in response to mousekeeping

[tinksgilrs08]

Hello all as I sit here tonight checking the boards for all the useful information that comes here everyday i came across a topic of mousekeeping and I just wanted to let you guys knowthat as a fellow housekeeper that lives upnorth i appreciate that a majority of you do leave a tip for housekeeping, But when I got the second page and I read on a came across a few posts said that why do we need to tip housekeeping well let me tell you that when i clean rooms up here in the north i try to make a room as comfortable for that person who comes back from a hard day at work or a busy day with family and freinds beacuse I understand that they do not have the comforts of home with them and making a small room clean and neat is what i look forward to when i come home so why not other people to . You would be surprised what I have to clean but I do it becuase its my job and being tipped makes me feel like i am appreciated for the hard work that we do. Just think about that the next time you stay at a hotel and the beds are made and new towels are hung and the floors are vacumed .

 

[tinksgilrs08]

I understad what your saying and yes I did read that you do tip but not all housekeepers are comforatble with moving your stuf I know for me that id there is a laptop on the bed i will not move it and leave a note I would hate for something to happen to it becuase i do not have the money to replace it even though disney would probably replace and yes disney is held to a higher standard but a request isq request its not a quarentee and when yu hve a list of occupied rooms and then vacent rooms at that its a hard job to do and to do time requests is asking alot ..... have you ever cleaned rooms for a livinf until you do you have no idea wha its like

 

[durangojim]

I understad what your saying and yes I did read that you do tip but not all housekeepers are comforatble with moving your stuf I know for me that id there is a laptop on the bed i will not move it and leave a note I would hate for something to happen to it becuase i do not have the money to replace it even though disney would probably replace and yes disney is held to a higher standard but a request isq request its not a quarentee and when yu hve a list of occupied rooms and then vacent rooms at that its a hard job to do and to do time requests is asking alot ..... have you ever cleaned rooms for a livinf until you do you have no idea wha its like

I haven't ever cleaned rooms for a living, but I can guarantee you I've performed more foul jobs, that would make most people vomit and or pass out, and been paid less for them than you have. But what does that have to do with anything? There are many people who have difficult disgusting jobs, ever watch "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery channel? I can guarantee you that the guy who cleans septic tanks for a living isn't asking his customers for a tip. So yes you have a tough job, but don't expect my pity for something that is your choice. I live in Michigan as well and I know the economy is tough, but you can always change professions or jobs if you really want to.
I thought this whole thread was about wether or not people felt complied to tip mousekeeping. Seems to me that someone can't post their opinion and their rationale without causing you to be offended and defensive, so what gives?

 

[shoppingnut]

We tend to leave a tip for mousekeeping and when I was with my sister and nephew I can only tell you the room looked like a bomb hit it most days and mousekeeping really did a great job in straightening up. I feel they went beyond the norm, so I left an extra tip.

 

[BuzzLite_Fran]

Well I never knew that this is a suaght off subject. The point I am trying to make i this many housekeeping staff d not expect a tip becuase we do get paid bu the hour and many times people dont realize that at the start of the day a housekeeper is given a list of 20-25 rooms. If everybody wanted there room clean by noon that would be very hard for one housekeeper to do this. Being a housekeeper i do not walk in a room and expect a tip but its nice when i find one. I clean the room as if I was staying there. Its unfortunate that some housekeepers base there cleaning on the size of a tip. And I am very sorry for that but as far as arranging things in the room it is our policy that we cannot move a guest belongings so if you have stuff on the beds when you leave that may cause you not to hav your bed changed or made, and as far as trash goes its very hard for us to tell what is trash and what is not if you have things that needto be thrown out put it all together around the trash can and leave a note TRASH... And as far as the cute little things that they do with towels and things you might have gotton a new housekeeper that does not know how to do those things I asked a mousekeeper and she said that its not part of disney trianing and its basiclly up to the other housekeepers to show them how... So if your basing yur tip because you did not get your twoels folded into a animal thats very sad. Its like I said a tip is a tip whether you tip or not is up to you but its nice. I can sit here and tell you all horror stories of some of the things that I have had to clean like toilets that are plugged with people bodily fluids , blood on the sheets and so on and so on so just think about that . everybody today works hard and I am not saying that every job needs to be a tip but when you are taking care of other people and doing some of the things that some peoples job entails tip is nice , and for those housekeepers out there if your basing your perfomance on a tip amount thats sad because its people that books the rroms and pay for them and its them (us included) that pays our paychecks. So if your performance cause the hotel to have a bad rap its nobody elses fault.

i understand what you are saying, and to that i will just say, that i would never gauge any tips on things the housekeepers cant control etc, but i can say in my experience last NOV when the trash is in the trash can ITS TRASH, which we had to complain several times to get it emptied over 8 days, as well as the things I wrote in my previous post. I guess I understand where you are coming from, and its great you take pride in your work, but lately it seems like SOME of the housekeeping staff do not. I know it is not customary for them to move guest's items, etc, and leave towel critters, but when you have always gotten great housekeeping service for 5 years then suddenly you get very poor service......it kinda makes you wonder... I had also heard that Disney had contracted with an outside agency for housekeeping and that they have been getting ALOT of compaints lately.

 

[tinksgilrs08]

Nothing gives All that I am saying is that tip if you do tip if you dont it doe snot matter to me and sir you can have your opionian as can I... I am not going to sit here and argue with you about working a disgusting job becuase I know that there are many more disgusting jobs out there then mine. And please dont tell me about changing jobs and it is so easy to do becuase it is not.. So if you live in MI you know howhard it is to find a job and just change if I want to. especailly right now with what myhusband and I are going through trying to make a descion to take his arm off I cant just up and change jobs. But that is my bussiness . All that I am saying is that if a housekeeper does a good job why not show her or him that you appreciate it and leave two dollars what harm will that do. And if by all means they do not do a good job then dont I have stayed at many hotels where i have left only 1 dollar and told the front desk staff about what went on and hopefully they would tell that housekeeper so she/he can make changes in how they do there job. And yes I also work front desk and when that has happened I always let the housekeepe know so that they can maybe do a bteer job so maybe they will get more tips I never meant to make you upset or tell you not to have your own opionian its just how I felt

 

[MainSt1993]

I dunno - I leave a minimum of $5/night, up to $20/night if I'm in a suite. These people work long, hard hours, and I feel they deserve my thanks. Also, I leave a tip each day, because you don't necessarily have the same person each day. I look at tipping for service as part of the cost of going out or going on a trip. For instance, if I can't afford to leave a $2+ tip on a mixed drink (depends on complexity of the drink), I can't afford to go to the bar. Employers - including Disney - hold down wages on positions where a tip can be reasonably expected, and housekeeping is one of them.

 

[tinksgilrs08]

thank you

 

[Kriszee1]

ok sorry for misinterpeting your original post

Don't worry...most people don't know about it! I looked at your profile....have a great time....wish I could be there!

 

[kimmychad]

This reminds me of a great example of people "expecting" a tip...

We were in a group of friends (about 8) that went to a comedy club for dinner and a show.

At last call, the wives figured out how much everybody owed (Yay! I didn't have to do it) and the husbands did as we were told and threw the money in.
After the show ended and we were getting ready to leave, the manager showed up with the waiter in tow and asked if everything had been okay. We said 'Sure!' He said that "a 15% tip only indicates fair service" and that its customary to tip 20% or more for excellent service. He was wondering what the problem was.
My first thought was "did we not leave enough money?" If so, this had been entirely inadvertent.
But then I realized, no, they just weren't happy with the 15% (or so) tip they received. And that made me (and the rest of us) angry.
A tip is voluntary and we tipped fairly. If we didn't tip to your satisfaction I'm sorry, but to POINT THAT OUT to us was obnoxious.

We never went back.

wow thats really ignorant on the managers part. i probably would have taken it all back. tipping is voluntary. what dont people understand about that?

 

[Disneyfanman]

I always build tips into my budget for the trip. I always tip a few dollars a day for housekeeping, and sometimes more. An example of excellent service encourages me to up the tip, and housekeeping is no different then table service at a restaurant.

A recent example is when we stayed at the AKL. As we were moving into our room, the housekeeper was a couple of rooms down. She stopped by and introduced herself (Maria, who has worked for Disney for 10 years) and said that she would be our mousekeeper for 3 of the next 4 days. She asked if we had any questions about the resort (my wife had a couple) and was very nice and very helpful. Animals did appear in our beds the next few days, and I tipped a little more than usual (5 dollars, 6, 7, and 8 on the last day). My kids looked for her to say goodbye on the last day (These are Teens and 20 year old kids, and for them to search out their mousekeeper was pretty impressive).

Did Maria's stopping by increase the tips? Sure. Did she ask or hint at tips? Not at all. Would the service have been as good without them? I never gave it a chance to find out, but the truth is that I never worry about that stuff. I have always tipped housekeepers at hotels and probably always will. A friend of mine who never tips the staff once told me that my leaving tips made it seem like everyone should, and that I was increasing the cost for everyone. He seemed irritated by the practice. I don't care. I work in the hospitality industry and believe in tipping the staff. I'm also the guy who doesn't care about the 18% auto tip on restaurant tabs (I increase it for great service, and complain to the manager about poor service). Again, I just figure 20% in when I budget for the meal. If I am worried about the budget (sometimes!) then we just eat at cheaper places.

My opinion? Tip the staff if you like the service. Housekeeping, baggage guys, waiters, etc. I always figure 10 bucks a day plus 20% on restaurant meals covers everybody if you stay at a nice hotel.

An interesting side note is that some upscale resorts now charge you for tips when you pay the bill. Disney doesn't do that, but I bet it will come to pass at some of their more expensive resorts. The last time I went to Hawaii, they added 20 bucks a day to the room charge, and it was itemized that way on the bill. They advised me about it when I booked, and it was on their website. When I inquired, they told me that it ensured that all the service staff received tips equally, and that it DID NOT include any restaurant tips. Hmmm.

 

[JDM]

wow thats really ignorant on the managers part. i probably would have taken it all back. tipping is voluntary. what dont people understand about that?

I really thought of taking it back, but we were so flabbergasted that someone would have such nerve....we just wanted to get out of there.

I wish I had it to do over again...

 

[Sam02]

I tip mousekeeping/housekeeping per day. As far as tipping others in the service industry, no I don't tip everyone. I read someone's post here mentioning how doctors, nurses, teachers, etc were in the service industry as well. Yes and they get tipped as well, IMO. Most of us with school age children have bought Christmas, end of the year and Teacher's Appreciation gifts for their teachers. I have brought pizza or cakes to a nurses station for the staff when one of my family members have been hospitalized. I've been known to take cookies to my doctors appointments or brownies. I usually leave some sort of gift for the postman in our mailbox at Christmas time. To me those are all forms of tips. It's a little something extra to show them I appreciate what they do for me or mine.

Did you tip everytime you went to the Dr.s office? Did you give a Teacher Appreciation Gift to your child's high school teachers, every single one of them? Did you tip everytime you went into a hospital? I can hazard a guess that the answer is probably a no. What you did was nice and most likely very much appreciated. Gifts really are not tips though. I doubt very much that as a tip for a waiter/waitress you leave food or apple knick knacks.

Like I said, you did something incredibly nice and thank you for that. But as a high school teacher I can tell you that I have never once recieved a end of the year gift. Am I upset? Nope, I didn't go into teaching to get gifts from parents. I think that anytime you go into a job expecting tips (not talking waitstaff here) than your priorities are a little misplaced and it might be time to change career directions.

I will also add to defend my honor from another poster that I am in no way cheap or unappreciative. I leave tips when someone goes above and beyond what they are already paid to do. The company pays the wages of housekeepers to clean my room, I do not. Therefore I shouldn't have to leave money for that job to be done. But if I leave a request and it was given or they did something else above their job duties than I will by all means compensate them for their troubles.

 

[kimmychad]

I appreciate Mousekeeping very much. Its just a shame many people are either cheap or feel they spent enough money already. And some people are just ignorant. I tend to especially tip better to wait staff overall because I use to be a waitor and i have learned to appreciate what they have to go through.

we usually tip mousekeeping a couple dollars a day, but i just ask keep asking myself where does it stop. im not cheap or ignorant, but i just dont feel that because someone is in a particular job that they automatically deserve a tip.

 

[durangojim]

we usually tip mousekeeping a couple dollars a day, but i just ask keep asking myself where does it stop. im not cheap or ignorant, but i just dont feel that because someone is in a particular job that they automatically deserve a tip.

Kind of makes you wonder if we should be tipping all of the janitorial staff that keeps the park clean for all of us, or the cast members that have given you a magical moment, or the dream squad that give us fast passes. Reminds me of Steve Martin's character in the movie My Blue Heaven:
"It's not tipping I believe in. It's overtipping." and "I tip everybody!"

 

[kimmychad]

Kind of makes you wonder if we should be tipping all of the janitorial staff that keeps the park clean for all of us, or the cast members that have given you a magical moment, or the dream squad that give us fast passes. Reminds me of Steve Martin's character in the movie My Blue Heaven:
"It's not tipping I believe in. It's overtipping." and "I tip everybody!"

exactly. I work at a hospital as a housekeeper and i've never been offered a tip, nor would i expect one. we tip waitstaff, but not usually 20%, and housekeeping. and thats about as far as i'm willing to go. i could easily be tipping people that make more than me, and that makes no sense. like someone earlier said, companies can raise wages if they'd like and then i'll know what im expected to pay and i can chose if i'd like to go there or not. none of this waitstaff following people out of the restaurant because they didn't receive enough of a tip or tipping housekeeping to do a good job.