Tips

JohnC6

JohnC6

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It seems that everyone expects a tip these days. I thought about this today because I went on a small boat for trip out to sea to see dolphins/whales. We just saw pilot whales. There were only eight on board and two of them were children. I thought it would be better than the boats with approximately 30 which leave the dolphin/whale area half-way through to take people to a cove where the brave or mad jump overboard for a swim.

On board today's small boat was the skipper and a qualified guide ..masters in marine biology who told us what we might see. As we approached the harbour at the end of the trip she went to the front, where you get off, with a box with 'tips' written on it. A tip for what ? Amazingly the dad with his family of four gave 20 euros..about £17. I just said thanks and disembarked. I always take dolphin/whale-watching trip whever we can on holiday and it's the sane.....a box for tips right where you disembark. One year,we went on a coach trip to the furthest point in Western Europe..in SW Portugal and the lady booking people onto the bus asked us all to 'show our appreciation for the driver' as we were about to arrive at the pickup point at the end of the trip. She and the driver got a backhander from the restaurant/café where she took everyone to..bar us..for lunch. We found our own fantastic restaurant close by and everyone else said what a crap meal it had been at the other place but they still gave tips.

By the main- course counter in the dining room of our hotel here is a glass jar with 'a sticker reading...'tips for kitchen staff'. As you enter/leave the dining room there's another jar with a piece of paper wrapped round it with 'tips' written on it.

We've had one person clearing our table of dishes ..it's self-service buffet so they're not waiters/waitresses, as we went through each course, and who also brought to the table our water and we gave him a tip today as he's off for several days. We'll also give a tip to the lass who makes a great job cleaning our room and changing the bed sheets. So..we're not stingy. Beyond that it doesn't seem to matter where you go there's a tip box/jar.

What does the taxi driver do other than drive the taxi. ? Be nice ? They'll put the suitcases into the boot on the basis they'd rather do it than leave it to the fares but does that warrant 10 -15% tip..? My wife will have some money handy to give to the taxi driver who takes us to the airport and collects us or if we arrive at the station and get a taxi home. All of 10 minutes.

It's even worse in the US. Is there a country where there isn't a tip culture ?
 
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Japan. Tipping there is an insult.
 
They do not approve of tipping in Italy. I think tipping should be eliminated is this country a well. The staff who are supposed to benefit do not always get their fare share if anything so we must pay the staff a fair amount for their work.

Dave
 
Nod said:
Japan. Tipping there is an insult.
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Yes, now you mention it,I have heard that. I assume they see service no different to any other job which is carried to the utmost best and that standard is the norm..it's their culture.

Thinking about it why shouldn't we,also, expect a high standard rather than reward it as if it were the exception ?
 
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Dave Canon said:
They do not approve of tipping in Italy. I think tipping should be eliminated is this country a well. The staff who are supposed to benefit do not always get their fare share if anything so we must pay the staff a fair amount for their work.

Dave
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Italy..another country that values service and doesn't see it as demeaning as we do here. In think there it's a career to aspire to. We've been twice to the Italian lakes and have tipped our waiter at the end of the holiday.

We shouldn't be subsidising wages. Often there's a 'service' charge. Why ?. I suppose the management think that they only charge for the food and not the serving of it. If there is a service charge on a restaurant bill..we purposefully check...we don't tip.
 
If a service charge is added, we usually get them to take it off. If they do so willingly, we give the place a tip so the cash gets shared among that branch's staff (if it's a chain) rather than going into a nationwide pot that gets shared across the whole of the company in a tranche system. If they do it begrudgingly, we tend not to leave anything and don't go back.
 
Tipping isn’t expected in Iceland but USA has gone from bad to absolutely ridiculous as a tipping culture
 
Tipping here in Ireland is entirely optional, I almost always give a small tip, even for the most mundane things - Taxi drivers/Take away delivery drivers etc , and how much will depend on their attitude at the time. Give me a smile and 'enjoy your food' and you're likely to get a few more quid than a blank stare hand over.

When we were in NYC [about 10yrs ago] I was astounded at how forward people were, Hotel staff would literally hold their hand out for a tip just for opening a door for you, same with taxi drivers and waiting staff in even small cafes would stand over you when paying the bill hoping for tips on top.

I would rather tip than pay the scandolous 'service charge' in most places, I mean, service is part of what they do right? I'd prefer to tip a waiter/waitress and know it's going in their pocket. This is why even though I pay by card 99% of the time, I'll have some cash in the wallet for just in cases, as in if we're going out for that rare meal - I'll have tips at the ready
 
JohnC6 said:
It seems that everyone expects a tip these days. I thought about this today because I went on a small boat for trip out to sea to see dolphins/whales. We just saw pilot whales. There were only eight on board and two of them were children. I thought it would be better than the boats with approximately 30 which leave the dolphin/whale area half-way through to take people to a cove where the brave or mad jump overboard for a swim.

On board today's small boat was the skipper and a qualified guide ..masters in marine biology who told us what we might see. As we approached the harbour at the end of the trip she went to the front, where you get off, with a box with 'tips' written on it. A tip for what ? Amazingly the dad with his family of four gave 20 euros..about £17. I just said thanks and disembarked. I always take dolphin/whale-watching trip whever we can on holiday and it's the sane.....a box for tips right where you disembark. One year,we went on a coach trip to the furthest point in Western Europe..in SW Portugal and the lady booking people onto the bus asked us all to 'show our appreciation for the driver' as we were about to arrive at the pickup point at the end of the trip. She and the driver got a backhander from the restaurant/café where she took everyone to..bar us..for lunch. We found our own fantastic restaurant close by and everyone else said what a crap meal it had been at the other place but they still gave tips.

By the main- course counter in the dining room of our hotel here is a glass jar with 'a sticker reading...'tips for kitchen staff'. As you enter/leave the dining room there's another jar with a piece of paper wrapped round it with 'tips' written on it.

We've had one person clearing our table of dishes ..it's self-service buffet so they're not waiters/waitresses, as we went through each course, and who also brought to the table our water and we gave him a tip today as he's off for several days. We'll also give a tip to the lass who makes a great job cleaning our room and changing the bed sheets. So..we're not stingy. Beyond that it doesn't seem to matter where you go there's a tip box/jar.

What does the taxi driver do other than drive the taxi. ? Be nice ? They'll put the suitcases into the boot on the basis they'd rather do it than leave it to the fares but does that warrant 10 -15% tip..? My wife will have some money handy to give to the taxi driver who takes us to the airport and collects us or if we arrive at the station and get a taxi home. All of 10 minutes.

It's even worse in the US. Is there a country where there isn't a tip culture ?
Click to expand...

Italy apparently at least in restaurants, you can do it but it's not expected.
 
Steep said:
Italy apparently at least in restaurants, you can do it but it's not expected.
Click to expand...
Yes..I wasn't aware of that until someone back up the thread said the same. When we stayed at Lake Garda and Maggiore we did tip the hotel waiters who we got to know over the two weeks. I also gave a tip to the owner of the Garda hotel..it was a family-run hotel..a lovely place. I suggested he stopped allowing people to smoke on the verandas outside the diningroom where there were tables and you could dine there and also just across the road by the lakeside where the hotel had a number of tables. I said to him it was a lovely hotel, great food..he said I can hear a 'but' coming..Lol. He agreed but said it was difficult and had to settle for allowing smoking outside. There was a middle-aged Dutch couple who,I liked chatting with..the Dutch are,generally, are very nice people, and they always sat next to us by the lakeside tables and he smoked quite a lot but she chained-smoked. Sometimes three cigarettes between courses if there was enough time. It was a joy to see them leave after the first week..Lol.
 
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