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Forums Hotel loyalty schemes IHG One Rewards Kimpton Fitzroy discretionary service charge on room rate Reply To: Kimpton Fitzroy discretionary service charge on room rate

JDB 6,162 posts

@Swiss Jim – yes, I do tip the refuse collectors and postman at Christmas. I also make a good contribution to the staff Christmas collections for clubs/golf clubs. Nurses aren’t allowed to accept tips, so on occasions when children have had great care we have instead written to the hospital management and made a donation to the hospital charity.

Where I control or have influence over wages/salaries, I pay generously not only because it’s the right thing to do but because it has the mutual benefit of recruiting better, more engaged staff and excellent staff retention.

Hospitality is a very precarious business, not only for hotels, but particularly for restaurants and their employees. In central London one needs to pay a fair bit more than minimum wage to attract staff even at the housekeeping level. It’s not a well paid job and is rarely salaried so it’s a worldwide phenomenon that people in hospitality, taxis, hairdressing etc. rely heavily on tips to make ends meet.

You referred in one post to being a rentier while in a previous post to a 5% discretionary service charge (fully distributed to staff) as being “scandalous” and one you wouldn’t pay “on principle”. That sits very uncomfortably with me. Maybe you aren’t mean, but it sounds mean and unmeasured, and perhaps playing to the crowd.

I don’t support the US system. It’s unfortunate that a system that originated partly from some state wage laws that allowed staff to be paid a lower wage if they were eligible for tips, now largely gone has continued. The absolutely level of tips in the US and the pressure to pay such tips even in situations where there has been no service (eg the purchase of a gift card) has made the system a bit ridiculous. Local people get away with paying less than foreigners who often end up paying tips on the tax and expensive wines.

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