So I was reading a post on another hair forum in the states, the subject was tipping and this chaps conjecture was that it we are to further our respect from the public and gain in status as in industry we should refuse all tips. It got me thinking and I can see his point, however with salaries the way they are there is no way I'm refusing tips! I get hardly any of course (just in case HMIR is reading this ) How do you all feel? Anyone here mad enough to refuse tips? (I'll have if you don't want them) It's not really a tip but I know a girl who was flown business class to Australia and put up in a five star hotel for a couple of weeks for his fiftieth birthday. (Millionaire, and he flew loads of people out for it)
So how do you feel about tips? And what's been your most memorable tip/generous tip?
Mine? Don't slam revovling doors!
I am at college and a lot of our clients are senior citizens. When we are done we escort them back to reception. I have to keep a very straight face when the old dear digs out from her wheeled shopping trolley a mahoosive vinyl red purse, rummages around and covertly presses money into your hand firmly stating that 'this if for you dear', when you look its 20p hahaha
I did a perm for someone and they gave me fiver tip, I was landed :-)
Hi you pair,
This is a difficult one for a professional. I personaly dont think that it lowers our esteem. We are providing a very personal service and if the client is happy with what you've done then why shouldn't they show there appreciation....its not compulsary and clients that do or dont tip should be treated equally,I have some that actually pay me double (that is grossly OTT in my mind),some that dont and other like your little old lady,Emilia, that I'd prefer wouldn't. Dont fall into the trap of giving preference to big tippers,you will finish up upsetting other clients or fellow work mates.
Do declare tips to the I.R. they are not stupid and are aware that you receive them and should you ever come under investigation ( I have been there,and you dont want to know) you will have to show how much and where they've gone,this includes investigating,yours and your partners, private bank accounts etc.and the I.R. have a lot of facts and statistics to back up their knowledge of our business.
Do you tip in restaurants etc. when you get good service? some establishments will impose a 10% service charge.......this I am dead against,they should put it on the price and pay there workers decent wages.
Wish you well,
Tel
What I have always hated about tipping was the fact that you put your hand out and don’t know what the other person is going to give you. So many times it’s nothing to do with your service. For instance the dear old ladies Emalia is talking about, who seem to still be living in the 1970’s? Three tips in my career seem to stand out. One was the Australian woman who never tipped after a super service. Later I found out that in Australia hairdressers dont get tips. Then another was the very rich American that gave me more than a week’s salary for just washing her hair-piece. My eyes just opened wide at that one. Or maybe it was from the carbon-techa-chloride , I used to wash it with in the dispensary . And then... a stylist I used to work for as his personal junior who used to tip me, late saturday afternoon (it was usual to be late on saturday afternoon, half day off), at the end of the week. He gave me a ten bob note (50p today) and he used to crumple it up and place it in my palm while shaking my hand to make it look like it was so much more.
Salon owners did not need to pay you well, as your tips covered your living expenses. Well..... you worked so long that you never really got to do any living. I remember once entering the salon and it was dark and after a day in the basement I left, and it was dark. I had not seen the sun that day. I had been working in the basement all day. (It was the permanent wave department). In Italy basements are not for living. It’s not allowed to work in a basement. I think that in England there should be the same law. What do other readers of HJi think? This story is to do with tips. Is it right that salon owners rely on a hand out from the clients to cover their pay packet costs? That…. putting your hand out and not knowing what the served are going to give you! I don’t find any dignity in the practice of Tipping. Unless it’s a super-good-tip that makes your eyes wide open. But the small tip that means that you don’t have to be paid properly?
Maybe I have this rant as hairdressing teachers dont get tiped. We put in a service to you hairdressers and what do we get for it? In 7 years as a teacher I got tiped once. (Thats just over ten thousand people that came through my course.) It was from thirty Germans on a WELLA course,who went home after the three day course and all did well on that particular hairstyle that we where teaching that week. It was the Fire fly. 1973.
Talk about ungratfull. I never thought about tips untill that day.
Next time you go to a school or Academy or call it what you like, for a bit of education think about that teacher. He or she is just working their, he or she is not the owner, He or she is not getting tips, or great wages, Next time maybe hairdressers can put their hands in their pockets (as I say they are not very good at that) and at least show their gratitude for the hard work put in by the person who is putting all their energy into trying to give you an education. Teaching is a giving profession. thees people give you. Its time to give teachers some appreciation.
Did you ever tip your teacher????? I bet the answer is NO! don't they give you a service? more than most! they give you a career. Even the taxie driver who took you to the course got a tip for ten minuits work and then all day or maybe all week with the TEACHER just to shake his or her hand at the end of the week and walk out. Every-thing is all right!
Some of my ex students even say that they were taught by the owner of the hair school I worked in, when that owner never knew them from ADAM, And still dosn't. But I do still remember them. They talk about MENTOR. Look up the word. Its not the person you payed but the person that befriended you and helped you through the difficult task of apprehending (To become conscious of, as through the emotions or senses; perceive) as socrates said 2700 years ago.... Life is short and art is difficult to apprehend (He or she who befriends you and helps you apprehend is your MENTOR. not the person that invented a style and then you went to a school and payed to get education)
I remember a waitres coming out of a resataurant that she had been waiting tables from and she shouted at us for not leaving a tip. She was livid with anger. I got the message....She was not payed much by the owner and relied on those tips.
I think a ten percent tip would be rather nice from every student just like hairdressers should get....That means 100 pounds from a one week course at 1000 pounds.
Grumpy old man today!!!!!!
Not been on here in a while. Hasn't it picked up?
Santilli:Did you ever tip your teacher????? I bet the answer is NO! don't they give you a service? more than most! they give you a career. Even the taxie driver who took you to the course got a tip for ten minuits work and then all day or maybe all week with the TEACHER just to shake his or her hand at the end of the week and walk out. Every-thing is all right!
Perhaps you didn't tip your teacher; but you did buy them presents at Christmas and again in the summer! However, I think that you are overlooking the main point: tips are given to people in the service industry. Hairdressers are considered part of the service industry - teachers aren't. It's just how it is.
I'd never refuse a tip. If you have provided a service and your client has appreciated it then it is their way of saying thank you. Does tipping undermine the service you have provided? God no - it just says 'thanks for a job well done'.
I don't think clients tip because they think we are underpaid - in fact I think it's a commonly held myth that 'you never get a poor hairdresser'. I think anyone who takes it that way is getting it wrong. Also each client tips their hairdresser and whether they are a stylist with their first column or a revered senior stylist they treat you for the service you have provided. If it was just a case of salon owners adding money to their wages then that would happen proportionately so it would actually be the less senior staff who missed out.