OK...As a former 12-year employee of the service industry I am somewhat of a tip-aholic...

My question is, where do the tips get shelled out here as a rule? I am inclined to tip very largely for great service in a restaurant, tip the cook for great food, etc, etc.

What are the laws of the land here? I am inclined to tip everyone, which I know is a good thing wherever, but I don't know the protocol on:

Barbers
Gas Jockeys
The Crystal water delivery guys
Pizza Guy (when the pizza already has a delivery charge)

and on and on......thoughts?

Just make sure the tips actually get to the people you intend.

don't forget your tour operators/boat capts...and the housekeeping staff & groundskeepers at your lodgings - they work hard.

I would never forget any of those hard working people who depend on tips like the housekeeping, etc...unfortunately I don't have the luxury of the housekeepers and grounds people.

What I am asking about are the guys like the gas station guys, the water guys, barbers, etc...I have tipped and not tipped for these services and when I do not, I feel as though I am getting a look that says "Thanks for nothing!!"

I understand it has become an enforced practice in restaurants in San Pedro that tips to waitstaff are doled out among all staff, including kitchen and cleaning. To a North American this might be inappropriate as we feel the ownwers of the restaurant should be paying kitchen staff (cooks, prep, dishwashers) and the waitstaff who need to interact and communicate well are not compensated the 100% we think they're receiving. It's funny, too, as a dinner in most establishments here are on the same price level (or even above in some North American locations). I also understand restaurants deduct the 3% charged to them by the banks when giving tips to staff from credit card charges.

Yes I find that practice of a waiter or waitress giving part of there tip to the kitchen staff a sad thing.But when in rome do as the romans do, as a vistor I say nothing .???But I do not Agree with that and think the staff should get paid well by the owner.Yes I am a once a month north american gringo ??? I go to lots of places here and try to use only credit card but I do tip cash in some .As I know some of the wait staff and they do not see all the tip? so a cash tip is better for some ??..I most Always get treated well. As they know I like good service and when I do get it ,I do the right thing . I would like to think I am a big tipper.As these guys and girls work hard for there money it is a very tough job..

I am not sure I disagree with sharing the tips if it is done in a fair way. As a waiter in many North American restaurants in my past, both upscale and not so, I paid something called tip pool in most places.

Cooks, hosts, bar staff, etc were given a higher salary than the waiters though also..this is where this works. As a waiter, I would hand over 2 - 2.5% of my gross sales for the night into tip pool and that was split between the other workers according to the importance of their job. As the waiter I made 15 or 20% of that gross amount in tips, so I would take home a good 10 - 15% after sharing.

I see this as fair because if you go to a restaurant, the food, ambiance and service play an equal role in the overall experience, so these people should get some piece of the pie...

Having said that, the topic seems to be, well ummmm, off topic..I was simply asking if people in the community tip the gas, water and hair guys..:)

having worked as a chef for 25 years, the small percentage that goes from the wait staff to the kitchens is important. it givers the cooks a lil more dough when its busy. it also tends to make cooperation between the kitchen and the wait staff a lil better.

otherwise waitrons can be making $100 an hour (i cheffed at a fancy place) and the cooks are making not near that. there is no way for the owners to make money paying the cooks at a waiter rate.

without the tip out percentage my staff would not have stayed around as long. i don't think any should go to management however.

Agreed Marty. The connection between the kitchen and wait staff is very important and I was always very happy to hand over the 2.5% that I was meant to.

I would also buy rounds of drinks for the kitchen boys on a busy night where we were going crazy with turnover...the behind the scenes guys are half the reason if a diners experience is a good one or bad...the kitchen, hosts, etc. are all part of the "show" that gets the tips flowing.

our wait staff would buy rounds of fresh juice for the cooks when it was real busy, boy that brought love. they would be blasting away really hot and up into the serving window comes a tray of five tall cold juices. mmmmmmmmmmm

Canukboi.I understand what you and marty said and I here yaaaaaaaa both .And yes this is the chat part of the board so it does at times get off the topic..But I do not tip the gas guys ,if you get big bottles to your house I would tip the water guys ,a few bucks thats just me ,the pizza guy is a taxi driver I get it from Mr. happiness place pedro's pizza / sport bar and den of Sin .So the taxi guy gets his fee $10 del charge he keeps thatfor him self .Never get my hair cut here but would tip if the hair cuter was not the owner..Thats all I can help you with...

Thanks Jeff.

i tip about everyone. but i have a very well off friend who WILL NOT TIP AT ALL, never has. so we always have to tip for him.

Ah yes, I have one of those friends as well...usually someone who has never worked in the service industry before.

I think it's hard to say really... the taxi drivers don't seem to expect a tip in fact they try to give you change as soon as you hand them money, unlike the states... can't comment on hair cutters... I echo the comments above about the tip sharing. In fact, I think it's almost necessary in Belize. I know a lot of the locals don't tip at all... EVER.

I'd like to hear comments regarding the establlishments who charge a "fee" of any sorts. Who benefits from that?

In conversations with locals on this topic they say they generally don't tip and it isn't expected from them. in addition they are frequently charged less for whatever service/product is being sold. But the service providers do expect and rely on tips from tourists. I pretty much always pay double what is charged for a taxi ride ($20 bz for a $10bz fare) and between 20 & 25% on restaurant tabs. The place I've made an exception to that is spa services. The prices are higher than what I pay in the states, and generally it is the owner providing the service. There I often don't tip at all. That's just my perspective. I think tipping is pretty much a matter of personal choice and the "customs" run from one extreme to another.

I tip bartenders 25% because I like bartenders.

from what I observed in your neighborhood, they seem to like you pretty well too!

Well at the risk of getting slammed - let me first say I have been a chef, bartender and waiter. I do not tip everybody and their dog. Barbers, paper delivery, mailman, ect. I am paying a fee for the service they provide. When I pay my newspaper subscripton it is for home delivery. I feel I am paying to have it delivered. I do not feel I need to subsidize the wealthy newspapers business by paying the delivery guy (girl). If they need to pay them more raise my rates. I apply this to most situations. Now when it comes to personal service that's a whole different ballgame. A realy attentive, friendly waitperson,, bartender, masseur or any other personal contact person I tip based on service.
We purchased a custom pool table several years ago and paid a fair amount for it including the table being delivered and assembled. The installers were ok, but when they opened their toolbox they had a huge red sign that said "Tips welcome". I asked them (when they were finished of course) if they had done anything special or unique to my table and one of them replied "naw they're all pretty much the same". Now what would I have been tipping for?
Before you start typing, I am known to overtip often. So much so it makes others in the group mad, becaue they look bad. Tipping is suppossed to be a reflection of gratitude so if you feel your barber did an exceptional job by all means tip them. If your paper delivery person treats you above what your paying for, tip them.
As for tour guides, parasail employees, dive operators, etc. I am also paying a fee for a service. When I am treated especially well and have had a blast, I tip. I have been on dives where the crew did little, pointed out nothing in the water, and were quite frankly very curt. No tip.
I have my regular hangouts and I get great service becasue the staff have gotten to know me and know I will tip for great service. We do travel alot to foreign countries and we attempt to learn the customs before going. i.e. In the tropics, slow down, do not rush anything, it is more laid back than downtown Dallas. In Italy, meals are to be treated as an experience, thus slow.
So don't worry about getting tipped whilest I am there as long as you are friendly and provide good service. I don't expect to be waited on hand and foot and I'll drink my Belikin's from the bottle so no one has to wash up for me.
Now start typing.

How come I don't get tipped for my services. I do a great job!! He he he..

2aggies, thats a good way to look at tipping. It's all relative and certainly hard say one way or the other.

Marty - AND your friend who never tips - could that be someone who also always complains about the service, size of servings, etc? LOL

Two weeks ago I had a late lunch at one of the restaurants that I used to frequent daily when I lived in town. The service was poor back then and has gotten progressively worse. When people ask me about the place I am frank and tell them the food is excellent and the service slow. SLOW? It was so bad this last time I took out a piece of paper and wrote on it "To (owners name) FOOD GOOD - SERVICE NON EXISTANT!" and did not leave a tip.

There are a couple of places that give me a 10% discount and I add that amount to my usual tip.

Travelqueen...I kinda agree...why should you not get tipped? You are serving people as well...

Interesting...I never thought of it because it is not scene as one of those "tipping" jobs, but it certainly is the same thing!

Next time on an airline and someone does a great job..I am tipping the steward/ess. Although with $2000 USD to get back to Canada for a visit, I feel a little short on cash on a plane. Make the drinks free and I'll tip my a** off!

Um... that wasn't the sorta service I was thinking of.

Flight attendants (you are forgiven for using that other very dated title) were able to receive tips prior to 9/11 but that is a thing of the past (on Continental). They are no longer allowed to accept a tip.

I disagree withthe tip pool concept. You have a"dumptruck" of an employee and he shares in the tips of those that work hard? If the food is above and beyond, I have requested to see the chef and personally thanked them for a great meal and tipped them. If service is bad? NO TIP. If food is bad, i let the waiter know why no tip is coming. They can take it up with the cooks.

House Keeper, Bar keeper and Flats Guide

Tipping is bribery, is it not?

Believe me..I've been to a few places in my life where if you did not tip the bar waitress sufficiently when she brought the first round you would sit there for a week before another waiter would come around.

OK - If I drink 4 beers an hour (who am I kidding, but for the example I'll keep it light) and tip a buck a beer that takes 3 minutes tops to retrieve and deliver, that's $20.00 an hour. Simple math. Add in all the other patrons. I stated before, I have been a waiter and bartender. It was good money and tax free. Not what I wanted to do forever. TQ was right, it is a matter of personal thinking, but if the guy down the bar is tipping $2.00 a beer, he's gonna get better service. Now it becomes bribery and I for one am all in favor of the system. Papa - I know what you mean, I have been to places you described, I will drink up and move on if the service is bad. And worse yet are the places where you have to walk up to the bar and they pull a beer out of a ice barrel and hand it to you. How much do you tip for that? Hell, I'll walk around and pull it out myself. Not cheap, just practical. I like to spend it, just want my money's worth. (This is humor before you start reading between the lines)

a couple of miles north of here, up in Canada eh!

I'll tip if the service/product merits it, and sometimes quite generously. But if I feel a tip is expected, and especially if it's requested, then I won't tip at all and I won't go there again. If a tip isn't totally voluntary then it just amounts to an additional charge and should be declared as such.

I do not tip the cab drivers on a normal basis. I do tip them if they have helped me with bags or have gone out of there way. I don't have a golfcart so I can't comment on the gas jocky. I do tip my hairdresser. I do tip the water guy cause I don't have to bring in the water jugs. As for servers and bartenders I tip according to performance. If the food is good but service is bad I will go and tip the kitchen and/or bartender and not tip the server.
Like Captn Jeff I do not tip my pizza delivery guy because Pedro's uses cabs and charges the fee.
As for places that put an automatic tip. I have found that this is normally if you have a large group. The tip is applied because of all the extra work that the kitchen and staff had to do. Usually management does split it amongst all the staff that worked that day.
Most resorts charge a service charge this also is spread out amongst the staff. A lot of people don't realize how many people it takes to make their stay enjoyable the guys who rake the beach, pool boys, maintenance, security, dishwashers, servers, precooks and so much more. The service charge is anywhere from 9% - 15% depending on the resort.
As for tip sharing when I worked in Canada as a Bartender and Server we always had to pay out a % of our cash out to the kitchen. I always thought it was fair as they helped me do my job

I'd love to believe that's true, but a recent report showed it wasn't the case in Britain and I'm sure it's not always true in the USA or here. It's certainly not the case in France in many instances.

Before I bought my condo at royal palm.I would stay at a few differant places mostly would stay at Aqua marina suites ..Anyway I wouyld leave a tip at the end of my stay like it recommended in a envoelope.. I found out the owner never gave them any thing ..They staff new I left them five dollars a day but he screwed them anyway told them I left nothing.. ..But they just shut there mouths as they did not want to lose there jobs..When I found out I was mad thats is not nice ..When I returned the next few months I then tipped each person At the end of my stay .But got a bad taste in my mouth and never went back .The real story is the place went bust As I guess the owner treated every body like crap .And bad karma fell over the place ,pay backs are a bitch..It is now owned by sunbrezze hotel .But Think he still has the dive operation .

Capt Jeff - S0 sad but so true.

Back when I was doing a lot of traveling to the South Pacific with my underwater photo club we had a good way to handle tipping.
All of our cameras used batteries and film. We gave what ever we didn't use to boat captains, dive masters and photo techs. These were hard to come by there.
All of our left over shampoos, lotions, sun block, etc. we left in the room with a note to the maid service to take and enjoy.
Sometimes we gave individuals towels, sandals, etc.
Money is not always the answer. Take some time to see what is needed and if you can supply it - make it as personal as possible.