Very Interesting Input on Tipping from the Inside

[KAYEF]

We always auto-tip on the account but usually enclose cash with a Thank You note card and present it the last evening. Those notes help employees in their advancements and make them happy.

I'd decorated our door, as usual, last December and offered the felt stockings, snowmen, etc. to our Room Steward and he was THRILLED to have something to decorate his cabin. The thought just came to me at the last minute as I was packing; why bring them back home? Those decorations brought much happiness!

[lougee1043]

They even convinced the other couple at our table not to tip extra! ( We waited until they all left to present our tips)

 

the last thing i would have done was to wait til they were gone to give my d/r tips--- if they reduced tips for the reason you said i would tip while they were sitting there and let them know that you didnt buy into their story

[SabreSailor]

We belong to a yacht club where it is against the rules to tip any employee regardless of what special service they perform. Just before Christmas, we are permitted to contribute to a Holiday Fund, the contents of which is distributed to the employees without any notice of who contributed and how much they contributed. The intent is that all members should get equal service.

 

We are happy with the auto-tip system, and usually do not tip past that. What we do do is I think far more valuable in the long-term, and was noted briefly in the referenced article. On the onboard questionnaire, we note which employees by name performed their jobs well and that they should be commended. After we return home, we send a ldetailed etter to the CEO of the cruise line (in this case, Stein Kruse) specifying which employees by name and category did their jobs well and why. We do not mention any negative issues (if we had them, we would use a separate letter). We include a copy of the letter cc-ing the captain of the ship, and ask that the CEO forward this copy to the captain. In each case, we have received a gracious (sometimes over-gracious) letter from one of the CEO's staffers, assuring us that the copy had been forwarded to the captain or hotel manager so that these employees could be further recognized. I do guess that they don't get a lot of no-complaint, complimentary letters, so it must brighten their day as well!!

 

When it comes time for a promotion from assistant dining steward to dining steward, or from a colored jacked to a white jacket, I would suspect that the personnel jacket for that employee carries a lot of weight. A letter like this - or several - show that the customer was pleased enough to take the time to tell his/her superiors what a great job they had done - and not just placated their conscience by handing them an addition $20 or $50 or whatever. If more of us did this, it might make a real difference in incentive for the employees.

 

While I can't tell you that this is a certainty on HAL or any other cruise line, it sure works in our club - and in a senior living home where my parents work that uses the same no tipping/holiday fund policy. The letter stays in the jacket long after the extra tip is spent.

 

Write the CEO about the good employees - it shows you really care about their future and I'll bet makes a lot bigger difference in the long run than a few extra dollars.

[boomerSexyK]

Okay....:( I have to step up to the pillary post for my punishment due to pre-tipping!!! On our 1st cruise last Nov (X-Constellation) once we were settled in our suite our butler came by to make his introduction and I was guilty of passing him a pre-tip. I'm in a wheelchair a good part of the time and as such I know that there may be occassions when a "little extra" may be required in service. Also, since it was our 1st cruise, I was a little nervous about bombarding "Arvind" with endless questions of when & where do we...... I think my notion was that we may be a bit more work than the "average" pax and I wanted him to know "he'll be taken care of" for any extra service needed. Reading the posts, I can now see how this may have impacted upon him. In other areas of our cruise we stayed with the auto-tip option and handed out extra for what we thought was exceptional service.

 

SabreSailer...I really like your idea of a congratulatory letter to the CEO and captain concerning particulars service staff. I'm sure, as you mentioned, that letters of this type are few and far between and much appreciated.

[MeOhMy]

In addition to tipping extra at the end, when I have a stewardess I leave her the extra Woolite and nail polish remover, that kind of thing that isn't personal and she can save a few cents that way also.

[swannie]

Two separate strands of this discussion pose an interesting thought. First, many people have said (quite correctly, IMO) that tipping on a cruise is just like tipping at a restaurant -- it's an expected part of the economics of the industry. And second, others have talked about pretipping.

 

So my question is, do people ever pretip anywhere other than on a cruise? I honestly have never heard of anybody tipping a waiter, bartender, valet parker, hairdresser, etc. up front. Do some people actually do that? Or is a cruise somehow considered to be different?

 

Doug[/quote

I can think of one particularly disturbing incident experienced by a massage therapist coworker of mine. She is a female therapist, and her male guest walked into the room, put a $50 chip on the counter (we're in Vegas) and said, "That's $50. I want you to work on my inner thighs the whole session. Do you have a problem with that?" Although she conducted the session within professional boundaries, she found that this guest continued his attempts to pressure and manipulate her to go beyond her comfort and professional zone throughout the session. She was very upset by the experience. I have had many similar ones, (thankfully not at my current workplace) though never with the offer of extra money. Ideally, of course, she should have refused at the beginning...but the reality is, you're caught up in the moment, the client/guest might be very intimidating, you're afraid to confront the issue because technically they didn't ask you to do anything wrong ("but if they do I'll definitely stop it then!" But they rarely do, they're too smart for that, and often take a perverse pleasure just in playing games with you.) and of course, the money is tempting.

I guess my point is, pre-tipping can also be used to manipulate, pressure, threaten or intimidate. I agree, in general, if you feel a need to ensure good service by pre-tipping, than the converse has to be true...you don't believe you'll get it if you don't. And anyone who receives a pre-tip is aware of that at some level.