Is Tipping 20% Too Much in the Philippines?

[Snowy79]

1 hour ago, Clermont said:

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. 

There is a limit though, and remember, once she moves in she's also rich and can upgrade. 

Edited September 21, 2018 by Snowy79

[Seth]

5 hours ago, Old55 said:

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

Your friend Capa sounds like a real card. Does he expect people to eat doggie kibbles? I guess stranger things happen, people eat doggies. Hahahaha.

[Guy F.]

On 12/28/2017 at 5:25 AM, Jollygoodfellow said:

To run a business customers come first regardless of their fat wallet or thin one. 

Not a practical policy. In business school I was taught a system of classifying stocks in the stock market which I also apply to customers. A number of years after I first proposed applying it thusly the same idea was featured in The Wall Street Journal. There are "stars" who are responsible for for large but not stable profits. There are "cash cows" who are not big spenders but are dependable. There are "potential stars and cash cows" and lastly "dogs" which are undesirable and unlikely to ever be desirable. There are subcategories such as "dogs with fleas".

[JDDavao II]

3 hours ago, Guy F. said:

Not a practical policy. In business school I was taught a system of classifying stocks in the stock market which I also apply to customers. A number of years after I first proposed applying it thusly the same idea was featured in The Wall Street Journal. There are "stars" who are responsible for for large but not stable profits. There are "cash cows" who are not big spenders but are dependable. There are "potential stars and cash cows" and lastly "dogs" which are undesirable and unlikely to ever be desirable. There are subcategories such as "dogs with fleas".

You should see how we dogs classify you all. Oops! I've run out of room!

[JJReyes]

In the United States, the minimum tip expectation is 15% with 20% becoming standard in many places. In the Philippines, the amount is still 10% if you are a foreigner. However, many Filipinos don't bother to tip. Top hotel restaurants in Asia sometimes automatically add a 15% service charge. Don't tip. Sometimes the waiter brings back your change in large coins, expecting you will leave it behind. I don't.

[Reboot]

22 hours ago, Seth said:

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

My wife would never allow it LOL.

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, JJReyes said:

Top hotel restaurants in Asia sometimes automatically add a 15% service charge. Don't tip.

Lately, I have noticed less of this. When the price of an item was 500 pesos with 15% service charge it is now listed as 575 pesos with "No service charge" which encourages people to leave a tip.  

This practice may have come about due to the Philppine senate passing a bill that requires the service charge to actually go to the employees. 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/191065-senate-approval-bill-service-charge-employees-restaurants-hotels

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, JJReyes said:

In the United States, the minimum tip expectation is 15% with 20% becoming standard in many places. In the Philippines, the amount is still 10% if you are a foreigner. However, many Filipinos don't bother to tip. Top hotel restaurants in Asia sometimes automatically add a 15% service charge. Don't tip. Sometimes the waiter brings back your change in large coins, expecting you will leave it behind. I don't.

In Hong Kong it's 10% at pretty much everywhere except fast food joints.  It's not classed as a tip, but a service charge and as such you are required to pay it regardless of the quality of service i.e. you are not paying for good service, you are paying for being served.  How much of this goes to the staff I've no idea but we can guess.  The problem is it does create a pressure of leaving a tip in addition to the service charge and many tourists do just that.  Here, My wife is a stickler for not tipping as it's not the custom and I don't feel any guilt following her lead - the service here isn't so great as to make me feel I should reward superior performance. 

[Ryan.]

3 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Lately, I have noticed less of this. When the price of an item was 500 pesos with 15% service charge it is now listed as 575 pesos with "No service charge" which encourages people to leave a tip.  

This practice may have come about due to the Philppine senate passing a bill that requires the service charge to actually go to the employees. 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/191065-senate-approval-bill-service-charge-employees-restaurants-hotels

Some companies do a work around and pool all the tips together forward them to accounting and then redistribute them weeks later to employees. Unimaginable how it could be proven if they are skimming off the top.

Other employees just flat out tell me they get to keep none. Others are given explanations that they are not “regularized” so no tip. It probably comes down the culture of the government to make laws with built in safeguards to force compliance. I think we all know how well that works here.

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, Ryan. said:

Unimaginable how it could be proven if they are skimming off the top.

The restaurant across the road from me sit down with at least 2 staff or management and security guard to count the tips. Its is then recorded in a book so I guess in this case its done correctly.