sign "No tipping necessary".

D!

    
    I guess I tip my hairdresser somewhere near 15% -- the cost for
    a cut is usually $18 and I usually give her $21.
    
    As for what to tip if the tip is used to rate the service -- I tip
    15% if the service is OK, if I have no complaints.  The tip goes
    down to 10% if I'm mildly disatisfied (multiple minor screw-ups like 
    soda with ice when it was ordered without, having to remind the
    waitron to bring something when it's been forgotten... etc.) and
    there's no apparent reason for the mistakes.  I'll take pity on
    a waitron who has too large a station or if a bus tour just came
    in.  I'll leave 20% if the waitron was especially charming, funny,
    or otherwise personable and service was good or better.  I'm getting
    better at leaving no tip for poor service -- my biggest peeve is
    a waitron who disappears after serving whatever it is I've ordered.
    If the policy is to pool the tips, I leave no more than 15%.
                        
    My first job was waitressing at an International House of Pancakes.
    
    CQ

I tip my hairdresser $5 on an $18 Shampoo/Condition and more on a cut. I see
her once a week and I tip for two reasons.

	1) She undercharges me shamelessly. Normal rates are around $21.
	2) She is willing to provide personal attention. She's come in
		after hours and on Sunday when I couldn't make my regular
		appointment.

I also "tip" by being pleasant, conversational, sympathetic, and in other ways
treating her like a human being, not a "server".

	It works for me.
	-- Charles

    Well.. My hairdresser and I have had a wonderful relationship for over
    4 years...  he and I go out every so often, so when it comes to doing
    my hair, I never know WHAT the charge is going to be... sometimes its
    nothing, other times its half of what it should be (normally 20ish
    instead of 50ish)...  because of this, I usually tip him $5.00 to
    $10.00 dollars each time... he normally knows when I'm feeling broke,
    and that's normally when he doesn't charge me at all.

    I have given some people gift certificates for getting their hair done
    by him, he doesn't even charge me for them unless the person uses the
    gift certificate - then I can include a tip when I do pay for the
    certificate - as they don't ever seem to tip enough (one didn't even 
    tip at all!!)...

    On the humorous side of this... because of the relationship that Randy and
    I have, I never know *what* my hair is going to look like at times...
    one day I came out a Monroe Blond (he wanted to see what it would look
    like on me)... after 3 days of it, I called him at 10pm and told him
    that I was meeting him at the salon at 7am, and he was going to put me
    back to normal - as I had lost *all* the confidence that I ever had
    with my hair this color...

    I think that you should tip a minimum of $5.00, and upwards to 20% if
    you like the results!!

    RE: Those who like the custom of tipping as a way of indicating
    displeasure for poor service - do you think tips should be implemented
    across the board, then? Think of it... Would doctors leave people in
    the waiting room for hours if they knew it would eat into their tips?
    How about surly auto mechanics, or inattentive store clerks - could it
    possible help their attitudes if their salaries were cut 15% and they
    were expected to make up the rest in tips? How about field-service and
    customer-support personnel? ;-)
    
    I find some of the possibilities amusing, but I doubt it would have any
    better effect than it seems to have had on those whose jobs do
    customarily involve tipping. That is, I've had good and bad service by
    waiters and by doctors; by hairdressers and by auto mechanics. I would
    prefer to do away with tipping altogether, hoping that consumers would
    report both good and bad service to the owner/manager of the business
    (and, of course, hoping the owner/manager would do something about
    it!).
    
    -b

        Re .21, D!,
        
        This applies  to  any  service  industry  where  a  tip  may be
        expected...
        
        Yes, I really tip less if the service is lousy.  The range goes
        from 25% for _good_  service to ZERO for indifference or rudeness
        (something that has seldom happened  to  me,  but  it  for_sure
        happens!) If the food is lousy, but a polite complaint to the 
        person serving results in an improvement,  then  the tip is not
        affected. If  there  is indifference, then  the  tip  suffers
        proportionately. If the food is still lousy,  then  talk  with
        the manager, _BUT_, if the person serving has tried  his or her
        best, then tip the person regardless.
        
        I think the key here, IMO, is legitimate complaint. Some folks
        will  complain  for the sake of complaining, to impress a date,
        to  exercise  power  or  whatever and take it out on the person
        serving.
        
        My definition of _good_ service:
        
                Friendly
                Cheerful
                Attentive, but not 'hovering'
                Willingness to help if something is (genuinely) wrong.
        
        Simple as that.
        
        

    I like Andy's rule of thumb.  The old meaning of TIP is "to insure
    promptness".  I'd prefer "ensure", but I suppose TEP wouldn't cut it.
    :^)
    
    The meaning is clear:  if the level of service isn't there, the TIP
    doesn't necessarily follow.  I never blame the server in a restaurant
    for those things which are beyond his or her control, but I certainly
    expect them to be pleasant, come around to check on the meal/check,
    etc.  Without the base level of service, whatever pay they receive from
    the restaurant will have to suffice.  I don't frequently leave without
    tipping; I'm probably more guilty of overtipping.  
    
    As for my hairdresser, I only go once every 8 weeks, so don't feel that
    I'm being overly generous to add $4 to an $18 tab...it's only slightly
    over 20%.  I do NOT, however, tip on the total bill if it includes
    shampoo or conditioner or such.  I'm sure they'd like that, but I don't
    think that you should tip on goods, only services.
    
    Marge