I’ve been going to my current barber for the past 4 years and was one of his first customers when he opened his shop.
He always offers incredible service and was thinking of getting him a bottle of whiskey as a Christmas gift as a thank you for 4 years of great work.
I just wanted to check it this is appropriate and whether there was a certain way to best do this respectfully?
Thanks.
7 comments
Generally, it’s not bad. But some employers do not like it. If his boss is not nice, he may not like that kind of present while the barber is working.
If he’s the manager there and no boss, no one would complain.
I think it’s a lovely idea. Good on you.
Can’t see any problems.
I think it is totally OK and would be appreciated but I do agree with previous comments about who he is in the shop.
When our cat died, we brought a big omiyage for the vet to share with everybody at the clinic, but when she got pregnant, we brought HER a gift for the baby… she really liked it.
I was afraid she would feel embarrased, but we wrote a letter explaining that back home that is what we would do and please do not give us anything back as that is not the way in our country (a couple of co workers would send a gift back after the baby was born and sometimes it felt more expensive than the present we gave in the first place).
The only downside I can see is that the value of the gift could leave him feeling obliged to buy you something in return. I’d be more inclined to keep it on the token side (less than ¥1000).
You’re already compensating his hard work by being a good and loyal customer, after all.
I wouldn’t give something too expensive as that might be too much to receive. I’d give something good but nothing TOO good, if you know what I mean. If anything, the omiyage at supermarkets are not bad choices.
I think this would be extremely nice of you. After four years, a bottle of whisky should be ok.
If there are other barbers, I’d give the gift to him discreetly, and maybe also bring a small shareable gift for the barber shop staff.
After 4 years, I can only guess you know him reasonably well.
Even then, a gift of alcohol would not be a good thing if it turns out he is a recovered/recovering alcoholic; and this could be something that you never knew about despite having engaged in regular, casual conversations over all this time.
If you know for a fact that he drinks (perhaps you’ve hung out at a bar after hours now and then), it’d be a nice gift. But if you don’t actually know that for a fact, I would suggest perhaps considering something different instead.