Tips - Expected or Earned?

It seems that more and more people are expecting tips for the job they do and even expecting more of a tip. While dining at a restaurant, we received mediocre service from our waitress, in fact, we had to signal her when we did need something. When the bill came, I was surprised when the debit/credit card machine automatically suggested a tip of 20%. This was clever on the part of the restaurant—as it made it easier to accept their 20% tip, but in this case, the waitress didn't deserve 10%, let alone 20%!

I am shocked by the "tipping trends" I have been encountering. It seems like more and more people in the service industry are expecting tips—Starbucks, tour guides, even the local ice cream shop. What if salespeople began asking for tips???

So, while traveling to the National Speakers Convention in California, I chose to pay more attention to whom and how much people were asking for tips...

It began when I called a shuttle company to pre-arrange for a shuttle from the Los Angeles Airport to Anaheim and placed it on my credit card. They asked me if I wanted to add a 15% tip to my credit card. I replied with "Well doesn't the driver have to earn the tip first?"

We enjoyed a great dinner at Marina Del Ray—our waitress was exceptional in her service levels, providing her favorite suggestions and helping my daughters choose their entrée choices—so I did choose to tip her 20% because she earned and deserved it!

During this trip, we took a total of five taxis, only two of the taxi drivers greeted us and were friendly while travelling in their cab. I chose to give a higher tip to those taxi drivers who were friendly and helpful, and tip a lot less to those who spoke on their cell phone and got rude when I asked to pay by credit card (they insisted I pay them cash). I was so bold to "tip" a taxi driver with advice on how he could have earned my tip by greeting us, talking to us rather than his friends on his cell phone and helping my daughters with their luggage. He was surprised by our tip—but actually apologized and appreciated this different kind of advice on how he could "earn" a higher tip rather than expect one!

So, I am going to share my new tipping practices with you. I will provide monetary tips to those people who deserve them—who have actually earned them, rather than just expect it....and will provide an "advice tip" to those in need of it!

I invite you to share what your tipping practices are—email your thoughts to lisa@teneoresults.com.