Tipping

[almitywife]

Originally Posted by almitywife
btw, in 2007 we spent over $30K on dive gear and trips - im not cheap, just selective

Nope, just cheap.

maybe we should ask SB'er FairyBasslet. total stranger, opened my home to her for a week, took her diving, paid for her boat dives, wouldnt even let her pay for dinner and she didnt seem to think i was too cheap nor did i expect her to leave me a tip either

maybe its a karma thing - you put it out there and good things happen

i hope as a waitress you were kinder in your judgements

 

[Gombessa]

maybe we should ask SB'er FairyBasslet.

I've read about her! Went missing while on vacation in Australia a few years ago, only to be found months later encased in an industrial tub of Vegemite. An odd, tragic mystery, one I'm afraid we'll never solve.

 

[almitywife]

I've read about her! Went missing while on vacation in Australia a few years ago, only to be found months later encased in an industrial tub of Vegemite. An odd, tragic mystery, one I'm afraid we'll never solve.

shhhhhh!!!! i told her yesterday, just another 37 more months of working in that factory and she would have earned her plane ticket home! (little does she know im charging her daily board!)

ok - in seriousness - YES, i have been known to tip but i wont do it just because i have to, because its a local custom, because its expected

heck, its local custom in some cultures to have more than one wife - im not aboot to let hubby get with that program just because we're visiting a country that practises this

*sigh* ahhh tipping - some have whaling threads, i love the tipping threads

 

[bubba105]

Almity

Never been to Australia, is it taboo to tip there? Like in pubs or restaurants, do you tip? Also, is a service fee added to diving or other service related industries down under? It's been mentioned that a service fee is added in England, as it is in some other countries in Europe. In reading your posts it seems to me that you are very anti tipping. I'm wondering how you feel about service charges compared with tipping.

Safe diving

Richie

 

[almitywife]

Almity

Never been to Australia, is it taboo to tip there? Like in pubs or restaurants, do you tip? Also, is a service fee added to diving or other service related industries down under? It's been mentioned that a service fee is added in England, as it is in some other countries in Europe. In reading your posts it seems to me that you are very anti tipping. I'm wondering how you feel about service charges compared with tipping.
Safe diving
Richie

not its not taboo

but

people arent stupid and you amercians are sooo quick to hand out a few bucks that everyone accepts tips and i see tip jars at cafes

for the life of me, i dont understand how i go to my local and get a sausage rolll, she puts it in a bag and i pay and there is a tips jar by the register - tip for what? taking my money and giving me change?

im not anti tipping. i am anti expectation / demand / wont perform basic service duties unless i get a tip dammit (insert server having a hissy fit here because they want their tip and they want it now dammit)

service charges are like marine park fees - if i have no choice i have no choice, who can i argue it with? no one so suck it up

 

[almitywife]

oh - and im very sadden by the tipping attitude that is happening down here. its not necessary as we do have award wages, much higher than the nth american wages

FairyBasslet told me on her GBR trip there was a price board that inc tips - i was embarressed by my country when she told me as one day, not too long back, it wasnt the aussie way

 

[saijef]

Wow, you must dive with some really horrible dive operations. Dive operators are in a service industry! Where is the service?

I've worked in the hotel industry and never expected to be tipped for the job I was there to do – I was there to pull beers and mix drinks. I actually enjoyed bar work. If a tip was offered (and at times regular patrons would try to give you $20-$50 a tip), I would try to politely refuse the money, and only accept if customer was adamant, even after I’d explain the tip wasn’t really needed.

Tipping is a cultural phenomenon and I, as a general rule haven’t made it a practice to actively tip as I expect that the money that I've paid incorporates a certain level of service. Personally I find it insulting that paying more money in the form of a tip will depict the type of service I’ve all ready paid for.

But with that said, I recognise that in developing economies employees may be poorly compensated by crappy companies taking advantage of natural resources; so I’ll tip. But this just encourages back employer practices toward adequately compensating their staff. If it’s a local owner operator and not a global mega corp, I’ll pay what they ask for without much question within reason.

I’m with Mrs A on this to most part; but look at our Aussie culture – for most part we are not a ‘tip fussed country’ we picked it up as a viral thing from Europe and the US.

 

[RJP]

Maybe I was wrong, but I read rjp's post as being facetious and thought he meant the exact opposite of what he was saying.

Maybe my "sarcasm radar" is off or I just give people the benefit of the doubt too often, lol.

Sarcasm? Moi?

Never!

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

The Hell you Say!!! Who sold you that false bill of goods

 

[D_B]

There is pretty much only one place I see a real need to tip (in the US) a waitress or waiter at a less than 5 star restaurant, because they are paid less and need those tips to make up for it, and the US taxes them as if they got a tip, whether or not they did

Service above and beyond? ... would not include setting up my gear, or getting us to the site ..
it would include things like going out of the way to find some special wreck not normally visited, etc

And I do think that you should try be aware of the customary tipping in the country you are in, so you can better decide when to tip, or not

.... Calling Almity cheap shows that you have no knowledge of her ... there are many people around the world that know her generosity first hand