Tipping instructor?

[RadRob]

Tipping? Gesh.

Some may consider this cheap, oh well. I don't my server at a restaurant for this reason... I don't feel I need to subsidize there income because of a poor carrer choice. I paid for my food, paid the extra for the said food ... For the service of having it brought to me and cleaned up after me.

Now a instructor sure he/she might not be making great money or any at all... But I didn't make them go in to this carrer path. They are also living their life the way I only wish I could, in the ocean on a daily basis. I believe the best instructors teach not for the money but for passion of passing on their knowledge to other divers and having them share in their love of the ocean.

All my instrcutors have been great people and in lieu of tipping I pass the word around friends and co-workers. They in return take their first steps in to the diving world and some continue... All based on my recomindations....

So yeah... I am sure not a popular view but it's mine...

B

Chances are, your server at a restaurant only gets paid $2.13 per hour and rely on your tip to make any money. Any person that performs a service for you just so you won't have to deserves a tip. You eat out so you don't have to prepare a meal and can enjoy all types of food. A bell boy carries your bags up so you don't work yourself too hard (sarcasm intended). Maids in hotel rooms pick up and straighten your room after some sloppy jerk throws up all over the toilet or is too lazy to make their own bed. These are all things that you have the ability to do, but you choose to let someone else do them for you. Therefore, they deserve some type of compensation from you.

Instructors are different. You don't have the ability to teach yourself, so it is their job to do it, and they get paid for that job. However, If you really got great instruction and got some benefit for their performance above and beyond what is required of them, why not drop them a few bucks. Otherwise, start toting your own luggage and scrubbing your own toilets at the hotels, and learn how to teach yourself. We'll see how well that goes.

 

[darylm74]

I tip at a restaurant according to service. I typically always tip at least 10% even for horrible service and can only remember once that I didn't tip and it was an extreme case where I waited an hour for the waitress to even come by to ask for what I wanted to drink. I usually tip well over 15% for good service and the girl who cuts my hair always gets a good tip. I don't think I would ever tip a mechanic though, as most of them get a solid wage, at least in my area, making more than I do as a professional.

I have never thought of tipping an instructor and I didn't understand the rules for tipping the DM (as most of my diving is quarry diving) my first time out on a boat, however I am prepared for my next trip. Most of my classes have been taught by my best friend so how do I show my appreciation in that case? He is at my house for dinner and drinks on a regular basis and we exchange Christmas and Birthday gifts so not sure how you handle this awkward situation. He is a good instructor so would it be an insult to tip him considering the situation?

 

[divekyra]

Kudos to Rad Rob for his reply to Glazier B (obviously the name fits, you're COLD!). I also think G.B. is "cool" (pardon the pun) to voice his/her opinion even if we don't agree. That's what discussion is all about. Career choice....hmmm I guess we should all be making oodles of $ being engineers, doctors and lawyers living in first world countries.... Tipping is very situational, by this I agree with Mr X: it really depends where you are going to be diving wether for instruction or fun. It's your job to find out ahead of time. Here's a further note: My father is a retired chemical engineer who worked in many many countries. He is now a dive instructor who teaches for practically gratis- nothing. In return his students help pay for their gear and the dive trip. I don't think he (my dad) expects or even wants a tip, he just loves diving (I certified him- do you think he tipped ME?:05: ). This is what I mean, find out ahead of time. I made a living out of diving while I saved money to make a better "career choice" as G.B. says. I am now a nuclear commercial diver who can afford a dive vacation, and guess what? I TIP! Even when diving with the guys I used to work with, who don't brief me or "guide" me over my old grounds... I TIP.

 

[Cacia]

Yes, I also think it was good that GB gave an honest opinion, even if some people don't agree. Everyone can come on and say great things about how great they tip everyone but it is harder to come on and say who you don't tip. For example, I refuse to get into the whole "who shares with who issue". That, I have decided, when I am on vacation, is not my problem and more than I want to think about.

 

[Brandon]

Hahahahah,

GlazierB is a Canadian...

Canadians are known as lousy tippers in the USA. Where an American will tip 15-20% regularly, you can count on no more than a few bucks from a Canadian, regardless the total cost of the bill.

Without tips, your server in the US is making between $4500 - $15000 a year, depending on what state they work in, and what their company policy is. Tips are responsibile for $5,000-$15,000 of their income above that. The median income for a server in the USA is $19,000.

Interestingly enough, the median income for a server in Canada is $19,000 as well, in a culture that doesn't tip as much / as often.

Of course, the Canadian server is being paid much better per hour, and receive benfits far greater than most American servers will ever see. Tipping is tradition in the United States, a tradeoff we make for lower overall restaurant prices. Servers are very much relying on tips as a portion of their income, and if we were all to stop, very few people would continue being servers until restaurants raised their wages to an amount above the poverty level.

All that aside, it's nice to know you look down on servers for their "bad career choice".

Here's wishing you a lifetime of dishonored reservations, cold coffee, overcooked steaks, lukewarm soup, and dirty silverware.

-Brandon.

 

[tedj01]

Just a thought!

If one does not believe in the custom of tipping for service in jobs that are customarily paid by tips; it would be a good idea to tell those people that you are against the idea of tipping before they begin doing their job. Perhaps that is the fair way to do this; tell them up front that you will not pay them for doing their job! Then you may get the service you paid for..

 

[oly5050user]

Just a thought!

If one does not believe in the custom of tipping for service in jobs that are customarily paid by tips; it would be a good idea to tell those people that you are against the idea of tipping before they begin doing their job. Perhaps that is the fair way to do this; tell them up front that you will not pay them for doing their job! Then you may get the service you paid for..

yeah,tell them you are not leaving a tip and do not be surprised that there will be a little something extra in your meal!! and you would have deserved it!!

 

[JeffG]

GlazierB is a Canadian...

Canadians are known as lousy tippers in the USA. Where an American will tip 15-20% regularly, you can count on no more than a few bucks from a Canadian, regardless the total cost of the bill.

Really.

 

[Cacia]

Uh-Oh.

 

[Brandon]

Really.

Just citing my experience...

And hey, if it makes you feel better, my Australian and Chinese guests tipped worse.

I had a 15-top group of Chinese tourists... left me $3 on a $150 check. Left their lunch server $5, and left the dinner server $4.

Bartender and I served several rounds of drinks for 30 Australian tourists... made about 11 dollars between the two of us on $600 worth of alcohol.

Wish I could say I found exceptions to sterotyping how my customers would tip... but I didn't. Used to make a game of predicting what the tip would be, and always provided the same excellent service to each table.

-Brandon.