OK, on Monday, I wrote an article here on Virtual Earner entitled “What’s Wrong with This.” In that article, I related that I had gone to have a haircut last week, and I found that the way that they made a change for the payment was not done correctly. The amount of change I got was correct, but it was done in a way to minimize the amount of money that the barber shop would earn.
How could this be? I mean, I paid the proper amount for the haircut (P40) and got my change back (P60) in the proper amount. So, what was wrong.
OK, you see, I always pay P40 for the haircut. I also always give my barber a tip of P20. As I said in my original article, the smallest bill that I had to pay with was a P100 bill. So, when I paid with that, I was given a P50 bill and a P10 coin. So, it was time for me to tip the barber. I had a choice, I could give him a P50 tip or a P10 tip.
Well, if I gave him a P50 tip, that would mean that I was giving a tip larger than the haircut itself. That doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. Also, one thing that you will find is that if you start giving a tip of a certain amount, if you give less the service provider will think you are being cheap. So, if I made an exception and gave a P50 tip, that would now be expected in the future.
My other choice was to give a P10 tip with the coin. A couple of problems here. First, I have been giving a P20 tip for years now each week when I go there. The barber probably wondered why he only got P10 this time. Also, since I always give P20, this means that the barber shop made less from me than they certainly could have.
P10 is not a big amount of money, but to a barber who only makes a few hundred Pesos per day, that is an amount that is significant. To me, I might not even bend over to pick up P10 on the sidewalk! I probably would, unless I was feeling lazy! Anyway, if the cashier was better trained, she would have given me change differently. In this case, with P60 change owed, she should have given me three P20 bills, six P10 coins, or some combination of those denominations. That way, she would be maximizing the amount that the business (and the barbers) were taking in that day.
If you own, or work in a business that is service related like a restaurant, barber shop, or anything were service is provided, it is important to think about this, because in those kinds of industries, tipping the service provider is common, and you want to make it as easy to tip as possible. Give the customer options on how much to tip, don’t force a small tip out of him!
Yes one should give change to the client in denominations that will “maybe” lead the client to leave a tip. I work in a salon and when I make change I will give one five dollar bill back in one dollar bills. This helps sometimes, however,it makes some clients upset because they were not planning to tip you. Some ask me for a larger bill. Another method that works (don’t laugh) is to ask if they would like to keep their reciept as you hold it out for them (usually the answer is no) then they think they should hand you something because you have allowed them to have time to recognize that they haven’t tipped you. By the way…YOU get a massage too?? for less than a buck! Where I work its $11.95 and that is a low-end salon. Oh and no massage 🙂 People tip 0 to 10 dollars usually.
Hi Shirley – Now, there is a comment from a real pro at making change, and somebody who knows how to get it done correctly! Thanks!
Yep, haircut and a massage for less than $1! You can’t beat that!