Auto Gratuities- Yes or No?

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 hours ago, CuseJeff44 said:

But now it seems even though everyone is doing it they are still soliciting for extra envelopes,

 

Who is the "they" that you are talking about?  Who is "still soliciting for extra envelopes'?  Crew staff?

[BekkaW]

On 7/7/2022 at 5:50 PM, rudeney said:

I find it amusing when people argue against gratuities because, "the cruise line should pay the crew a decent wage and not make them rely on tips from passengers."  Um, the money to pay the crew a "decent wage" comes from cruise fare revenue which is paid by the customer.  What difference does it make to the cost of the cruise if each passenger is charged $14.50 per day as "gratuities" or they just increase the price of the cruise by $14.50/day?  Obviously it allows the cruise line to advertise a lower price, which is a marketing tactic.  Many industries do the same thing - hotels, rental cars, phone service, even buying a car - where the advertised price is exclusive of fees and taxes and taxes and fees.

 

100% agree with you. All costs of every business are borne by the customer, whatever is left over is profit. In Australia they actually have just raised the prices and rolled the gratuity into it, it’s not a seperate line item and cannot be removed. 

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, BekkaW said:

 

100% agree with you. All costs of every business are borne by the customer, whatever is left over is profit. In Australia they actually have just raised the prices and rolled the gratuity into it, it’s not a seperate line item and cannot be removed. 

All the original posters comments are correct except the last. The practice of adding taxes etc is illegal in a lot of countries including the UK and right across Europe. Everything that is not optional must be included in the price. The adding of taxes is why you see so many bemused tourists at checkout in American stores. 

[little britain]

11 hours ago, BekkaW said:

 

100% agree with you. All costs of every business are borne by the customer, whatever is left over is profit. In Australia they actually have just raised the prices and rolled the gratuity into it, it’s not a seperate line item and cannot be removed. 

I wish they would do that for UK bookings too. 

[little britain]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

All the original posters comments are correct except the last. The practice of adding taxes etc is illegal in a lot of countries including the UK and right across Europe. Everything that is not optional must be included in the price. The adding of taxes is why you see so many bemused tourists at checkout in American stores. 

My first time in the USA I bought something at Gap for $9.99 and gave the checkout girl a $10 bill. And she wanted more!!?? I was very confused! 

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

I wish they would do that for UK bookings too. 

Too much completion unless or until the other major players agree to do the same.

[boscobeans]

 

[Hutcha]

To the anti tippers from other lands: The next time you're in the USA, and you receive shotty service, please don't use it as your justification for not tipping. Instead, maybe realize that the standard of service dropped dramatically as soon as you opened your mouth, because of the server's past dealings with your country folk.

[Tree_skier]

On 7/9/2022 at 4:38 PM, MsMidge said:

In what part of the world is it customary to give the tip to the owner to distribute as they see fit if they distribute it at all?  Nowhere.  

Every restaurant that you use your Visa card. 

[vjmatty]

43 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

To the anti tippers from other lands: The next time you're in the USA, and you receive shotty service, please don't use it as your justification for not tipping. Instead, maybe realize that the standard of service dropped dramatically as soon as you opened your mouth, because of the server's past dealings with your country folk.

 

You know, this is often the reason for how travel staff in other countries treat Americans. I mean as long as you are good with this....

[boscobeans]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

 

You know, this is often the reason for how travel staff in other countries treat Americans. I mean as long as you are good with this....

????

So rude service in some other countries is because the tip is included in the listed price?

[AlohaLivin]

11 hours ago, little britain said:

My first time in the USA I bought something at Gap for $9.99 and gave the checkout girl a $10 bill. And she wanted more!!?? I was very confused! 

I am confused, was this tongue-in-cheek? I assume that it was. There would be tax included in this purchase so that $10 would not have been quite sufficient for a 9.99 purchase, but store clerks don’t ask for nor get tips. Thank God, I would have to buy far less stuff if so 😂🤣

 

And I agree, it would be easier and better on staff overall if they rolled the gratuities into the fare 👍🏼

Edited August 1, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

There would be tax included in this purchase 

You may have missed the point that in Europe and many other places around the world, there’s no tax ( or other extra charges) when you check out so the price you see is the price you pay and there are no surprises at the payment point. 

[little britain]

15 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

I am confused, was this tongue-in-cheek? I assume that it was. There would be tax included in this purchase so that $10 would not have been quite sufficient for a 9.99 purchase, but store clerks don’t ask for nor get tips. Thank God, I would have to buy far less stuff if so 😂🤣

 

And I agree, it would be easier and better on staff overall if they rolled the gratuities into the fare 👍🏼

No. When you pick up an item in England ( and every other country in the world that I’ve been to) if the price tag says $9.99 then the cost is ….. $9.99.  
Why would the price tag not show the true price of the item? 🤷‍♀️

Edited August 1, 2022 by little britain
I’ve been to 63 countries

[AlohaLivin]

10 minutes ago, little britain said:

No. When you pick up an item in England ( and every other country in the world that I’ve been to) if the price tag says $9.99 then the cost is ….. $9.99.  
Why would the price tag not show the true price if the item? 🤷‍♀️

Because the stores and the manufactures together set the suggested retail price often for store that have multiple locations (like Macys or Starbucks) and different cities/ counties within a state have different tax rates (sales tax). So there’s no way to account for that other than to add the tax on the top. In our area, for example  it is 5%. I can see how that someone from a country with a different system would be confused by that. 

Lots of countries have sales tax, Argentina, France, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, and others. Each deals with that in a different way.  We all differ, I guess that’s both good and bad.

Edited August 1, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[AlohaLivin]

18 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You may have missed the point that in Europe and many other places around the world, there’s no tax ( or other extra charges) when you check out so the price you see is the price you pay and there are no surprises at the payment point. 

I didn’t miss the point at all - she asked questioned about why the clerk asked for more money and I was explaining why. Just because she is from Great Britain did not mean that I was going to assume that she didn’t know how other countries do things. Thus, I did not know whether the question was serious or facetious (and stated that up front).
 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, boscobeans said:

????

So rude service in some other countries is because the tip is included in the listed price?

No, read the post I was responding to. The poster was warning travelers visiting the US of how they’ll be treated because of how their fellow countrymen act “when they open their mouths”  As Americans we already deal with that when traveling based on how other Americans act in other countries, and we don’t like it do we?

[the penguins]

29 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

Because the stores and the manufactures together set the suggested retail price often for store that have multiple locations (like Macys or Starbucks) and different cities/ counties within a state have different tax rates (sales tax). So there’s no way to account for that other than to add the tax on the top. In our area, for example  it is 5%. I can see how that someone from a country with a different system would be confused by that. 

Lots of countries have sales tax, Argentina, France, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, and others. Each deals with that in a different way.  We all differ, I guess that’s both good and bad.

The only confusion is caused by all stores (except possibly Starbucks ) in the USA adding the tax at the till. Every other country you quoted adds the tax to the ticketed item. When you pick up an item in the UK and the ticket says £2, even though it may have 20% tax, that tax is included so £2 is what you pay. 

Fortunately the increase in use of credit cards has at  least reduced the lines at the check out as we Brits frantically search for the extra change in an unfamiliar currency to complete our purchases. Incidentally that to is a problem as we are used to Bank Notes being in different sizes and colours whereas the 💲's are all identical.

I should add that as honorary Americans (our grandson is a born and bred Texan) we love visiting and the "differences" just add to the fun.

[AlohaLivin]

2 minutes ago, the penguins said:

The only confusion is caused by all stores (except possibly Starbucks ) in the USA adding the tax at the till. Every other country you quoted adds the tax to the ticketed item. When you pick up an item in the UK and the ticket says £2, even though it may have 20% tax, that tax is included so £2 is what you pay. 

Fortunately the increase in use of credit cards has at  least reduced the lines at the check out as we Brits frantically search for the extra change in an unfamiliar currency to complete our purchases. Incidentally that to is a problem as we are used to Bank Notes being in different sizes and colours whereas the 💲's are all identical.

I should add that as honorary Americans (our grandson is a born and bred Texan) we love visiting and the "differences" just add to the fun.

I love my country, I feel sure that no one is trying to confuse visitors or anyone else. There are things that I find odd when visiting other countries, but that is on me not on them. I find that people are often confused about money issues when visiting other countries, I don’t think of that as the “fault” of the other country. We have a different system and it doesn’t seem a bit odd to us (just as the fact in the US we use a sheet with a duvet 😬). But my sole intent was to explain the situation to someone I thought did not understand that situation.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

No. When you pick up an item in England ( and every other country in the world that I’ve been to) if the price tag says $9.99 then the cost is ….. $9.99.  
Why would the price tag not show the true price of the item? 🤷‍♀️

I guess you haven’t been to Canada 😁

[LMaxwell]

Auto is fine; but we don't do prepay.  Usually let OBC offset our final bill.  Whatever option you choose is fine. 

[Airbear232]

On 7/6/2022 at 1:50 PM, KATHYMAC68 said:

Are we still able to cancel the auto gratuities and tip with the cash in envelopes?

I always liked handing them the envelopes and giving more when someone deserved it.

I know I can still tip extra, but I miss that last night ritual.

The tips go to more than your wait staff and room attendant.  I’ve seen so many people cancel or reduce tips because they believe their being overcharged.  I disagree with this but to each his own.  I believe they all work hard and we do not cancel or remove the tips.  We still ask for envelopes and give a little more to those who have given extraordinary service and usually this is the room attendant, assistant waiter, waiter and head waiter.

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

I love my country, I feel sure that no one is trying to confuse visitors or anyone else. There are things that I find odd when visiting other countries, but that is on me not on them. I find that people are often confused about money issues when visiting other countries, I don’t think of that as the “fault” of the other country. We have a different system and it doesn’t seem a bit odd to us (just as the fact in the US we use a sheet with a duvet 😬). But my sole intent was to explain the situation to someone I thought did not understand that situation.  

We never said anyone tries to confuse us. It's just we try to be helpful by having the exact money ready only to find we haven't. Depending on the store and the number of people in the line the results range from laughter to a good deal of cursing (for example in a sandwich shop in New York at the height of the morning rush). PS lots of our friends in the UK use sheets with duvets.

[sgmn]

On 7/8/2022 at 1:38 PM, A&L_Ont said:

 

Actually Sandals in Barbados, been there two times and as recent as this April, says you can tip if you wish. That being over and above the Butlers and Spa.  I also saw some people tipping cash at the bar and the restaurants. 

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by sgmn
Canx post

[hotsauce126]

I can’t believe people are trying to defend the practice of adding tax at checkout when it absolutely is deceptive to the customer when the US is the odd one out on it. Yes we’re used to it but that doesn’t make it a good system