and this one is in a doctor's office -that's my dilemma. There's a half hour "consult" beforehand included. I suspect they're after return business with the whole gift certificate thing. I've been there with my friend. It's avery alternative, practice, so much so, they don't "do" insurance, but will happily provide a receipt for you to claim. It's a women-only business.

My gut feeling is that this will be a non-tipping scenario. But I don't want to offend.

They do make more per hour, but unless the person owns the spa they aren't banking the $75/hr massage charge. A friend had a job doing massage at this place and of the $115 for a massage, she got to keep $25. There were the usual usurious expectations about how many she was expected to do per day, how many days per week, showing up and hanging around all day for two massages at each end of the day just in case some one dropped in, etc.

Do they sell nutritional supplements to you based on the consultation? If so, then that's where they make their $ and I wouldn't tip. Nor would I buy their supplements probably.

yeah, this place (warning: crap website) is so not like that place, f3 -for sure I'd tip there.

no, no supplements. But someone can tell you which ones to buy for a large fee....


...no that was unfair, they really mean well, they are totally commited to the ideals they expound upon. They're nice people, and the staff are not transient or uninvested.

I'm like Clodfobble, so no useful pointers from me. I do agree with Perry Winkle's idea. PM him the office's number, and he can call for you. :D

They look very sincere and sweet. Despite their use of papyrus font. I'd say probably not tipping. I would guess that the practice is not in it for the money and therefore either the massage person is getting the whole fee or is a partner in the place. It didn't seem like they are just in it for the bucks and don't really care who is massaging people as long as the money comes in.

That being said, you could ask a few chatty questions to see what sort of relationship she has with the place, like is this your full time gig? do you work elsewhere? are you a partner in the practice, that sort of thing. IF she starts telling you about how she adopted five blind crack babies, then tip her.

She actually trained in the school I used to go for massage at the student clinic. Yes, they are sweet and sincere. and generally expensive, although i was suprised how "market" the massage prices were. But i guess if she keeps (almost) the whole fee, there's no need to ramp it up.

Hang on - are you expecting a "happy ending"?

Wow, 25 posts before we got there....... cellar's slipping......

I left it out. I'm trying to leave the fish in the barrel alive.

Ah, that explains it then. The only massages I've ever gotten have been from private individuals, running out of a back room in their house, or bringing their portable table to you. They're the kind who charge you less if you pay in cash. :)

Yeah, you don't tip them.

I just had a TV delivered - a 55" LED, which is fairly large. The delivery company first arrived while I was at work on Monday (it was to be a surprise) but they couldn't get up the street because the truck was too big and the road was too slippery, so they rescheduled for today. The delivery guy brought it out in his personal Dodge 4x4 and helped me bring it inside and unpack it.

After all that, he would not accept a tip. I've never had that happen before.