Service industry gifts: to tip or not to tip?

I had fairly neutral feelings about last nights 84th Academy Awards, however, it is a long standing tradition of mine to watch them.   Some of my most cherished childhood memories are watching them with my mother.  One thing that stood out to me last night were the class act speeches. Christopher Plummer and Meryl Streep both gave what I thought were unique and very classy speeches.  Class.  Something I find very important and too often ignored these days.

Recently I ran into a “class” deliema.  When someone gives you a service industry gift do you tip or is it expected that they have already taken care of the tip as well?  By service industry gift I mean if someone pays for you to have your nails done or your hair done or calls ahead to buy you and your significant other dinner, etc.

I disucssed this with some of my service industry buds and came up with a few important factors and guidelines for both parties involved, the giver and the receiver.

The Giver

If you give a service industry gift, the classiest thing to do, in my opinion, is to leave the tip as well.  However, either way, this should be told to the person receiving the gift.

• When giving the gift you should let the receiver know that everything has been taken care of except the tip or let them know that it has all been taken care of.

Now, this presents a problem when someone calls a head to pay for a bottle of wine or a dinner in a surprise gesture.

• If you’re giving a bottle of wine or champagne, we decided it was hands down necessary to tip on this.  For what if someone is out to dinner and didn’t want to drink that wine or champagne at all?  They most certainly shouldn’t have to tip on a 75 dollar bottle that they may not have even wanted.

• If you’re calling a head to surprise someone by paying for their service, we think that the tip should be taken care of for this as well.

The Gift Receiver

If you receive the gift, first and foremost, I personally, think it’s classless to blatantly ask the person performing the service if the other has tipped. That last example is where it can get tricky.  If someone surprise you with a gift by calling ahead to pay, should the receiver leave the tip in this case?

• If someone buys you a surprise dinner or manicure or whatever, it should be expected that everything has been taken care of.  HOWEVER, it does not hurt to pay the gift forward.  Why not leave another tip?

• If you are comfortable enough with the giver and in a situation where you can ask- NOT in front of the person performing the service- that’s acceptable as well.

• When receiving any kind of gift, it is always important to say “Thank you.”

I know this last tip is an obvious one, but I think a lot of times we go through our “thank-yous” a little too mechanically and without meaning. Personally I’m still a fan of the thank-you card, probably because my mother never let a birthday or Christmas go by without a whole slew of follow up thank-you notes to family and dear friends.  Before we were allowed to seal our envelopes my mom would double check to make sure there was more involved then just a “thank you for x” line.  Don’t underestimate the power of a heartfelt thank-you!