To tip, or not to tip? that is the question...

Chop and change hairdressers?????

Perish the thought. It took me ages to find a replacement for 'Wendy' when I moved. Now 'Adrian' is one of the top three most important men in my life.

I don't have anybody coming to my flat, not even the firemen with their calendar, as most of the other flats are just seasonal lettings. I have just taken a box of biscuits to the Mairie and the Post Office, because the women there are very helpful.
In France, most restaurants say 'service inclus' but it is customary to round it up, or leave the odd bits of change.
I have my hair cut, but not washed or blow dried, about twice a year (I wash it myself and it is naturally curly so it does not need styling. My French hairdresser charged me €14 this week, but I gave her €20 because she does such a good job and it is Christmas!
When my daughter was a waitress in Chester, she served one table of businessmen and the bill was close to £200. They gave her a £1 tip, which she pointedly put back on the table. Perhaps they couldn't put the tip on expenses.
I do agree that the tipping system helps employers to pay low wages. In some Ladies in large stations or hotels, the woman manning the place gets no wages at all and relies completely on tips. I believe the job of doorman at the Dorchester is bought when somebody is retiring because it is so lucrative. I hope Europe never follows the example of New York, where I am told waiters can get quite threatening if you don't give them a big enough tip!

When I owned and cooked in my bar restaurant all tips were pooled and five percent of the food takings were added to this then shared out pro rata.

In France people leave only a modest tip. Probably five percent at the most.

I am happy that I am not the only GNetter who finds the whole hairdresser tipping thing a mine-field. If you go to the same one all thetime then you can suss out what is the norm. So many of us, I suspect, chop and change hairdressers.

Bin men deserve a tip. It's a horrid smelly job which carries a social stigma with it. I hope mine make a lot this Christmas.

I always tip my hairdresser 10% because she is the best one I've ever had, and she always concentrates totally on me, and not on what's going on in the salon!

I used to tip the bin men when they humped the stuff, but then I got to know
one and he made a fortune, hundreds of pounds each Xmas!

Goose; I know exactly what you mean. I do sometimes tip people that I know are far better off than me but, having done so for years I don't know how to stop. I doubt if they'd mind if I stopped but I can't do it. If and when I retire next year I'll have to rethink a lot of things in my life and that's one of them.

I'm very impressed by your daughter and her sign, whenim64. What a good idea for making customers feel that they know exactly where they are. I go to the hairdresser every 2 months or so as she makes a better job of cutting my fringe than I do. It takes about 10 minutes maximum (including quite a lot of time talking about how her children, whom I know, are getting on) and she has always charged me £1. I never tip, but I do ask regularly if she wouldn't like to increase her charge. In fact we rarely tip; never in restaurants - why should you, when you don't tip the people who actually make the food and what you are paying for is to have it bought, cooked and brought to the table and for someone to wash up. The restaurant should set their prices to cover all that. (In some countries it is customary to leave the change, even just a small amount, and we do that when abroad, but it would probably be regarded as an insult here.) Neither do we tip in hotels, nor the bin men or the postie, although we do give eggs to the best posties from time to time.

Having said that, we do seem to tip in taxis, though I don't know why. In our (small) town, where the waitresses in cafés are likely to be young local girls, I will leave a tip, but not a strict 10%. We also tip the paper boy and so far it's been £5. This year we have a really good one, whom we will tip with pleasure; the last one was a dozy individual who made life quite exciting when you never knew which paper, if any, you were actually going to get. We had him for 2 years and tipped him only once.

london - that's my problem too - the whole guilt trip if I don't tip, even when I can ill afford to. Folks that work in my local supermarket are on a minimum wage and don't get given tips - well, lots of people are on minimum wage (sometimes below) and don't get tips for the service they provide, so I'm pondering why the tipping thing is spread over such thin ground?

I tip our postie as she lives a long way away but insists on doing our village cause she likes it so much. Always a smile on her face an a wave. How things should be [but often aren't ].

I don't tip the hairdresser as it's her own shop, but do tip the postie (both of them -Gibby and Jocky - a fiver each because they always look after us so well! The bin men (4 to the lorry) get 4 cans of lager and the man who collects the village football tote money, which raises funds for the team, also gets a fiver. I'm rarely in a taxi, but I always tip at least 10%. If we go for a meal, we leave a tip of 10%.

I dont tip hairdresser unless its the full works ,but i do feel guilty .a more or less run out the shop .

We must be mean old skinflints then, as the only times we tip is when we go out for a meal! Hubby`s way of looking at it is, nobady ever tipped him for doing his job. And taxis are so dear, I can`t afford a tip on top, unless it`s the small amount of change due.

I don't tip the bin men although I think my DH used to. I usually give my postman a bottle of wine as he is always cheerful and friendly and keeps an eye out for people living on their own. We don't have a paper boy/girl - wish we did and I would tip them as I don't think they get paid very much

I would never add a tip to the bill. It almost certainly wouldn't go where I wished it to!

But anno how do you know if you add to the bill that it won't just go to the management? Some years ago now we were in Prague and the head waiter, obviously embarrassed, asked us if we planned to tip and when we said we did he explained that none of the staff got anything if it was added to the credit card. I also think I remember something about it being perfectly legal for the management to keep it all.

The GM of a hotel we stay at said that staff are paid differently if they are in tipping jobs and non-tipping jobs so it may be that the waiters need the money.

I've never worked in catering so don't have any direct knowledge of how it is done.

I have always tipped in cash in restaurants, but I'd like the kitchen staff (underpaid and hard worked except, perhaps, for the head chef) to share in it so I think that in future I will add it to the bill.

I would tip my,postman if he ever managed to get the mail to the right houses!
It causes a lot of agro with him next door!

I tip our postman because he is regular and is always bright and cheery and early.. do tip 10% to waitresses if they are cheerful if they are a misery then I don't. Give the window cleaner a bottle of wine usually or chocs..

My hairdresser has little money boxes with each stylists name on so you can give a tip but no one will know how much. I like this idea as a lot of her customers are older and presumably some cannot afford very much. I always tip her even though she is the owner as she charges so little and makes a good job of cutting my hair.

I don't tip the postmen because there are so many of them! No regular one.

I don't tip the bin men since I met one socially and heard how much he was earning and I don't think their job is very hard now that they just have to pick up bags which we have put out on the pavement.

In restaurants it rather depends on the service I have recieved. I have even tipped when there is a service charge if it has been an exceptional meal and I always tip with cash. If you put it on the credit card you cannot be sure the staff get it, it could go to the management!

tipping is a mine field I kinda resent it is restaurants unless very good service, often you get a series of people not looking after you very well.

My hairdresser is lovely she goes to so much trouble and is very reasonable indeed so I always tip her but only £2 for cut/colour and £1 for blo dry just a gesture of appreciation but I always buy her a xmas gift.

I do not grudge that at all as she is excellent, even comes to my house on Saturdays to give me blo dry!!

I am lucky with her but she just got married and at 34 wants patter of tiny feet watch this space!!

she is good cutter and also cuts my OH hair. hope she will still fit us in somehow!!

I don't tip the postman because he's a miserable s*d who is always complaining about the weight of the post, the length of peoples' driveways and the weather. Why he doesn't give up the job and let someone else more cheerful do it I'll never know, so no tip from me but the bin men always get something, usually £10 tucked inside a card selotaped to the top of the bin. They're friendly and tidy and I want to keep it that way!

I always tip my hairdresser around 10%. She is an excellent cutter and I really hate changing hairdressers so I hope she never leaves. She is a single mum with a lovely daughter. I have no idea how much she earns but it's my way of showing thanks for a job well done.

Jodi We also include Pete the postie. Get lots of merry hoots in return.

Goose your hairdresser will not be paid anything like £70 per hour. She'll probably be on the minimum wage and the rest will cover overheads like business rates, lease of the premises, water, heating and lighting, materials, complying with health and safety requirements, staff training, and last but by no means least, the salon owner's cut for the investment they make in, and overall responsibility they take, for running the business.
It is an expectation that the minimum wage is supplemented with tips, and one that I have no problem with.
My hair is very fine and looks awful if it's not cut well - I don't begrudge a penny of what I pay my hairdresser, including the tip

I used to tip the bin men when they actually had to heft heavy bins from the end of one's drive to the road, but not now that all they have to do is wheel it from the side of the pavement (where I've had to heft it myself!) and hook it on the back of the van!
We do tip the postman, because he's very helpful and obliging and knows where to hide our parcels.