Tips - Silver Spring,MD

I tip when a service has been provided for me, AND they were excellent in doing their job. I give very little or no tip for poor service and a bitchy attitude. If someone were to be bold enough to ask me for a tip, I'm not sure I'd be too nice. Tipping is up to the customer - the service provider should never ask for one. I tip at the hair salon, nail salon and restaurants and that's about it.

I am also so sick of seeing "Tip" jars everywhere - the bookstore, small privately owned clothing shops, and the kicker - self serve frozen yogurt stores. I went to one just before Christmas with my 2 kids and a friend and her 2 kids. The guy behind the counter did nothing to help us - I made 3 yogurts for me, carried them all to the checkout and then he took my money when I paid. Then had the nerve to push the tip jar towards me as I was closing my wallet. Ummm - no dice dude. What did he do besides take my money? NOTHING!!!!! Am I tipping for him taking my money? So now I'm supposed to tip the cashiers at McDonalds or any other fast food or self serve place? Tipping is out of control!

8 moms found this helpful

I am done tipping subpar service!

I was followed into the parking lot and asked for a tip on a free massage that my husband bought and included the tip. I reminded her "The gift card says tip is included" right on it. She did not get another tip or a recommendation.

The receptionist asked me 'and how much will you be adding to your charge for tip'. that is rude. The credit card machine allows you to retype the amount for a tip IF the customer adds one. It is so rude and unprofessional to ask.

I decided I will tip bad waiters no more than $3 ever and I will give 20-25%tips to those few excellent waiters who earn it.

6 moms found this helpful

Places & people are getting a sense of entitlement about it. Its a counted on & expected extra stream of cash for the person or shop.
But... a tip is icing on a cake.
It is not, perfunctory or automatic.
It is, up to the customer.

Being "groped" for tips by a person or store..... is really disgusting.

I hate places that automatically include the tip in the bill.

I do tip when somewhere and I do 20%. IF the service was good/nice/normal.

5 moms found this helpful

Hun, your bill from the restaurant covers your food doesn't it? Yes your bill for the nails covers the pedicure but not the service the tech provides just like your food bill doesn't cover bringing the food to the table.

Unless the person owns the salon they are being paid only a small portion of the cost of the service.

You are tipping because you want them to do a good job every time. I am a good tipper where ever I go, I can assure you I get much better service than those that tip very little. I hate to be so blunt about it but everyone loves and appreciates my money.

3 moms found this helpful

look the aggressive " i want a tip " person in the face , and say in loud clear voice" ARE YOU ALWAYS THIS RUDE ? OR DO YOU PRACTICE
AT IT ??" trust me , the louder you say this , the faster they will back off. then go to the manager of the business and tell them you will never shop there again as long as this aggressive "i want a tip " person works there. the tipee will be out of a job faster then the baggage handler on the titantic.the last person who made the mistake of asking me for a tip was told very simply, "i have a choice, here, sweetpea, i can buy my child a snack while i am here,or i can give you a tip. guess which one of you will go away empty handed ?"they walked away like their pants were on fire, then i reported them to management.
K. h.

2 moms found this helpful

If someone is performing a personal service, especially one that involves touching your body, you should always tip. Your pedi girl was annoyed because you had money enough to get your feet done but not a couple bucks to appreciate her hard work. It's hard to say whether you should tip your food delivery guy every time but once again, you can afford to get your food delivered, so the thinking is, you should afford the couple bucks for the guy. I would say at the very least, give these people a tip at Christmas if you do not tip them on a regular basis. It doesn't have to be a lot. I do not tip usually when I pick up the takeout though.

2 moms found this helpful

I've been reading Mamapedia for years, but never commented on a question. I felt the need to comment on this question, because I completely agree with you; tips have gotten out of control. Like you said, I understand tipping a waiter or a pizza delivery guy... in these cases you are paying for the "good" (the food) and tipping for the service. But when you get a hair cut or a manicure, you are already paying for the service (the service is the "good" being provided), so it should only be necessary to tip if the service provided is above and beyond what is standard.

2 moms found this helpful

And this is why I'm no longer a hairdresser :) When I worked as one I brought home $400 a month before tips. I was being paid minimum wage and had ZERO benefits. If I was sick and couldn't go to work ... I didn't get paid. I didn't have health insurance, sick pay, vacation pay or anything else.

I spent 8 hours a day on my feet dealing with people who would say "cut off an inch" and when I cut off an inch would have hysterics because they really only wanted a 1/4th of an inch cut off and blame ME. Or would want me to not give them the HAIRCUT they asked for ... but they wanted me to make them look like the MODEL in the book. And again would be pissed at me if all I could give them was the cut. And I was extremely good at what I did.

Oh and all that color, cotton, foil, bowls, brushes, as well as the chemicals to STERILIZE THEM cost money. Many of which the stylist has to pay for herself (if she's renting her booth especially). My salon didn't pay for my curling irons, scissors, combs, brushes, perm rods, curlers, hair dryer, etc etc. ALL that stuff I had to buy on my own.

And do you KNOW how nasty feet are? ALL feet? It's gross.

Now I worked in the business over 20 years ago so I'm sure they are making more than $400 a month now, but I can promise there are a LOT of them that are actually making LESS than minimum wage and STILL don't have benefits.

AND I spent 2 years getting proper training and education to get a LICENSE (which costs money AND continuing education classes, which again my salon DIDN'T pay for, all that came out of my pocket).

1 mom found this helpful

I feel the same way! I get the restaurant thing but not the salon. I don't go to the salon very often but when I did, I did give 20%. If someone was aggressive and hounding me to tip, I probably wouldn't just because that is totally inappropriate. Or if I did, I'd give a dollar. That's bad business. But generally, I'm very generous with tips. We give 20% usually. 10% if the service was bad. I don't go to the salon anymore because the last time I went and got a trim, blow dry, color and highlights, it cost me $200!!!! Oh my what a shock. She charged me the price for color twice because of the highlights. I think I only gave a 10% tip and started trimming and coloring my own hair for less than $10, no tip required...LOL

1 mom found this helpful

When someone is providing a service....... you tip. People who work in the service industry do rely a lot on tips to make their monthly budgets, etc.

I am not cheap by far and I usually tip 20% of my total bill, whatever it is, sometimes more.

Yes, I tip at nail salons, hair salons, etc. You may pay an extra $10 for conditioning but the person doing it is providing a service. Same with nails... you are receiving a service.

I do not feel like someone should feel entitled to a tip, as the example on MusicMakingMama's post. THAT was flat out rude. Would I have tipped the person, even if the gift card said tip included???? Maybe a very nominal tip (not 20%) if I knew the tip was included, just as a thank you. BUT, if someone ever followed me asking for a tip then he$$ no.

Another tipping practice that I see used more now is that the 20% gratuity is included on the bill BUT, there is also a line for your tip which leads some people to believe they need to tip when the tip is in clear sight o the bill if you read it. This happens at restaurants often and I get it... you have a table of 6+ I understand an automatic tip to protect the server but sometimes it is presented in a way that appears like the tip is not there which leads to some double tipping. This happens in high end resorts a LOT.

Bottom line, if someone provides a service, yes I tip. If the service is crappy, I do not tip my normal 20% but I'll leave something. Another thing I hate are the tip jars placed everywhere for everything.

1 mom found this helpful

You tip because these people are doing a job that sucks and they make no decent hourly wage doing it! I work in the hospitality industry and it is so sad for me to see my $2+ hour server serve a $100 meal and get nothing even if she did a spectacular job. The same with bellmen, hair dressers, pizza delivery, pedicurists, massage therapists and the list goes on. Most, if not all, of the money you give to those people goes to the house, NOT the employee. Yes, some of these people get an hourly wage but that wage is GARBAGE! It's negligible. They rely on tips to live. Hair dressers have to pay out of their own pocket for their supplies, their booth rental etc... So that $120 you gave her doesn't go to her. She gets very little of it. The girl who takes care of your feet probably makes $8 an hour. I certainly wouldn't be touching anyone's feet for $8 an hour! YUCK!

It makes me crazy when people don't tip! How would you feel if you provided a service to someone and they didn't tip you? It's a general rule that 15% is a fair tip. Anything over that is for someone who really did a great job. The exception is bellman and delivery drivers who should get about $3 for delivery or per bag they're carrying for you (this can vary by city).

1 mom found this helpful

I typically have tipped my hair stylist if they are not the owner of the salon and if I like the job they do - I don't know how much they are being paid and I figure every little bit helps. Same thing for wait staff - they get paid very little and depend heavily on tips. Typically I try to do between 15 and 20%. But for someone to just "expect" a tip is rude. I once went out to breakfast with friends and the service we got was horrible, so we did not leave any tip. The waitress had the gall to chase us down in the parking lot demanding her tip. We told her no, because the service we got did not warrant one. She got all bitchy with us, but oh well, too bad. But most people do a nice job and in any service-type industry, I will tip accordingly.

1 mom found this helpful

I tip up to 20% flat rate based on the total bill for good service on hair, nails, skin, food, etc. Only time I don't is when I've had my hair done by the salon owner. If the service was subpar, I typically still leave between 15%. I realize that person may be having a bad day. In salons, the person (not owner) doing the service receives a small portion of the money you pay for the service they perform on you. In my opinion, delivery guys deserve a tip for bringing your food to your door. They have to drive to your house with your food. If they charge a gas fee, it is because they are using gas to get to your house.

1 mom found this helpful

I would have just said I already tipped the nail technician.

i totally agree with you. i think waiters should also get paid minimum wage so that there is no need to tip. a delivery driver should get paid more or get to use a company car and/or get a gas card. we pay for what we want up front and i don't think it's fair or right that the person gets more this time than that time or that we have to pay more for something than we were quoted. and if we don't are thought of badly and you better not go back because they will remeber you.

for those that tip anyone that serves them what about in the shoe store or at the clothing places when they help you? my hubby worked at home depot as a cart attendant and helped people load their cars with heavy stuff. he wasn't allowed to accept money...in turn people gave him gifts instead like a wind chime herbs ect. my grandma has told me that if she goes to a buffet she only tips based on the amount the drink was not the food sense they didnt bring that to her.

If you have enough money to spend $110 on your hair, I think you can tip more than 10%. The saloon might be making money, but hairdressers are not paid well.

On the other hand, I am also confused about tipping, I give really big tips when I get my hair done, and I still don't feel like I doing right.

What about picking up Carry Out. I sometimes give 10%, but I'm confused.

Hi, K.:
WOW! Do you go to the same person?
If you do, or don't, talk with the person before you
make your next appointment and
tell them what you have stated here.
They need to know how the customer feels about
their services.
Just a thought.
Good luck.
D.

Updated

Hi, K.:
WOW! Do you go to the same person?
If you do, or don't, talk with the person before you
make your next appointment and
tell them what you have stated here.
They need to know how the customer feels about
their services.
Just a thought.
Good luck.
D.