Tipping for haircuts

[luvthemstrawberries]

Well I had a great time this afternoon! The salon is great - it's small and welcoming, all the chairs are along the wall together, and there was only one other lady there getting her hair done, and she finished and left while I was there. So then it was just me, my stylist, and the receptionist. And since it's small and personal, the one stylist does it all for her current client.

The stylist was great. She immediately got the points I was trying to make. She asked many questions and answered all of mine. After some talking and deciding, I told her I'd always wanted someone to just tell me what would look good on me. She instantly said she knew exactly what she was going to do for me. She also has naturally curly hair like mine, haha and the only reason she says she can wear it straight is because she can touch it up with a flat iron whenever she wants during the day.

So she understood me, which is exactly what I needed.

I've got to upload the photos I took today, but I'll show you guys the transformation if you wanna see! (They even have a Facebook page for the salon with info and places people send photos, so I can show them the transformation if I want, and give them a good review, which I do at least plan to do.)

Oh! I did tip her well (she was only on the $38 level, and I gave her a $15 tip - and the stylist told me and the receptionist the price, the receptionist actually did the transaction, and they took credit card, so it worked out fine) since she did such a good job and was so nice to me. I was way overdue for a haircut, and she was really nice to not look at me like the loser I am for letting my hair go so long. She fixed me up great, and gave me lots of tips. Great way to end the day. I might can even start wearing my hair straight again, haha!

 

[atroop711]

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

Haha, I know... it's crazy what they go through for great hair. Those 5 minutes spent in that chair must be soooooo time consuming.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

depends on where you go. i only paid $10 for my wife's hair cut,so it was $23 out the door for the both of us including a $5 tip.

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Date: 7/17/2009 12:00:07 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

depends on where you go. i only paid $10 for my wife''s hair cut,so it was $23 out the door for the both of us including a $5 tip.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 7/16/2009 11:16:06 AM
Author: whitby_2773
i *always* have wondered this.


my hair appointments normally cost $200 and frankly, at that price, i just can't bring myself to add another $40 in tip.


i always give the lady who washes my hair $5 (and they never give massages!) and my stylist $20. am i being horribly cheap? i feel as tho the prices are already incredibly inflated...


atroop do you think this is inappropriate? can i have your opinion pls? i've always wondered this...

Whitby,
I've often wondered, coming from Australia did it take you a while to get used to tipping in general? (As you know, it's pretty much not done here for anything).
I've often wondered how I would deal with it if/when I travel to the US - I've worked in hospitality and bars, and tipping is a totally foreign concept for the majority here, you'd be lucky to get a couple bucks per shift.


As to hair - one place I went to a couple times just went crazy and charged me over $250, even after I told them I was a student and wanted to keep the cost down

-
To get my hair cut, coloured, some foils and blow dried I usually pay around $150 - $200 (my hair is pretty short, not quite shoulder length). I wouldn't be able to tip on top - Frankly, sometimes I don't think they even deserve that much, lol..

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 7/17/2009 10:33:59 AM
Author: arjunajane

Whitby,

I've often wondered, coming from Australia did it take you a while to get used to tipping in general? (As you know, it's pretty much not done here for anything).

I've often wondered how I would deal with it if/when I travel to the US - I've worked in hospitality and bars, and tipping is a totally foreign concept for the majority here, you'd be lucky to get a couple bucks per shift.



As to hair - one place I went to a couple times just went crazy and charged me over $250, even after I told them I was a student and wanted to keep the cost down

-

To get my hair cut, coloured, some foils and blow dried I usually pay around $150 - $200 (my hair is pretty short, not quite shoulder length). I wouldn't be able to tip on top - Frankly, sometimes I don't think they even deserve that much, lol..

hi arjunajane

at first i think i OVER tipped everyone - but i just drew a line at my hair dresser. i know how she lives - and she lives WELL. she's not that great, she has her own clientele and only comes in when she has bookings - so she's never there at all unless she's working ie earning, and i just feel that $20 is enough. period. i'm not looking for free samples, i'm not looking to make her my friend, i'm just after a fair deal on this one. and a $40 dollar tip is equal to a haircut! so that's just ridiculous i think. i think she kind of 'lost me' when we were talking about Christmas one day. her husband is a garbage collector for the town, and i was asking what people normally tip. we tip 20 bucks a head for our garbos, and often a couple of bottles of wine or a slab of beer. she suggested we tip...wait for this...$100 a HEAD as a Christmas bonus. well, i'm sure it would have suited her for me to do that, but...um...no. i also now make a point of not going near her between november and january so i dont have to give her a Christmas tip. as i'm writing this, it's occurring to me that the reason i dont tip her more is because her service is not that great. and that's what a tip is supposed to be for, right? i've never really thought consciously about all the htings she does that are poor service, but i guess i picked up on them unconsciously and was taking them into account when i put my hand in my pocket! so i guess it all makes sense in the end.

i'm normally a good tipper tho. i do 20% for cabs and 20% min for a decent meal - often closer to 22-23%. the lowest i'll go is about 18% on eating out. i tip the guy who takes my bags at the airport (he could get rich on what i ALONE give him!!), i tip my dunkin' donuts coffee girl (who i love above all people - especially in the morning), i give monetary and/or alcohol gifts to my dog groomer, my garbage and recycling collectors and my postie guy. i also tip my nail lady and the lady who waxes my legs. basically, money talks in this country, and i tip anyone who gives me good service - IF what they give me is worth it to me.

my inlaws visited us from australia once, and we went out to eat a number of times. my FIL would always insist on leaving the tip - and he'd leave the typical aussie 'few bucks'. i tried to explain to him that wait staff in NY are taxed as tho they HAVE been tipped 15%, but he just didn't get it. so i used to let him tip, then say i needed to go to the bathroom as they walked to the car - and run back and tip out waitress! it makes me chuckle, looking back....

 

[whitby_2773]

and luvthemstrawberries -

i''m glad it was a good experience - your hair sounds great!

 

[MonkeyPie]

I always knew there was a good reason to not do anything special with my hair. And this is certainly it!

I pay $12 AT THE MOST at the little salon by my house. It''s a chain, I get the same woman every time, and she does just fine. And she always gets a decent tip because she does the shampoo and everything herself. Wtf, shampoo girls? Assistants? How the heck do they "assist" in a haircut - do they hold the comb in-between clips? That''s stupid.

 

[ImpatientOne]

Wow, and I thought $30 was a lot for a hair cut!!! I get a military discount so pay $27 and usually tip $5-7 depending on my mood...

 

[lovegem]

My haircut is $28, I tip him $4, out the door. The guy does a very good job every time. I have a haircut once every three or four months. Not big spender on my hair.

 

[lovegem]

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM

Author: Dancing Fire

$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

Husband''s haircut is more expensive than mine, because he is too lazy to walk a little further to have his haircut. His $40 haircut is usually good. Last time he didn''t want to wait, so he had a new guy (i.e. someone who just starting their career as a stylist) cut his hair, it came out horrible. My husband said he didn''t mind giving the new guy a chance to practice.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/17/2009 9:09:28 AM
Author: luvthemstrawberries

Date: 7/17/2009 12:00:07 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

depends on where you go. i only paid $10 for my wife''s hair cut,so it was $23 out the door for the both of us including a $5 tip.

yep ! to me my $8 hair cut look the same as a $40 hair cut.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 7/17/2009 1:37:13 PM
Author: whitby_2773

hi arjunajane


at first i think i OVER tipped everyone - but i just drew a line at my hair dresser. i know how she lives - and she lives WELL. she''s not that great, she has her own clientele and only comes in when she has bookings - so she''s never there at all unless she''s working ie earning, and i just feel that $20 is enough. period. i''m not looking for free samples, i''m not looking to make her my friend, i''m just after a fair deal on this one. and a $40 dollar tip is equal to a haircut! so that''s just ridiculous i think. i think she kind of ''lost me'' when we were talking about Christmas one day. her husband is a garbage collector for the town, and i was asking what people normally tip. we tip 20 bucks a head for our garbos, and often a couple of bottles of wine or a slab of beer. she suggested we tip...wait for this...$100 a HEAD as a Christmas bonus. well, i''m sure it would have suited her for me to do that, but...um...no. i also now make a point of not going near her between november and january so i dont have to give her a Christmas tip. as i''m writing this, it''s occurring to me that the reason i dont tip her more is because her service is not that great. and that''s what a tip is supposed to be for, right? i''ve never really thought consciously about all the htings she does that are poor service, but i guess i picked up on them unconsciously and was taking them into account when i put my hand in my pocket! so i guess it all makes sense in the end.


i''m normally a good tipper tho. i do 20% for cabs and 20% min for a decent meal - often closer to 22-23%. the lowest i''ll go is about 18% on eating out. i tip the guy who takes my bags at the airport (he could get rich on what i ALONE give him!!), i tip my dunkin'' donuts coffee girl (who i love above all people - especially in the morning), i give monetary and/or alcohol gifts to my dog groomer, my garbage and recycling collectors and my postie guy. i also tip my nail lady and the lady who waxes my legs. basically, money talks in this country, and i tip anyone who gives me good service - IF what they give me is worth it to me.


my inlaws visited us from australia once, and we went out to eat a number of times. my FIL would always insist on leaving the tip - and he''d leave the typical aussie ''few bucks''. i tried to explain to him that wait staff in NY are taxed as tho they HAVE been tipped 15%, but he just didn''t get it. so i used to let him tip, then say i needed to go to the bathroom as they walked to the car - and run back and tip out waitress! it makes me chuckle, looking back....

Thanks Whitby for giving me your thoughts.
Yeah, it''s weird - of course when I''m on holiday in any Asian country I will tip
for everything, from hotel staff to food stalls..

But here in Aus, I will only very occasionally tip - say if we go for a proper nice dinner and receive great service. Or if my beautician does a really great job after a long winter

It sounds to me like you need to look for a new hair dresser! That woman sounds like an idiot - $100 tip for her garbo hubby ?!
I know exactly what that''s like, you just get comfortable going to the same place, and start accepting the not-so-great cut, or colour that wasn''t quite right, or dodgy styling, etc etc...I sympathize with you, I would never tip another $40 on top if they didn''t live up to their initial requirements!
I stayed with one woman for about 2.5 years out of habit and because they were cheaper than most - at first was great, but her service kept getting lazier and crummier - when she cancelled on me
at the last minute the day before a friends'' wedding, of course I never went back !

It sounds as if you may have already been in the habit of tipping before you moved to the US, no?

Sometimes I wish we did have more of a culture of tipping here - usually the times when I''m slogging away in a cafe or bar for minimum wage, lol!

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 7/16/2009 8:53:23 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 7/16/2009 8:09:00 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
$8 hair cut + $2 tip = $10 bucks out the door.

always so inexpensive for the men

I''m a man and I oay much more than that.

I''ve come to the conclusion that either I''m over tipping or I''m extremely nice because I kind of do what Italia said and then some. Even though I''m a guy, my hair is still very important to me and everyone cannot cut curly hair. I have to have it cut so that it looks good either curly or straight and that involves a bit more work.

And to add to what Italia said, if you have a master stylist or master colorist working on your head, I think it''s imperative that they be tipped accordingly.

Between the stylist, shampoo girl, and colorist I usually tip out $100 or more by the time I leave the salon. I don''t mind, they do a great job and it is and upscale place in NYC.

 

[AprilBaby]

I go to a small place where there is just the owner. I tip 20%. Did we address the tip for salon owners?