5 ms·

I used to hate tipping but now I love it. I spend >100 nights/yr in hotels, and tipping the bellman/doorman well on the way in is one of the best investments i

by rdl 10y ago

I used to hate tipping but now I love it. I spend >100 nights/yr in hotels, and tipping the bellman/doorman well on the way in is one of the best investments in a good stay (calibrating tips for the point where he gives you his name, and ideally phone number, for "if you need anything else"; $10 in most third tier US cities; $20 in a place like New York). Las Vegas basically runs on $5s and $20s -- everything from "valet lot is full but we can keep your car right here for you" to moving carts full of pelican cases to getting vehicle maintenance done to whatever. In the Middle East/Central Asia I am very happy to be "the American who tips and is polite" vs "the American who is worth $5k if we call that guy...". In China I had hotel staff literally spend the afternoon with me navigating Beijing police to recover a $5k loss (successfully; btw Beijing tourist police are awesome too.) Tipping reasonably well at restaurants/cafes you frequent (I try to pick a couple per city) makes getting tables, impromptu meetings, etc much easier to set up. If you view tipping as an obligation it sucks, but once you view it as a chance to get what you want it is great.

manicdee 10y ago
But when you realise that tipping is bribing public officials to get service that regular taxpayers do not get, doesn't that take the shine off?
- rdl 10y ago
  I don't consider a hotel bellman to be a public official, despite the Pinochetian uniform. (In the case of Beijing, the police were just friendly and no tip was expected. The hotel staff I'd tipped (concierge, etc) were the preparation; it was the #4 guy at hotel (director of guest experience; reports to GM) who helped me. He is senior enough that I didn't tip him, but did get him rewarded through Starwood, and will bring him a suitable gift next time I'm in Beijing -- presumably a bottle of alcohol of some kind not commonly available in China, or some other US thing)
- psyc 10y ago
  Have you ever actually bribed someone? It's fun. Makes you feel like you're in the movies.
  - snovv_crash 10y ago
    It's great until you start getting threats of arrest for stuff you didn't do as bribe solicitation.
    - rdl 10y ago
      Also bad: running afoul of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (if you're an American or in a business which has any connection to the US).
      - isostatic 10y ago
        Certainly bribes (or "tips" as many Americans call them) are illegal for U.K. Citizens.
danieldk 10y ago
If you view tipping as an obligation it sucks, but once you view it as a chance to get what you want it is great. If you have the money to tip for such amounts. All others will just the lower quality service. Coming from a Western European country that does not have much tipping, I think I like egalitarian customer service more ;). (Not meant as a personal attack, just to point out that it's not feasible for everyone to do this.)
- rdl 10y ago
  The thing is tipping is usually after service, so if it is single round game, you can free ride. I'm actually glad that people visually like me (techie upper middle class white American business traveler) seem to have a good reputation worldwide for tipping well -- it means I get service as if I'd tip well even beforehand. What would suck is being a black guy or otherwise profile as not likely to tip (French?) but being personally willing to tip. In that case, you probably tip initially before service.
  - isostatic 10y ago
    You keep saying "tip". I think you mean "bribe".
Dylan16807 10y ago
So in those cases you're tipping to get service beyond their job. Or we could call it "actual tipping". That's fine by itself. The problem is when "tipping" replaces wages and becomes obligatory. But, annoyingly, the former tends to lead to the latter. It's a hard problem to solve.
RodericDay 10y ago
Sounds like you like bribery and skipping queues.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
I had a hotel owner give me a ride downtown when the cab didn't answer. I gave a stranger, who was in a different hotel lobby, a ride to the airport on my way out when the cab didn't answer. I had someone at a takeout place offer to bring a replacement order to my house when I noticed my order was wrong (couldn't eat it) when I got home. I've had plenty of positive experiences with non-tipped customer service employees, when I was working non-tipped consumer service I always strived for good service. Some people just want to provide good service and/or be nice people without the expectation of a monetary reward. I'd much rather have those people serving me than the ones who require bribes. I really don't want to turn all interactions into business transactions, I don't think that makes the world a better place and it encourages an extreme form of classicism where the only people welcome are the people who can afford ever increasing bribes every single place they go. I also really don't want "impromptu meetings" when I'm trying to eat my dinner with my dinner companions.

by rdl 10y ago

manicdee 10y ago

But when you realise that tipping is bribing public officials to get service that regular taxpayers do not get, doesn't that take the shine off?

rdl 10y ago
I don't consider a hotel bellman to be a public official, despite the Pinochetian uniform. (In the case of Beijing, the police were just friendly and no tip was expected. The hotel staff I'd tipped (concierge, etc) were the preparation; it was the #4 guy at hotel (director of guest experience; reports to GM) who helped me. He is senior enough that I didn't tip him, but did get him rewarded through Starwood, and will bring him a suitable gift next time I'm in Beijing -- presumably a bottle of alcohol of some kind not commonly available in China, or some other US thing)
psyc 10y ago
Have you ever actually bribed someone? It's fun. Makes you feel like you're in the movies.
- snovv_crash 10y ago
  It's great until you start getting threats of arrest for stuff you didn't do as bribe solicitation.
  - rdl 10y ago
    Also bad: running afoul of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (if you're an American or in a business which has any connection to the US).
    - isostatic 10y ago
      Certainly bribes (or "tips" as many Americans call them) are illegal for U.K. Citizens.

danieldk 10y ago

If you view tipping as an obligation it sucks, but once you view it as a chance to get what you want it is great. If you have the money to tip for such amounts. All others will just the lower quality service. Coming from a Western European country that does not have much tipping, I think I like egalitarian customer service more ;). (Not meant as a personal attack, just to point out that it's not feasible for everyone to do this.)

rdl 10y ago
The thing is tipping is usually after service, so if it is single round game, you can free ride. I'm actually glad that people visually like me (techie upper middle class white American business traveler) seem to have a good reputation worldwide for tipping well -- it means I get service as if I'd tip well even beforehand. What would suck is being a black guy or otherwise profile as not likely to tip (French?) but being personally willing to tip. In that case, you probably tip initially before service.
- isostatic 10y ago
  You keep saying "tip". I think you mean "bribe".

Dylan16807 10y ago

So in those cases you're tipping to get service beyond their job. Or we could call it "actual tipping". That's fine by itself. The problem is when "tipping" replaces wages and becomes obligatory. But, annoyingly, the former tends to lead to the latter. It's a hard problem to solve.

RodericDay 10y ago

Sounds like you like bribery and skipping queues.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

I had a hotel owner give me a ride downtown when the cab didn't answer. I gave a stranger, who was in a different hotel lobby, a ride to the airport on my way out when the cab didn't answer. I had someone at a takeout place offer to bring a replacement order to my house when I noticed my order was wrong (couldn't eat it) when I got home. I've had plenty of positive experiences with non-tipped customer service employees, when I was working non-tipped consumer service I always strived for good service. Some people just want to provide good service and/or be nice people without the expectation of a monetary reward. I'd much rather have those people serving me than the ones who require bribes. I really don't want to turn all interactions into business transactions, I don't think that makes the world a better place and it encourages an extreme form of classicism where the only people welcome are the people who can afford ever increasing bribes every single place they go. I also really don't want "impromptu meetings" when I'm trying to eat my dinner with my dinner companions.