Tipping- How much and to whom

[smidgy]

.... Really?

First, how can people never have heard of tipping housekeeping? In addition to that my parents did it when I was a kid too - I've been in plenty of hotels that have their own gratuity envelopes out on the dresser for you to use.

Second, what is the hostility over waiters who might, in a particular state, happen to take home the whopping wage of $16 an hour?

Someone upthread even said people become waiters for the money. Seriously?

Yes, high-end waitstaff can make good money - though there are still the cheapskates who tip "based on number of people and [yada]" where three people equals $5 no matter what somehow or where someone figures that $5 per person for spending two hours at a table is acceptable. Mostly waiting tables is hardly the path to riches. Even making that incredible, stunning sum of $16 for a whole six-hour shift (might as well retire now with that kind of money!), it's hours on your feet, carrying heavy, hot stuff, running, getting treated like crap by the public, etc.

And not for nothing but when you undertip - the waiter pays. They're taxed on the assumption that people tip a standard tip. You are COSTING them money, which clearly is not a concern but there it is.

Yes, one could theoretically argue with the IRS, bring in receipts and claim their cash tips were under - and likely lose. Same as the 'management is required to make up so waitstaff don't make under minimum' thing. In theory, yes, in practice, not so much, no.

bless your little heart!!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

tipping is out of control! tipping the ME driver? for what, he is paid to drive the bus and talk....tip the housekeeper? for what, they are paid to clean the room...I am a Registered Nurse, I am paid to take care of you while your in the hospital and believe me, I go above and beyond but don't ever expect a tip!!

Restaurant tipping.....I am sorry, I don't tip % of the bill....it does not take a waiter/waitress anymore time to bring me out a lobster than in does if she brought me out a hot dog. It does not take a server any more time to bring me a diet coke refill versus a martini......I tip, but not a %. If my tip is not satisfactory, then the server may give it back to me. These restaurants should be made to pay these servers at least minimum wage....

i.e. Narcoosees....A lobster dinner is $56...are you going to tell me this price is not inflated? 2 lobster egg rolls, $16, INFLATED! Alcoholic beverages, REALY REALLY INFLATED.......why are these restaurants not paying minimum wage?We are not slobs in hotels or in restaurants....we keep our rooms tidy and we dont trash our tables in restaurants..........we are not needy. I am not tipping housekeeping to do their job, I will not tip bus drivers to drive the bus they are paid to drive........do you people tip the pilots and stewardesses on planes too? If we are out to dinner and dinner is 2 hours...we tip $5 per person, cash! If we linger in the restaurant longer than 2 hours, we tip a little more.
Again, if the money is not wanted, please return in to me

A few things:

First off, I only tip the ME driver when he has to help me with my bags. Some people tip when the driver is extra chatty or informative. Some of them are more than others.

Second, I think the last part of your post shows why some of us over-tip and why some places have a mandatory gratuity. You are mad at the way the system is set up, and taking it out on someone who can't control it. A server takes a low paying job and hopes that most people get that a huge part of their pay is their tips. Some don't, or don't care.

If you know the place you want to dine under pays their wait staff and expects them to make it up on tips you either need to tip accordingly, or eat somewhere else. Under-tipping because you don't like how the system works punishes whoever waited on you, and is just plain rude.

 

[smidgy]

there are numerous posts I wanted to reply to.. then I thought.. why bother?
I bartend, I waitress. People are going to do what they want to do. and tell themselves they are justified for doing so.

taxi cab drivers LOVE picking up us bartenders, bartenders LOVE serving hairdressers.. etc etc. we all understand each other, and know we all work a hard day for a hard buck.

and some of you understand that.... and some of you.............um... don't........ nuff said...

 

[cornflake]

@ the flake,
I have heard of people tipping housekeepers, I just don't understand why it's done. They are housekeepers, they are hired and paid to clean rooms...........they do nothing that is not required of them in their job description for me. They are paid hourly. If someone chooses to tip them, great, I do not. Your parents tipped years ago? Great!!!

so, someone is a cheapskate because they don't tip according to your "tip rules"? Yada Yada......Yes, it is acceptable in my book to tip the way I do! Yada Yada. If they don't want the cash, they may feel free to give it back, hasn't happened yet!

I was a waitress while going through nursing school, I did not claim my tips.................it was cash, under the table, in my pocket, if I got one!!

The only hostility here, is you Flake!

Flake, I have a tip for you...
You need to calm down.....take a deep breath.....smile! Servers are going to have to realize, with the economy the way it is, tips are going to be down. Restaurant prices are inflated...........not many people are going to tip 20%, sorry Flake!

I'm not hostile.

"Servers are going to have to realize tips are going to be down" because "not many people are going to tip 20%"?

What are you basing that on? I don't know anyone who decided gee, the economy is bad, I'm short on money, so I'll still go out to eat, but I'll short the waiter, because that $5 will make the difference for me and what do I care if he's not paid for his work?

Most people who have cut back that I know - cut back by not eating out. If you cannot afford to tip, you cannot afford to eat out. As someone else said, you appear to not like the way the system is set up so you just decided that you'll do what you want, gleefully, even if it costs the waiter money, because HAHAHA!

Same as you cheated on your taxes because... HAHAHA?

Same as the 'if you don't want the pittance I threw at you, give it back HAHAHA!' It's all so nasty and gleefully punishing of people who did nothing to you, yet you seem to feel nothing but contempt for.

Tips, like it or not, in nearly every state, make up the largest portion of waitstaff's SALARY. It's not a little bonus. It is meant to be their salary. If you don't like that that's the setup, petition your governmental reps to get the law changed, but don't take it out on the person on their feet 8 and 10 hours a day, slipping on soup, cleaning up the mess your kids leave, hoping to go home with enough to buy their own food.

And yes, to the people that were discussing higher-end waitstaff, they make more and they work for their money. Go to Per Se or wherever and any waiter in that place knows everything on the menu inside and out, knows what's in every dish, where it was sourced, what it's like. They are attentive, cheerful, friendly or reserved, depending on YOUR mood. They know their business.

And they too spend hours before the place opens making miters out of napkins, polishing silver, memorizing new dishes, and then running around anticipating your every need. For that, yeah they generally earn better than the woman at the Denny's who does the side work and then spends her entire shift on the run carrying 6 dishes at once, fetching things one after another for tables that go 'oh, and can I have...' and scraping whatever the toddler ground into the booth out. Neither of them should make $5 an hour (if one tips $5 for a two-hour meal because neener neener).

 

[mjkacmom]

If we are out to dinner and dinner is 2 hours...we tip $5 per person, cash! If we linger in the restaurant longer than 2 hours, we tip a little more.
Again, if the money is not wanted, please return in to me

Stay home. When you eat out, you are expected to tip. It really isn't fair to the poor server who gets stuck with you in his or her section. Not only are you cheating that person out of your money, you are cheating that person out of having a normal person sit in his/her section, who would've tipped the customary 15 - 20%. If you can't afford to eat out in this country, don't. If you can only afford $5 per person, make sure you only eat enough so that your bill is under $35. Geez, servers here make $2.01 an hour!

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that even those who don't tip housekeeping still tip AT LEAST 15% of a restaurant bill. You can kid yourself into thinking that most think like you, but they don't.

 

[twooley2]

I'm not hostile.

"Servers are going to have to realize tips are going to be down" because "not many people are going to tip 20%"?

What are you basing that on? I don't know anyone who decided gee, the economy is bad, I'm short on money, so I'll still go out to eat, but I'll short the waiter, because that $5 will make the difference for me and what do I care if he's not paid for his work?

Most people who have cut back that I know - cut back by not eating out. If you cannot afford to tip, you cannot afford to eat out. As someone else said, you appear to not like the way the system is set up so you just decided that you'll do what you want, gleefully, even if it costs the waiter money, because HAHAHA!

Same as you cheated on your taxes because... HAHAHA?

Same as the 'if you don't want the pittance I threw at you, give it back HAHAHA!' It's all so nasty and gleefully punishing of people who did nothing to you, yet you seem to feel nothing but contempt for.

Tips, like it or not, in nearly every state, make up the largest portion of waitstaff's SALARY. It's not a little bonus. It is meant to be their salary. If you don't like that that's the setup, petition your governmental reps to get the law changed, but don't take it out on the person on their feet 8 and 10 hours a day, slipping on soup, cleaning up the mess your kids leave, hoping to go home with enough to buy their own food.

And yes, to the people that were discussing higher-end waitstaff, they make more and they work for their money. Go to Per Se or wherever and any waiter in that place knows everything on the menu inside and out, knows what's in every dish, where it was sourced, what it's like. They are attentive, cheerful, friendly or reserved, depending on YOUR mood. They know their business.

And they too spend hours before the place opens making miters out of napkins, polishing silver, memorizing new dishes, and then running around anticipating your every need. For that, yeah they generally earn better than the woman at the Denny's who does the side work and then spends her entire shift on the run carrying 6 dishes at once, fetching things one after another for tables that go 'oh, and can I have...' and scraping whatever the toddler ground into the booth out. Neither of them should make $5 an hour (if one tips $5 for a two-hour meal because neener neener).

If we all went on that assumption there would be even less jobs for waiters and waitresses now wouldn't there? Hence maybe no job

 

[declansdad]

A few things:

First off, I only tip the ME driver when he has to help me with my bags. Some people tip when the driver is extra chatty or informative. Some of them are more than others.

Second, I think the last part of your post shows why some of us over-tip and why some places have a mandatory gratuity. You are mad at the way the system is set up, and taking it out on someone who can't control it. A server takes a low paying job and hopes that most people get that a huge part of their pay is their tips. Some don't, or don't care.

If you know the place you want to dine under pays their wait staff and expects them to make it up on tips you either need to tip accordingly, or eat somewhere else. Under-tipping because you don't like how the system works punishes whoever waited on you, and is just plain rude.

I think the point they are trying to make is that isn't the way tipping is suppose to work. The point of a tip isn't to make up what the employer isn't paying the server but rather to reward someone for doing an excellent job. Someone has changes the system tot he point where it isn't really a tip anymore.

 

[aprilgail2]

Stay home. When you eat out, you are expected to tip. It really isn't fair to the poor server who gets stuck with you in his or her section. Not only are you cheating that person out of your money, you are cheating that person out of having a normal person sit in his/her section, who would've tipped the customary 15 - 20%. If you can't afford to eat out in this country, don't. If you can only afford $5 per person, make sure you only eat enough so that your bill is under $35. Geez, servers here make $2.01 an hour!

 

[averysmom]

This has actually been an interesting thread for me (I'll admit, I didn't read all 16 pages) ... servers make minimum wage here, I'm not sure if this is across Canada or just in our province, and our minimum wage is $10.00 / hr. Most ppl. tip 12-15% ... 20% tips is unheard of.

I too had never heard of tipping housekeeping until disboards - don't they make minimum wage as well, like servers? What is the minimum wage in Florida?

 

[chimo2u]

This topic really riles me up, and I probably shouldn't have come back and read more, it always turns out the same....people who think they know it all about what "must be left" and think they have. Right to tell others "if you can't afford to pay the "what-society-demands-is-appropriate tip" well then stay home..... if tip was mandatory it would be added to the bill and non-negotiable. Until it is, I will tip what I feel is appropriate and NOT what others think I should be giving....,it is my decision, and it will be determined by me and no one else. I work hard for my money in a job serving the public, and I don't get tipped. If you don't like your job, find another that pays and is not dependent on people's generosity to make a minimum salary. I will eat out if I feel like it....if I can afford to pay the bill, I can afford to eat out....irregardless of what tip I leave, last I heard TIP was optional and not mandatory....,
This always ends the same.... Holier than thou tippers telling those who don't live by THEIR standard that they are cheap and undeserving of dining out -- tipping to me, is like religion and politics.....no one ever agrees, it is personal and should be kept personal. I don't have to answer to anyone regarding my tipping....I am not a criminal if I chose to leave less than the 20% society deems the norm..... Until the tip is a mandatory charge, it is up to each individual's discretion.

One last note.....My BFF refuses to tip AT ALL, she completely doesn't believe in it and she is coming to Disney with me.....so, I guess I'm the one stuck with dealing with the tip situation, if it was left up to her, the servers would be getting nothing. I will make sure to tip accordingly, as to what I feel appropriate, not what is suggested by others or on the bill....but what I chose to leave. I am sure there are others who feel as my BFF, or are from another country that isn't used to tipping.....I am sure Disney being as large a company as it is, is used to various levels of tipping from 0$ to the extra-ordinary tip and have seen tipping on all levels if the spectrum.

ETA: I just read the poster above me and it made me think....perhaps it's because I am Canadian and all jobs here are decently paid, that I feel as I do.....as she stated, I had never heard of 20% being the "norm" until the disboards....to me, 20% is extra-ordinary, and quite above the "norm"

 

[kaytieeldr]

I tip well when service warrants it. Housekeeping is not one of those services.

That's an interesting point of view: you "tip well when service warrants it" but cleaning and making up your hotel room isn't one of the services [that warrants a tip]...

In the first sentence, you seem to be referring to the actual, physical service being performed for you, while it's being performed, from which you immediately benefit (or not, in which case you don't tip, which makes sense).

In the second sentence, it appears you're referring to types of services, a theoretical list of various service positions in which the person performing the service could reasonably expect to be tipped or the customer would reasonably be expected to offer a tip, based on the industry.

 

[disneychrista]

First, how can people never have heard of tipping housekeeping?

Growing up we rarely stayed in a hotel and if we did stay in one it was likely motel 6, not the type of hotel that would have envelopes begging for money.

though there are still the cheapskates who tip "based on number of people and [yada]" where three people equals $5 no matter what somehow or where someone figures that $5 per person for spending two hours at a table is acceptable.

Since this is directed at me. We are not usually at a restaurant for more than 45 minutes. I do not go to a restaurant to sit and linger, I go to eat. We never order appetizers or dessert or drinks for that matter. So in most cases that $5 is more than the 15% that seems to be expected. If was to base my tip solely on % in most cases the server would get LESS money, not more.
Example: We went to a mexican restaurant I got 2 tacos ($5) my daughter got beans & rice ($3). If I was to have tipped on % the server would have gotten $1.50 instead he got $4, a 50% tip.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Have things changed in Canada over the past 20 years? Back when I waited tables in the early 90s in Ontario, there was most definitely a much lower minimum wage for servers and other tipped positions. I don't remember the exact amounts any longer but I think the tipped minimum wage was under $3/hour while the regular one was alost $7/hour. Clearly even 20 years ago that's higher than some states even today based on what's being posted in this thread but it's still significantly less than regular minimum wage. If ratios are similar today and regular minimum wage is around $10/hour then that would mean servers are earning around $4/hour plus tips. Obviously that's an assumption and I don't know if things have changed or not since I haven't waited tables since college back in the early 90s.

I do think that the percents posted here on the DIS do not match what anybody I know tips either back home in Ontario or here in New Hampshire. Most people I know tip 15%, not 20%, though people are tipping on the post tax amount so that does bring it closer to the 20% on the pre-tip amount.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It was in our packet when we checked in a Animal Kingdom Villas a few years ago. Another poster mentioned getting it at AKL in this thread.

I've stayed at BCV (once), and SSR and OKW several times. I've never gotten any tipping guidelines - and I read everything voraciously! And that other poster's perience is from ten years ago.

I've also stayed at WL, CS, DL/POR, Pop, and SoG - and never got anything about tipping; although in the interest of full disclosure, that latter was with an eligible friend who did the actual check-in. She's the same one who showed me that if you leave the tip ON the bed, Housekeeping will never miss or misunderstand it .

 

[kaytieeldr]

But, what if accepting that tip costs them their job? How do you feel about that? Apparently, that is Disney policy.

A CM posted on the Dis some time ago that housekeepers make $10 to $12 an hour, far from minimum wage.

Cool. So say this imaginary Mousekeeper earns "as much as" $10 per hour, and is lucky enough to work 40 hours a week every week. She/he optimized the W-4 filing to have 15% withheld weekly for Federal tax, and I believe there's no State oncome tax in Florida? Offhand I don't know the rates for Social Security and Medicare, but let's say $15 per week. Then don't forget the deductions for health care, disability, union dues, miscellaneous...

If this CM is really lucky, they're taking home $300 per week; if they're lottery-winning lucky, they're supporting just themselves - because that "far from minimum wage" gross annual pay of $20,800 is below the poverty line for a household of four.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You sure seem to care, since you keep insulting those of us that don't tip housekeeping.

Insulting where? You not liking what a poster says doesn't make that statement an insult.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I waited tables years ago and the hourly wage was 2.01 an hour and never did people tip what disney or others claim is acceptable 18-20 percent tip on Disney prices.

Gotta admit, Disney is goooooood at Power of Suggestion

The 18% and 20% calculations they put on any non-counter service receipt is for convenience. They're suggestions, not commands.

But because those are the amounts printed (granted, the 18% is 'convenience' for guests with mandatory service charges) for the guest, most people choose to just use one of those instead of determining what they want to tip.

 

[kaytieeldr]

..I am sure Disney being as large a company as it is, is used to various levels of tipping from 0$ to the extra-ordinary tip and have seen tipping on all levels if the spectrum.

Thing is, when you opt to tip (or not) a restaurant server in most states, including Florida, based on what's customary where you live, it doesn't matter what Disney is used to. You're depriving an individual person of reasonably expected income. You're not hurting Disney-the-business at all.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Exactly!!!!!

And for those leaving cute envelopes and insisting that tipping is 'mandatory', what if I said housekeeping should be tipped like a server?

The server carries your plate to you and you give them 15 - 20%. The mousekeeper cleans up your toilet and floor, why don't they deserve 15 - 20% of your room cost?

I have a feeling the opinions on tipping might change a tad if this was the case.

Nobody said mandatory until this post. Should isn't the same thing.