Is Tipping 20% Too Much in the Philippines?

[scott h]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I see it as a case where the youngsters are smarter than their over-tipping parents.

Funny, just as I read this there was an interview on the news, where these millennials (some, by no means all) would also prefer to live in a socialist country. Makes me wonder

[Seth]

On 7/3/2018 at 5:30 PM, scott h said:

Funny, just as I read this there was an interview on the news, where these millennials (some, by no means all) would also prefer to live in a socialist country. Makes me wonder

Makes me wonder too, scott h.

[Seth]

On 12/26/2017 at 1:52 PM, bows00 said:

If I eat at an American franchise restaurant in the Philippines, I could easily spend $20 (1000 peso) for me and my date.  In the US, I would normally tip 20%, or $4 (200 peso).  Now based on what the waitress/waiter earns in the Philippines, that's a lot...

What is the normal tipping practices there?

I've tipped 1,000 pesos for a 200 peso meal. No big deal. Easy come, easy go.

[Jollygoodfellow]

19 minutes ago, Seth said:

I've tipped 1,000 pesos for a 200 peso meal. No big deal. Easy come, easy go.

Hmm. 

[Old55]

22 minutes ago, Seth said:

I've tipped 1,000 pesos for a 200 peso meal. No big deal. Easy come, easy go.

My good friend Capa aways paid in doggie kibbles he was very kind hearted that way.

[Jack Peterson]

26 minutes ago, Seth said:

I've tipped 1,000 pesos for a 200 peso meal. No big deal. Easy come, easy go.

 

[Eddie1]

1 hour ago, Seth said:

I've tipped 1,000 pesos for a 200 peso meal. No big deal. Easy come, easy go.

Hmm, with that in mind, please resist any urges that you might have to come to Dumaguete.

[Mick]

When I first started coming here I was tipping heavy, until the Mrs saw it, and was not happy, she said 20 or 40 peso max, that was 8 years ago, now we tip 100 peso no matter the bill size..... Unless of course the tip is equal to or bigger than bill

[Snowy79]

Having read throught his post and having lived here over 1 1/2yrs now I can see my attitude changing also. 

Giving a big tip to the waiting staff may get you better service and it could mean staff who get offered higher paid jobs elsewhere may stay giving the owner a bit of a bonus in not having to keep training new staff.  I've seen it with a few of my Filipino friends.  They've been offered double wages to jump ship but realised that with tips they'd still earn well over double their wages.

The downside again I've seen is that the waiting staff target a certain customer and other customers end up waiting longer for service.  I've been that one who has walked out of a restaurant as I've waited too long.

I used to be quite liberal with my tips judging them by my UK standards until I read about someone letting their wife deal with the change and at the end of the month she showed him how much she had tipped.  I worked out I tipped about 1,500 peso per month.  This translated into my internet bill, a weeks groceries or a few good nights out.  Now I tip about 500 peso max.  If I live another 20 years I'd have tipped 360,000 peso or a decent second hand car. Looking at it that way it makes sense to tip according to the local standards.

Another downside I've seen is prices shooting up and trike drivers only picking up foreigners as they can charge well over double the going rate which causes resentment amongst the locals towards foreigners. A perfect example is where I live in Puerto Galera, prices are pretty high for food, transport, internet etc as foreigners will pay for it.  You travel one hour South where there's not many foreigners and you still get great if not better service and almost everything is cheaper.

There's a reason why the majority of foreigners have younger, prettier partners than the average local.  We've priced them out of the market. 

Edited September 21, 2018 by Snowy79

[Clermont]

1 hour ago, Snowy79 said:

There's a reason why the majority of foreigners have younger, prettier partners than the average local.  We've priced them out of the market. 

What are you trying to say, instead of bringing one balikbayan box full of money, I'll need two to get a pretty one, what a bummer.