Tipping College Tour Guides?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

Two posters report this experience. It is well within the realm of possibility. Take off your rose-colored glasses!

And they should report it. That's not what ANY of the tour guides should be doing. Here's the number. PHONE: [phone]

Lol. The next time I see Jeannine Lalonde on TikTok I'm going to ask her what someone should do if their tour guide asks for a tip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some universities don’t pay their tour guides.

None do.

[Anonymous]

Yikes. No.

[Anonymous]

UVA tour guide literally said they aren't paid and would appreciate tips. All parents ended up tipping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some universities don’t pay their tour guides.

None do.

Um yes, most do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some universities don’t pay their tour guides.

None do.

Wow! So you are knowledgeable on the hiring practices of thousands of universities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some universities don’t pay their tour guides.

None do.

Um yes, most do.

I was a tour guide and we were paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA tour guide literally said they aren't paid and would appreciate tips. All parents ended up tipping.

It's just so UVA. 😞

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some universities don’t pay their tour guides.

None do.

Um yes, most do.

I was a tour guide and we were paid.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

It is often a work study job but the volunteers always seem to be much better tour-guides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

This is NOT a troll. The woman who gave us the tour had an impressive/compelling story to tell when she talked about why she chose UVA so I understand why she was chosen as a guide. She was very good. I have been on multiple college tours, including UVA before - we were with our youngest and I have two other children in college. My DH and I were very uncomfortable when she asked for a monetary tip, not once, but twice because it's never happened before.

I am the OP, and not a troll. This happened this March on a tour with DD, who is not my oldest. As such, I have been on many college tours and have never even thought of tipping a student tour guide. This woman plainly stated that she was not paid by UVA and appreciated tips for her time, and if you didn’t have cash, she also accepted payments via Venmo. Everyone in our group was taken aback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

This is NOT a troll. The woman who gave us the tour had an impressive/compelling story to tell when she talked about why she chose UVA so I understand why she was chosen as a guide. She was very good. I have been on multiple college tours, including UVA before - we were with our youngest and I have two other children in college. My DH and I were very uncomfortable when she asked for a monetary tip, not once, but twice because it's never happened before.

I am the OP, and not a troll. This happened this March on a tour with DD, who is not my oldest. As such, I have been on many college tours and have never even thought of tipping a student tour guide. This woman plainly stated that she was not paid by UVA and appreciated tips for her time, and if you didn’t have cash, she also accepted payments via Venmo. Everyone in our group was taken aback.

I guess you’re going to have to tell me what’s so horrible about her doing that.

[Anonymous]

NOOOOOO!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

This is NOT a troll. The woman who gave us the tour had an impressive/compelling story to tell when she talked about why she chose UVA so I understand why she was chosen as a guide. She was very good. I have been on multiple college tours, including UVA before - we were with our youngest and I have two other children in college. My DH and I were very uncomfortable when she asked for a monetary tip, not once, but twice because it's never happened before.

I am the OP, and not a troll. This happened this March on a tour with DD, who is not my oldest. As such, I have been on many college tours and have never even thought of tipping a student tour guide. This woman plainly stated that she was not paid by UVA and appreciated tips for her time, and if you didn’t have cash, she also accepted payments via Venmo. Everyone in our group was taken aback.

I guess you’re going to have to tell me what’s so horrible about her doing that.

DP. No one is forcing her to give tours. If she didn't want to give her time for free, she should have not agreed to give the tour. Likely UVA has no idea that she is doing this, and it reflects poorly on them because it's incredibly tacky. As someone else said, if they are OK with it, they need to let families know in advance it's a thing rather than having an incredibly uncomfortable moment where someone is unexpectedly hitting you up for cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

This is NOT a troll. The woman who gave us the tour had an impressive/compelling story to tell when she talked about why she chose UVA so I understand why she was chosen as a guide. She was very good. I have been on multiple college tours, including UVA before - we were with our youngest and I have two other children in college. My DH and I were very uncomfortable when she asked for a monetary tip, not once, but twice because it's never happened before.

I am the OP, and not a troll. This happened this March on a tour with DD, who is not my oldest. As such, I have been on many college tours and have never even thought of tipping a student tour guide. This woman plainly stated that she was not paid by UVA and appreciated tips for her time, and if you didn’t have cash, she also accepted payments via Venmo. Everyone in our group was taken aback.

I guess you’re going to have to tell me what’s so horrible about her doing that.

DP. No one is forcing her to give tours. If she didn't want to give her time for free, she should have not agreed to give the tour. Likely UVA has no idea that she is doing this, and it reflects poorly on them because it's incredibly tacky. As someone else said, if they are OK with it, they need to let families know in advance it's a thing rather than having an incredibly uncomfortable moment where someone is unexpectedly hitting you up for cash.

Curious, do you feel this way about jobs in general?