Archive through March 02, 2003
MoveCloseDeleteAdmin

TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 March: Tipping: Archive through March 02, 2003

Webkitty

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I always tip 20% in restaurants too. (rounding it up) Its easy to figure and its the going rate these days.
Crazydog, I'm sorry, but I don't agree with your girlfriend, insisting on 15% all the time? I don't understand that.

I always tip the hotel/motel maid. Most places will have a little sign saying thank you for your tip, lol.

I haven't taken that many taxis in my life, but when I have, I gave them then a five for a tip. It probably too much, but heh.

The few times a year I go to the hairdresser to get a trim, I tip $5.00. The trim is only 15.00, but I can't do it myself, and I appriciate the service.

I don't order pizza, but sometimes will order Chinese. I always give a good tip, I want them to remember me the next time, so they will hurry with my nice, HOT dinner. lol

Kstme, I knew about tipping the waitress in the casino, but not about tipping the cashier. Now I know!

Webkitty

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy, they usually leave an envelope in the hotel room, (sometimes a reminder card) you leave your tip in the room.
I go by why kind of place it is. If we are on the road traveling, and we are staying in a dumpy drive-up motel just for the night, sometimes we just leave a dollar (and whatever change we have)
If we are staying in a nice place for awhile, its much more.

Spygirl

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow. Maybe I'm staying in totally different hotels? I can't remember a single time I've ever seen a tip sign or a tip envelope!

I feel terrible right now because when we went to my brother's wedding in Tennessee, we stayed at a wonderful Jamison Inn and the maid was AWESOME! I took all 3 of my dogs so she had to wait for me to be there in my room when it was time to clean it. She was friendly, patient, and loved my dogs. I stayed there 4 nights and she was wonderful. I didn't leave her anything

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I typically leave 20%, although if I get something small for lunch I will leave $3 even for something that costs $6. I also go by service. When I go out to just sit and talk with work freiends, I drink a lot of diet coke. The place I go provides free pop if you have a beer. I always get beer and deit coke, so my tab is usually less than $5. But if we are there for awhile and I keep getting refills, I will leave a tip bigger than my bill because of the extra efforts they are putting in.

One of the things I think some folks do is to leave a good tip not so much for the service they got, but for the service they would like to get in the future--of course this situation is for when folks got back to the same place.

Northstar

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:29 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Can someone answer this question....how much should he have left? My DH stayed in a suite type hotel for two months last summer. A typical night's rate was $250.00, but he was there on business and his company paid a corporate rate of $79.00. The maids tidied up the place daily, changed the linens twice a week and did a major cleaning once a week. Just an FYI, I spent 9 days down there and they were wonderful people. What do you think?

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:33 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Most of the time I forget about tips for hotel maids, but sometimes I remember and tip a few dollars. If it is a leave the key in the room sort of place, I will put the money under the key when I leave. Occasionally there is an envelope in the room giving your cleaner's name and asking if there is anything else they can do for you. That means put your tip in there.

Grannyg

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:40 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, I'm with Spy on the hotel/motel stuff. Maybe us southerners are more redneck than we think!! Usually there is a card or something that says "How can we improve your stay?" Or "We would appreciate any comments on your stay with us." But I never thought that was saying "Leave a tip, if you would like." Hey even old, old people can learn something everyday!!

Heyltslori

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 11:58 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Most places you stay usually have a comment card, or a little note from the housekeeper giving their name. I usually jot a quick note addressing them and thanking them for a nice clean room. Then I leave that on top of a couple of bucks or whatever I feel like leaving that particular time. From experience I can tell you that most people do NOT tip the housekeepers, but it certainly is appreciated when someone does.

Your question is a little hard to answer Northstar, first of all because I think that in a nice hotel like that someone would gladly leave $5-$10 if they stayed for ONE or TWO nights...but you wouldn't want to leave that much per day if you were there for an extended stay. Another thing to consider is if the company you work for will pay for a tip...and how much they allot for it. Just my opinion....but for a 2 month stay at a nice hotel where you received good service, I would leave probably $50-$75.

Pamy

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy, maybe you could write the hotel a letter praising the maid, might be worth more than a few dollars to her. If you don't know her name just give the hotel the dates you were there and the room # if you know it. I have been in cust. service most of my life and letters of praise don't come that often but mean a lot

Spygirl

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:11 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Pamy, I should have already done that. I should be ashamed, seriously, because she was terrific. Each day she asked about our activities related to the wedding and then the next day she would ask specifically about how those events had gone. I'm gonna write to them.

Tess

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I pay 20% for basic service in a restaurant, 25% for great service, 15% for substandard service and if it's really lousy, I talk to the manager.

For trims, $5.00. In hotels, $5.00/night even though when we stay several nights we usually don't have them tidy our room most days. Sometimes there is an envelope (Radisson) and sometimes not. If there isn't, I leave the money on the desk in our room.

Pizza delivery, $3.00 since it's a very short drive.

The lodge we visit every summer has traditionally had a no-tipping policy as they add 15% to the total bill which is then shared with all staff whether they have the opportunity to earn tips or not. More recently, they have allowed their wait staff and housekeeping staff to accept tips for service above and beyond. Meals are included in our stay and our tipping varies dependent entirely on the competence of our server (from $10.00 to $20.00 for dinner and usually $5.00 for the buffet breakfast). The staff there is always very friendly and accomodating so that's never been an issue. Since we visit year after year, the management has started asking us if and how they can improve their service. We still tip $5.00/day to the housekeeping staff even if we don't need anything and we tip the girls at the beach pavillion a $2-3.00 on lunch. These kids come from all over the world to work at the resort for the summer. Since we go early in the season, many of them are just learning their jobs. It's an awesome experience for them and for us.

Sunnyone

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Methinks I've been a country girl for a bit too long. Saw this thread and thought of COW TIPPING. (No i never did it!)

I was a waitress while in college, and I tip for the service, not the food. It's not the servers fault if the food is bad. We tip between 15 and 20% on average, but if the service is bad, I won't allow hubby to tip that much. I agree they should be getting paid more by the hour, but they KNOW the tips is to make up for the remainder. They shouldn't expect it; they should earn it. Just my two-cents worth coming from experience.

Hermione69

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 03:10 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sunnyone, that was my first thought, too! LOL! When I was a teenager, I used to go to parties in cow pastures when visiting friends in the country and they would always make jokes about cow tipping!

Wargod

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 04:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Working in the retirement home we didn't get tips. But, we worked with the same people 7 days a week, 3 meals a day...so they would have been flat broke if they had to tip. Once a year, right before Christmas, they could make a donation to the employee gift fund. The money would be doubled by the owner and split between the 30 or so employees as a Christmas bonus.

I think because of the work I did, and appreciating how hard servers, maids/housekeepers, and service people work, I always overtip, LOL. (I'll also admit to almost always stacking my dishes neat in a restaurant, cleaning up after the kids, and telling a maid in a hotel to just leave clean towels and not worry about anything else if I catch her!) Last time at a hotel, we left $25 bucks for the maid. Last night we tipped $5 to a valet (he parked the car, when we got done, we walked out to the car, he gave us the keys, LOL.)

Pizza guy gets a nice tip (5-6 bucks, I order one large pizza for about 20,) mostly cuz he used to be called here at least once a week. Restaurants, it depends. If we have the kids with us, we tip a bit more. If we're alone, we do 20%. For haircuts, depends on whose getting done. For Caleb on a 10 dollar hair cut, we'll tip anywhere from 5-7 bucks. Dad tips a bit less for himself, but he knows how to sit still, LOL. I have a friend who cuts Dakota's. I'll pay her $10 and buy her a 12 pack of beer. Of course, I should probaly pay her more, but I give her free reign, keep my mouth shut and let her do her job.....kota's hair comes out great!

Squaredsc

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 05:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
ah, beer is a great tip. i have a friend that tips the girl who braids her hair a 12 pk of beer.

Wargod

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 05:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The trick is to get that 12 pack to them after the haircut and not before, LOL!

Squaredsc

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 05:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
lol war, you're right.

Seamonkey

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 08:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I tip maids usually a buck a night, also leave any magazines, finished books, soft drinks or snacks that I'm not packing to take home.. but I usually don't have them clean while I'm there, and have even been known to empty my trash myself.

I'm a cheapskate with the hairdresser :( I round my bill up from $90 to $100 except at Christmas and near her birthday when I'll pop for $125-$125, but then I tend to give her stuff like books and bring jewellry presents or pick up tacos. I've been seeing her for 19 years at least.

Pizza guys get $8.00 on two pizzas and seem to be my good buddies :)

I tip at least a dollar when I pick up Mexican food, Chinese food and at TOGOs (sandwich place like Subway but way better).. TOGOs doesn't even have a place for tips, but I appreciate what they do!

Meals I do 20% but not on the tax. But if the meal/service is fabulous, well then it might be more. When I used to drink more, out, I'd tip a buck on a drink. On a really cheap sit down meal I'm likely to tip a higher percent.

Fabnsab

Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 08:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I remember a funny story...one time my husband and I met his parents at a restaurant and they insisted on paying. Well, the tip they left was only 10% so I wrote a note for my husband to drop more as we walk away. I could get away with writing it because we were discussing wedding plans and I was making notes the whole time. He waited till they walked ahead and then dropped another $10 and they turned around and caught him. They were confused and looked at me and asked if they tipped enough. What was I to do? I said "actually, no, you didn't." I know that sounds rude but it just came out. They asked what would be good and I explained it all to them and told them it is because people tip that their son was going through law school. Well, now it's been 4 years and they are so proud every time we go out and they tip so well. I have actually told them that they left too much before and they would defend the mediocre service and still leave the great tip.

Fluff

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 02:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
It depends. I don't tip cab drivers, unless I tell them to keep the change. I don't tip pizza places, etc. when I have to leave out my house and walk to the car to get it. I haven't been to a restaurant in years except for take-out at Friday's, but I would tip the waitress if I sat in. I sometimes tip the hairdresser, but besides waitressing, Fluff doesn't see the point.

Seamonkey

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 02:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
My pizza is delivered to my door, of course! My usual delivery guy even made sure I got a two pizza discount and told me to be sure to ask for it.

Oh, I usually give shuttle drivers a buck a bag, assuming they do any lifting of my bags, of course.

Julieboo

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 04:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What about doggie groomers? Do they typically get a tip?

Spygirl

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 05:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
DEFINITELY!!

Kstme

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 09:11 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
OOPS...I'm bad about this one, Spy. We pay so much to have their nails clipped and bathed I don't tip. They are done every four weeks. I remove all the dry fur and take out all their mats. There's no fancy furdos for these two. I did tip when we had the cockers though.

Northstar

Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 09:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I tip the groomer. My dog is an old, arthritic Golden Retriever, and her groomer is beyond patient and kind with her. When my dog's happy, I'm happy; it's not always been the case with groomers. I appreciate her efforts and I make sure she knows it. :)