Thursday, June 23, 2011

To Tip or Not to Tip?...That is Always the Question


Beauty Salon Etiquette 
Do You Know How Much To Tip? A good general guide to beauty salon etiquette. It includes tipping, a tipping guide and appointments-making etiquette. Referenced from Emily Post Manners.

If only everyone who offered a service of any kind were paid so well that he or she did not need to depend on tips, but unfortunately this is not the case. We must remember that many people are dependent on tips as part of their salary.
However, if the service is bad, they are rude, careless or inattentive, leave no tip and speak to the manager.
There is the argument that if we continue tipping despite bad service, we might as well make the tip mandatory because it fails the purpose of the 'system'.
What do you think? We will discuss this further below. 

Who To Tip?
It can be confusing to know who should be tipped and how much because sometimes more than one beautician is involved in your appointment.
Beauty Salon Etiquette: Check the totals for each service provided when you are given the bill.Base your tip off the percentages of the bill. For instance, manicurist $12, hair styling $20etc. Alternatively, you can follow the beauty salon etiquette tipping guide below.
If there is a "service charge" on the bill, then you do not have to tip. 

How Much To Tip?.
Beauty Salon Etiquette Tipping Guide:
  • Colorists - 15 to 20 percent
  • Hair Stylist - 15 to 20 percent
  • Shampoo person - $1 - $3
  • Manicurist - $2 for simple manicures or 15-20 percent otherwise
  • Facial, make up, waxing or other personal service - 15 percent
In salons where there is a coatroom/changing room matron, $1 is the standard tip. If there is a fee for that, do not leave a tip. 

When Tipping is Not Needed in Beauty Salon Etiquette
International travel tip:
A common feature of beauty salons in many other countries is that a service has a service charge automatically added to your bill to cover gratuities. In that case, an additional tip is not expected. 

Making Appointments - The Elegant Way
The most common areas of concern of beauty salon etiquette are making appointments, being on time, and communicating with the beauty salon.
If you are in a less busy city where beauty salons are generally quiet with a handful of clients a day, you may walk in and ask for an appointment immediately. Otherwise, salons always appreciate an appointment before hand.
If you did not have the beauty salon's number, you can try your luck to see if they have a free slot. If you are late for your appointment, try to call at least 15 minutes in advance. Usually 15 minutes before the appointment time, we'll already know whether we will be late or not. This is out of consideration for others.
If you are not going to make your appointment, please call and cancel.
Not showing for an appointment is extremely rude. People often do not care because it doesn't not make a difference to their pocketbook. The beauty salon could have scheduled another client on that same time slot allocated. As a client, we also do not appreciate it when we arrive and find our time slot has been taken.

When we arrive and we find ourselves waiting, allow yourself about fifteen minutes of waiting time before you get annoyed. Sometimes another client's hair may have been more difficult to manage so on and so forth.