Tipping- Am I an asshole??

[Anonymous]

My friend and I stayed at The Roosevelt in NYC a few summers ago. We happened to get upgraded to a corner room, which was awesome, and we had a dinky, falling-apart mini-fridge that was clearly from another era. My friend had mentioned it upon entering the room with the concierge who had brought our luggage up, tipped him $5 on his way out, and he returned, completely unprompted, about 10 minutes later with a brand-new mini-fridge to replace our crappy one. I highly doubt that had we not have tipped him anything, that he would have gone out of his way to bring us a new fridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend and I stayed at The Roosevelt in NYC a few summers ago. We happened to get upgraded to a corner room, which was awesome, and we had a dinky, falling-apart mini-fridge that was clearly from another era. My friend had mentioned it upon entering the room with the concierge who had brought our luggage up, tipped him $5 on his way out, and he returned, completely unprompted, about 10 minutes later with a brand-new mini-fridge to replace our crappy one. I highly doubt that had we not have tipped him anything, that he would have gone out of his way to bring us a new fridge.

Oops, I guess I mean bellhop, not concierge.

[Anonymous]

I always tip housekeeping $5 per day. If you leave it all at the end of the trip ($35 for a week) then it might not be going to the person who cleaned your room the whole time.

[Anonymous]

Housekeeping is non negotiable in my book. I automatically think you are a terrible person if you don't tip the hotel maids. It says something really low about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't leave money in your room for housekeeping? I thought everyone did that...

+1

And I tip the bellhop and the valet. I don't think I've ever made arrangements through a concierge, so I've never tipped them.

And no way in hell am I tipping the desk clerk simply for checking me in and out. WTF.

I've never used a bellhop or a valet. No matter what hotel I stay at, I always carry my own bags. And by "carry" I mean "wheel".

Some hotels only have valet.

At nicer hotels, it's kind of nice to let the bellhop carry your stuff. I usually only do this on work travel, though. There are no bellhops at the Holiday Inn Express in the podunk town where my family lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Housekeeping is non negotiable in my book. I automatically think you are a terrible person if you don't tip the hotel maids. It says something really low about you.

What exactly does it say? And why doesn't it actually say something about the hotel owner?

[Anonymous]

I've never tipped the hotel maids. I don't think I have ever tipped room service as the cost of the meal was added to my hotel bill instead of me having to sign receipts per meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Housekeeping is non negotiable in my book. I automatically think you are a terrible person if you don't tip the hotel maids. It says something really low about you.

What exactly does it say? And why doesn't it actually say something about the hotel owner?

It says you are too thoughtless to deal with the woman who cleans the toilet you use and makes the bed you sleep in and refills the coffee. maker. You probably use hotwire or hotels.com to get some Artificial rate on your room while also saying that the chain should pony up more for housekeeping AND bitch about an extra $5 a night.

It says you'll tip the guy who gives you drinks, but not the one who will clean up your mess.

It says, in short, that you are an asshole who knows full well the hotel won't pay the housekeeper more and still withhold a fee extra bucks for an amazingly short sighted 'principle."

[Anonymous]

I always tip but I hate the practice. And I particularly HATE paying for a service that I never wanted in the first place. I hate paying the person standing in front of the hotel who insists on flagging a cab for me (I can do it myself, thanks) and I hate tipping the over-enthusiastic bell hop who snatches the bag from my hands even when I say I am fine.

[Anonymous]

Tipping in the US and especially among DCUM users is out of control.

The purpose behind tipping was to recognize extraordinary service - over and beyond the norm. The exception is those who do not receive even minimum wage and rely on tips as part of their income eg waiter, food delivery people, hair dressers, etc.

I do not tip housekeeping, movers, those who deliver furniture and pretty much everyone else because that is part of their job for which they get compensated as part of their salary. If anyone provides service that is over and beyond the norm I'd feel it appropriate to tip.

If that makes me a terrible person then so be it.

[Anonymous]

We spend about 15 nights per year in a hotel (DH travels many more nights). Years ago I noticed that he'd never skip the tip for the valet (every in/out with the rental car), the bellhop, the taxi driver, the guy at the curbside check in at the airport and on and on. But never the hotel housekeeper. It just didn't seem right to me. So now we tip them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tipping in the US and especially among DCUM users is out of control.

The purpose behind tipping was to recognize extraordinary service - over and beyond the norm. The exception is those who do not receive even minimum wage and rely on tips as part of their income eg waiter, food delivery people, hair dressers, etc.

I do not tip housekeeping, movers, those who deliver furniture and pretty much everyone else because that is part of their job for which they get compensated as part of their salary. If anyone provides service that is over and beyond the norm I'd feel it appropriate to tip.

If that makes me a terrible person then so be it.

Well, you ARE terrible and you are completely wrong about tipping. Tipping for many of these professions is the norm because it allows employers to keep prices artificially low at the expense of their employees.

We as a society have decided we are willing to accept that we will get lower prices for these services, no, that we DEMAND lower prices, and we get to control part of the cost via tipping. Therefore, we pay a base price (which is too low in reality) and then decide how much more the individual service is worth over base.

That's the social contract. Either participate in it or accept that you're an asshole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tipping in the US and especially among DCUM users is out of control.

The purpose behind tipping was to recognize extraordinary service - over and beyond the norm. The exception is those who do not receive even minimum wage and rely on tips as part of their income eg waiter, food delivery people, hair dressers, etc.

I do not tip housekeeping, movers, those who deliver furniture and pretty much everyone else because that is part of their job for which they get compensated as part of their salary. If anyone provides service that is over and beyond the norm I'd feel it appropriate to tip.

If that makes me a terrible person then so be it.

That's a great approach: punish those who are being victimized by a system you admit is "out of control."
You are really not under the impression that housekeepers, movers, etc. are not paid based on the assumption that they get tips? That might be because you are too snooty and obnoxious to lower yourself to having a conversation with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tipping in the US and especially among DCUM users is out of control.

The purpose behind tipping was to recognize extraordinary service - over and beyond the norm. The exception is those who do not receive even minimum wage and rely on tips as part of their income eg waiter, food delivery people, hair dressers, etc.

I do not tip housekeeping, movers, those who deliver furniture and pretty much everyone else because that is part of their job for which they get compensated as part of their salary. If anyone provides service that is over and beyond the norm I'd feel it appropriate to tip.

If that makes me a terrible person then so be it.

That's a great approach: punish those who are being victimized by a system you admit is "out of control."
You are really not under the impression that housekeepers, movers, etc. are not paid based on the assumption that they get tips? That might be because you are too snooty and obnoxious to lower yourself to having a conversation with them.

No, they are not paid on the assumption they get tips. You are clueless.

[Anonymous]

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