Is Tipping 20% Too Much in the Philippines?

[Viking]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 1:59 AM, Jack Peterson said:

Problem is and this is why some Business owners do not like us to tip, is that the workers get richer and a little bit above themselves and can cause havoc among other staff and little spats start about who serves who even though they may have sets tables to serve.

So you are saying we should avoid all kind of tipping because it makes the business owners mad?? 

[Viking]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 2:51 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

Filipino saying:  If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

In my experience they dont even fix it when it IS broken, atleast not properly, usually using, tape, strings and chewing gums. 

[Viking]

5 hours ago, AlwaysRt said:

Remember this post when living here while tourists come in, tip big, and the business owners start raising prices, then start automatically adding gratuities. Thanks for the extra inflation guys....

I realise things like this can have an impact on people living there, but that is part of life.

It´s not realistic to expect tourist refrain from tipping for the reason of keeping prices low for expats .

I wanna clarify that I am NOT a fan of BIG tipping, but a small amount when it is appropriate is fine with me  

[AlwaysRt]

57 minutes ago, Viking said:

I realise things like this can have an impact on people living there, but that is part of life.

It´s not realistic to expect tourist refrain from tipping for the reason of keeping prices low for expats .

I wanna clarify that I am NOT a fan of BIG tipping, but a small amount when it is appropriate is fine with me  

No worries, my comment was more inspired by your comment as opposed to commenting about you in particular.

When prices go up it is not just the expats that see/feel it, the locals are typically affected by the rising costs much more than the expats. There are cities all over the world where tourists "helping" the locals by overtipping (per local custom because it is 'so cheap' to the tourist and they want to 'help out'), that prices have risen so high the locals can no longer afford to buy/rent/eat in their town anymore. The entire economy switched to relying 100% on tourists and owned/ran buy foreign companies.

[Viking]

7 minutes ago, AlwaysRt said:

No worries, my comment was more inspired by your comment as opposed to commenting about you in particular.

When prices go up it is not just the expats that see/feel it, the locals are typically affected by the rising costs much more than the expats. There are cities all over the world where tourists "helping" the locals by overtipping (per local custom because it is 'so cheap' to the tourist and they want to 'help out'), that prices have risen so high the locals can no longer afford to buy/rent/eat in their town anymore. The entire economy switched to relying 100% on tourists and owned/ran buy foreign companies.

That can for sure be a problem. 

Philippines is a place many tourists stay in for an extended time when they are there. These tourists usually dont belong to the group of big-tippers because they want their money to last as long as possible.

There are exceptions to this, those going to places like Boracay, El Nido, Alona Beach and some places in the big citys. Here they dont stay so long and when they are there they are not afraid to spend money. As we all know it is expensive there and ofcoarse thats because the tourists are willing to pay the price.

In general I think there are to few foreigners/expats in most places around the country (except the most popular ones) to have any real impact on prices.

All in all I think that the downside of moderate tipping is rather small compared to the help it do to many pinoys/pinays.

[Jack Peterson]

7 hours ago, Viking said:

So you are saying we should avoid all kind of tipping because it makes the business owners mad?? 

 If you read the whole Topic you will see I said  Tip where you feel the need or the service etc is worthy of it 

[Viking]

8 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 If you read the whole Topic you will see I said  Tip where you feel the need or the service etc is worthy of it 

Then we agree 

[Dave Hounddriver]

I just realized I tip more than you bunch of cheapskates 

The topic is "Is tipping 20 percent too much in the Philipines" and I assumed you were talking about restaurants or taxis.  I do not give those service people such a large tip as they do not give me a large percentage of their time.

But if we are talking massage therapists, 20% is a real cheapskate tip.  If I go for a massage and the price is 200 pesos for an hour, and if the therapist is good, then I will tip 100 pesos so that is a 50% tip and it is not too much in the Philippines.  

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I just realized I tip more than you bunch of cheapskates 

The topic is "Is tipping 20 percent too much in the Philipines" and I assumed you were talking about restaurants or taxis.  I do not give those service people such a large tip as they do not give me a large percentage of their time.

But if we are talking massage therapists, 20% is a real cheapskate tip.  If I go for a massage and the price is 200 pesos for an hour, and if the therapist is good, then I will tip 100 pesos so that is a 50% tip and it is not too much in the Philippines.  

This brought to mind an old joke -

Man A - "Did you give her a tip?"

Man B "  "A tip - I gave her the whole lot!"

 

[Eddie1]

2 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If I go for a massage and the price is 200 pesos for an hour, and if the therapist is good, then I will tip 100 pesos so that is a 50% tip and it is not too much in the Philippines.  

Are we to assume Dave that is because the masseuse made you feel 'happy'?  Lol.