Gratuities question
 

We recently returned from a trip to Vancouver Island and stayed at a small lodge that gets good reviews on this message board. It is more of a B & B type of place, run by the onsite owners with a small kitchen which serves dinner on some nights. "Gratuities are not included in the rates" was posted in a couple of spots, so I made a point to leave a couple of dollars in our room each day and tipped the young waitstaff at dinner (which must be paid for on the spot). When we went to check out at the end of our stay there was a spot for "tip" on the credit card signature slip. I was a bit thrown off. Is there an expectation to tip the innkeepers? The owners did a fantastic job in being welcoming and preparing us the complimentary breakfast in the morning. Is it customary to have this tip line on the credit card slip at these types of inns? We do not often stay in these kinds of small lodges, so we were a bit puzzled.

They probably just use the same credit card format as for meals--I doubt very much they were expecting you to tip on the amount you paid for lodging.

But no, it's not common.

I think I would be a bit turned off to be asked for tips so openly!! Crazy

Some people put everything on visa. They may need to for business purposes or whatever. Therefore, I would just ignore it and not worry, it is a standard form. You tipped already in cash.

B&B owners/operators generally do not expect or solicit tips, however, when there is also an onsite restaurant with additional staff, tipping the serving staff would be customary as in any other restaurant.

Here is an innkeeper's page about this (most of the innkeepers are American, but it also holds true in Canada):

http://www.innkeepersonly.com/innkee...OurMembers.htm

What you did was absolutely appropriate. I suspect the tip line is a default setting on the machine and/or it is there for guests who wish to add something to the credit card.

I have a B&B with staff but no restaurant. I would say maybe 20% of my guests tip, but when they do they are very generous. The money is divided equally between staff, and as I am the owner, I do not take a share.

I know opinions differ, but I think it is tacky to solicit tips. (And I get very annoyed when hotels automatically add a gratuity...) My staff do work very hard... but I recognize that and pay them accordingly. That said, everyone can use a few extra dollars and I tell them to appreciate the tips, but not to expect them.

Funny how the guests we bend over backwards to please tend to leave nothing, and those who are easy-peasy to deal with are the ones to leave the tips. And the wealthiest guests never leave anything (but tell me I should charge more...)

On a side note... I am always amazed at how many people will tip a doorman- who does a job they can do themselves (open the door, hail a cab) but will not tip the person who cleans their room- who does a job that they would not want to do themselves!

I doubt very much you were expected to leave a tip.Tipping the wait staff at dinner and the room attendant. But tipping the Inn keepers, no.The form was just the generic credit card form that is used everywhere . I,m sure they would be embarrassed to think you were browned off.Dinner in most Inns Ive stayed in is separate and kept separate from lodging(good business)It is customary in Canada to tip for good service,to service staff as it is in United States.But the lodge owners or owners of hairsalons or any business do not expect a tip....

May I ask you a question. Did the owners use the old fashioned credit card slips , the paper and carbon ones, and then use the manual machine to run it.. ???
Because all those paper and carbon slips have a tip colum in them,, I know I worked with them for years. Most places just use machines, but just recently I used one of those old fashioned( but still legal) ones when buying AVON at at country fair,, and LOL< and I know they weren't expecting a tip.
Don't be mad at nothing.

They did not expect a tip,
, you just may have been unfamilar with the old fashioned slips. The CC tip columm is usually used for those who pay for dinner with CC.

And of course Canadians do tip waiters and bus boys.

Thanks for your feedback. To answer your question, they were not the old-fashioned carbon slips, Bozama. But it makes sense that they were probably just using the same credit card format as they do for dinner--which includes a tip line.

Perhaps, I am a cynic and I admire all the well-intentioned, generous people who think that the "tip blank line on the bill" was a mistake, I, on the other hand believe it was probably intentional, since they recognize that people are so used to tipping in North America, that without thinking these customers will just sign 15% or 20% to the bill.

We were given a credit card slip to sign with an extra tip line in a restaurant in Australia (where tipping was not the norm in 2003.) We foolishly added 15%, although we had been told the rules over and over beforehand and had eaten out enough to know better that tipping was not necessary. When we got back to our hotel, we asked again and were told that tourists often received that credit bill slip. We learned.

Another example was in Cambridge, England where we also had a tip space added to our credit slip. This was in '97. We were wiser then and discussed it with the server and found out it was just an "option." Why we did not carry that lesson over to Australia 6 years later is anyone's guess. I, suppose we had forgotten. It is also hard to get away from doing things they way you have done them for years. It feels very odd not to tip directly.

Business is falling off in many places and this may be added revenue, but I think it can create hostility or distaste for the establishments that practice it, however the generous Fodorites above see it as an error or as an old credit card form and I congratulate them for their kind thoughts, unlike my own!

Annetti - a tip is ALWAYS optional. A good place of business will always tell you that if you asked. However, just because it's optional doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. In some places, it's not customary, but even then there are those who feel awkward NOT leaving a tip and do so anyway. Likewise, in places where it is customary, there are those who won't leave a tip.

The credit card slip is a standard format. If you are in a service industry, the machines are normally "set up" to show the gratuity line. If you don't want it, you would have to have the machine re-programmed. Most businesses don't bother and just leave it as is. I've seen it when buying jewelry at shows, etc. and simply draw a line through it when I sign.

It's not a big deal and it's not a deliberate attempt to hoodwink you into doing something you aren't expected to do.

Toedtoes: Thank you for your thoughtful reply. While it may be true, that it is difficult to reconfigure the machines to remove the gratuity section, the front desk should either explain this to their customers, without the customer having to ask first or make the effort to correct their machines.. It is just not good customer relations, to list tipping as an option on your hotel bill. I don't lame Voyageuse for feeling uneasy, and good customer relations should make sure that their clients are comfortable, especially if they want repeat customers. Some of us are awkward (non-assertive is probably a better word) and should not be placed in the position of wondering if they did the correct thing or worst yet, having to ask. I still contend that there is some hope by the hotelier that people will add a gratuity, the hotel should not place the customer in this awkward position. If they get into the habit of brief explanation before the bill is presented, this would not be an issue.