Tipping ???????

[mom2dzb]

It never even crossed my mind to tip housekeeping. We are a family of 6, 4 DDs . Im feeling like a smuck! So you people are saying this is a common practice? Where are you from? Or am I just that nieve? We are a big family and I try to keep the room clean but with 4 young ones its hard not to have crackers smushed into the carpet . Thanks for the insite but some part of me wishes I never read this since now I feel oblagated to tip.

My husband is a generous tipper, he learned from his father. Still, he never tipped housekeeping. It wasn't until our trip last week that we decided to tip the housekeeping staff. I'm not sure if we will be tipping regularly but this time housekeeping went above and beyond making our bed and replacing the towels.

So, anyway, Mom4princesses, don't feel bad. I'd imagine housekeepers don't expect a tip like bellhops and food servers do.

 

[ploeb]

My advice... Tip, even just a little something, unless the service is just plain bad. If you are someone who goes often, the staff will remember you. Be kind, someone does something nice or goes out of their way, be sure to let your hotel managment know. The staf WILL remember you, and it will come back two fold! And when you have a complaint, the staff will know that you must be right, you are always so nice!

 

[Hermosa11]

A co-worker and I were talking about tipping (for motel cleaning service) and she said her husband takes the change from his pocket each day and would put it on the sink counter area and ASSUME that the maid would know it was for her. I could not believe that. How silly! How is she(or He) supposed to know that without any form of a note!
That being said....I place the $$ at end of trip on table with note saying thank you. I will, though, from now on, but the tip there each day ....

Re: the Shuttle, I tipped for the two of us about $3. Once we arrived at the motel (CCI), I realized I left my camera bag behind! I made the phone call immediately and they said there would be an extra charge. That is fine with me , but I only had a $20 bill and $5 and few one dollar bills! augh! When the man returned I rushed to the office and handed him the $20 bill and asked if that was fine. Apparently it was and I was thrilled! that I had my camera back!
I would have paid more if it was required! (not sure where I'd get more cash, )..............

 

[minnietoo]

As someone who travels a great deal on business I find that the service I receive during my stay can be influenced by how I tip the first night. It gets around the staff pretty quick who tips and who doesn't. By tipping early I can usually expect better than average treatment and the occasional "extra" from the staff out of appreciation. I do the same thing when traveling with my family, since sometimes a little "extra" makes the difference in how smoothly things go.

Ok now I am really confused . This seems like a "bribe" to me. I thought a tip was a thank you for good or expcetional service and was to be given after service was recieved - not before to ensure good service. I think this takes things a little too far and reminds me of kick-backs and greasing of palms to keep unscrupolous people on your good side.

DISCLAIMER: If I have read this wrong - please forgive me. Please be aware that I am discussing this topic and not bashing the poster nor am I implying that hotel and other service workers are unscrupolous.

 

[minnietoo]

My advice... Tip, even just a little something, unless the service is just plain bad. If you are someone who goes often, the staff will remember you. Be kind, someone does something nice or goes out of their way, be sure to let your hotel managment know. The staf WILL remember you, and it will come back two fold! And when you have a complaint, the staff will know that you must be right, you are always so nice!

Sounds like sound advice - however, the "little something" needs to be a certain amount or it may be misinterrpreted as saying service wasn't good enough.

I think complements to managers etc (about the employees when appropriate) during the stay are certainly something worth the extra effort to do. It costs us only in time and goes a long way for any employee. This would mean much more to me than a few dollars tip - as it will reflect on my evaluation and could result in a promotion in the future. This is long term gain!

 

[missmonkey]

So, anyway, Mom4princesses, don't feel bad. I'd imagine housekeepers don't expect a tip like bellhops and food servers do.

Yes, they do. Housekeeping is a tippable service.

Abby, I'm glad you started this thread. It's a good to air some topics out once in a while. Dizzyami, thanks for the compliment.

minnietoo, it seems that there are tippers and there are anti-tippers and never the twain shall meet. Thanks for the lively debate. You DisBoards kids do play nice! It's a welcome change from other boards.

 

[Beana]

I was always taught that if "someone provides a personal service for you, you tip them". Making our beds and providing clean dry towels (along w/ any other amenities provided daily) is providing a personal service. Same goes for the bellman, shuttle drivers, etc.that have helped me or someone in my family during the day. So, when we are on vacation I appreciate not having to those little "daily chores" and tip the individual that has taken on that task. (on that note I also tip my hairstylist and dog groomer...you'd be shocked at the number of people that don't).

 

[minnietoo]

I was always taught that if "someone provides a personal service for you, you tip them". Making our beds and providing clean dry towels (along w/ any other amenities provided daily) is providing a personal service. Same goes for the bellman, shuttle drivers, etc.that have helped me or someone in my family during the day. So, when we are on vacation I appreciate not having to those little "daily chores" and tip the individual that has taken on that task. (on that note I also tip my hairstylist and dog groomer...you'd be shocked at the number of people that don't).

Ah but you do not tip the nurse who gives you a bedpan or a bath - that is much more of a personal service than making your bed or giving you clean towels.

 

[minnietoo]

Yes, they do. Housekeeping is a tippable service.

Abby, I'm glad you started this thread. It's a good to air some topics out once in a while. Dizzyami, thanks for the compliment.

minnietoo, it seems that there are tippers and there are anti-tippers and never the twain shall meet. Thanks for the lively debate. You DisBoards kids do play nice! It's a welcome change from other boards.

May I add: there are tippers for everything - and tippers for somethings - and those who never tip. I do think they can meet - and learn - and change from discussions like these. I agree it is nice to have a friendly discussion that actually helps us all to learn about an important topic like this.

 

[Beana]

Ah but you do not tip the nurse who gives you a bedpan or a bath - that is much more of a personal service than making your bed or giving you clean towels.

By luck or Divine Blessing I have never spent a night in a hospital or required such medical attention, however, my DM had several long term In-patient stays during cancer treatment. For those Dr's, Nurses and Aides that treated her w/ respect, dignity and compassion - rather than "patient #blah, blah, blah" - did not receive a monitary tip but a gift from me when she left the hospital. What we give out we get back.

 

[noladave]

you can't seriously compare a nurse that makes anywhere from 40,000 -70,000 a year (depends on skill, geography), to a maid that makes minimum wage, can you??

Even $1 a day would be appreciated by most maids. The one thing that I did learn from this conversation is that you don't necessarily get the same maid. I always assumed it was the same maid, or at the very least (like most Casinos and Bars) they "tip share". You pool all of the tips, and then share them, that way it evens out the "tippers and non-tippers" pool across the whole group.

Tipping is a personal choice, but from my experience, when you tip well, word does get around, and you tend to get even better service. I don't consider it a kick back, or bribe, but others might.

 

[minnietoo]

you can't seriously compare a nurse that makes anywhere from 40,000 -70,000 a year (depends on skill, geography), to a maid that makes minimum wage, can you??

Even $1 a day would be appreciated by most maids. The one thing that I did learn from this conversation is that you don't necessarily get the same maid. I always assumed it was the same maid, or at the very least (like most Casinos and Bars) they "tip share". You pool all of the tips, and then share them, that way it evens out the "tippers and non-tippers" pool across the whole group.

Tipping is a personal choice, but from my experience, when you tip well, word does get around, and you tend to get even better service. I don't consider it a kick back, or bribe, but others might.

So then . . . just to keep the discussion going here (and based on your above comment about salary) . . . tipping is important for lower wage jobs (but not for higher wage jobs) when personal service is provided. Again - it comes back to wage augmentation instead of tipping for exceptional service.

And no I wouldn't compare a nurse to a maid - but someone said they tipped anyone who provided a personal service for them - so I just went free flowing on the conversation. Nurses are professionals with a college education (like pharmacists, doctors, dentists, etc) and their code of ethics does not allow them to take a tip.

And in regards to giving a nurse a gift as a thank you for your appreciation - it is far better to write a letter to their supervisor and give examples of what they did to make things better for you or your family during your
encounter(s) with them - this will positively impact their evaluation because their supervisor will know what a positive impact they made on someone's health/quality of life. This carries far more weight and is generally more appreciated (and appropriate) than a thank you gift. The supervisor will most likely not get any feedback when you give a thank you gift directly to the employee (most would not tell their supervisors as most nurses do not feel comfortable accepting gifts). In addition, some employers do not allow gifts to be given to employees with patient contact - and they could be fired for accepting a gift. It is best not to put them in this awkward position - of refusing a gift and being rude - or accepting a gift and risk reprimand or losing their job.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the comments made on this forum do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster. Comments may be made to promote discussion and explore ideas from various points of view.

 

[Tink33]

How would you feel if the tip was added on your hotel bill?

Next month we are travelling out of the country and one of the resorts where we are staying has this policy:

A 10% service charge is added to your meals, bar and accommodations bill, which covers gratuities to all of our staff (not including drivers/tour guides).

The purpose of the service charge is to allow a fair distribution of what would normally be "tips" from our guests to Chaa Creek employees. Chaa Creek pays out 100% of what is collected from the service charge. 70% is paid out every month and the other 30% is put into an interest bearing account and is paid out 50% in June and 50% the 1st of December. Each position at Chaa Creek is assigned a number of shares or set percentage of the total collected. It is then divided by these and then paid out accordingly. Only tour guides and drivers are not included in this and we encourage guests to tip as they feel in those instances; otherwise no other tipping is necessary unless one feels that a certain member of staff has earned special recognition

How do you feel about forced tips?

 

[noladave]

clearly, tipping is associated with lower wage jobs - but there are exceptions. Some of the Waiters, Wine Stewards, or Matre D' (sp?) here in New Orleans can make a 6 figure salary - but, have no health insurance, or any other kind of benefit that many of us take for granted. They provide a service, and they are rewarded for that service. You could also argue about food - is the price of a meal at Commanders (about 100-150 a person) really that much better than the local resteraunt at home? Most people, but not all people, think it is.

With that being said, I again say that tipping is a personal decision. I've witnessed a professional person leave next to nothing for a tip, and then laugh about it, as they said they've already paid enough for the meal. It's really a sad world sometimes (my 2 cents).

As for forced tips (I also count those tip envelopes that cruise ships hand out, and then TELL YOU how much to leave), you either accept that as the cost of the trip, or you don't take it.

This topic has been debated for a long time here in New Orleans, as we have a HUGE service industry. Most of the service workers make LESS than minimum wage, as they rely on their tips to get them to that level. There has been talk of requiring business to pay a living wage, but it has never gotten past the talking stage. If you raise the pay, then the cost of the item (food, hotel room, etc.) would go up. So either way, you end up paying a tip.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Tipping has gotten confusing! It used to be when I took my kids to Quizno's it was a fastfood meal, i.e. no tipping. Now the other day the tip jar had appeared. I put the change into the jar (about 75 cents on roughly a $20 tab). I go to Starbucks rarely and when I do I generally get a bottle of water I get out myself. No tip there. Applebees take out used to be appealing because it saved us money on the gratuity, now even when my husband goes into the restaurant and picks up the food, the ticket now has a place for a tip. Who is he tipping? The guy who brought the bag or the cook? Very confusing and all of this confusion and tipping for "service" that used to be free is probably just irritating the masses into not tipping people they might have once tipped.

As for housekeeping, yes I do tip. Although its a bit of gamble since I leave the tip before my room is cleaned and therefore I have no guarantee what level of service my room will get. But I just tip anyway because if the worst thing that happens is my room is not cleaned perfectly, that $5 won't be the end of the world. And to be honest, I have never had bad housekeeping at anyplace I have stayed, partly because I am a clean freak so the room is not a shambles to begin with and partly because the tip may motivate better service. But then again maybe not. We used to travel with my parents. They never tipped the housekeeping and I never noticed their room be any less clean than ours. I think service employees are often overworked and underpaid and for me personally, tipping is something I consider part of the expense of vacationing. I don't look at it as subsidizing or charity anymore than I do when I tip at a full service restaurant. The idea of tipping = charity does not hold water with me personally but my brother feels that way and makes a pretty good argument. I don't think he's cheap, he and I just see things very differently on this matter. Of course I worked in a hotel and as part of my training I had to clean a room one day. The maids loved finding the nastiest of rooms to give to the adminstrative/management people in training, it was a hoot for them to let us see what they went through all day, every day. That one room I cleaned over 15 years ago sticks with me to this day! The amount of personalized attention I get when someone cleans my room or brings me my food, beverages, etc. is above what I get at say Quiznos. I also give my children's teachers gifts at the holidays and the end of the year (gift cards to bookstores since they buy all the wonderful books for their classrooms). I don't consider that charity but rather a "thank you" for the outstanding job they do teaching my children. A friend of mine said giving a teacher a gift is a "tip", demeaning to them and therefore its ridiculous and inappropriate. Whatever, I don't see it that way but she does. Bottom line to me, do what you feel comfortable with. If tipping seems outrageous, don't do it and don't feel obligated. If tipping is something you want to do, then by all means do so.

 

[Pooh's Purple Pal]

A friend of mine said giving a teacher a gift is a "tip", demeaning to them and therefore its ridiculous and inappropriate. Whatever, I don't see it that way but she does.

That's a strange attitude, if you ask me. We have always given the kids' teachers gifts. Gifts are tokens of affection given to celebrate a holiday or special time of year. And never once in a thank you note from a teacher have they said anything about a tip.

 

[Amy&Dan]

That's a strange attitude, if you ask me. We have always given the kids' teachers gifts. Gifts are tokens of affection given to celebrate a holiday or special time of year. And never once in a thank you note from a teacher have they said anything about a tip.

My thinking exactly! I do the bookstore cards because every teacher my kids have had, has had a huge library of books in his/her classroom they bought themselves for the kids to read/borrow. This way they can go buy something for themselves for a change of pace. Although I suspect some of them have bought more books for the classroom God love them. But at least they had something besides their own money to use. In any case, people have ideas about things such as gift giving, tipping etc., and sometimes I agree and sometimes I don't. This was a don't agree moment for me!

 

[minnietoo]

This thread is very interesting. I put teachers in the category with nurses as professionals that should not be tipped or given gifts. I do think a gift to the classroom however is a compromise as that helps the students. Again - my opinion is that professionals should get letters of recognition that will provide feedback for their evaluation and job promotability. Many teachers don't want gifts - nor can they use them (how much candy can you eat? how many mugs do you need? etc) - so the books for the classroom seem like a good compromise. However - I still suggest that this is accompanied by a letter that clearly outlines what the teacher did to help your student achieve (that can become part of their personnel file). Teachers must have documentation in their files for rentenion, tenue, and promotability - that is why letters carry much more weight than gifts and thank you cards.

noladave - tipping someone making a six figure wage because they have no health insurance - hm m m interesting. Here's another thought (and probably another topic) - is health insurance a right or a priviledge? And it seems someone making 6 figures can afford to purchase health insurance so why should "I" subsidize that? The issue I think needs to be the service not the lack of insurance (and I think that's what you were saying). But then we go back to lower wage employees - my thoughts are the tip is a thank you for exceptional service - not mandatory and not given to subsidize wages (as many of you have also said).

Amy&Dan has pointed out (again) that philiosphical differences re: tipping are very much at play here. And what you think of the purpose of the tip may be the deciding factor on your decision to tip or not (reward, bribe, or duty).

Tink33 - that is an interesting prospect. And it puts tipping in as part of the bill. I guess my thoughts are why not just then increase the cost of the product (or service) and pay the employee a better wage? That's what this really seems to be to me. I would prefer the employee be paid a reasonable wage and not have to deal with the tips (as Amy&Dan pointed out are confusing). I do not tip at take out resturants and drive through coffee houses - I find tip jars placed at the counter or drive through window offensive. There is another thread hidden within this topic also - and that is the minimum wage or living wage discussion. But perhaps we shouldn't go there now.

Noladave - all though I haven't cruised for a long time - the last time we went we were told the "wait staff" worked only for tips and the tips left at the end were their only income for the work they did on the ship. Is that really true? or still true?

THank you all for continuing this very interesting civilized discussion. I am really enjoying learning about different ideas, perspectives, and customs - I hope we can keep talking.

 

[noladave]

to address the 2 points.

they make a 6 figure salary from the TIPS, not from the restaurant. I'm talking high end places, not your average Applebees, or Olive garden - places like Emeril's or Commanders, or the Brennan family restreraunts. As for health care (how I make my living), that's a national issue that has yet to be worked out. WIthout getting too far off track - look at what's been happening with WalMart workers (there was a walkout the other day in Florida). Most of their workers can't afford healthcare, so who's responsibility is it - WalMart, or us (the taxpayers)? Sorry, no simple answer, and that's what brings up back to tipping. No simple answer, and that's why it's a personal decision.

As for the cruise trips, I get the same story - most of the waiters are from 2nd/3rd world countries that spend 3 months to a year on the cruise ship, working incredible hours. Their only source of income is tips from cruise passengers. Is that right, forcing us to feel guilty about the waiters coming from poor countries, and this is their only income?? Well, I say again, you know that's what going to happen, so it's your personal decision on what to do. We've been on 4 cruises (inlcuding a Disney cruise), and we tip what is recommended. I'm sure that there are other passengers that tip more, and others that tip less.