.. |
hostess
with the
mostest?
Jump
to the boards
and talk.
|
copyright ©1999-2002
DigsMagazine.com.
|
.
tipping etiquette ...
|
Q:
Hi!
I am planning to have my hair straightened at a salon using a
treatment that costs $100 an hour, and can take from 3-6 hours.
How does one calculate the tip for what could turn out to be a
$600 pricetag? It can't possibly be appropriate/expected to tip
15-20% ($120), can it????
Thanks.
A:
Holy
moly – a $120 tip for a haircut does sound kind of nuts,
doesn’t it? First things first, find out whether the salon
includes a service charge in that $100, the way spas sometimes
do, for particularly involved services. Chances are high that
the answer is no, but it can’t hurt to ask ahead of time.
Unfortunately,
yes, it’s generally agreed that, as in most service
industries, a 15% tip for the person who cuts, styles, or colors
your hair is appropriate for decent service, 20% when the
service has been extra special good (for ultra-cheap, no-frills
hair places, the range is more like 10-15%, but I've never heard
of anyone tipping a mere 10% at any of the posher salons).
.
|
With
hairdressers, in particular, I’m of the opinion that it’s a
good idea to tip generously – to ensure that the next time
you’re in the salon, leaving your beloved tresses at the mercy
of the hairdresser, you give them extra special incentive to
make sure you walk out of there looking good (granted, I have a
particular phobia about my hair, having received far too many
bad haircuts as a child – memories of a particularly
ill-advised body wave still haunt me). I’m thinking a 15% tip
of your very large bill would be more than generous enough, but,
personally, I wouldn’t tip much less than that. After all,
your hairdresser is going to be spending 3-6 hours of his/her
time with you, and would certainly appreciate a tip that
reflects all that effort.
|
got
a
suspicion you may have
committed
a
terrible
social faux pas?
want to avoid
doing so in the future?
Ask Etiquette Schmetiquette.
e-mail
your questions to us and we'll do our best to get you the answers in future installments of
Etiquette Schmetiquette!
|
|
keep
reading for more etiquette quandaries!
--------------------------->
lounge . nourish
.
host . laze
. home .
|