5.6. Re: XVP Re: Tipping
Date: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:29 pm ((PDT))People who expect a tip ----- must earn it.? It's not automatic.? My personal
gripe is the cab drivers in Vegas who complain when they get a short ride.?
Palms to Bellagio North Entrance?or the like.?? Or Orleans to Rio.? (Yes, I know
there is an Orleans/Gold Coast shuttle ---- but sometimes I don't want to wait)
?I know the cabbies?have usually waited in line for a significant period and now
they are "stuck" with a short fare.? If they are pleasant and don't complain,
they get the biggest tip.? $7.20 fare--------"here's $20 keep it, I know it was
a short ride"?
First of all, this is a great example of how those who use a service sometimes fail to appreciate what goes into it -- the taxi driver who has to sit in line in order to be readily available for you to get a taxi out of the line is often "expected" to be there, and not rewarded for his wait time, while the guy who pulls up to the curb to drop off a passenger and you grab that taxi, gets rewarded because he was there so fast.
I had an experience that really demonstrates this -- the amounts were smaller, because it was a long time ago -- I needed a taxi from the LV Hilton to Westward Ho, about a half mile -- but it was already 100 degrees that summer morning, and I didn't feel like walking. The fare was less than $5, and I gave him a $10 and keep the change -- he THEN, for the first time, said something about the short ride, being "thanks, I had been waiting in that (taxi) line for over an hour".
When I get a driver for a short ride, I sometimes apologize for the short ride -- and reward the guy who says "Don't worry about it, it's part of the job, and not every fare goes to the airport".
On another occasion, I went to New Orleans for a meeting and had two large suitcases with recreational and business clothing, books, etc. Again, very hot. Got to my hotel to find my reservation messed up, but they got me another one at a nearby hotel two blocks away. When I tried to get a taxi, the driver pointed down the street and said "there it is". I said, "I know, and if you want to just carry my bags down there for me, I'll walk with you". He gave me the ride, grudingly, and got a smaller tip for his attitude.
If I have a problem with a waitress in a restaurant, I too, do the leave a few
coins on the table.? Then when inevitably the cashier asks "how was everything"
I tell the truth which usually results in the manager coming over to hear what
went wrong.? I then explain it.? Not to get a free meal or anything, but to let
them know why I was disappointed and what should have been done differently.?
Why walk away just upset without trying to make it better?
My wife worked as a restaurant waitress and hostess while going thru college, and taught me the etiquette of these situations, which is pretty much as described -- leave little or no tip, as you feel appropriate, but ask to see the manager, and explain the specific problems with service that caused the lack of a tip. It's the only way to help the restaurant to train its people better, monitor how they're doing what they've been taught, and get rid of ones who simply don't do what they've been instructed to do. If an employee is generally excellent, a single episode of bad service won't lose them their job, but if they generate repeated complaints, they need to find a job scraping barnacles off a ship or something. It is a way for you to go back to the same establishment with some hope of not encountering the same problems once again (and if you do, of course, time to choose a different place to visit).
This is also true when the gratuity at a restaurant is automatically added "for my convenience" -- if the service suffers (and a "guaranteed" gratuity seems to be associated with reduced service, in my experience), I ask for the manager, and explain that the gratuity was not convenient at all for me, and that in fact, it seemed to affect my dining experience negatively. On the flip side, I'll leave a little extra if the service was great in spite of the already-assured tip.
Finally, I went to one restaurant regularly, a cafeteria, with a no-tipping policy. To me, this meant that tips were not expected, but not that they were prohibited, and one of the employees was always friendly, and regularly came by to assure that our drinks were refilled, and we would leave a small tip in appreciation. I later learned he had been fired for accepting tips -- while I understand that if the employer feels they're paying him enough, and tells him he shouldn't accept tips, that if he does so, they have the right to fire him, I sure don't understand the service mentality of a business that gets rid of an employee who the customers really appreciate!
Incidentally, on the issue of being paid a jackpot in several large bills plus a few $20's, $10's, and $5's, I don't mind that -- if they give me all $100's, I figure they're asking for $100, and they get nothing -- if they give me small bills, I have the option to give them whatever I wish, from nothing on up (I do tip these people, but it's what many would consider a small amount, but on the other hand, some seem to consider any tip to these personnel to be too much, so maybe I'm somewhere in the middle).
Same story for a taxi driver or waitress who doesn't bring me change in a way that gives me options. I see no reason for them to expect me to have proper tipping change in my pocket, and the fact that they gave me enough change to make a decision on my own, is just fine with me. If, on the other hand, for some bizarre reason, I get several hundred in 20's, I'm not happy about that, and will ask for large bills to replace it.
I know this is all a matter of personal preference, and I agree that tips are optional, not mandatory -- but at the same time, most everyone (including the employer and the IRS) recognizes that tips are customary in some jobs, and I think we should do the same.
--BG
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