<p>I comfortable with the whole retaurant / food delivery situation but I am lost with hotels. I have never left a tip for the maid. What is customary? Do you just leave a tip when you check out? Does the same person service your room every day or is it a revolving crew?</p>
<p>I also have trouble figuring out hotel rooms tipping.</p>
<p>Particularly those hotels where you never see the person who makes up your room, and where the hotel is stressing low energy consumption, fewer towels, etc.</p>
<p>If a maid brings me extra pillows or blankets or towels or lotion, I am inclined to tip. My H always tips the maids on check-out no matter what. It kind of bothers, me, though.</p>
<p>I don’t want maids in my room while I am away from my room. I am pretty tidy when travelling, too. </p>
<p>If I order room service, I tip.</p>
<p>Tipping hotel maids also perplexes me. I never even heard of this until a few years ago. Perhaps it’s because I never stayed in really nice hotels in my youth?</p>
<p>Wow, we must be cheapskates. We only tip about 2 bucks for a pizza. He drives, but doesn’t take the order, clear the plates, bring other items as needed, bring several courses, etc. Repair guys always get offered beverages at the house, and usually $5-10 depending on what they do, how long they are there and how many workmen are there. </p>
<p>We do throw change in the tip jars at the cake out places, and often add a little tip when we pick up food ordered over the phone or at the counter. So I guess it all balances out.</p>
<p>"So I guess it all balances out. "
Be sure and tell the pizza guy that “I gave at starbucks” after you give him the 2 bucks. I’m sure they appreciate that.</p>
<p>^^^My boss always make me feel like that after our compensation discussion.LOL</p>
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<p>There is a certain amount of risk a person assumes working in an industry where a portion of their wages is based on a voluntary contribution. It’s really not something that people who choose that profession should complain about.</p>
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Most repair guys I have had at my house are billing me at $80+/hour and sometimes with an “appointment” charge on top of that. No tips for them.</p>
<p>For delivery I tip at around 10% rounded up to the next dollar. We pretty much only get pizza and chinese for delivery, and I don’t tip when I pick up at these places.</p>
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<p>I don’t tip maids in hotels/motels. I don’t ask for anything extra, don’t make a mess in my room, don’t require new towels be delivered for me each day. The most the maid has to do is clean the sinks, toilets, take out the trash, and make the bed. These are the services the hotel is providing in exchange for my renting a room from them for the evening.</p>
<p>Unlike eating dinner in my hometown, I’m not staying in a hotel room because I want to be served and waited upon. I stay in hotel or motel rooms because I need a place to sleep for the night and am purchasing the ability to sleep in a bed in another town where I don’t own or rent a home. </p>
<p>To encourage me to rent a room at their hotel or motel, the owners hire staff that provide services for the guests at no charge. One of those services that many hotels or motels provide is a maid service. I don’t consider this to be a profession that is expected to be tipped.</p>
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Why does the risk that you’ll be stiffed by cheapskates mean that you shouldn’t complain about it when it happens?</p>
<p>musicamusica,
No need to be flippant. Giving the pizza guy 2 bucks for a $ 10-12 pizza is fine in my book. He did not, IMO, provide the level of service that a waiter/waitress at an eat-in facility would. Why does he deserve an equal tip? Do you tip the sales clerks at Starbucks or the chinese restaurants when you pick up your food? I hope so.</p>
<p>A friend of mine worked part time delivering flowers in our area. This is a nice upscale area. Rarely, if EVER did she get a tip from ANYONE, whether they were expecting the flowers or not. Delivery service is, IMO different than waitstaff service.</p>
<p>I resent places that make me valet park. Its like ransom-- you have to pay to get your far back. Pet peeve of mine.</p>
<p>I have never tipped a repair person in my life. They are usually making a good wage and it usually is quite painful to get their bills!</p>
<p>I have tipped the guy who checked my tire, found a nail and fixed my flat tire on the spot, though. </p>
<p>Not a fan of valet parking, either.</p>
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<p>Would this be the same florist that your H’s relative likes you to buy flowers for his wife from?!?</p>
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<p>I’ve always thought this was a problem with unexpected deliveries. If you’re the one being gifted, how do you know the gift is coming so you can be prepared with money to tip someone with??</p>
<p>Several years ago, D2’s show choir was competing in NYC in mid-March, right about the time many guys were starting to ask their girlfriends to prom. D1’s boyfriend was at home in Illinois, but got permission ahead of time from the show choir director to have flowers/teddy bear and note asking her to prom delivered to her hotel room. However, because of their busy schedule throughout the day, the boyfriend must have specified the delivery to be in the evening. Unfortunately, it arrived right after the kids were to be locked in for the night and they were not allowed to open their doors for anything unless it was an emergency. The concierge kept trying to deliver the flowers, but the girls wouldn’t open the door. Someone finally alerted me (H and I were chaperones in a room down the hall) and I went down and gave the girls permission to open their door. </p>
<p>I didn’t know the flowers were coming and was not prepared and felt bad that this guy had had to stand there and wait until an adult showed up and gave the girls permission to open the door. I didn’t have any money on me, so the next day after I got some, I took a tip down to the concierge and thanked him for his patience. He just laughed and smiled and told me what a lucky daughter I had.</p>
<p>LOL teri-
the moocher relatives are in the NE, not here. Ironically, I just got off the phone with the friend that delivered flowers here. She said she makes more as a secret shopper and doing surveys.</p>
<p>Originally Posted by mom2collegekids
It is far more likely that an adult who is delivering pizzas is doing it to support his family…not to buy himself a flat screen TV. Adults delivering pizzas are usually people who don’t make much at their “day jobs” and need this second job to make ends meet.</p>
<p>Kender’s quote</p>
<p>*Sincere question on this… what if the delivery person simply looks young? I’m in my mid 20s and I still pass for a young high school student. And the older I get, the slower I seem to be aging. My mom turns 60 soon and she looks in her mid to late 40s so it would seem to be genetic. And although I don’t (thank god), I could very well have a family to support at this age.</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m more sensitive to this because I have been discriminated against based on my apparent age (while my actual age is often ignored or not believed even when I produce ID) and it is your decision who you choose to give a larger tip to, but I’m just curious how you would would make this determination whether the person is a teenager or an adult? You cannot always tell by appearances.</p>
<p>[Note: I’m not faulting your choice at all. I’m just curious how young looks come into play.]*</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I tip EVERYONE well. I don’t undertip young people. I tip everyone well…even if service is so-so. And, when I’m in college towns where there are often college kids working in restaurants to pay college costs, I tip extra there, too.</p>
<p>I was at an Olive Garden last week and the server was talking about applying to grad schools and all his costs associated with that. He got a huge tip. He even chased after us and thanked us. It brought tears to my eyes. :)</p>
<p>*I figure that the lifetime cost of being a generous tipper over being a chintzy tipper isn’t likely to be that much. So because I find it more pleasant to be a generous tipper, that’s what I do. *</p>
<p>I agree. I’d rather cut back on a personal expense for myself and be a good tipper. :)</p>
<p>*If somebody gave me a 50% tip, I would feel really awkward. I would feel like that person is looking down on me and feels sorry for me. *</p>
<p>Oh brother…</p>
<p>You better learn not to look a gift-horse in the mouth.</p>
<p>Seriously, my FIL had his kind of problem. Always had a chip on his shoulder and always looking for the insult in everything. If you bought him a new shirt, he’d take it as an insult that you didn’t like his clothes. Ugh!</p>
<p>He was NOT a happy person (and he wasn’t pleasant to be around, either!)</p>
<p>May I make a suggestion? If someone gives you a big tip that you don’t need, thank the person, and then later give it to someone who does need the money. 
Everyone wins that way! :)</p>
<p>*If an adult delivers our pizza, I assume that he/she is trying to feed/clothe/house a family…so I give a big tip…maybe 50% or more. At Christmastime…I give these people even bigger tips because I know they’re trying to earn money for presents for their kids.</p>
<p>If a teen delivers our pizza, then I tip like $2 per pizza or a minimum $3 (if just one pizza). Sometimes it depends on the total…if the total comes to $30 for 4 pizzas, then I give them $40 and they keep the change. I think that’s typical, right?*</p>
<p>LasMa response…
*I wouldn’t presume to try to guess at someone’s personal/financial situation based on a 15-second encounter at the front door. *</p>
<p>And, that’s your right to do. I don’t think better or worse of you over your choice. So, please respect mine.</p>
<p>I have always tipped maids at the hotels I’ve stayed at. I thought it was standard practice, ie, everyone I know does it. Anyway, even if it wasn’t, I would do it because the women look so downtrodden to me. It kind of bugs me that the job seems to be reserved for the people on the lowest rung of wherever I’m visiting, especially since the contrast is more stark at the luxury hotels in the resort areas. It’s hard not to notice.</p>
<p>The delivery people where I live are often exploited.
[Overworked</a>, underpaid U.S. workers turning to the courts | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET](<a href=“http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070611/ai_n19291807/]Overworked”>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070611/ai_n19291807/)</p>
<p>Although things have improved for some:
[Gristedes</a> To Pay $3.25 Million in Back Wages and Fees in Deliverymen Case](<a href=“http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2003/dec/dec17a_03.html]Gristedes”>http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2003/dec/dec17a_03.html)</p>
<p>Knowing these things, it’s hard not to tip, especially when your delivery guy is panting from rushing around delivering up to 5 or 6 heavy bags of dinner on his bicycle. </p>
<p>I have to admit I don’t usually tip the barista at Starbucks or any other high-end coffee place. That I find annoying.</p>
<p>I always tip a couple of dollars per day for a hotel chambermaid. Bellman (bellperson?) gets a couple of bucks per bag. Same for the doorman who secures a cab. Any tipping guide will tell you this has been standard stuff forever, and it’s inappropriate not to do so. </p>
<p>I think we all wish tipping would be abolished and servers, maids, taxi drivers, etc. paid their full wages by their employers, just like every other job. I’d be happy to be charged more to provide the employer the means to pay adequately.</p>