question: tipping the dock master

I have very rarely been someplace where there are dockhands to assist. As such, the concept of tipping them just never occurred to me. It has only been in the last few years hanging out here on TF that I’ve learned that tipping is a “thing” at a marina. As such, we try to keep $5 bills on the boat to use as tips on the rare occasion.

menzies said:

So no tips from you in Australia for taxi drivers, restaurant wait staff, or hotel porters and chambermaids.

Interesting.

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I'm not sure about taxi drivers but restaurant staff, hotel porters and chambermaids are paid $18-$24/hour in Australia. Tips are not necessary.

Clearly there weren't just a lot of Irish sent to Botony Bay, but a bunch of Scots as well.

menzies said:

Clearly there weren't just a lot of Irish sent to Botony Bay, but a bunch of Scots as well.

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The Scots are in america.
Look to your pay rates for evidence of this.

Americans don’t get it

menzies said:

So no tips from you in Australia for taxi drivers, restaurant wait staff, or hotel porters and chambermaids.

Interesting.

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Much, if not most of the world does NOT tip. In most places, people are paid a salary for their services and do not depend on hand outs from strangers.

menzies said:

I put $2300 worth of diesel in today. The fuel dock attendant caught the lines, and tied us up and then chatted with my wife for the hour or so it took to fuel up, moved the fuel line between the three tank fills, then helped us off. Really, given what I slapped my credit card down for, a tip is reasonable.

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At most, the attendant, typically a middle-aged man, hands me the fuel nozzle which I deploy while handling the hose, to the several tank inlets. And then, he processes the credit-card charge. No thought of a tip. And in Emeryville, fueling is self-service (not typical here).

menzies said:

I put $2300 worth of diesel in today. The fuel dock attendant caught the lines, and tied us up and then chatted with my wife for the hour or so it took to fuel up, moved the fuel line between the three tank fills, then helped us off. Really, given what I slapped my credit card down for, a tip is reasonable.

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WOW! This deserves its own thread IMO! How long or how far will that $2300 take you?

stanfromhell said:

Whats the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?
Canoes tip.
Tipping is an American custom that fortunately the rest of the world does not embrace.

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And at times when running around Europe you will insult people if you tip them.

Gordon J said:

Much, if not most of the world does NOT tip. In most places, people are paid a salary for their services and do not depend on hand outs from strangers.

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Quoted for truth.

South of Heaven said:

WOW! This deserves its own thread IMO! How long or how far will that $2300 take you?

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Depends on a number of things, for example generator use (heat index of 113f here yesterday!).

That paid for 700 gallons on top of the 150 that was there. That is a similar amount to what I had on board for the two months on the Bahamas earlier this year. That got us down there, around there and back with the 150 left. That was using the Genny whenever we needed to, not as much as this time since there was wind a lot of the time.

Going cruise speed outside most of the way to the Chesapeake (approx 700 miles) two months slow cruising there, planning minimal time in marinas, I will probably need to add some before heading back or on the way back.

"If you ever go to Italy and berth in a marina do not let the marinaro's touch your lines at all no matter how much they insist because the moment they do they demand a tip for 'assistance'.
Politely say no thank you, as long as they insist keep offering a polite no thank you.Eventually they will give up."

The most common way to travel in Italy and not be bothered endlessly is to fly the German flag.

The dock rats see it and don't bother to move.

I must be a cheap bastard. At my home dock, every 3 months, I tip the 4 'dock boys' and the office secretary $100 bucks each, plus when I leave the boat for 2 months each year, I give them my canned goods and the good stuff from the fridge.
All tips are shared. It is my habit to give the money to one of the dock boys for distribution. One guy thought he deserved more than the others. When this was discovered, he was fired, on the spot.

Simi 60 said:

Hotel staff no, but then I can't justify staying in Australian hotels, its cheaper for us to fly to south east Asia and rent a pool villa and even then in the vast majority of cases, tips have been refused. I have been chased out of restaurants, hotels and bars when leaving small money behind and that small money has been returned.

Different story now in tourist areas, Americans giving tips has now made it almost expected to tip, I suspect staff may have had wages cut in these areas.

Taxis? Don't catch them in australia,always use uber and no actual transaction takes place.


Restaurants? I can cook a far better meal onboard in most instances but if I do eat out and pay by card there is no facility here for tipping.
If paying cash I'll round up, but more as I don't want a pocket full of coin.


Most of my life in trade and service industry, never received or expected a tip.
Like I said, first world countries pay a proper wage.

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Uber accepts tips with their app , here is the link to how it is done….
https://www.ridester.com/uber-tipping/

Pgitug said:

We give a $5 tip when the dock help comes out with a good attitude and is pleasant. Which is 99% of the time.

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Ditto me.

Simi 60 said:

First world countries pay sufficient wages so tipping is not necessary.

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Simi 60 said:

Like I said, first world countries pay a proper wage.

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AusCan said:

I'm not sure about taxi drivers but restaurant staff, hotel porters and chambermaids are paid $18-$24/hour in Australia. Tips are not necessary.

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I think restaurant wait staff here are paid something like $2.75/hour. Might have just risen closer to $3/hour...

That's not a typo.

I dunno what our dock hands are paid, but many, maybe most, are summer hire.

-Chris

Woodland Hills said:

The American custom is to not pay employees a living wage forcing customers to make up the difference.

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But then again I do not believe "dock hand " at a marina is a career through which one expects to buy a home and send children to college. My experience has been is that tipping is for the service personnel, not management. The OP did specifically ask about a "Dockmaster" whom I would consider management. We once tried to tip a dock hand who had "Dockmaster" prominently displayed on his chest. He politely refused. Faux pas.

friz said:

But then again I do not believe "dock hand " at a marina is a career through which one expects to buy a home and send children to college. My experience has been is that tipping is for the service personnel, not management. The OP did specifically ask about a "Dockmaster" whom I would consider management. We once tried to tip a dock hand who had "Dockmaster" prominently displayed on his chest. He politely refused. Faux pas.

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Perhaps not in your area but around here Dockmaster is just a title for someone attending the dock. At many of our local public docks there is only one person attending the dock at a time and as each one comes on schedule they wear a shirt saying "dockmaster".
Not management but just college kids working summer shifts.

friz said:

But then again I do not believe "dock hand " at a marina is a career through which one expects to buy a home and send children to college. My experience has been is that tipping is for the service personnel, not management. The OP did specifically ask about a "Dockmaster" whom I would consider management. We once tried to tip a dock hand who had "Dockmaster" prominently displayed on his chest. He politely refused. Faux pas.

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Why shouldn’t a marina dock worker be able to send her kids to state college or buy a small home if they work there for decades? In other countries service workers can expect health care, paid vacations, a living wage, etc why not in America? I can never figure out why we Americans feel that some workers are just not worthy of earning a good life..... Society would come to a halt without these citizens, yet we force them to constantly struggle to get the bare minimum: I just don’t get it.

I tip everybody. Hell, I'll send you a few bucks for starting this thread.

So how many of you tip your doctors, lawyers, veterinarians or accountants?

Mkeller said:

So how many of you tip your doctors, lawyers, veterinarians or accountants?

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I don't tip the doctor but I always bring candy for the nurses and PAs.

Our local Mohel gets to keep the tips.

alormaria said:

I tip everybody. Hell, I'll send you a few bucks for starting this thread.

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Thanks Al, I agree!!

Mkeller said:

So how many of you tip your doctors, lawyers, veterinarians or accountants?

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This is silly, and the logic is flawed. The world is not black or white. If I bring my boat to a yard for work, I'll tip the dockhand that helps me arrive and depart. Not the mechanic who bills me for services rendered.

As a professional forester for over 20 years, I was never tipped but I was offered a bribe on 3 different occasions which I did turn down. In fact it pissed me off that they even thought I would accept a bribe.

BUT, if the land owner handed me a fishing pole, it was his way of saying he wanted company as he fished.

Those that tip should appreciate those that don't. After all, they're the reason for the preferential treatment you receive.

Mkeller said:

So how many of you tip your doctors, lawyers, veterinarians or accountants?

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Zero people tip them.
They think screw you for getting an education, and helping me with very serious issues. But the people who are not doing anything important, and making at the very least $12.65 /hour (minimum wage in B.C. Canada) they feel a need to tip them. I would rather tip my Doctors, Lawyers, Dentist, Auto mechanic, Boat mechanic, and the others who handle important things for me, over someone who just did their job filling up my car or boat with fuel, or cleaning my hotel room on a trip. Now when I spend time in Mexico, which is frequently, I tip almost everyone there, because they make so little. But when home in B.C. I rarely tip unless it was extraordinarily good service!

Some traditions are hard to change. Restaurants have tried to go to "no tipping" policies and while at first customers applauded it, soon they found new customers not coming due to their higher prices. Meanwhile many of the better waiters and waitresses disliked it.

Uber tried it and had to relent.

The strongest argument for tipping is that it allows the persons providing better service to be rewarded vs those who don't.

Executive compensation uses a "tipping system" of sorts. Base pay plus bonuses.

Most of our business is in non-tipping segments, where, in fact, we don't allow employees to accept tips. A common place for tips today is delivery. Prime Now, Instacart, various others, all have tipping expectations which is a delusion so they don't have to reflect the true service or delivery charge. Prime Now promotes "free delivery" but then suggests a $5 tip. Instacart has a service fee and another fee which doesn't go to the delivery person and a tip. Tries to create the illusion it's not costing you. That on top of jacked up prices. So, we deliver and accepting a tip is a fireable offense. Remember when you tipped bag boys for carrying groceries to your car but one by one the grocers stopped it?

We do business in one tipping segment however. That's beauty salons and spas. We do pay decent salaries and, unlike many, all our service people are on salary, no contractors. However, tipping is deeply ingrained and any attempt to change that is opposed by both the customer and the employee. There is something about it that strengthens the relationships. It's also where the operator with a large number of regular customers really increases their income. Without tips, there would be a much smaller variation in income for the best vs the average operator. These tips really do seem to be merit based. Many even get extra bonuses from regulars at the holidays. It is a strange way of doing business for those of us who didn't work in service industries in the US. However, like restaurants, bell persons, and taxi drivers, it has become standard and accepted and it works ok for many. I don't have a better answer and I can't change the industry. It's a very personal industry and the exchange of money from customer to employee rather than all through the company just seems right.

Taxi drivers are one I've given more thought too. Perhaps you could nickel and dime every possible service, but tips work pretty well to distinguish. If the driver helps us with luggage or shopping bags or holds an umbrella or has to deal with insane traffic, I like that they can be rewarded. One place I tip very generously is short drives in NYC. You hail a cab and then only go 6 blocks. That is annoying to a driver, even if they don't indicate so. I will tip as much as the fare or more. On a busy afternoon the drivers don't want to get hailed by people going to the airport. After taking you, they're stuck trying to work their way back. I make sure to reward them and make it less painful.

As to dockmaster, generally we don't tip but tip dockhands generously. We will occasionally for exceptional work beyond the norm just as we will tip the HVAC guy or plumber.

I also make a point to send emails to those higher up in organizations expressing appreciation.

Some jobs are not intended for career services. There are many minimum wage jobs that are not marine related such as fast food restaurants, store clerks for starters. Do those who tip dock people extend these same gifts to other low paid employees?

I don’t and I don’t tip dock help nor those who hand a gas nozzle to me so I can pump fuel. Personally I believe tipping can get out of control. Just my thoughts and we all have our own.

EDIT: Our small business often uses plumbers that charge $75/hour. They don’t get tips either.

I find tipping to be a very bizarre and illogical method of compensation, as commonly used.

First is the commonplace practice of sharing tips. If I tip a waiter (or dock person) for above average service and the tip is shared with everyone, the above average service is not rewarded. If the pay is the same regardless of effort, then no incentive is created. Might as well charge more for the moorage, pay the attendants more, and be honest about what it costs.

Next is tipping with the expectation of better service next time. There are situations where that does create incentive, but you must be a repeat customer, frequent enough to be recognized. Tipping a taxi driver in New York, or the dock person when you transit an area, you will never see that person again. Tipping them is charity pure and simple.

Then, the tip is usually added at the end of the service rendered. This causes the service person to speculate: is this customer likely to tip? will my behavior influence the tip? Most services are negotiated on price in advance, not after the fact.

Finally, there is the expectation of the service provider - if a tip is expected (or de facto required) for a service, why is it called a tip? Shouldn't it be called a fee?

On the US east coast, it was very rare for any dock personnel to assist, so no tips were contemplated. On the US west coast I've *never* had dock personnel assist in 40 years. In Canada, on both coasts, this is far more common - and yet I have never seen a tip changing hands in Canada.