3971  tipping customs

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 03:16:05 +0000
From: Sergio Vandekier <sergiovandekier990@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: tipping customs

Tipping customs vary from country to country.

In some areas of the world tips are not accepted, in others it is calculated
as a percentage of your bill (15-25%), in some countries like Spain the
waiter only expects the change coins.

In the States as well as in Argentina the tip is considered to be part of
the salary of certain service professions. This means that a waiter in
these last two countries are paid a very low base salary which is
compensated by the tips that they certainly will receive. this happens in
ship cruises as well.

The usher at a theater or at the movies expects a tip (0.25 to 1.00 peso)
in Argentina. You also tip the attendant at the gas station, the barber, the
waiter, the cook at certain restaurants, the attendant at the rest rooms.

The tip at a rest room should be 0.50 to 1.00 peso.
Most people in Argentina give 1.00 peso as a tip. You are not required to
leave a tip each time you use the toilet.

To enter a rest room in Eastern Europe you have to pay a certain amount to
the attendant lady at the door other wise you are not allowed in. In many
places of the world the entry to a toilet requires you to insert a number of
coins at the door.

A waiter in Paris may follow you to the door to ask for his "pourboire
monsieur".

In most airports to get a luggage cart you must pay at least 3 dollars they
are free in Argentina.

Cab drivers in many countries take you for a ride, then they demand a tip or
keep the change without asking if it is ok. Frequently they do not bother to
help you to unload the luggage. In Argentina they will bring the luggage to
your house if needed.

Here I have never seen somebody to keep the change, most taxi drivers round
down on the amount: 6,30 will require you to pay only 6,00. It may be
different for tourists.

It is not proper to over tip, I have friends that have tipped 10 to 50
pesos. A Russian recent immigrant shoe shiner on Calle Florida showed me a
100 dollar bill that he had just received as a tip. "It must be false" - I
said :)- no it is real- he answered- I had it checked at the bank.

It is not proper to under tip as you are cheating a worker of part of his
salary.

During Juan Peron's time tips were considered to be demeaning for the worker
so "gratuities" were automatically added (25%) to your check. Since this was
compulsory and not voluntary service quality decreased. The same as I
noticed in Eastern Europe during communist rule. I remember in Buda Pest a
long line of people in front of a restaurant that was empty except for the
waiters that were chatting among themselves. When I asked if I could eat
there (as they noticed I was a foreign tourist) promptly removed a
"reserved' sign from one of the tables and brought dinner. As I left local
people were still waiting in line to be served.

I was recently at "Sin Rumbo" in villa Urquiza where I danced with two
American girls. At the end one of them asked me if I could get change for a
two pesos bill, so that they could leave a tip. Forget it, I said, I will
take care of that.

Talking to the waiters they told me that the Italians are the most generous
tippers, then the Argentines. I will not say which ones are the most
miserable.

Best regards, Sergio

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 10:35:22 -0700
From: Huck Kennedy <huck@ENSMTP1.EAS.ASU.EDU>
Subject: Re: tipping customs

Sergio writes:

> In most airports to get a luggage cart you must pay at
> least 3 dollars

I have not found this to be true. While obviously
I haven't been everywhere in the world, I can say I have
never been charged for a cart at an international arrival
anywhere except in Newark Airport in the United States,
where they actually have the disgraceful gall to charge
$3 even within the customs area. Elsewhere in the US,
I've gotten a free cart within customs, but then had to
relinquish it before exiting to the main airport area.
Outside the US, I've always gotten a free cart, period,
with no restrictions.

> Cab drivers in many countries take you for a ride, then they demand a tip or
> keep the change without asking if it is ok. Frequently they do not bother to
> help you to unload the luggage. In Argentina they will bring the luggage to
> your house if needed.
>
> Here I have never seen somebody to keep the change, most taxi drivers round
> down on the amount: 6,30 will require you to pay only 6,00. It may be
> different for tourists.

That has happened to me as well. I keep hearing
horror stories of Buenos Aires cab robberies, but
I thought the cabs there were some of the best in the
world. The fares are cheap (before the devaluation they
were still relatively cheap, now they're a steal), and
you can give a cab driver a simple address anywhere in
the city (like Calle Qualquiera, 4832) and he can tell
from the address where the nearest cross street is, and
take you there directly with no fuss.

And the nicest surprise (although it's an acquired
taste) is that the cab drivers almost all drive at night
with their headlights off, using only their tiny parking
lights (which are also white, but give off little light).
At first this seems crazy, but then you realize that with
cab drivers constituting the vast majority of drivers at
night, the city is spared the harsh glare of headlights
and instead takes on an almost surrealistic soft glow
that is quite charming.

The downside of this, however, is that a couple
of times I almost got hit crossing the street on foot
at night because I'm used to looking for bright
headlights, and the dim lighting of the rapidly oncoming
taxi just didn't register in my mind as an approaching
danger.

They advise you to call for a cab by telephone
instead of hailing one on the street. The only bad
experience I had was the one time I did call one to take
me to the airport. We negotiated a price on the phone,
then on the way he tried to hit me up for more money to
pay the tolls on the highway along the way. I told him
we had agreed on a fixed price to take me to the airport
and the tolls were his problem, not mine.

Huck

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 18:18:02 +0000
From: Jay Rabe <jayrabe@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: tipping customs

Regarding taxis in BsAs:

I've made three trips there, and have almost never called for a cab, except
when going to the airport with luggage. I've heard that sometimes
unscurpulous drivers will intercept the radio call for a taxi and get to me
first and scam or con or rob. But I never had much of a problem hailing a
cab on main streets, even at 1 or 2am after a milonga. The only problems
I've had were when I didn't have small bills and the drivers sometimes said
they didn't have change. On my last trip I got stuck with about 80 pesos of
counterfit bills. Not sure where I got them, but best guess was at a gas
station where the taxi had stopped to make change for me because I didn't
have small bills. I discovered the counterfits in another cab, as the driver
looked carefully at the bills when I paid him. Not sure if he did a switch
on me. Janis Kenyan insists I've just been lucky and should always call for
a cab, but I'm unconvinced. It seems to brand you immediately as a tourist
and maybe an easy mark.

J in Portland
www.TangoMoments.com