Tipping for haircuts?

Do you tip for haircuts?

My wife always does but I never have. At the most, it takes 15 minutes to cut my hair. The service I receive is fine but it's not like she shines my shoes and gives me a beer. I usually tip 10% for the wait staff at buffets and 20% and full serve restaurants. My reasoning for tipping them is they get paid next to nothing per hour and rely on tips. Everybody else who holds out a tip jar is making at least minimum wage as far as I know so I do not tip them. I just switched barbers (stylists?) because my longtime previous stylist decided it was time to be a stay at home mom. I went to the new one tonight. I am considering tipping her but have not decided for sure yet.

Anyway, I am mostly curious about haircuts but feel free to share your other tipping thoughts too.

My daughter is a stylist. I go to the salon. I pay 9.00 to the salon, and tip her 20.00. Before that, I paid 18.00 for the cut, and 4.00 tip. Most stylists, are paid as sub-contractors. they get 35-45% of what they bring in. They pay their own taxes, their portion of social security, etc.

I have a very long and wasted path in fast food and fine dining as a young person. I see how hard people bust their hump to provide good service, only to get a zero tip. I tip at Subway, Chipotle. The mailman gets 20 at Christmas. I have a lawn service come twice a year and cut the grass, when on vacation. One of my kids will leave a cooler with 4 drinks on the porch the day they will cut.

I look at it as a cost of doing business. If I charge every one of my computer customers a dollar more, it more than pays for my generosity.

I don't have much hair on my head anymore. I usually either run the clippers myself, or my wife does it. I just do my entire head at a uniform 1/2 inch and call it good. I have a trimmer for my mustache and beard, so I can handle that for myself as well. Since I don't have much pelt topside anymore, I figure the only viable options are to keep it all short, or grow that fringe into a pony tail that hangs down to my ass.

I go to the salon in my local walmart to a lady I went to school with and have known since I was a kid, I generally tip her $2. I have no problem doing this because she knows exactly what I want and does it right every time, I've went elsewhere before and had it messed up so I figure giving her a tip is worth it for the good service.

My issue is with the haircut price I pay at the salon. I pay the same price as a woman who comes in and gets her hair cut, shampooed, dried and styled even though from the time my ass hits the chair until I'm done is usually under 5 minutes. I wish they had a "clippers only" price, but oh well. The last few haircuts I've actually done myself at home because over the hot months I take the whole thing down to almost shaved.

What's the salon at Walmart charge? Prior to my recent change, my wife and I went to the same place. For me, they washed my hair and cut it for $16. I was in and out in 15 minutes. My wife is certainly in the chair longer but how long depends on what they are doing that day. A color for example takes a lot longer. She definitely pays more than $16 but how much it is varies. The new place I went to last night is for men only. The wet my hair with a spray bottle and then cut it. Again, I was in and out in 15 minutes. It cost $13.

Getting back to tipping, I think places need to charge whatever the true cost of the service is and the tip should be either non-existent or minimal. When I was in Europe (Germany, France, Czech Republic, Austria) the norm was for minimal tipping because the staff was already being paid a reasonable wage. I think that makes more sense.

I usually go to a salon, $5 on a $25 service. If I need a haircut on short notice and can't get an appointment it's $4-5 on a $19 service at the barber.

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Originally Posted by Pinnacle-Project

What's the salon at Walmart charge? Prior to my recent change, my wife and I went to the same place. For me, they washed my hair and cut it for $16. I was in and out in 15 minutes. My wife is certainly in the chair longer but how long depends on what they are doing that day. A color for example takes a lot longer. She definitely pays more than $16 but how much it is varies. The new place I went to last night is for men only. The wet my hair with a spray bottle and then cut it. Again, I was in and out in 15 minutes. It cost $13.

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Pretty sure it's $14, although typically when I go I have a $2 or $3 off coupon they email me. When I take my daughter, it's the exact same price although she's getting cut, washed, dried and styled.

That just reminded me, one time years ago when I was a teenager, a stylist at walmart asked if I wanted my "beard" neatened up. At that time I had a tiny little bit of fuzz on my chin, I said "sure" and she literally probably snipped the scissors 3 times and I got a $9 "beard and mustache" trim on my bill....

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Originally Posted by Pinnacle-Project

Getting back to tipping, I think places need to charge whatever the true cost of the service is and the tip should be either non-existent or minimal. When I was in Europe (Germany, France, Czech Republic, Austria) the norm was for minimal tipping because the staff was already being paid a reasonable wage. I think that makes more sense.

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Agreed. I was just talking with a coworker about this the other day. He just booked a cruise and was telling me what his total was with "all gratuities included". I was like "wtf"? Gratuities are supposed to be something you give for exceptional service, not used as a means to help places pay their staff. If they know they're automatically getting gratuities included, where's the incentive go give exceptional service?

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Originally Posted by 3fingersalute

If they know they're automatically getting gratuities included, where's the incentive go give exceptional service?

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They still have a job.

All I can say, is you guys seem to really over complicate things.

I get Christmas tips from a few clients. An employee or two has been tipped 20.00 for speedy fixes. Not on the retail side,but on the business side.

I go to the local Great Clips. $13 for a good layer cut. $2-5 tip depending on if they take their time and do a good job instead of jawing with their coworkers. Speaking of jawing, do you like it when your barber (or stylist) talks to you while cutting your hair or do you want them to just shut the heck up and cut the hair? I must admit that I change based on who's doing the cutting.

I always talk to the person cutting my hair. I suppose I could sit there and stare at my phone but some face to face conversation is good too.

I have a local barber that's cheap, $12. I round that up to $15 which turns out to about 25%. I go elsewhere, $17-22, and I normally tip the same, $3.

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Originally Posted by Mobile PC

I get Christmas tips from a few clients. An employee or two has been tipped 20.00 for speedy fixes. Not on the retail side,but on the business side.

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I don't have any clients who tip me outright, but one of the attorney's I work for has been known to give me free legal advice and another client frequently gives me free UPS and FedEx shipping.

I cut my own hair, so sometimes I get a handy with my hair stylist when my g/f is not around. That's about it though.

When I did get my hair cut, if the stylist remembered how I liked my hair cut I always rounded up to 20 bucks for a tip.

There were a couple times that my stylist had breath that smelled like they ate a shit sandwich served in a dirty ashtray, I paid and left. No tip.

Don't get me started on tipping. When I get tipped for doing my job I'll tip others for doing theirs. That said, if I receive exceptional service in a restaurant that makes the experience better then yes, I'll give 10%, but it has to be above and beyond. I absolutely hate the American system where you're expected to tip certain people for doing their jobs, even if they just give it the minimum. When we visited NY and Vegas a few years back I loathed it with a passion.

A friend of mine visited Vegas a few years back, (not me honest), and refused to tip the taxi driver who took them to the airport. Apparently she didn't say a word to them the whole way there. When she realised she wasn't getting a tip she threatened to drive off with their luggage. Yeah, that's worth tipping!

Tips should be banned, especially where minimum wage is already being earned.

Let me contradict myself:

When we needed to fly from NY to Vegas we got a cab from outside the hotel, it was early morning. The driver asked if we wanted to grab something to eat and drink on the way and stopped at a fantastic deli where we got some breakfast and coffee, (we got him one too), and ate it in the cab as he drove. He stopped the meter whilst we got the food. He got a very good tip and it was deserved because he went over and above what's expected and left us a really good memory of NY.

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Originally Posted by Gazzak

Don't get me started on tipping. When I get tipped for doing my job I'll tip others for doing theirs. That said, if I receive exceptional service in a restaurant that makes the experience better then yes, I'll give 10%, but it has to be above and beyond. I absolutely hate the American system where you're expected to tip certain people for doing their jobs, even if they just give it the minimum. When we visited NY and Vegas a few years back I loathed it with a passion.

A friend of mine visited Vegas a few years back, (not me honest), and refused to tip the taxi driver who took them to the airport. Apparently she didn't say a word to them the whole way there. When she realised she wasn't getting a tip she threatened to drive off with their luggage. Yeah, that's worth tipping!

Tips should be banned, especially where minimum wage is already being earned.

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The last time I was in a cab in Vegas my sister in law, her husband, my wife and I were all drooling drunk and cracking jokes. I believe we all had drinks in our hands. The driver got into the spirit of the event, and a good time was had by all. I never consider tipping mandatory, but sometimes you get service above what you expect, and a tip is appropriate. Our driver in Vegas that day made several extra bucks.

Had a late lunch party of about 17 people, a party for my daughter. I didn't pay for everyone, was about 6 checks. But we had the cool inside the kitchen table at a PF Chang. When it was all over, I know the kid serving us worked his a$$ off, best service I've seen for such a large table of people. Anyway, I put 18% on the CC for the bill but also handed him $20 cash for going that extra mile the entire time. I know he'd have to share the one on the tab with the bartender and the bus staff, but that $20 he got to keep without saying anything.

I leave a tip only if I am satisfied with the service in the restaurant. I'm not too picky, I did not leave a tip just two times. Once I waited for the waiter for more than 20 minutes, while apart from us only a few tables were occupied. The second case was when my wife and a waitress had a row in a cafe because our son (he was only 2 years old) had been eating carelessly (I think my wife or I would have cleaned after him table and seat, as we did before, if the waitress didn't start a quarrel as soon as he poured out the soup). Both times it was a roadside cafe. I sometimes leave a tip where I like to communicate with people. For example, a courier who often delivers me goods from one online store. I'm glad to chat with him for a couple of minutes and usually leave a tip. I leave a tip or pay extra for services that I additionally provided.