My H’s barber does the same, and our dentist. Don’t they realize they have about a 50% chance of offending a customer.
So glad my hair person is not a chitchatter, but when she chats, it is all about ethnic foods and travel!
I go with the rule if they get tips during the year (e.g. barber), then no holiday gift, and a holiday gift if there is no regular tipping but they provide on-going service (house cleaner).
That (100ish bucks for a cut/blow dry) would be the norm where I live also. That’s why I tip my lady well and appreciate her.
I stopped using my ophthalmologist for that reason. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I felt like I was captive while he ranted.
If I am the one paying then I am the only who could be ranting. I have been with my hairdresser since I was 23. She knows everything about me. I introduced her to my mom this year when my mom moved near me. My hairdresser chats with my mom like they have known each other forever.
Just wanted to share that my postal carrier left me a thank you note (okay, preprinted but he signed his full name) in my mailbox today for the holiday tip I left him a couple weeks ago.
(I like thank you notes. )
I keep missing mine. Can’t leave it in the mailbox b/c there are too many subs
Just got back from a European vacation. Wow. Such a different tip culture. You don’t tip at restaurants or at least the locals told us you don’t. You don’t realize how much cheaper it is to go out to eat when you aren’t dropping an additional 20-25% each time. Now granted if we had good service we still left 5-10 Euros.
I saw her driving by and went running out to get her but missed her. So I got in my car and drive through the neighborhood until I found her! She gave me a big hug!
I just returned from Iceland where we had fantastic service at every turn. No tipping anywhere! It was so refreshing. I’ve come back feeling that here in the US people are very money grubbing. I’m glad that there now seems to be more awareness that tipping for everything seems to have reached a tipping point!
I may have posted this before, but when we were in Italy, they seemed to “expect” tips, even though they weren’t required.
Got back from a trip to Poland and Norway. No tipping in either country. For anything.
We head out on a multi generational family trip tomorrow. It was our usual pattern to toss whatever was ‘edgy’ in the fridge and then go out to dinner. Tonight I did the mental math.
So if H and I go out and get a simple meal it will be a minimum of $25 pp (that’s a base level hamburger/dish with a side). I like a glass of wine…okay…I like TWO glasses of wine. For a simple house pour that’s now is about $15/glass. H stays with club soda with a splash of OJ which is usually $7.50
So..$50+$30+$7.50 = $87.50 for a simple meal.
Now add a CC fee of 3%. a mandatory 'healthy employee fee of 3% and a tip …expected to be no less than 20% (and that is if you are a cheap, unappreciated bugger)..and the meal would come to about $111.
The convenience no longer justifies this price. So..we thawed some pre BBQ’d chicken thighs, I opened a good bottle of wine. Made a quick side dish of veggies and ate at home.
We’ve discussed the math of eating out with the family on this upcoming trip. Our stop at Costco will include more stuff…then a quick run to a TJ’s. Other than a trip for ice cream or such thing with the toddlers…we will be making meals at the condo.
I have no idea who my postal person is. I don’t even check my mailbox but every couple of days. Do most people have a relationship with their mail guy?
Our mail “guy” is a “she”. And she is great. It’s very obvious when she is on vacation.
That was us during our recent trip to the islands with little kid and her family. They occasionally ate out… we made breakfast for everyone and ate what we cooked using Costco and Target-acquired ingredients. We ate out one night… that was it. Costco there had a nice selection of wines. $20 a bottle vs $150 for the same wine in a restaurant.
I know my postal person is a woman. That’s all I know
My across the street neighbor not only knows her, they bake each other food items! They chat and know stuff about each other!
I was astounded!
I don’t vacation enough that eating out isn’t part of the fun. At least occasionally.
When you are in some European countries you could get a local table wine for $20/bottle. In NYC it’s usually 300% mark up for a bottle. I was recently at a restaurant where they charged $25/glass, add in 20% tip, that’s $30+/glass. I think it’s outrageous.
I will just add that I don’t see why we are tipping 20% on alcohol especially when it’s so expensive.
We just got back from Poland, too. Most of our meals had a 10% service fee included. And the tax rate was very high. But prices were definitely lower than the US.
We tipped our tour guides. They worked hard and I didn’t mind giving them extra.
We just returned from Paris and London . Yes no tipping required but service is soooooo slow. I can’t get used to this slow service. You have to look for a server to give you a menu. Then wave at them to place your order. Then wait for ever for your order. In London most places just added 12% service fee so basically you are tipping 12% without ability to say if you like service or not.