Tipping Tipping Tipping....the dreaded tipping thread. LOL ?????? Please

[mom2my3kids]

i waitress.

its 15% any of those tip cards will tell you that

before i got a real corporate america job..

i worked 5 days a week serving. i made 800 a week. thats 3200/month.
but i needed health insurance. so i was forced to give it up.
some servers i know make at least 1000/wk. at least.
depending on your restaurant.. ( you make bank at the cheesecake factory.. see above)
you can make a great living being a server..

Yeah depends on the area and the type of restaurant you work in. I can make 500.00 a week on a good week, other weeks maybe 350.00. It all depends on how busy, how good of tippers you have and I work 5 days a week 40 hours a week. I know there are ladies at my job that its going to be the job they have until they retire. That is great, but its not something I want to do when I am 50. You are right, my husband carries the insurance so I don't worry about that right now. But I plan on getting a different job once my youngest starts school.Anyone that has served I bet will tell you its either the most difficult or close to the most difficult job of their life..

 

[Pumbaa_]

According to Disney's resort information, mousekeeping is a non-tipping position. We usually stay DVC and cancel any midweek service, so it is mostly a moot point for us.

Depending on what time of day we check in determines if we use bell services or not. If it is late in the day, the odds are our room is ready and we just roll our own bags. I just want to get to the room, unpack and then go.

If it is early and odds are the room won't be ready, we will use bell services.
Tip is generally $5, we usually have just 2 bags.

For dining, we usually tip well, 20%. We do use the DDE card and that will next year start having an 18% gratuity included. Haven't decided yet if we will bump it to 20 or not. I feel like Disney is sending me the message that 18% is just fine. (ok, I know its not, but hate having a set gratuity added)

 

[luvmickey5374]

I just bring my bags to the room myself=) Then I have all those unspent tips for more souvies

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Magical Express - We have the driver stow our carry ons (3 bags total) and we tip him $5. There is a sign on the ME bus that says "Gratuities accepted for exceptional service".

You do NOT need to tip the person who brings the bags to your room IF your bags are coming from Magical Express. Those tips are paid by Disney. When your bags go BACK to ME you DO need to tip the person who brings them from your room to the airline check-in desk. We tipped $10 at WL for the guy to take 5 bags down for us. He arrived like 2 minutes after I called for luggage assistance - very prompt!

I did not tip the lady who printed our boarding passes and tagged our luggage for the flight home. Not sure what the expectation is there.

We tip Housekeeping $3 per day. They make the beds, leave clean towels, empty the trash bins, clean the bathroom and vacuum. I don't mind leaving a little tip if they do a decent job.

 

[madenon]

Sky Cap's are the porters at the airport, they are unionized workers. they do not work for any airline. They are the ones you see taking people luggage and or pushing wheelchairs.

Sorry if I'm asking a silly question but I'm trying to figure out how it works in America. Do I understand it correctly that these two jobs are combined into one; a skycap? Put it simply; I'm using a wheelchair and will need someone helping. No prob, have got that all booked. But I'm I correct in assuming that if I need/want this service doesn't stop after I get through the sliding doors after baggage claim but I can have the same skycap help me with my luggage untill I for instance reach a cab, even if this is outside?!

So if that's correct I would only need to tip one person one time, instead of 2 on 2 different moments?

To explain; I'm used to it being 2 different jobs. The first will push you around the airport from check in to the plane and from plane to the sliding doors. They'll help you get your baggage at baggage claim, but after those sliding doors; that's it! Also -ofcourse- no duty free shopping with them pushing you as their time is limited and they need to help others also. This is a free service provided by the airport, payed for by the airport and tipping isn't standard. If you want/need anyone after that for your luggage, you look for or call for another person who you pay (not a "free" service + tip), and tipping is standard.

Darned, this is more confusing than I thought. Really thought I had it down and knew what was standard with regards to tipping, but the links provided really really made me go . Jaw-dropping to read that tipping $20,- is considered standard for someone to give your wheelchair a push from one terminal to another. Must be due to never running into that -as far as I know- previously eventhough I've been halfway round the world.

In a way it strikes me as weird that I have to pay to be pushed around when the only reason I need a push is because the airline won't make it possible for me to use my normall wc in which I wouldn't need a push. (I know I can gate-check my wc, but because of my flight coming from Europe this isn't a possibility for me) I'm all for making their lives easier and giving them as much time as possible to deal with checking in my chair and transferring it onto the next plane, but this sounds just a bit crazy to me.

While we're at it, just a last question. So far I've found out about tipping;

- mousekeeping
- skycap
- bellservice
- ddp takes care of tipping server, but if the service is really out of their way, I'll tip more
- DME-driver for helping with bags

Miss anything??

 

[BabaGanoush]

I do believe that federal law states that workers being payed a reduced rate due to being in a tipped role MUST be compensated up to federal minimum wage if the amount of tips does not bring them up to the minimum wage. So no matter what, the tipped employee MUST get the minimum wage. So using that as a reason to expect tips is ludicrous.

Lets talk about servers but this can be applied to other tipped roles. A server is an employee of a business and agrees with that business to a certain base wage. The business then agrees with the consumer the amount to be payed for services rendered. The server is payed through that amount. It is not the responsibility of the consumer to pay additional to the server because that was not the agreed upon price. HOWEVER, if the consumer decides to thank the server for a job well done, well so be it. That is the discretion of the consumer and there should not be a minimum. If an server feels they should be entitled to this additional amount and withholds a higher degree of service becuase of that, then they should be terminated by the business for failing to meet the original conditions of employment.

I tip. I believe it is the right thing to do for good service. I will not tip bad service and i HATE being forced to (ie automatic gratuity). Furthermore, I dont see the point of tipping based on percentages.

I know many people in the service industry (myself being one) and I see many of them making a very good living while only working part time. That is why I do not shed a tear for them. Tipping has become grossly inflated and does not reflect the job that is being performed. Teachers, firemen, police officers are all service roles that often are paid less than a restaurant server working full time. And a bell-hop making more than 30,000 a year is just silly to me.

 

[mom2my3kids]

When I give good service to my customers, I do expect 15-20 percent of the bill. This is what the standard industry says is a appropriate tip amount. Now if a bellman is making 30,000 a year more power to them..

 

[KorieDWnut]

I'm with you SnowWitch! WHY didn't anybody tell me that I could have skipped college (and the loans that go with it), been a bellman and doubled my salary?!

Well, where I am waitressing right now I certainly make money than I will when I finish my degree and start teaching. However, I will be recieving far more in personal growth and happiness by doing something that I ,personally, feel more fufilling with my life than to still be waitressing when I am 50 years old.
So yes, I make more cash now and that's great and all but money can only take you so far.

 

[KorieDWnut]

Just wanted to add - I'm all for getting rid of the tipping procedure all together and going to regular salary... yeah I know that would raise the price of my steak, but to be fair it would only raise the price by about 15% per food item if done to counterbalance tips.

Win Win scenario in my book. Those relying on tips no longer have to worry about getting stiffed. You don't really end up paying all that much more then you probably would have - but it does away with all the nasty side effects of tipping (like the sense of self entitlement some come to take for granted... like certain bellhops in this this thread who will remain nameless.)

To be fair, it's not so much that I think servers, or any other service industry should be making less... it's that I think they should be able to make what they make and those such as firemen, police officers, and teachers should be making way more....

Here's the thing..Right now where I work I average around 20-22 dollars an hour. Waitressing. If they did away with tipping and just paid the staff, I can't imagine many places paying that kind of a wage and I certainly would not be doing it for less.

 

[KorieDWnut]

Yeah depends on the area and the type of restaurant you work in. I can make 500.00 a week on a good week, other weeks maybe 350.00. It all depends on how busy, how good of tippers you have and I work 5 days a week 40 hours a week. I know there are ladies at my job that its going to be the job they have until they retire. That is great, but its not something I want to do when I am 50. You are right, my husband carries the insurance so I don't worry about that right now. But I plan on getting a different job once my youngest starts school.Anyone that has served I bet will tell you its either the most difficult or close to the most difficult job of their life..

I wouldn't call it hard, stressful or difficult. Not where I work. I work in a small, 13 table restaurant but boy do I make some serious money. I am great to my tables. I don't think I have ever been rude and I have a great knack for killing people with kindness. I see those tables as money waiting to be put into my pocet so I am not about to screw it up by giving them less than what they want. HOWEVER, what my customers see in front of them, and what happens when I walk away into the kitchen are 2 totally different things. There are just some people that are incredibly needy, miserable and impossible to please. THOSE are the people that just drain all the motivation nearly out of me. I don't let it ruin my day for my other customers but man, sometimes I leave there saying I can't wait to stop waitressing.

 

[honeybee30]

Teachers, firemen, police officers are all service roles that often are paid less than a restaurant server working full time. And a bell-hop making more than 30,000 a year is just silly to me.

No, this is silly -

The average pay for classroom teachers in the United States is $38,000 per year. At that rate, a teacher would need a little more than 27 years to make $1 million — less than half what a basketball player makes, on average, in just one year.

 

[bgula]

Okay, I could write a huge response to this thread, but I'll keep it simple. I'm posting this under my fiancee's username but I just had to voice my opinion. I am a bellman and my fiancee is a cocktail server at a five diamond resort so I feel very qualified to respond. $2 per bag for a typically sized bag is the MINIMUM! If your bag is extremely heavy $5 per bag is MINIMUM! If you are having food or beverage service and the service was good a 20% tip is the MINIMUM! Again these are minimums expected for basic service, if you should get above average service you should give an above average tip. $1 per bag to a bellman or a 10% tip for your waitress is an insult. As for you Canron thank GOD for karma, I can only believe that you get the service you pay for. I'm sure you expect to be paid for doing your job and so do we. Trust me, anybody who works for a resort is not getting rich. We depend on tips to make the bulk of our pay. So if you want a genuine smile and friendly hello from your service workers be sure to show how much you appreciate our hard work. Thank you's are nice but they don't pay the bills.

Oh, man, I've only read 2 pages of this thread, so this may have been covered already, but I had to respond to this! I know I'm going to get ripped for this, but I'm one of those people that would prefer not to tip at all, but feel "guilted" into tipping because everyone else does it. 15-20% for a meal - that to me is ridiculous. I normally leave 10%, but I would love to have the guts to leave 0.
It's getting ridiculous what people are expecting to be tipped for nowadays. Tip your barber, tip your bartender, tip the bellhop, tip the taxi driver, etc. People, it's your JOB and you are getting paid a salary to do it. Why should I have to subsidize your salary? If it's not enough, then get another job that pays enough. If enough people did this, then maybe the employer would get the idea and raise the price of his food or whatever the service is in order to pay a proper salary. I know I'd rather pay a little more for a meal than feel pressured to tip the server an "appropriate" amount.

I'm cheap, I'll admit it - must be part Scot. Anyway, $2-$5 per bag tip - no way! That's why I love POP. At least you can get a cart and do it yourself. When we stayed at CS for the first time this past Christmas, I tried to get a cart like at POP and bell services just looked at me and said that's what they were there for. I just shook my head and moved a vanload of stuff myself. Probably would have had to tip at least $30 if I was following the OP's fee structure.

Anyway, I'm starting to digress. My point is that tipping is really getting out of hand. Everyone under the sun is now expecting a tip for doing their job. Where's it going to end?

 

[mom2my3kids]

Oh, man, I've only read 2 pages of this thread, so this may have been covered already, but I had to respond to this! I know I'm going to get ripped for this, but I'm one of those people that would prefer not to tip at all, but feel "guilted" into tipping because everyone else does it. 15-20% for a meal - that to me is ridiculous. I normally leave 10%, but I would love to have the guts to leave 0.
It's getting ridiculous what people are expecting to be tipped for nowadays. Tip your barber, tip your bartender, tip the bellhop, tip the taxi driver, etc. People, it's your JOB and you are getting paid a salary to do it. Why should I have to subsidize your salary? If it's not enough, then get another job that pays enough. If enough people did this, then maybe the employer would get the idea and raise the price of his food or whatever the service is in order to pay a proper salary. I know I'd rather pay a little more for a meal than feel pressured to tip the server an "appropriate" amount.

I'm cheap, I'll admit it - must be part Scot. Anyway, $2-$5 per bag tip - no way! That's why I love POP. At least you can get a cart and do it yourself. When we stayed at CS for the first time this past Christmas, I tried to get a cart like at POP and bell services just looked at me and said that's what they were there for. I just shook my head and moved a vanload of stuff myself. Probably would have had to tip at least $30 if I was following the OP's fee structure.

Anyway, I'm starting to digress. My point is that tipping is really getting out of hand. Everyone under the sun is now expecting a tip for doing their job. Where's it going to end?

WOW If I was you, I don't think I would be a repeat patron of any one restaurant with your tipping percentages. Let me tell you WE little servers remember the bad tippers. I am just going to let this go, the OP was just asking a simple question and I believe they received it..

 

[Morgstar]

WOW If I was you, I don't think I would be a repeat patron of any one restaurant with your tipping percentages. Let me tell you WE little servers remember the bad tippers. I am just going to let this go, the OP was just asking a simple question and I believe they received it..

I honestly think that this is a lot of the problem Customers feel pressured into tipping 'the appropriate' amount for fear that if they return the server will 'remember' them. This pressure manifests and in some cases means certain customers begrudge leaving any tip. Its the whole fact that servers EXPECT x amount from customers when really its the customers CHOICE if they leave a tip. Just like it was the servers choice to take a job that pays min wage and HOPE to earn tips. I am sure employers in the states do not assure employees when they start that they will definately earn x amount in tips.

One other question to mom2my3kids and the other servers what exactly do you mean by,
'I don't think i would be a repeat patron of any one restaurant with your tipping percentages. Let me tell you WE little servers remember bad tippers.'

Are you insinuating that should someone who hadnt tipped you well return, then you would purposly do something to make their visit uncomfortable? If you are, you really need to find another job because i am positive your job spec doesnt say you are allowed to treat customers differently because of the amount they tip. Infact, those two sentences sound pretty awful when you think about it. Are you going to do something to their food? Are you going to spill something over them?

Just what can you do if a non tipper returns? It is still in your salaried job to serve these people to the stanards that your employer expects. Are you saying that you sometimes decide not to do your job properly? What does that say about you as a person.

Mom2my3kids, i am not trying to get at you personally i am sure when you reread what you wrote you will regret it but it really does make people mad and even less inclined to tip when they read such things.

Just for the record my GF worked in WDW as a server and we always tip,so long as the service has been 'appropriate', but do not like to feel pressure into it.

Excuse any spelling and grammatical errors i was in a rush.

 

[bgula]

Morgstar, I couldn't have said it any better. I do worry about that too, but I would hope that the server wouldn't stoop THAT low as to do something to the food. I'd be interested to know from any servers if that is actually not the case.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I will mention again that i always tip accordingly. But wow to threaten a person who doesn't is a little tacky and mean.

 

[Disneyholic]

I'm pretty sure that's a "BS" degree plan.

Love this!

I am a professional cosmetologist (i.e. hairdresser). I am considered to be in a tipping position also, but I have some customers who tip very little and some nothing. I have others who tip generously. I do an exceptional job on every customer and treat every customer with respect as long as they treat me respectfully. I do not treat them better or worse because of their tip. I appreciate that they keep coming back to me to have their services done, which keeps me busy and keeps me in business. They could always go somewhere else and not tip too, but then someone else would be getting the money they are paying for the services I do for them and I would not be getting that money. I appreciate a good tip as well as the next guy, but that doesn't mean that I will treat someone bad or give them crappy service because they don't tip me. I love my job and the tips do help with the bills, but treating people decent goes a long way toward being happy because you will usually be treated decently in return.

When we stay at a hotel, we tip $1-2/night/person depending on how much needs to be cleaned and the towel situation. We roll our own bags in (and yes, we even did this at WL and AKL) At restaurants, it is between 15&20% depending on service. Since I work in the service sector myself I tend to be more generous than DH. He looks at me like I'm nuts when I put down the tip sometimes. We drive ourselves, so don't need bag storage although the first 2 trips we did use them and tipped the one who brought to rrom, but not the one who put it in storage (DH took the stuff from the bus and put it on the cart). When we went to V&A's at GF for dinner we used the valet parking because it was included with the Dinner, but we tipped on the way out. We had a different guy then, so I asked if he could see that the other parker got part of the tip because we were so excited on the way in I forgot about it. I hope he did this.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I honestly think that this is a lot of the problem Customers feel pressured into tipping 'the appropriate' amount for fear that if they return the server will 'remember' them. This pressure manifests and in some cases means certain customers begrudge leaving any tip. Its the whole fact that servers EXPECT x amount from customers when really its the customers CHOICE if they leave a tip. Just like it was the servers choice to take a job that pays min wage and HOPE to earn tips. I am sure employers in the states do not assure employees when they start that they will definately earn x amount in tips.

One other question to mom2my3kids and the other servers what exactly do you mean by,
'I don't think i would be a repeat patron of any one restaurant with your tipping percentages. Let me tell you WE little servers remember bad tippers.'

Are you insinuating that should someone who hadnt tipped you well return, then you would purposly do something to make their visit uncomfortable? If you are, you really need to find another job because i am positive your job spec doesnt say you are allowed to treat customers differently because of the amount they tip. Infact, those two sentences sound pretty awful when you think about it. Are you going to do something to their food? Are you going to spill something over them?

Just what can you do if a non tipper returns? It is still in your salaried job to serve these people to the stanards that your employer expects. Are you saying that you sometimes decide not to do your job properly? What does that say about you as a person.

Mom2my3kids, i am not trying to get at you personally i am sure when you reread what you wrote you will regret it but it really does make people mad and even less inclined to tip when they read such things.

Just for the record my GF worked in WDW as a server and we always tip,so long as the service has been 'appropriate', but do not like to feel pressure into it.

Excuse any spelling and grammatical errors i was in a rush.

Just got home from work, so just got online. What I meant by that is, if I have someone that I know does not tip or is a horrible tipper no matter what I wont bend over backwards for them. Do the special little things, I would do for other patrons like making sure they have extra napkins without asking. Making sure they never have to ask for a refill, etc You get the basic service, I wont give them 100%. I guess you can't understand what I am saying unless you have actually waited tables before. Do you expect to get paid from your job? That is all I expect from mine, I give good service I get rewarded by a decent tip 15-20% of the bill. It is also customary in the this country based on service and industry has stated the percent for good-excellent service is 15-20 percent. We have to at least claim 8% of our sales to the Government, so if you don't tip we still have to pay taxes on your sales. Its hard to type what I want to say, it all comes out wrong.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Morgstar, I couldn't have said it any better. I do worry about that too, but I would hope that the server wouldn't stoop THAT low as to do something to the food. I'd be interested to know from any servers if that is actually not the case.

I absolutely never said anything about doing anything to food, I have always stated in post's that the 9 years I have waited tables I have never seen anyone do anything to anyone's food. I am above that and would never stoop so low as to do that..

 

[mom2my3kids]

Love this!

I am a professional cosmetologist (i.e. hairdresser). I am considered to be in a tipping position also, but I have some customers who tip very little and some nothing. I have others who tip generously. I do an exceptional job on every customer and treat every customer with respect as long as they treat me respectfully. I do not treat them better or worse because of their tip. I appreciate that they keep coming back to me to have their services done, which keeps me busy and keeps me in business. They could always go somewhere else and not tip too, but then someone else would be getting the money they are paying for the services I do for them and I would not be getting that money. I appreciate a good tip as well as the next guy, but that doesn't mean that I will treat someone bad or give them crappy service because they don't tip me. I love my job and the tips do help with the bills, but treating people decent goes a long way toward being happy because you will usually be treated decently in return.

When we stay at a hotel, we tip $1-2/night/person depending on how much needs to be cleaned and the towel situation. We roll our own bags in (and yes, we even did this at WL and AKL) At restaurants, it is between 15&20% depending on service. Since I work in the service sector myself I tend to be more generous than DH. He looks at me like I'm nuts when I put down the tip sometimes. We drive ourselves, so don't need bag storage although the first 2 trips we did use them and tipped the one who brought to rrom, but not the one who put it in storage (DH took the stuff from the bus and put it on the cart). When we went to V&A's at GF for dinner we used the valet parking because it was included with the Dinner, but we tipped on the way out. We had a different guy then, so I asked if he could see that the other parker got part of the tip because we were so excited on the way in I forgot about it. I hope he did this.

Sorry but you don't depend on your tips to make a living, you still make money off each person who sits in your chair no matter if they tip you or not. But I always tip my hairdresser good, but I will tell you I was shocked at how many tipping positions their are.