Tipping - how much and are we cheap

[Zeeman]

Why do divers tip less than fisherman?

Isn't it obvious? a full set of dive gear is more expensive than a fishing rod, and a hook is far and away cheaper than an air fill...

As someione on this board once said...

"But... We are divers! We have no money!"

Z...

 

[Lightning Fish]

gonetobaja.........don't forget...some of my favorites...I agree with you!!!!!!!!

Lugging tanks
Dealing with divers that complain because their EANx is .1% off from the requested mix
Lend out a spare BCD because of a sticking inflator
Don't forget replacing rotten, broken mask straps, and fin straps
Hooking up the forgotten inflator hose
Going under water, and removing fins for out of shape divers that can't do it themselves
Hauling their equipment on board because they are too out of shape to climb the ladder
Lending out your spare mask because someone forgot theirs
Lending out your divelight for the same reason
Turning on their air, because for them, it wasn't a priority
Showing them how to setup their computer because they didn't have time to read the manual
Teaching dive tables for the 10,000th time
Helping fat divers out of their wetsuit while listening to BS about how they used to dive with Costeau
Retreiving a weight belt FOR THE SECOND TIME
Retreiving fins, masks, snorkels dropped under the boat
AND...cleaning up projectile VOMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

And my all time favorite was the free flowing regulator...that when the second stage was opened and there was a wasp nest inside. Of couse the customer swore the regulator was "just serviced last week".

Try it once and you may even appreciate the job your divemaster does, as he is actually there for you. If you don't think this is a service then you should be running your own boat. And if you're too tight to tip......at least say thank you.

Your boss should be paying you appropriately. I've often heard that restaurants hire their staff and pay them a salary which takes into account the amount they are expected to make in tips. That is just wrong.

When I worked at a pulp mill years and years ago there was shift differential. Work in the evening or night and you get paid extra. There is also such a thing called danger pay.

As a side note: I was in Norway a number of years ago, the service I received over dinner was excellent and I tried to tip my waiter. She refused. Another time, when I was a kid, we were in Mexico and our waiter came running after us because he didn't think we had tipped enough.

Bill.

 

[Lightning Fish]

I pondered how to respond to this without seeming offensive or attacking. If there is anyone on this board that believes all are entitled to their opion, it is me.

But to say if you can afford the trip....you can afford the tip reeks of not understanding others financial condition and how many have to scrimp and save to make a dive or go on a liveaboard or just even a dive ops boat. I find it almost offensive to assume that everyone has the money to spend and then again....give a tip consistently.

I am glad for anyone in that position. But dont be so uneducated as to assume ALL are in that position.

Well said.

 

[friscuba]

Why do divers tip less than fisherman?

Isn't it obvious? a full set of dive gear is more expensive than a fishing rod, and a hook is far and away cheaper than an air fill...

As someione on this board once said...

"But... We are divers! We have no money!"

Z...

I wouldn't be quick to say diving has the edge on hobby expense. Have you priced a Penn 130 lately? You're talking 1200 for the reel. Poles will set you back a bundle.

For every diver, there's probably one or two fishermen willingly tossing a bundle at gear, travel and related expenses.

Try pricing a trip to Chrismas Island to do some fly fishing. Far more fly fishermen than divers make it there. I beleive it's the world's largest coral atoll.

 

[neophyte]

I pondered how to respond to this without seeming offensive or attacking. If there is anyone on this board that believes all are entitled to their opion, it is me.

But to say if you can afford the trip....you can afford the tip reeks of not understanding others financial condition and how many have to scrimp and save to make a dive or go on a liveaboard or just even a dive ops boat. I find it almost offensive to assume that everyone has the money to spend and then again....give a tip consistently.

I am glad for anyone in that position. But dont be so uneducated as to assume ALL are in that position.

I'm not attacking either, but I disagree with your opinion.

Believe me that there have been times in my life where I had very, very little money. I understand about having to scrimp and save, prioritzing and cutting less important expenses out to accumulate enough capital to do something or other that was worth the sacrifice to me.

However, when saving up for a dive trip (whether it's a day trip, month-long liveaboard or anything in between) you know that there will be people involved who're working for your tip. That should just be considered part of the price and the saving should go on 10-20% longer.

We're not talking about a trip to the emergency room or anything similarly essential. We're talking about something purely recreational and optional.

I don't feel at all uneducated when I say the following. If someone has the disposable income to take a dive trip and use the services of people who are justifiably expecting to be tipped for said services, they may have to take less such trips than they'd like, but they almost certainly do have the ability to get together the tip.

If someone can't afford the few bucks to tip the guy who delivers your pizza, they ought to go down to the store and pick it up. If they can't afford to compensate dive operators/DMs/etc... they should find another way to get in the water.

So there're a couple more cents,

Adam

 

[ChillyWaters]

use the services of people who are justifiably expecting to be tipped for said services, they may have to take less such trips than they'd like, but they almost certainly do have the ability to get together the tip.

Hmmm... so as long as someone expects a tip, then you should give one, eh?

It's odd, because in the last 10 years, it seems the number of people expecting tips as risen dramatically. I think it's sad that we tip some people and not others. I'm still up for not tipping anyone and letting the employer deal with proper wages and quality control.

I bet everyone at your local grocer doesn't make a huge wage (cashier, stock boys, etc.), yet I bet you don't tip them. If you hit your local mall, I bet most of those people make very low money, but they don't get tipped. Oh yeah, and the janitors of most buildings do a very important service, but don't get tipped. But, I guess they don't "expect" it yet, mostly due to social expectations, so we can ignore them, right?

Oh yeah, but those poor DMs who chose a profession that everybody wants to get into, yet everybody knows they can't make any money doing it. So, obviously, we have to support them. I'd never have thought of even tipping them, until it was mentioned on here. We had some students trips ($25 for 2-dives and lunch), and I can promise you that the diver master didn't expect any tips from us. Did they still do a great job? Definitely. Would I recommend them to others? Definitely.

- ChillyWaters

 

[mislav]

I must say I've also first heard of the tradition to tip the DM here - on SB.

On my last dive, the owner of the Dive center even lowered the price for me, but we ended up paying the difference back in form of a tip to a DM. The guy absolutely deserved it for being very nice, helpful and friendly. We paid him 15%.

But I'd hate to see tipping the DM becoming a must regardless of the service quality.

 

[Santa]

Could it be that because diving is such an expensive hobby let alone lifestyle and that when planning trips one is always trying to cut corners to maximize the number of dives or days out? 10% extra on 40-50 dives is quite a lot of money if there's no buffer shorediving.

Its easy to get in a cheap mindset when you're doing the math. Personally I'm from a country where you don't really tip because that's all included in the taxes so I tend to forget about it until the last day of diving and then go whoops and then go to the atm and then go damn I'm over the limit - and then i have to wire it ;0).

Or maybe only the rich go boat-fishing abroad ;0). Hemmingway didn't until he was loaded and then all he did was complain about how it (and not the booze) made him loose his edge. Ok enough rambling.

 

[mccabejc]

Okay, hold on, there's a flag on the play. 15 yard penalty, unfair use of logic.

The ref is issuing a warning to ChillyWaters: if you insist on bringing a rational perspective to this discussion you're outta here.

 

[RICoder]

Knowing I may get a 10 yard penalty, I'm still going to KIND OF side with Chilly on this.

I don't think you should tip everyone, and certainly not everyone that EXPECTS it. Heck, the girl at my local Dunkin Donuts shop expects a tip at the drive through...that's not going to happen.

IMO (once again, nothing H about my O) a person deserves a tip for doing something in the SERVING capacity when they do an exceptional job or go above and beyond the norm. For instance, if my bartender or waiter is quick with response and pleasant to deal with, they get the average. If they go out of their way to attend to my needs, maybe they get more. DM's fall into this category for me. If they ignore me on a dive, I'd ignore them at the tip jar, but if they are attentive to the people on the boat, and change gear and do those usual things, they get the average. If they are listening to needs and going out of their way to point of fish because people want to know, or if they take us to sites and give us history because we want to know, well they get more.