Tipping help please - and differences between UK & USA

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Hi everyone

I have been reading my newly acquired "Brit's Guide to Orlando" and last night reading the section on tipping. It appears to be customary to leave a tip for the room maid before she comes along to do your room and the author has suggested a dollar per adult as an appropriate amount.

I have not come across this custom in the UK and have frequently stayed in UK hotels for the last twenty years. Have I not been doing this in the UK and should have been?!!

Also, we have always generally assumed that a 10% tip is ok in UK restaurants. But it appears from reading stuff on this site and from books that you would only give a 10% if the service was not particularly good and a 20% would be best for good service, 15% for average service.

What do people think?

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[bwoodhouse]

Hi

I've never left a tip for a room maid in the UK either, it's just one of those things that never really crosses my mind.

In the US however all service-based staff are automatically assumed to have received a 15% tip and are taxed accordingly hence the suggestion to tip above this if the service is very good (the theory being that a tip below 15% is actually costing the waiter/ress etc).

Having said that I did once leave a restaurant in New York without leaving any tip at all (the service was indescribably poor) and the waiter actually followed me out into the street asking for his tip!! Needless to say he didn't get one.

Regards
Brendan

 

[vernon]

I generally keep to about 15% for tipping in restaurants, less for poor service occassionally more if the services is considerably better than I would expect from the type of restaurant I'm in. It seems generally that for buffets the tips are lower ( as the waitstaff have less to do) , tips are worked out on the "pretax/prediscount amount" . I.E if you have a 50% discount coupon for a $100 meal (taxed at 17%) your tip should be about $15 not $17.55 (accounting for tax) or $7.50 (15% of $50).

For housekeeping in the US I try to stick to a couple of $ per day, depending on how efficient the staff have been and if they wake me up early to get me out the room on my day of checkout. For a stay of less than 4 days I'd leave the tip on check out (no point in paying early just in case they don't do the job OK or annoy me in some way) for longer stays I'd usually leave a tip every 4/5 days just in case the regular maid was not working on my check out day and therefore missed out on the tip I left.

Tipping is a potential minefield for Brits in the US as we reaslly don't understand the culture of how tipping works over there. It is worth remembering that waitstaff are taxed on the assumption that they receive tips of 15% of the tables they wait. I'm moving towards paying tips in cash these days as 1) it's harder for the tax offices to track things down and 2) it means the tips go to my staff, the management can't just divy up the total for the night between all the staff in the restaurant. If I get good service , I'd like the money to go to that person, not to someone doing a worse job waiting a different table.

 

[Goofyish]

This gives a bit more of an insite into how tax in paid on tips:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p531.pdf

 

[Hilary]

I'm another Brit who finds the whole tipping idea very difficult to take comfortably in my stride. Take a look at this guide produced by the American Society of Travel Agents - Tips on Tipping - it gives some good guidelines.

(BTW, no, it wouldn't occur to me to tip UK hotel maids either )

 

[BONZO]

If you are going to leave a tip for the maids, why not make use of the Mousekeeping Envelopes from Heidi's site.

They are great fun to make and you can pre-preapre them with dollars enclosed while you are there.

 

[nuttytart]

3 years ago, we stayed at the Homewood Suites on Parkway and for the 1st few days forgot to leave the daily tip for the maid and then about 4 days later noticed that she was leaving us fewer towels than usual and whereas before they "folded and fanned", now they just left on the bed!

Once we started leaving $2 daily, everything went back to normal.

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Bonzo - that "mousekeeping" envelope idea is brilliant - many thanks.

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[ms_flo]

I hope I am not out of line for posting here, as I am an American. If this is taboo, please accept my apologies. I am new to DIS and simply do not know any better.

I wanted to say thank you for the wonderful links posted in this thread. "Thank You!" (I LOVE the envelopes!)

As a token of my appreciation, I thought I should share with you my own experiences/perceptions. Again, I apologize if my input is inappropriate.

I want to assure you that you are not alone in your confusion. It had never occured to me to tip housekeeping. I saw it mentioned on another board and was surprised. So I ran a search on "tip" & "maid", and I found your thread. Because of the search, I did not realize at first that I was on the UK Community Board. Believe me, there are a lot of boards outside of your community with questions about tipping. (I like this one best though.) I wanted you to know that tipping is a potential minefield for many Americans as well as Brits.

I am the first to admit that I am not a world-traveler, but I have stayed in some of the "finer" hotels in my home state of Kentucky (Gee, that phrase makes even me grin. It really is a wonderful place though.), as well as a few other more sophisticated areas of the country. Perhaps my ignorance is due to the fact that I never expected or received anything like turn down service from housekeeping. I am inclined to believe that tipping is much more common for that level of service and much less common for a basic hotel stay. As proof that I am not completely uninformed, I did know about tipping for bell service and have done so when assisted by a bellhop at those "finer" hotels. ($1 or $2 per bag depending on the number of bags and their size & weight)

Your information about restaurant tipping seems accurate to me. I believe the 10,15, & 20% levels are generally accepted, and I do tip less at buffets. I consider myself to be a very conscientious tipper when it comes to dining. My dear twin worked as a waitress when we were in college. I heard all of her horror stories and saw the satisfaction she got from being rewarded for her extra efforts. It made an impression on me. When I tip, I always try to keep in mind how I would want her to be treated if she had been the server. As a result, I have been known to tip over 30% for exceptional service; however, I do not hesitate to leave no tip for bad or rude service.

Brendan, I think anyone who would actually follow you into the street would make a poor waiter indeed! It is beyond me why a person like that would choose to work in the service industry. Sad to say though, I think many service workers in America are routinely treated as if they are somehow second-class, or even worse--invisible. After a while they go bad! It is my experience that treating service workers with kindness and respect can be almost as important as the amount of the tip. I find that simply taking the time to exchange pleasantries can increase the level of service--or maybe they just get a kick out of my southern accent.

I feel I should point out that I do not believe the 15% automatic tax is correct--at least that was not my twin's experience. Different restaurants have different policies on tips. (I do not know what Disney's policy is, but I have been known to ask the server what the restaurant's policy is before I leave a large tip. I want to be sure that the exceptional person gets the exceptional tip.) Some restaurants "pool" all tips--all wait staff split all tips evenly regardless of which person received the tip. Some restaurants even pay less than minimum wage & make up the wage difference with the pooled tips. (It amazes me that this is legal!) Taxes are paid as if the person held a minimum wage job that did not involve tips at all. Other places let individuals keep individual tips, and the individual is responsible for reporting that portion of income. Many people do not report all of their tip income. My twin was warned that she needed to make sure that she reported a particular percentage in order to prevent the IRS from auditing her. Maybe that is where the idea of a 15% automatic tax originated. Of course I could be completely wrong. Laws could have changed since we were in college or prehaps that is the law in the state of Florida.

Finally, I will apologize for how long my post is. Please know the length is in proportion to my gratitude for the wonderful links.
I wish you a magical trip to Orlando!

 

[Deniseuk]

ms flo, Thank you that has helped me out.

 

[BONZO]

Hi Flo - nicely put and never apologise for either being here or posting an opinion.


Here's an interesting link on International Tipping Etiquette

 

[floridalol]

I think the difference in the service betwen our countries is that you invariably get good service in the USA! We've been going to the USA since 1987 and only once in that time have we had service that we considered to be poor and I did not leave a tip. There is no way I would ever leave a tip of any size if the service was poor. We normally leave 15% and 20% for really good service. For housekeeping we leave a couple of dollars a day - we also never leave tips for stays in UK hotels - it's never crossed our minds!

As for service in this country it is usually poor unless you are eating at expensive restaurants.

 

[WDWfan uk]

Hi ms_flo ! Please make yourself right at home here and feel free to join in

We leave a daily tip for housekeeping and tip Bell Services about $5 - usually have about three bags.

We always tip waiters/waitresses, bell services and anyone who goes the extra mile in UK and elsewhere - how much depends on the service.

You know, we don't find service "usually poor" over here. It is more varied perhaps than in Florida - and if you go to other parts of the USA again, it is also more varied.

 

[Olaf]

I wouldn't call most of the service I received in the UK "poor", but it definitely wasn't up to American standards. I just chalked it up to the differences in our cultures. I tipped when I ate out in the UK. Did I do something wrong?

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Olaf, that's fine - that's exactly what I do and what I think most people seem to do in the UK.

I suspect the service received in hotels (maid service) is better in the US because they receive tips and sometimes bigger tips for exceptional service.

The general British attitude is that all staff (restaurants staff, hairdressers, taxi drivers, hotel bellboys etc) get a wage and tipping is a way of showing how good a service you think they provided. 10% is considered "the norm" for all these people and more than that would be taken as a positive thing from their point of view.

I have not come across anyone tipping hotel maids in the UK. Perhaps we should and they would give us better service!

Are there any other groups of people we do not tip here (UK) but is expected in the USA?

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[kazzie]

Hi Ms Flo,what a helpful informative post

When my Dad was in his late teens he worked as a waiter,a second job to save up more money.Some of the stories about how he was treated by people he served made a big impression on me,like you with your sister.

Like you, when I'm served in a restaurant I frequently think about my Dad and treat the servers with respect etc. that they deserve.Because people are waiting on us,we have no idea of their circumstances,it doesn't mean they are stupid.Sometimes they are law students,medical students etc. trying to earn a bit of money,far from deserving to be treated as subservient or stupid!

Sorry got off the tipping thing.My DH goes the opposite of most people I have to try to stop him tipping TOO much! He so doesn't want to look tight or mean,he goes the other way and is OTT

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Kazzie,

I wish my DH was a bit like yours sometimes! My DH hates parting with cash PERIOD! And that's regardless of whether it is for some trivial souvenir or tipping waiting staff in a restaurant!

I really really really don't know how I persuaded him to go on this WDW holiday which is costing us a massive several thousand pounds in total and will cost us about four times what we normally pay for our main annual summer holiday.

LOL!

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[uksaint]

.....OK, I thought I understood most of the tipping thing, but I have never tipped housekeeping on a daily basis - I always thought it was the norm to leave your tip at the end of your stay.

So, to those who tip daily - and lets assume we're not on Disney Property so mousekeeping envelopes aren't appropriate - how do you do this? Where do your leave your tip and how much? How does the maid know you are leaving a tip and didn't just leave a few $$ lying around?

This is a whole new area of tipping I now need to think about

 

[soleil]

re tipping, if we are staying in a hotel we just put the tip in an envelope with housekeeping wrote on it,we leave 1 dollar for each of us, theres only three of us,we normally stay in villas so tipping doesnt affect us. soleil

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

I have already printed off the housekeeping envelope pictures from Heidi's site - you can find the link in Bonzo's message on page one of this thread. These are great and will add "a certain something" which I hope our maid will appreciate.