Don’t know if this is necessarily true. Most chains including Dardin (Red Lobster, Olive Garden) and even the nicer restaurants at Disney keep to the 2.15 an hour rate. Why pay your loyal people when then can get stiffed by cheap tourists? :dubious:
A couple of clarifications. First of all, if for some reason, your tips don’t “make up” the difference between your nominal pay and the federal minimum wage, your employer needs to pay you $5.15.
Oh, and states are free to pass minimum wage laws that are more than the federal law. That’s the case here in Minnesota, where the minimum wage is the same regardless of whether you’re tipped.
It’s also a good idea to do it each day since there may be different staff assigned to your room different days and the last person would get everyone’s tips.
How does one tip the housekeeper at a hotel? When I was in Vegas I knew that I should tip, but I just couldn’t figure out how to do it that would make it obvious. Do I leave a big sign with “FOR YOU” next to the money? I felt really bad that I didn’t tip (I’ll have to make up for it by overtipping the next time I stay in a hotel).
I’m also not sure how to tip my mail carrier/garbage collector/etc. I feel weird handing people money, because I feel like I’m making some big deal out of my generosity. Also, I was under the impression that postal employees were not supposed to accept tips.
And what about cable guys and their ilk? When I got a cable modem installed, I gave the guy five bucks and he seemed shocked (but he took the money, of course). Later I learned that it wasn’t customary, but he did spend an awful lot of time in the nasty cat-pee basement of my apartment, so I thought he deserved somethong. Do people ever tip the cable guy?
ZJ
Ahem, that would be someTHING, not somethong.
ZJ
Leave the money on the pillow of your bed. I have always seen a marked improvement in service when I’ve done this.
(Should have been in the last post…) reasons to tip housecleaning staff:
- Housecleaners are expected to wipe up the toilet after you’ve crapped in it, and wipe down the tub after you’ve bathed in it. Think about that for a second.
- Most people who stay at hotels for more than a day generally leave their bag in their room. Sometimes they leave valuables like jewelry, laptops, etc. The housekeeper, who makes bare minimum wage, resists the urge to rob you blind and leaves your stuff alone.
- Housecleaners are used to not getting any tips at all. So when you leave them five bucks, they’re thrilled. (I actually got a thank you note once, which included “If you need anything please let me know.”)
Compare this to the waitperson, who gets a tip for carrying your food from the kitchen to your table, and turns their nose up at anything less than 15%.
I did work as a cabbie for a few years and I tend toward 20% for cabbies, hair stylists, waitstaff, bellboys and the pizza delivery guy, but count me as another who’d never thought of tipping the housekeepers at a hotel.
So now we know where to put it. But how much? 2$? 5$? Surely not a percentage of the room rate!?!*
I’d never considered the postal carrier or the garbageman, and I’m not starting now.
I have tipped movers. And recently, my local liquor store owner unexpectedly told his helper to carry my purchase to my car. I gave the guy a buck for carrying my bottle of vodka ~20 feet and thought I might shop elsewhere if that became a standard practice at that shop. It hasn’t.
Around here, places with valet parking often have signs noting the (usually) $3-5 charge for such. If I’ve already paid $5 to have the car parked, that’s all I’m going to pay.
*On preview, I see that Leviosaurus suggests $5.
I generally lean towards one or two bucks a day, more if we’ve been bugging the cleaners a lot. I often leave the money in the bathroom, often with a little note written on the hotel stationery.
And on looking at that again, I’d have to say…, 20% of what for bellboys? They get the same $2 I’d give a skycap if I ever used one.
When do you tip ushers (at a game or play)? Showing you to your seat can’t possibly be enough, but what about bringing a seat, or getting something for you, then do you do it?
2nded… how on earth am I supposed to leave a tip for the garbage man? I sure as hell ain’t getting up at 6am to hand it to him.
Tape the bill directly to the garbage can or pain-in-the-ass item? Of course, this could run into trouble from some random-passerby noticing and snatching the bill beforehand… Also, the garbage trucks 'round here have an automated arm that picks up the garbage can and dumps the contents into the truck; the garbageman himself doesn’t have to even get out of the truck 95% of the time.
As for maids, I generally will tip 'em a buck or three if I’ve got a few singles in my wallet in the morning. Of course, if we’ve made a major mess of the room, we leave a bigger tip; as in the one night where the room occupant described it thusly: “It looks like a tornado came through the room and destroyed a liqour store.” I believe that we left something in the neighborhood of $30. (It was a huge mess, I wouldn’t be suprised if it took an hour to clean everything up)
I did some business once with some folks who made instructional videos for the American Hotel/Motel Association. They told me they generally left $5 the first night, and $2 every night thereafter. I figured they would know best. At the time we were staying at the Hilton (on the company dime,) and even though this was ten years ago, $5 seemed pretty paltry sum for the quality of the place. But I left it anyway, and that’s where I recieved the aforementioned thank you note.
I still generally leave $5, unless I’m leaving behind a serious mess. You can really see a difference - I’ve left the room with my clothes dumped in a pile, and returned to find them carefully folded and stacked on the dresser. Once I accidentally left a money belt sitting out on top of the TV with a couple hundred bucks next to it. I returned to find the money carefully placed on the desk with the money belt curled around it. (I left $10 that time, and made a point of writing a thank you to the management.) It’s not always that dramatic, but I’ve never failed to see a discernable difference of some kind.
Funny, I just got back from Vegas last night and everytime I come back I wonder about the tipping issue.
I took my lady to Las Vagas for Valentine’s and got an unexpected surprise. I ordered a regular room for 2 nights via the website over a month ago. Upon checking in, the woman at the front counter told me “I would be happy with my room”. Having stayed at the Mandalay Bay countless times before, I figured I had the lay of the land, until I couldn’t find the elevators that accessed the 62nd floor. Hey, she gave me a penthouse suite!
Normally I tip housekeeping 5 bucks a night for each night I stay, but in this instance they stoked me… (could have been Valentine’s Day), but when we got back for the evening after dinner and a show, our bed was turned down with flowers and chocolates. Pretty cool. I left $50 for 2 nights stay… these people rock!
Then again as far as general tipping goes… going back to the Vegas thing, seems like I tip everywhere… guy that flags the cab at the stand… give him $2, tip the cabbie, waiters, dealers, etc. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying where I’m from, I normally don’t tip this frequently.
I too would like to know what are the tipping norms for most professions and the common amount.
That’s funny. He sure as hell is getting up at 3 AM to be at your house by 6 AM to take away your garbage.
That’s the required hours of his job. If my job requires me to be at work from 9-5, I will get up at 7:30am (or whatever depending on traffic). That does not change the fact that I will not be at the curb waiting for him at 6am with tip en tow.
[cute little kid story] I learned to read at a very young age. My grandfather was skeptical, and kept quizzing me on things that I couldn’t have possibly memorized (newspaper articles, signs, etc). We were at a steakhouse with large signs everywhere that said “NO TIPPING”. He asked me what it said, I told him. He harumphed and said “well, what does it mean?”. I thought long and hard before saying “I think it means you shouldn’t tip your soup or your coffee because you might spill”. I got extra chocolate pudding and I didn’t have to eat my vegetables. [/end cute kid story]
I tip (when I can) as much as possible, because I’m trying to build up as much karma as possible. I never want to have to be a waitress. I’m a very good bar tipper, because beer makes me generous. 
Well, I’m pretty sure that’s not the way karma actually works, but I bet the service people your tipping appreciate it anyway.
I used to work as a bagger for a grocery store and while we didn’t as practice carry groceries, if the customer asked, we would do it.
But we weren’t allowed to take tips.
I also worked as a photographer for one of those “sell your car with us” magazines. The entire time I worked there, I got two tips.
Well three if you count the time a guy offered me a joint because he didn’t have any extra cash. I didn’t accept it, but I said thank you.