DELee

That would have been a really good tip.

David

Adam1222

​​​​​​This is repulsive.

WilcoRoger

Why specifically in the UK?

I also consider "not paying a living wage in the service sector" a weird US habit - might be of course the wrong word to use. As you correctly point out it's baked in to your laws - and I really wish such laws would remain the "privilege" of US workers only.

Milesaway76

Define a living wage. You can't and nor can anyone else because we all have different standards of living. Go sit down.

WilcoRoger

https://livingwage.mit.edu

always glad to help the less fortunate

Milesaway76

LOL um yeah the livable wage ok. Bless your heart.

ajamieson

No, we understand - you do not. We think the entire system is awful and tacky, not the workers. The objection is to the system.

MSPeconomist

It's not just past tense: I found a Bonvoy tip envelope in my suite last weekend. To name and shame the property, it was the US Grant (LC) in San Diego. No QR code.

BTW, when did housekeepers become Ambassadors? Or are they being paid so well that they can spend 100+ nights and $20,000 per year in Bonvoy hotels? If so, they don't need tips.

GUWonder

The employers that are the worst behaved in doing this kind of thing are not publicly-traded companies. Small, privately-held companies in the industry -- and their contractors -- are even worse on average with employment practices than companies with publicly traded stock.

I too dislike the employer culture that tries to make employees dependent upon customer tips for the bulk of their income. The "tipping culture" is unhealthy for society and bad for most employees who become dependent upon tips for the bulk of their take-home money.

Visconti

LOL...Lofty over the top embellished titles are definitely an American thing, much like our time honored tipping culture. I still remember when Citibank during the mid 2000s decided to call their personal bankers CFAs; I rushed out to open up a retail Citi Gold account assuming that a Chartered Financial Analyst was going to handle my deposit account. Of course, they told me it was something else, and, I suppose, no one bothered to tell them that CFAs were already a recognized financial industry designation. So, why not Ambassadors for a clean hotel?

There were some reasons to be but perhaps I've become cynical enough to equate M&As with improving corporate synergies to always translate to consumers paying more and getting less. I've yet to seen an exception to this in the long term, at least not in the States.

It's just one of those things, I suppose. I was ok with it until they busted out the tip jars, wanted extra for making my $6 coffee and trying to gaslight me into tipping 20%+ on the total bill inclusive of tax, health care charge and alcohol. This is where they've lost me, and in these situations, I lower their tip to 10%. If they complain, I tell the owner or manager, I'm never returning.

X-ON

I am always perplexed by opaque pricing practices in the US. Tip, resort fees, destination fees etc. How about the radical idea to account for all these things in the room rate ....

northinsouth

Not the quoted, but as an American, I agree, the system is terrible, particularly when it comes to bartenders, servers, etc. That's a completely fair critique that some places are addressing, especially in the face of Covid where they could not fill positions (at least in my city).

My only rebuttal was to the commenter who suggested that because they find the system hideous, they should be exempt from it. That behavior is poor form, IMHO, as it comes at real expense of someone's wages. But the larger critique is valid.

clarkef

I completely agree. While one may find the tipping system to be odious - and there are many reasons to do so - the system is the system and failing to follow the societal norms does real damage to the working poor, many of whom are our servers, housekeepers, etc.

Adam1222

My response was to the quote I've pasted above yours here--which plainly castigates the workers, not the system. That poster continues to make anti-worker comments. Selectively quoting my response out of context doesn't really add much to the conversation.

SPN Lifer

If everyone is "special", no one is special.

Beaucoup Bonv°y!