Woman expresses anxiety over not tipping for haircut

‘The best tip is just to come back, tell your friends’

A woman has expressed anxiety after she had her first haircut where she didn’t leave a tip for the hairdresser.

Justice recently took to TikTok to explain why she chose not to tip the woman who put her hair in braids. “This is the first time I haven’t tipped to get my hair done and I was fueled with anxiety, especially when I hand her over the cash and she starts counting it,” the clip started out.

She discussed the amount of work that her hairdresser had to put in which was over seven hours of work, and cost her $350 which was around $40 per hour.

“I think that that’s a really good price,” Justice said. “How many people are making $40 per hour?”

Justice continued, adding that because the hairdresser worked from home that there was no commute involved and she had to arrive with her hair washed and blowdried. She added that because this was “the most comfortable braiding experience” she’s ever had, she would also be going back to this hairdresser.

The TikToker mentioned that people tend to view tipping as a “way to say thank you,” but that wasn’t how she viewed the situation.

“To me, saying thank you is how you say thank you,” Justice said. “Respecting people’s policies, arriving to your appointment on time, being respectful of the space that you’re in, letting them take photos of their work after, and maybe telling your friends, or if you have a social media following — that to me is how you say thank you.”

Her video went on to receive over four million views with the comments being divided over whether or not it was the right thing to do.

Some commenters respected Justice’s decision to not tip, citing “tipping fatigue” which is when consumers are increasingly expected to top up the wages of workers.

“Tipping fatigue is real. Definitely needs to be scaled back, especially with the cost of things,” one commenter wrote.

Another commenter agreed, writing, “Girl you’re fine, 350 is expensive.”

“I purposely set my prices for what I need to live and tell everyone tipping is not necessary. The best tip is just to come back, tell your friends,” a third commenter wrote, pointing out that this could likely be the case with Justice’s hairdresser since she works from home and likely for herself.

Although not everyone thought the hairdresser should go without a tip after putting in almost eight hours.

“Mannnn, not tipping on your fast food or Starbucks is fine but this… 7.5 HOURS? I would never not tip,” one comment read.

Another agreed, writing, “‘She is the best I’ve ever had’ is why we tip.”

“Your braids look fire, she deserved a tip. Stylists pay a ton in taxes & other overhead. When stylists get super booked they push out the non tipper,” a third commenter pointed out.

This isn’t the only time tipping culture has been questioned.

In a viral TikTok video, 30-year-old Ina Josipović shared with viewers her wedding dress shopping experience. Last year, she and her friend went shopping for her wedding dress and luckily found the perfect dress at the first store they went to. However, after she had purchased the dress, she was unexpectedly asked for a tip.

“Can we talk about tipping culture and the weirdest place that you’ve ever been asked to tip?” Josipović began the video. “I went shopping for my wedding dress like a week and a half ago and I ended up finding my dress at the first store that I went to. I’m not joking, when I went to go pay, they flipped their little iPad around and it asked for a tip.”

In the clip, Josipović noted that she and her friend were the only ones shopping in the store - along with three employees, including the store owner. “When I tell you I full-on froze, I stood there and I think they saw the blood leave my body,” she recalled. “I did not expect to have to tip buying a wedding dress.”