You leave a tip in a restaurant because otherwise the waitstaff is working for about $2 per hour - which is unconscionable. You are taking income (on which they will be taxed)out of the hands of people who work incredibly hard for a not great living.

That is the way the system is set up. And your decision not to tip is nothing but CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

And your logic isn't.

Does that mean you can steal something from a store since you will never go back there again?

The cashier in my local grocery is poorly paid, as are the stockers. Should I tip them too?

I tip wait staff for precisely the reasons given by nytraveler. That is a special case.

I thought this would be over.
1. Legal payment for waitstaff in SOME states is less than the federal minimum wage. They are taxed on expected tips, so we tip them.
2. Hotel staff make minimum wage or more. They are not taxed on expected tips. I pay for a clean room, that's what I should get, without bribing anyone.
3. It is NOT being cheap to not throw money away on tips to everyone, everywhere.
4. Tip whomever you like for whatever you like; do not assume that it is standard practice, or insult those who do not follow your habits.

So insulting people here (who have common sense) is pointless and unreasonable.

I'm going to take a wild guess that none of the non-tippers here ever worked cleaning hotel rooms. If you can afford to stay in a hotel, you can afford a couple bucks to the maid.

<It is NOT being cheap to not throw money away on tips to everyone, everywhere.>

No one here has mentioned "everyone, everywhere". And you can choose not to participate in tipping the maid, but it is "standard practice".

I will not even comment on not tipping waiters because you're never going back to that restaurant again. That's a new low.

"If you can afford to stay in a hotel, you can afford a couple bucks to the maid."

That particular canard is not the point.

What is "standard practice" is not dictated by the habits and wishes of some.

<<<Does that mean you can steal something from a store since you will never go back there again?>>>

This is about the most ridiculous retort I've read. Stealing something in this case would be walking out of the hotel without paying the bill. You can't steal something someone wasn't legally entitled to in the first place.

"And you can choose not to participate in tipping the maid, but it is "standard practice"."

Clearly not. There is no dispute here (to speak of) about tipping wait staff. There is considerable dispute about tipping hotel cleaning staff.

""If you can afford to stay in a hotel, you can afford a couple bucks to the maid."

That particular canard is not the point."

Agreed.

And why are we calling the cleaning staff "maids"? So old-fashioned, not to mention sexist.

I call them maids because my travel is most often in Mexico, and that is what they are called. They are always women (so not sure how that's "sexist").

I'm in the crowd that did not know about tipping housekeeping until I read it here and I lived almost exclusively in hotels for nearly 3 years.

Nowadays, if I have some loose change I may leave some but I'm not going to go out of my way to find the change.

To tip someone who folds down the bed sheets at a night time, I just can't understand it, why it even needs to be done is another matter. Do you also tip the person who checks and replenishes the room bar/ snacks because I know they are paid very little, also the person who cleans the pool, the person who is on swimming pool patrol, the person who hands out the towels, the list goes on and on, they are all paid very little.

I am reading fantastic logic here.Like if you are walking away w/o paying a tip you are stealing....and you are tipping f because the staff or taxi driver is poorly paid or that it is a standard procedure. by that logic if you are in a third world country you must pay to the station masters ticket collectors, etc etc. because all of them are poorly paid compared to you. Someone even calls non tippers as cheap...Do we not know that we are paying for each and every service that we get anywhere. So I guess that people who tip are those people who expect tips when they are providing services themselves

Geordie, The kind of hotels I stay in don't have fold down service or minibars or snacks. No I don't tip maintenance people who take care of the common areas of a hotel, only the nice lady who cleans my room.

Here is a suggestion Next time you are in a hotel/restaurant ask for a break up of charges and you will discover that all services are being charged for as service overhead. Now if you are again tempted to pay anyone out of pleasure is your call...but not paying it should not make you hang your head in shame or you can't be stealing anything

I know why I am keeping up this argument. Because I am hoping even one person reading might change their mind and tip housekeeping in the future.

But I don't understand why the non-tippers keep posting. You don't tip, you are OK with that, why keep on & on about it?

Could ask you the same question; why are you so insistent that something you do is the correct thing?
There are obviously many who do not agree with you. Please let us know when you go to the back of the dry cleaners and tip the folks in the back. Or the stocker at the grocery, if you are there when they are working.
There are many jobs that pay lousy wages; that doesn't mean we have to open up our wallets and throw money at them.
There is no logic to your argument.

logic is an excuse to not be nice...

Churches are the wealthiest property and possession owners in the world, but people continue to tip them on a weekly basis... our local priest has a condo on the beach, takes two annual tropical vacations and drives a free car... but every week the basket is passed and comes back full... LOGIC?

LOL I agree garyt22. The priest is making merry on tips that people have given to God for services rendered ot to be rendered.Temples in India have billions o and billions while masses starve.

Because there is no sense to the argument for tipping the dry cleaner, grocery store stocker, maintenance at the hotel, because that's not ever been a custom.

Tipping hotel housekeeping staff is something that many people do in many places. You can choose not to participate, but pretending we've just made it up here on Fodor's is ridiculous.

"I know why I am keeping up this argument. Because I am hoping even one person reading might change their mind and tip housekeeping in the future."

you are starting to sound delusional insisting to ignore facts and harping on others. you are a great poster. disengage from this. the above quote is beyond dramatic

I'm still not going to tip the maid. LOL

Frankly, I think the solution is that everyone stop tipping. This would make all of the above I listed quit their jobs. This would force all employers to pay a fair wage and we could end this nonsense.

Let me also say I worked as a grocery stocker/bagger for several years in High School/College. This was 20 years ago, but in our small little town, I might have received $5 in tips a year. It wasn't expected. I was glad to have a minimum wage job.