TL;DR – see title. Example of small
business taking advantage of employees while shifting blame to the customer.
I recently took a chartered fishing trip on vacation with some friends. There were 4 of us in our party. The boat had space for 6 people total, so there was another couple on board as well. The cost of the outing was $300 per person per day. We scheduled 2 days, so it cost a total of $2400. Just to give some context, this was on top of a $1200 airfare round trip, rental car ($600/person), Airbnb ($450/person), and various food and other costs ($ hundreds). Not a cheap trip, but my friends and I are lucky enough to be able to afford such things about once per year.
When we arrived on board, the captain “Betty” gave us her schpiel about safety, the boat, etc, and ended by saying that her two deck hands “work on tips, so be sure to tip them on the way out”. Ok, cool. I only had an extra $80 with me, so I planned to use that. We then began the trip.
It was fun, we caught fish, saw some beautiful scenery, and headed back to the harbor. When I was leaving I handed the deck hands each 40 bucks. After we were off the ship I found that the other members of my party had only tipped $40 total (so each deck hand only made $60 from us). Apparently that was all the cash between the 3 of them. Ok, not the best tip, but we’d make it up to them because we had another outing with them planned for the day after next.
I put it out of my mind until about an hour later I received a text from the captain that read:
“We enjoyed having your group on board, however the other group (the couple) tipped $100, and your group only tipped $120. Just sayin…”
Now I recognize that we fumbled the ball with the tip at this time, but I was incensed. I have worked jobs with tips so I know how important they are. But for the employer to text a client after the fact and guilt trip them about tip amount? No. Fuck that. Not only is it insanely tactless but it shows how little the business owner gives a shit about her employees. The customer should not be responsible for an employee’s take home pay. If the business owner is so concerned about their workers making more money each day, FUCKING PAY THEM MORE. Such a move on her part is a way for her to pretend that them making a low wage is “out of her hands” and that “she’s on their side.” Bullshit. It’s manipulative.
Her deck hands busted their asses for her 9-10 hours per day, doing hard, potentially dangerous work. I later found out the deck hands’ rate was $20/hour, and that they work every day during the summer, only taking a day off every 20 days for maintenance. With inflation and gas these days, that is not a good rate. I did not ask if she pays them overtime but I highly doubt it. In her state she’d be mandated to pay overtime over 8 h per day or over 40h per week.
We ended up making sure that we had more cash on the second day and more than doubled the tip to make up for it. The deck hands were awesome, thankful, and never mentioned anything the entire time.
I think this highlights the fucked up tip system we have in the United States. I would have gladly paid more for the outing if that meant the deck hands were making a living wage. It was a slap in the face from an employer who in my opinion is taking advantage of her employees and shifting the blame to the customer.
Let me be clear. I support tipping, and will continue to do so. I think we also need to have an honest conversation about what it really means. The confusing lack of solid “guidelines” or “rules” around tipping gives employers more of an out when it comes to not paying employees a fair wage. Didn’t make enough for your expenses this week? Oh well must be because of the stingy customers.
Some people say 15% is a fair tip, some say 20% or more at least. And then there are the variables of quality of service and setting. It really doesn’t make any fucking sense. I’m an American and have lived with it my whole life and I still have trouble understanding it.