I have arranged to hire a driver for one day in Guatemala for about $250. I normally tip cab drivers, who usually work for a company. However, this guy is basically the owner of his own one-man company. I read somewhere that it is not customary to tip the owner of a beauty or barber shop, at least in the US.
What would be YHO about this driver?
From my quick googling, the average lower middle class salary in Guatemala is about $1,600 per year. I don’t know Guatemalan etiquette but when he’s getting $250 for driving you around for one day, I would think that’s enough.
Yeah, wow, I think you’re all set!
How would I know if the guy cutting my hair is the owner of the shop, or just an employee?
(Or an independent worker renting space there?)
When I left my car to be repaired, the shop (a big brand-name dealership) had a free shuttle to take me home. (About a mile; if it hadn’t been raining I’d have walked.) It occurred to me after it was too late: should I have tipped the driver?
My barber is the owner. I tip her.
It’s not customary to tip the owner when the owner takes time out of his regular schedule to perform something for you that is not typically done by the owner, but you are getting special service, like the owner of a restaurant waiting on a VIP customer.
However, when the owner wears two hats, one as the owner of the building where the business takes place, and the other as just another working stiff at the business, tipping is OK. If your barber or hairdresser is a 9-5er at the shop/salon, it doesn’t matter if he or she also happens to own the building. However, if the owner/manager doesn’t regularly give cuts, and comes out to cut your hair for some special reason-- say, you came out in bad weather for your appointment, to discover that they had forgotten to call you to say they were closing early because of the weather, and so the owner said she’d do your hair since you came all the way out, and your regular person had gone home-- you don’t tip, but you do write a really glowing Yelp review. That’s a lot more valuable to an owner/manager than a $4 tip.
Cab/Uber/Lyft/Livery drivers who own their own vehicles should still be tipped, just like people who work for companies and work for a company car, especially for a long ride, because personal owners have to pay for the gas back, and company drivers don’t, even though people who own their own vehicles are technically sub-contractors.
General living expenses are very low in Guatemala and so are wages, however, the cost of owning and operating a car is very similar to USA costs.
I would tip him $25 if he turned out to be just a driver, and probably more like $40 or $50 if he was very friendly, helpful, entertaining, etc.
I don’t think this is accurate. The cost of owning and operating a car would not be very similar to USA costs when labor is so cheap there. That would figure into many aspects of it in different ways.
The $250 charged would certainly include far more than jebert’s share of upkeep for the car when he is only using it for one day.
The $1,600 per year figure for the average lower middle class salary in Guatemala, if accurate, is $80 per week, or about $16 per day. So, a $25-$50 tip, on top of the $250, would be very nice for the owner/operator of the car of course but far above what would be expected or usual, I’d think.
I hired drivers for a half a day in Addis Ababa and in Siem Reap, and paid them each about $30, which was double what they asked for. Both of them took me home to meet their family, in addition to where I needed to go.
The Ethihopinan driver has a 20-year old Lada, very low cost of maintenance. He told me his insurance costs him about $150 a year.
A 20+ year old beater with aquarium tubing for a fuel line and head gaskets made of corn flake boxes can be cheaper to keep, although gas will still be a major expense. I’ve ridden in many such cars in Guatemala and the fare was always very cheap.
It can be quite exciting riding with 12 or 15 people in the back of a pick-up truck along winding mountain roads with 1000 foot cliffs along the side while listening to the brake pedal slamming against the floorboard as the driver attempts to build up some pressure. In one place (not sure if it was Guate or Mexico) the local transporters all had plastic cans of gasoline on the roof with an aquarium tubing fuel line running down the windshield to a hole in the hood so the gas can could roll away and the cars / busses / vans didn’t catch fire when they crashed.
For $250 a day, I assume the car is going to be a fairly new air-conditioned SUV kept up to North American standards … and for that, the purchase and operating costs will be very similar.
That said, $250 does sound like a high price for Guatemala. A person who speaks the language and booking locally could probably do much better; I’d guess the price is for the convenience of having arrangements made ahead of time.
I can’t speak for Guatemala, but the cost of owning and operating a car in Mexico is very similar to the United States, despite the cost of labor. Parts cost the same (or more, with VAT). The labor rate you pay a dealership is the same. Sure, you can go to a road-side tire repair place for a few pesos, but if you go to Firestone you’re going to pay prices similar to the United States.
I have this issue with suppliers in Mexico all the time. They want $125 per hour for their service, despite the fact that their techs make a pittance compared to the US, where the price of service is the same $125 per hour!