> tipping
This has gotten ridiculous past 2-3 year. Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. I hate those ipad type payment consoles.
This has gotten ridiculous past 2-3 year. Buy a $3.00 coffee , $1 tip is expected. I hate those ipad type payment consoles.
The next haircut I got I asked “what is a good tip” and the hair cutter would not tell me. I guessed 20% and went about my day. Then someone told me “that was too low”.
I ended up cutting my own hair, or waiting until I was in another sane country.
In fact, we all should stop to frequent places that exploit employees by not paying them a livable wage. And if the solution to this means an increase in price, so be it.
The defense of 'they might be contractors', which rent a seat for a fixed price or on a % revenue sharing with the salon is even more ridiculous.
They are contractors, so they have all the means to set their own price.
My barber and most in the area have increased their prices significantly. 20% at $20 isn't bad. When my haircut is now pushing 35-40 range it becomes harder to stomach.
I remember all the travel advisories said something about 10 to 15 percent.
Heck, my barber now charges $25 for a haircut (which takes all of 15 minutes) and we're expected to tip for that too.
Then there are tips that I apparently don't really know about but if I don't, I'm the jerk. I never knew I was supposed to tip the natural gas guy when he comes by to do some service (which is 'free', this is service from the actual gas company on the meter). My neighbor tips the garbage truck driver.
If someone put an initiative on the ballot that explicitly banned tipping, I'd vote for it.
It's been customary to tip barbers since forever, hasn't it? When I was just 8, my father gave me money to tip the barber. I think the principle is, you tip so that the server remembers you. With haircuts, that can make a difference.
My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years.
> My hair is now so thin and wispy that no barber can make it look OK. I cut it very short myself, with electric clippers. I haven't been to a barbers in 8 years.
Ha! I'm getting there fast. I can still get it cut so it doesn't look terrible, but it quickly grows out and starts to look patchy, and worse, like I'm trying to have some kind of hangover. I'm this ---><--- close to just taking the clippers to it myself and calling it good.
I think this comment perfectly encapsulates why tipping has exploded and why it's never going away. People say they hate tips, but they complain vehemently when the base price of those goods rises to a decent wage.
In most urban areas I'd posit the reason for the explosion of tipping is because of the growing wealth inequality and explosion in housing costs. I'd bet that your barber is having a hell of a harder time making ends meet than, say, your average software developer compared to 10 years ago.
I'm not complaining about the price of the haircut, per se. I guess I could have phrased it better. What's getting me is that they're raising the price steadily, every few months it seems. That's cool, inflation is real, they have to make a living, I get it. But if they're doing a good job ratcheting up prices to keep up with inflation, why do I need to worry about tipping them so they can make ends meet?
Yes, they're not up to software developer levels. But they do get carpal tunnel, so there's that. And they require a bit of training and licensing before they can work. But at $100/hr, lets assume the stylist is getting 50% of that. They're not poor, they're more than 3x our local minimum wage.
Even then, it would bother me that my tipping was required for them to make ends meet. I'd much rather pay a fair price and not feel guilty based on how much I tip, wondering if it's enough, etc.
It's way over the top aggressive now.
Soon, I will just start asking them to input something that takes work: "Please input $0.57, thank you SO MUCH!"[0]
I expect the "custom amount" button to go away, at which point I will say something about making sure the average amount is about what I wanted to pay, and that means skipping some tips, and paying others, and oh by the way can you make a note of that. Is your manager here... Sorry about that, but getting this stuff right is really important...
This is all a really craptastic game I would rather not play.[1]
[0] I expect someone to get it wrong, or try and skate out on that little bit of work. Hoo boy! "Nope, let's make sure it is right please. Yeah, go back, hit custom, and yes $0.57 please. Yeah, you got it! Thank you!"
[1] Like the check your bags Nazi they forced some poor soul to be. What I ended up doing was to get a gift receipt.
Then, as I am walking right out with the stuff they have my money for, I hand it to them, "Here, please hold on to this for me, thanks!"
Yes i am too much of wuss to not tip when the person behind the counter is staring right at me making that choice.
Is this a fancy coffee shop thing? I admittedly don't go to cafes often, but my impression was that it's a "tipping optional" type of place (as opposed to something like full service restaurants which are tipping defacto mandatory).
Tipping was just not even considered in these transactions, before.
[EDIT] Oh, and percentage-tip defaults for situations where the norm before was maybe you toss your extra change or a $1 bill in the tip jar, and it was pretty normal not to tip at all most of the time. "18%, 20%, 25%, Custom, Skip".