who dose NOT tip MOUSEKEEPING?

[Aidensmom]

I have never tipped housekeeping. And I have never left my room in such disarray where I would feel the need to give them something "extra". They are doing what they get paid to do.

I also don't tip the parking attendants, security guards, characters (if anyone needs one, THEY do), front desk people, ride attendants, store clerks, food court cashiers, or anyone else making the same amount of money, all who make my experience more pleasurable and who are all getting paid to do the job that they do.

 

[Goobergal99]

Honestly, for the longest time I didn't know they were supposed to be tipped. However, I have begun tipping the last few trips and I have had superior service and cute towel animals left for DD.

My reasons for tipping are that I feel fortunate to have such a great paying job with fantastic benefits and I don't mind giving a lil to someone else. I picked a great time to be a nurse, there is a shortage that won't end for years to come and therefore they are in high demand and short supply so that means my wages are "very nice" I only work 3 days a week/ every third weekend and make enough to live comfortably even when my DH is laid off.

Even if they make $10 hr as some ppl here have stated, I still think that is low, I made substantially more then that as a nurses aide. I don't knock ppl here for not tipping as I could care less, however I don't think anyone should defend their choice to tip just because others don't.

 

[poohluvrs]

Its sad that the $1,000's we're made to feel guilty about paying for our Disney vacations is going in the pocket of WDW, who is paying their Mousekeepers so low that we feel obligated to supplement their paycheck b/c we're not already shelling out crazy loot to their employer!

 

[bicker]

Rest assured that if we guests rewarded companies that charged us more in return for paying their staff more then those companies would do so. The money's got to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is always going to be your wallet, one way or another. This way, you have the power, you have the choice.

 

[keith-atl]

Wow Im amazed is that tipping is such a major issue.

Here is my take, I tip the bell hops, skycaps, mousecleaning, cab driver and everyone else I feel who deserves it. Personally Im on vacation and giving tips is not an issue, really think about it if you tip 3 to 5 bucks a day to mousecleaning that is what 21 to 35 bucks for the week???? Ill gladly tip someone who makes my vacation that much easier.

 

[roadtripgrrl]

I, like a few others, never had even thought about tipping mousekeeping prior to this thread. I actually feel kind of guilty about it now. Definitely plan to do so when I go there next month. I've never worked in a hotel but I work part-time at Kohl's right now and all I do is clean up after the general public. By no means is it the same as what the mousekeeping does but some of our fellow Americans sure know how to trash a store. Only a handful of people have expressed appreciation for what I do but those few have meant a lot. I'm sure the mousekeeping at Disney feels the same. I'll definitely be tipping them in the future.

 

[tinkerbeth]

First of all I would like to start out by saying that personally I do tip, but I do have a question for someone. If the reason we are tipping is for personal service then why is it we don't tip everybody that does this kind of service such as: A close friend of mine works as a child care worker where she takes care of people's precious children doing everything from feeding them to wiping their bottoms (now that is personal). Nobody tips her!! And trust me her wages stink too!!

I haven't read to the end so I don't know if someone else has addressed this, but I do make sure that my child care providers get Christmas and end of year and sometimes March Break, etc presents. I agree completely that they're underpaid. This isn't exactly the same as tipping (can you imagine if I left a dollar a day on my son's cubbie? ) but to me it's similar b/c it's showing appreciation for others and their work. If I thought minimum wage was a livable amount of money, I might not tip.

I agree with the people who say that if I can spend 2000 or more on a vacation, I can try to brighten up someone else's day with 20 or 30 more dollars. Just my .02.

Beth

 

[bicker]

I think that's a great sentiment. I think it would be best, however, to start with the low-paid folks who have the most difficult jobs, such as the cleaners in the parks. Can you imagine getting paid only $10 per hour to clean up other people's poo?

Even though you don't have to tip at counter-service restaurants, I suggest that that is where folks should start tipping. Just look around at what these hard-working folks have to clean up, and in what kind of environment they have to work, sometimes outdoors in the heat and humidity, etc. A couple of dollars is probably good enough. For the bathroom cleaners, I don't know... maybe once or twice per trip we can track one down and hand him or her an envelope?

 

[golden1]

I find the lack of compassion in this thread somewhat disturbing.

I was a housekeeper for two summers while I was in college. I got paid minimum wage. At my hotel, there was a "tip" built into your pay that amounted to about $0.50/room/day. If more than two people cleaned the room, that tip was split. Essentially it came to about $7/hr. For me, as a college student, that was fine, but I used to feel really bad for my co-workers who were supporting families on that money.

Housekeeping is really grueling work. I would start my day at 9am. My co-workers and I had to clean 27 rooms in about a 4-5 hour time span. Cleaning including stripping and making the beds, bathrooms, dusting, trash and vacuuming. It is not a long shift but you bust your butt in a short period of time to get those rooms clean.

Most of these women who are cleaning your rooms won't ever be able to afford the expensive vacations that you are taking. A little compassion (and $$$ goes a long way). I always tip in service jobs because I know while those few extra $ don't mean much to me, it means a lot to them.

 

[ddesousa323]

Simple answer to all of this. If you want to tip, then tip. If you don't then don't either way you will still get a great clean room. Maybe no frills

 

[Poohbear123]

And usually get a thank you note from Mousekeeping too. I left 3.00 on the table for "Mousekeeping" and she left me 2 towel animals AND a thank you note in her OWN handwriting!

 

[babywewe]

For all of you who dont think they should tip i suggest reading this book:
Nickled and Dimed, on Not Getting By in America

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805063889/002-0396423-1576027?v=glance&n=283155

A reporter goes into the world of the min. wage worker to find out how their lives really are. Its heart breaking how so many people in our country work SO hard (physically) and get so little. Mousekeeping my not be in a "tipping" position according to Disney.... but i doubt they make anymore then min. wage! Could you live off 5.15 and hour and support a family?

 

[grinningghost]

I tip, but there have been days when I've forgotten and my room was equally as clean when I got back.

 

[mamacatnv]

Wow Im amazed is that tipping is such a major issue.

Here is my take, I tip the bell hops, skycaps, mousecleaning, cab driver and everyone else I feel who deserves it. Personally Im on vacation and giving tips is not an issue, really think about it if you tip 3 to 5 bucks a day to mousecleaning that is what 21 to 35 bucks for the week???? Ill gladly tip someone who makes my vacation that much easier.

Okay, lets say that the housekeeper over the course of a 5 day week is in charge of 10 rooms(I have no clue how many each gets)
Each room tips $5 per day,
X's 10 rooms=$50 per day
X's 5 days=$250 extra per week in cash
X's 50 wks in a year=$12,500 per year in extra, most likely unrecorded income.

Using the above estimates, approx $6.25 per hr would be added to wages. An $8 per hr. position is now $14.25, and a portion of it is not taxed as income.

Tipping is a personal choice. Some do and some don't. I just don't think people should be misled or intimidated into thinking they are slighting the housekeeping staff, being cheap, or disresspectful etc... by choosing not to tip someone for the job they are being paid by their employer to do.

 

[C.Darwin]

EVERYONE says you MUST tip, the 4 key people ( one being the mousekeeper) !

Cruise ship housekeepers make below minimum wage, so they are considered a "tipped position". The housekeepers at WDW make above minimum wage, so they are not.

Do you think WDW should make them a "tipped position" and pay them less than minimum wage like they do the waiters and bell services staff? That way they would at least be paying taxes on SOME of their gratuities.

Somehow I think this grand plan of tipping the housekeepers at WDW often falls along the wayside after a couple of day of paying $2.50/each for a bottled water in the parks.

 

[grinningghost]

Cruise ship housekeepers make below minimum wage, so they are considered a "tipped position". The housekeepers at WDW make above minimum wage, so they are not.

Do you think WDW should make them a "tipped position" and pay them less than minimum wage like they do the waiters and bell services staff? That way they would at least be paying taxes on SOME of their gratuities.

Somehow I think this grand plan of tipping the housekeepers at WDW often falls along the wayside after a couple of day of paying $2.50/each for a bottled water in the parks.

You could be right - maybe making it a tipped position would be better.

Although I generally don't fall into the category of those that get sick of tipping after buying so much bottled water. I'll tell you how:

Before I leave home, I get an envelope and stuff it full of singles, specifically for Mousekeeping tips. I dole out 2 bucks a day out of the envelope, no more, no less. When the envelope is empty, my wallet and credit cards usually are too.

Meaning - time to go home.

 

[babywewe]

I think we all should be greatfull we are all blessed to go on such great vactions! Even though i'm staying at the "value" resort i'm still shelling out 1000 a person for my trip. Some people in America can barely feed their families. The mousekeepers may be a none tipping position but they probally only make 20 thousand a year or less.
Like someone said whats another 2bucks a day when your doling out 2.50 for water!

 

[jenr812]

I tip housekeeping, and will continue to tip, to show my appreciation for a 'personal' type of service. HOWEVER, what are they getting paid to do if not straighten the room, make the bed, provide fresh towels, etc.?? I am being honest here. That is what their salary pays them to do.

I Googled 'tipping' once and got a site where people (mostly college students) were flipping out about people who pick up take-out, coffee, etc. and don't tip. Hello?? I hate the coffee places (7,329,421 in RI alone) where they have the "tip cup" on the counter. The people on this website were furious!!! I know it is not a big paycheck, but I always get irritated when I am asked to tip for someone doing their job! I ask for a coffee, you make it and hand it to me. No sevice above and beyond--right? So no tip, not even the change. (I save that for my next coffee fix.)

Housekeeping can be different, they are handling my personal possessions, etc. Some have gone above and beyond for me, even at "regular" hotels, by arranging my DDs' stuffed animals, straightening my newspapers, etc. Maybe I even think it is smart (code 9999 anyone?) to tip for a lengthy stay. But in general, I get irritated when people expect tips for nothing extra. The full water glass, lemon even when I don't ask for it in my water--those little things get a 20% tip for waitstaff. Personal interaction is where tipping comes into play to me.

Mini-rant over.

Heidi

 

[jenr812]

We choose to tip mousekeeping $3 per day, which was reasonable and affordable for us. We saved the money and put it in envelopes months before our trip so that we wouldn't have to worry about having singles each morning. I never would have thought to do so if I hadn't read about it on the DIS prior to our trip, as we don't generally stay in hotels.

ITA with the post I quoted above about tipping people for doing their job though

 

[wide awake]

Not going to tip. When I start tipping the check-in staff, the CMs that play Mickey, the cashiers at the food court...no can do.