A salon customer wondered if she was in the wrong for not tipping a stylist for a second visit to fix a hair-dying job gone awry.
On TikTok, creator Molly Marie (@molly_marie_2) sought commenter approval for her actions, recording a substantial three-part video series detailing the situation. The first video, published to the platform on Saturday, got more than 2.1 million views and nearly 9,000 comments—perhaps a more substantial response than she’d anticipated.
In that video, she walks viewers through the misadventure, which involved getting a money piece and babylights in her hair. She has the color she was looking for in the clip, but as she relays, she did not have an adequate representation of her inspiration picture when she first left the salon.
@molly_marie_2 The guilt I’m feeling is so real. But at the same time I keep getting re mad about the whole situation 😭 do I owe this girl a tip?! #hair #hairdresser #haircut #moneypiece #tipping #tippingculture ♬ original sound – Molly Marie
For the uninitiated, a money piece is defined by Byrdie as a highlight technique “in which a colorist places a brighter pop of color in the pieces of hair directly framing the face.” And Allure describes babylights as “finely-woven highlights placed throughout the hair,” which “can make a huge difference in your color’s overall vibrancy. They are brilliant yet subtle; you may even mistake them for really good natural hair color.”
The TikToker noted, “I ended up messaging the stylist, and she was very nice,” after she determined the finished product was not what she wanted. “And I was like, ‘Hey … everything else looks great, but I wanted the money piece to be more exaggerated like the inspiration picture.’ Mind you, the inspiration picture was literally me a couple years ago. And she was like, ‘Oh yeah, of course, let me get you booked.”
She noted that she was finally able to get her redo two weeks after her initial appointment. After paying $200 the first time, the TikToker expected making things right would only be around $50 to cover the cost of product. However, three hours later, she was asked to pay $168 for the money piece redo, which eventually was bumped down to $127. She didn’t tip on that second appointment and felt guilty for not doing so.
In a follow-up video, she revealed that part of the issue during her first appointment was having to evacuate the salon in the middle of her hair lightening because of a gas leak in an adjoining business. She had to make a 10-minute drive to the salon’s other location and felt she couldn’t complain at the end of her appointment because the stylist was late meeting another client at the original location.
@molly_marie_2 Replying to @Rachel ♬ original sound – Molly Marie
Commenters had her back.
“My jaw dropped at 3 hours… dropped again at the redo not being free… dropped again at it being $168 then $127,” said one, adding “omg” and an all-caps “INSANE.”
“Stylist here,” another reported. “No way! Redo is free and no tip!”
Another stylist agreed, saying, “Stylist here! It was HER job to let you know if she was planning on charging or not for the redo.”
The story set one commenter off, who observed, “I’m trying to comprehend tipping hairstylists and nail techs making a $100 an hour! Tipping is for people making half than minimum wage.”
But another commenter remarked, “We have to pay for product, rent, taxes, EI, etc. we don’t get that $100. People think when someone is self employed we are making so much money.”
Someone else retorted, “Many people don’t pay all of that, and girl we know what that product costs,” with a laughing emoji. “And none of it justifies 300$ for simple highlights.”
The follow-up video also included initial support for her situation, with one viewer remarking, “Honestly, just the inconvenience you went through for the first visit, they shouldn’t have charged you for the second one.”
In a third video, the TikToker revealed that she called the salon and received a refund for the second appointment. She ended up tipping the stylist $40.
Commenters were largely supportive of how she handled the issue. However, some still felt the stylist didn’t deserve a tip and even suggested that she deliberately overcharged the TikToker for the redo despite the salon’s customer satisfaction policy.
“Glad you called and got refunded!” one viewer remarked. “I def wouldn’t have tipped… the stylist knew the policy and tried to take advantage!”
“Classy way to handle it,” another commended. “A reminder for us if we have this happen. Well done. Glad you shared.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Molly Marie via TikTok comment.
