Best Posts in Thread: Tipping

If I were to buy size shoes I don't want the left shoe and have to wait 20 minutes for the right shoe, yet this is what happens sometimes when you order food. Service here is unpredictable depending where you eat. If you eat at a restaurant which mostly caters for Filipinos, then you will get Filipino style service, as those customers have grown up with poor service and are non the wiser. If on the other hand you go to a restaurant which caters for richer Filipinos and Foreigners, then you should expect reasonable service. I never rant or rave about poor service, and usually leave it up to the wife. If the staff are untrained, it is not their fault and so will not penalise them, if they have tried their best. I usually tip 10% maximum 50 pesos if the waiting staff have tried their best and leave it up to the wife if the staff have spent all night chatting or texting and ignoring the customers. When I'm at home I say nothing if the service is slow, otherwise I will be wearing the meal or cooking it myself.

 

I did not experience the lack of appreciation or positive return you mention. I can honestly say I never found waitstaff who "expected" a tip, as most aren't used to receiving tips, even from some foreigners (being influenced by their Filipinas, I suspect), and like I said, if the service was horrible, I didn't tip. I was almost always treated very well if I returned to the establishment (understandably); and the delivery drivers were always very gracious when I tipped them, again, because they weren't used to it. The car park guys, I figured they were trying to do something to earn some money for their families. Seeing the smiles on their faces was worth it every time. There are some restaurants in Dumaguete who will add "service charge" to their bill, so look out for that.

 

As a comparison for Dave_H and Showpony's tipping the Smoke test guy, The "fixer", "expeditor," "service provider" that i used to shepherd my SRRV documents thru the Cebu PRA office after my first visit, the Manila bank, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Manila PRA got PhP 750. By comparison the SRRV guy was inexpensive.

 

Just as a comparison, I have been told many times that Filipinos do not tip. Do not know how true this is. I am with Wrye on the rest of the other items including the cuteness of the waitress... lol I particularly like the the ".you don't get to prepare my food and serve it with Filipino culture and then demand an American culture when it's time to tip" concept. The 20 P tip whether is is only a coke or three full meals still seems to apply. A little extra for the cute ones or the very cute ones who recognize me but act like they have never seen me before in front of my date. (No tip is for the waitresses who stand around in a group gossiping, and say things my date can here like: "Here he comes again with another lady"... really happened once, and my date asked about the comments).

Many times I feel the Parking boys also give me a certain level of "bike security (because I use the same guys everytime) so they get Wrye's P5 if I was parked more than 5-10 minutes.

I do usually give a good tip the masseuse depending on how happy I am at the end.