To Tip or Not to Tip???

[daniel f aleman]

I... must... step... away... from... the... keyboard.... rrrrrrrrgh.

 

[nauidiver2004]

I tip my insturctor at the end of a class unless the instructor is also the dive shop owner. Ms. Manners ran a cloumn on tipping a few years ago, she cited a barber as an example. If you go in for a haircut you would not tip the business owner as s/he is the person who sets the price of the service. If the barber works at the shop as an employee then a tip for good service is in order.

 

[Humu-out-of-Water]

Good service/instruction should be acknowledged. When 6 of us friends finished our OW classes we gave our instructor a gift card for a coffee shop we knew he frequented. (We were also a rowdy bunch!) I would have felt uncomfortable with handing him cash, but I found what he did similar to a (school teacher). At the end of the school year it is customary to "thank" a teacher in a similar way in our area.

Also, our instructor (not a lds owner) went way beyond what was expected.

 

[Divedoggie]

So, I guess that we see its a matter of personal choice.

Tips make people's day. If you can afford it, let someone know that they did a great job for you with a little cash!
A good DM always gets a tip from me. As does the boat captain and mate.

Well almost always...I once had a DM in Mexico who should have paid me at the end of the dive...thats another story.

 

[ItsBruce]

AquaHump says: "When you hire a DM as a guide that’s not all your getting." Quite right. But, when I hire a DM as a guide, I expect to pay, either by the hour or a set fee that takes into account the expected hours. A good guide is like a good doctor or lawyer and commands a respectable hourly or flat fee. But, absent real good cause, there is no tip on top of that.

 

[ItsBruce]

Bruce: That's really stupid and not too accurate. Even when you hire a guide by the hour or dive, I know that you almost always give something above and beyond the agreed fee.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Good God!

Man, I can't believe that this is so hard to understand. One does not tip for services that demand payment, by anyone. If anyone does anything for you, as a service, without a demand for payment, you should tip.

You do not tip an instructor for instruction when the course has a specific payment due. If an instructor is working on a boat as a Divemaster, not offering instruction in this case, you tip him.

That's it.

Daniel you state this as though there is no alternative. That's what you do and the rest of us have a different opinion.

In an open water class I've been tipped many times. A couple of times there have been several 100 dollar bills involved. Maybe, just maybe, the student felt that they received much more value than the specific payment which was required. Some people are just nice Daniel.

But if I recall you always dip the divemaster.

I don't always tip the divemaster by the way. They don't always deserve it.

 

[String]

Ive only dived in one place where tipping is expected/performed and thats the USA. Nowhere else ive dived in europe, UK or anywhere is it dont at all or expected.

Its a PITA in america to remember to tip things and i frequently forget.

 

[SadiesMom]

I wish I got tipped! As a DM who only works classes, I can't tell you the number of times I've spent tons of one-on-one time with a student, working on whatever they're having problems with, going over tables with them because they were afraid to talk to the instructor after they'd already told them they understood it, helped them with their gear, run and gotten them extra weights from my car, leant them my extra personal gear for a class, and God knows what else! Never seen a tip yet - hell, never seen an offer of buying me dinner or even a drink yet!!!

I totally disagree with people who say that DMs get into this for "the experience" - BULL! I got into DMing so earn some money for a couple of years before going on to instructor. My shop pays per class...so it never occurred to me that I'd actually LOSE money on every single class I accepted between the price of my liability insurance, my cert and the gas it takes to drive back and forth to the dive site and the pool. Yes, I still love it, and I'll continue to do it, but that's only for as long as I can still take the tax deduction showing the financial bath I take doing as a DM ever year. When I can't take that tax loss anymore, I'll say to hell with it and finally make the leap to instructor... so I at least stand a *remote* chance of breaking even - something that will *never* happen as a DM.

If you get great, personal service that goes the extra mile from an instructor or a DM, it shouldn't matter if it's in a learning setting in my opinion...yes, a tip would be appreciated as an expression of your thanks.

As far as tips on a boat setting go from certified divers on vacation, I do agree that in countries where tipping is the custom, tips are *not* optional - they are part of the cost of diving. If you can't afford to tip, then don't dive until you've saved up enough money to adequately tip. The boat crews work hard and deserve to be recognized for their hard work making your trip enjoyable (assuming they've done so) by a tip. Diving is an expensive sport and if you can't afford a tip, you can't afford to go diving that day. Look - I'm FAR from rich, but I make sure that when I dive from a boat, I have enough money to show my appreciation for service that could be well above average - that way if it's just average, I have enough, too.

 

[HowardE]

Its a PITA in america to remember to tip things and i frequently forget.

This is true for a lot of European tourists... Not just with diving, but with dining as well. Many wait people that I know here in Breckenridge... just automatically add a tip for Europeans, since they often "forget"