Tips and tipping

[Wade Randolph]

Wade, I am glad you brought that up. It does indeed boost my revenue and allows me to pay ALL staff a wage that keeps them here year after year. As you know, I have people that have been with us for twenty years. I think that speaks volumes. I also like Karl's comments.....if you want to build the tip into your pricing structure (as I do), just pay the hourly wage. Stop calling it a tip. TIPS = To Insure Prompt Service! You cannot guarantee that if you do it up front.

Excaliber - your description above is all very understanding....but....let's say a waitress doesn't get tipped. What is the manager/owner to do? Find out what the hell that server did/does that is so bad she wasn't worthy of a dollar. If the hairdresser doesn't get tipped, what is the shop owner to do? Shurg their shoulders I suppose. It is not your job as the owner or manager to collect TIPS for your people. It IS your job to train your staff to EARN tips. I do appreciate your interest in making sure your chauffeurs have a decent income. That is evident by your concern about them getting "stiffed" but again, if you pay them top hourly wages you don't need to worry about whether or not they earn a tip.

Oh, by the way, BostonCoach doesn't even allow a chauffeur to collect a tip. Accepting one is grounds for termination of the chauffeur. I am just really trying to summarize that no other business tips up front.....if YOU want your chauffeurs pockets, pay them! Don't rely on tips! Let that be their bonus earned rather than their "pay".

We call it gratuity, not tip. All of my prices are TOTAL prices on my website. There are no additional fees added for anything. You keep mentioning Boston Coach but you left out EmpireCLS, Diva, Dav-El, Carey, Concorde, GEM, Avalon, Savoya, Limo-Link etc. I wonder how they do it? Hmm..

[MrQ45Limo]

I think that some people just refuse to tip, not because of bad service, but because they are just cheap or they do not have a clue. I had 8 waitresses rent for a girls night out, at the end of the evening they handed the chauffeur a wad of cash and when he counted it they gave him a $6.00 tip on a $580.00 bill. I took the entire staff to the restaurant where they worked, we ran up a sizeable bill and gave them a dose of their own medicine. People that are in the same type of game where a tip can make all the difference should know better, and the excuse of, "We spent all our cash," is no excuse in my book. I have also noticed that some ethnic and foreign people just either refuse to tip or again have no clue. I feel that at the time of the reservation is the time to explain the gratuity process, the simple solution is to recommend the client does a "Sign & Go"....Everything is built in all they have to do is sign the trip sheet, this seems to work the best in our area. When you have a party of over 8 people at most resaurants they build in a gratuity, and in my eye a chauffeur puts up with more crap than any waiter or waitress. There are plenty of ways to smooth over the built in gratuity when making a reservation.
1.) If for any reason you are not satisfied with our chauffers service quality we will refund your gratuity in full.
2.) We build in the gratuity so no one gets over tipped...(Prom situation)
3.) No cash has to be exchanged or concerns about credit card theft when you use the Sign & Go method.

I guess it all depends what you as owners are comfortable with doing, for me I have never had a client come back and say I want my gratuity back, so I guess the training I put my people thru is working, and if I had a chauffeur that clients had a problem with so much so that they think he or she doesn't deserve a gratuity, then I would have to question my reason for keeping this chauffeur employed.

For you owner operators out there I just have this little piece of advice...Don't tell the client you are the owner unless you have to. No one likes getting stiffed and it happens to the best of us, the only solution is to build in a gratuity, but the flip side to this is the client that may tip you more than what you establish as your manditory tip, you may be selling yourself short. My Chauffeurs in general love the built in gratuity and understand my policy about returning 100% of tips for failure to perform at the quality that I expect. I don't like the fact that a client can hold back a gratuity from a chauffeur that may have to get strick with a client or one of their guests for causing some type problem that may damage a vehicle or get someone arrested, this is why the gratuity along with the hourly rate paid in full up front can give you and your chauffeur some feeling of control in a bad situation.

[Wade Randolph]

I think that some people just refuse to tip, not because of bad service, but because they are just cheap or they do not have a clue. I had 8 waitresses rent for a girls night out, at the end of the evening they handed the chauffeur a wad of cash and when he counted it they gave him a $6.00 tip on a $580.00 bill. I took the entire staff to the restaurant where they worked, we ran up a sizeable bill and gave them a dose of their own medicine. People that are in the same type of game where a tip can make all the difference should know better, and the excuse of, "We spent all our cash," is no excuse in my book. I have also noticed that some ethnic and foreign people just either refuse to tip or again have no clue. I feel that at the time of the reservation is the time to explain the gratuity process, the simple solution is to recommend the client does a "Sign & Go"....Everything is built in all they have to do is sign the trip sheet, this seems to work the best in our area. When you have a party of over 8 people at most resaurants they build in a gratuity, and in my eye a chauffeur puts up with more crap than any waiter or waitress. There are plenty of ways to smooth over the built in gratuity when making a reservation.
1.) If for any reason you are not satisfied with our chauffers service quality we will refund your gratuity in full.
2.) We build in the gratuity so no one gets over tipped...(Prom situation)
3.) No cash has to be exchanged or concerns about credit card theft when you use the Sign & Go method.

I guess it all depends what you as owners are comfortable with doing, for me I have never had a client come back and say I want my gratuity back, so I guess the training I put my people thru is working, and if I had a chauffeur that clients had a problem with so much so that they think he or she doesn't deserve a gratuity, then I would have to question my reason for keeping this chauffeur employed.

For you owner operators out there I just have this little piece of advice...Don't tell the client you are the owner unless you have to. No one likes getting stiffed and it happens to the best of us, the only solution is to build in a gratuity, but the flip side to this is the client that may tip you more than what you establish as your manditory tip, you may be selling yourself short. My Chauffeurs in general love the built in gratuity and understand my policy about returning 100% of tips for failure to perform at the quality that I expect. I don't like the fact that a client can hold back a gratuity from a chauffeur that may have to get strick with a client or one of their guests for causing some type problem that may damage a vehicle or get someone arrested, this is why the gratuity along with the hourly rate paid in full up front can give you and your chauffeur some feeling of control in a bad situation.

I love the fact that you paid them back. LOL

[edwinslimo]

Wade, I am glad you brought that up. It does indeed boost my revenue and allows me to pay ALL staff a wage that keeps them here year after year. As you know, I have people that have been with us for twenty years. I think that speaks volumes. I also like Karl's comments.....if you want to build the tip into your pricing structure (as I do), just pay the hourly wage. Stop calling it a tip. TIPS = To Insure Prompt Service! You cannot guarantee that if you do it up front.

Excaliber - your description above is all very understanding....but....let's say a waitress doesn't get tipped. What is the manager/owner to do? Find out what the hell that server did/does that is so bad she wasn't worthy of a dollar. If the hairdresser doesn't get tipped, what is the shop owner to do? Shurg their shoulders I suppose. It is not your job as the owner or manager to collect TIPS for your people. It IS your job to train your staff to EARN tips. I do appreciate your interest in making sure your chauffeurs have a decent income. That is evident by your concern about them getting "stiffed" but again, if you pay them top hourly wages you don't need to worry about whether or not they earn a tip.

Oh, by the way, BostonCoach doesn't even allow a chauffeur to collect a tip. Accepting one is grounds for termination of the chauffeur. I am just really trying to summarize that no other business tips up front.....if YOU want your chauffeurs pockets, pay them! Don't rely on tips! Let that be their bonus earned rather than their "pay".

Thats very interesting what you said about boston coach.It does make sense because they do corporate work exclusively and there cars once dominated the livery pool at logan airport.Although the last couple times i was there i didnt see them.I remember one time i was at terminal c holding a name sign and nest to me was an older gentlemen standing next to me.My name sign said Springfield limousine so him being boston coach he saw me as the springfield version of boston coach so his attention turned to me and he asked"are you going to a small farm town in western mass".I said no im going to chicopee actualy the second biggest city in western,ma and he said."At least springfield has something to look down upon".I did not say much in return because i was so suprised someone would actualy say that

[apdxyk]

Thats very interesting what you said about boston coach.It does make sense because they do corporate work exclusively and there cars once dominated the livery pool at logan airport.

After they stiffed quite a few operators affiliated with them in my area, only newbies sign up with them to learn how it feels to be stiffed on a 90-day monthly bills [against everybody else's advice]. Bad news here..
We have fun replying:"I have never heard of your Co before, you must be new. We can do business with you only on pre-paid basis"

[Geoff Levine]

This has been hammered out so many times...the horse is dead. Try going here first... http://www.limousinesonline.com/show...hlight=tipping

Nuff said!

[BLVD Limo]

Jim, how do you handle your corporate accounts that want an all-inclusive price? Every call I get from corporate clients simply wants an all-inclusive price. They don't want to worry about calling back in to add a tip to a card or giving cash at the time of service as frankly many people don't carry much cash anymore. And what about your farm-out work to other cities where the partner you use in that city includes a standard gratuity?

[Limo Scene]

Tim, we don't provide any breakdown of price. We provide the bottom line price to the client. I do have corporate clients that ask to add a 15% or 20% gratuity and we have a separate line (in FastTrak) marked gratuity and we insert it there. On farm-outs, we always ask what the all-inclusive net price is and we charge the client and we add a 20% mark-up for brokering the deal.

We have many corporate accounts set up that have a standard gratuity added to the net price they have on their contract.

[BLVD Limo]

Do they know that with some of the farm-outs a gratuity has already been included?

[Limo Scene]

I don't really concern myself with whether they know or they don't know. They know the price I quoted them and obviously accepted it. If they ask anyone in our company if the tip is included, the answer is always, "gratuities are left to your discretion based on the service provided". Now, if some guy in Kansas City gets double tipped, I think it will leave him with a smile. When I ask someone a price, I don't want to hear all the b.s. about fuel surcharges, STC, service fees, early morning fees etc.. I want to know how much you are going to put on my Amex card. Tim, you have partied with my wife and I and you know how we love to have a good time. We like to stay at Sandal's Resort in Montego Bay. All the employees run around with these obnoxious badges that say "No tipping" because "a gratuity for your stay has been added". We discreetly tip every day for BETTER service. THAT is how tipping should work. Even though the resort is all-inclusive, we get more alcohol in our drinks and if we drink the same thing by the pool all day, we don't have to go to the bar - they bring it to us knowing we are going to tip. I don't care that the hotel may tip them out everyday too.

[Limo Scene]

After they stiffed quite a few operators affiliated with them in my area, only newbies sign up with them to learn how it feels to be stiffed on a 90-day monthly bills [against everybody else's advice]. Bad news here..
We have fun replying:"I have never heard of your Co before, you must be new. We can do business with you only on pre-paid basis"

I find this both amusing and absurd. BostonCoach is owned by Fidelity National Bank. The checks for services are rendered by the Fidelity. Once a run is complete, you enter your invoice into their system, called AFNET and the check arrives about 15 days later like clockwork. As far as their business model in the Massachusetts area, according to motor vehicle licensing records, BostonCoach has 124 licensed vehicles. The next runner up has 80 vehicles (Commonwealth). I suppose that means they are not doing too bad eh? How many vehicles are you running?

[edwinslimo]

I have raised my prices by 20% rounded down to the nearest five.My services page will indicate that fee includes chauffeur fee and or gratuity and that tipping is never necesary.Even with tip billed in we are still less expensive then other companies in the area.My marketing consultent will update website by monday

[Whglimo]

WOW, as a newbie I am glad for this thread so I will jump in here...

"I think that some people just refuse to tip, not because of bad service, but because they are just cheap or they do not have a clue. I had 8 waitresses..." - BRAVO to you - what a bunch of brats; did they realize the payback? I hope so.

" have also noticed that some ethnic and foreign people just either refuse to tip or again have no clue." - AMEN, brother - you ain't kidding. EXAMPLE: We do a lot of work for WVU but the nearest airport is 1 1/2 hours away (PIT) - so we have considerable expense just running the trip. There is an area outside of WVU called "Cheat Lake" - min. 500,000 homes, many of the doctors, educators and Federal Govt. (DOE, CDC, FBI...) live there = many FOREIGNERS. They are the cheapest tippers (next to a few of the liberal, uppity white doctors who like to remind us we are all members of the servant class); unless you add it in. Don't even think about the foreign students.

To be fair, many just do not KNOW - we had one Indian engineer we took several times and he'd tip $ 2 on a $ 105.00 fare for a 3 am pickup! Eventually, we started adding it in "if it was a trip before 6 am pickup" - and he figured it out. Now he is one of the best tippers, and a very nice customer.

As for Boston Limo paying $ 18/hour, in my area we'd be OUT of business. We do not run stretches; I have maxivans, one Sprinter van (the "experiment"), black Cadillac DTS and the rest are all Toyota Sienna minivans. (I'm looking for a Avalon black, guys...) We're above a shuttle service or taxi but there isn't a bar in the car, sorry. (Really not a stretch market here, except for proms and weddings - unless you don't mind it sitting unused in your garage for 10 days at a time - I pass those off to a buddy who runs them. (I guess if I could get a pile of Obummer stimulus money I might change my mind, but then again I might not like the added terms required for getting that money.)

We pay over minimum wage but no where NEAR that. I have some drivers who have been here for over 15 years, most have been here for at least 3 years. I hire them and they stay, even if they have another full time job. I will fit them in. (Some only work Sat/Sun, etc.) - if they are good, I keep them. My biggest gripe is finding good, dependable people! The majority of my drivers are between 50 and 70 years old. All in good health, safe and dependable - they HAVE to be trustworthy and gracious. They earn their tips but many are built in, either by the schools themselves, corporate travelers, or parents of students. When we do that I ALWAYS tell them that is there is ANY reason they would not want that tip added to let me know ASAP because there may be a problem with a driver that I am not aware of; I need to address the issue then and there. I think I have refunded 2 tips in the last 4 years.

It is a complex issue - you need to tips to attract decent employees but you don't want to offend customers. What the customers never realize is that if I just raised the wages to $ 15/hour, their fares are going to DOUBLE immediately. Then no one would use us and I'd be shooting myself in the foot.

[Party Bus Andy]

WOW, as a newbie I am glad for this thread so I will jump in here...

What the customers never realize is that if I just raised the wages to $ 15/hour, their fares are going to DOUBLE immediately. Then no one would use us and I'd be shooting myself in the foot.

Why would your fairs double by increasing hourly wages? Do your loan payments, insurance premiums, fuel, and other expenses double because you gave employees a raise?

[Limo Scene]

Good question Andy! You only need to raise your hourly rate the same amount of the dollars you raise the pay. So, if you charge $55/hour for a sedan and want to give your chauffeurs a $5.00 an hour raise, you raise your price to $60 and you are covered. Really not that difficult and if you lose business over a $5.00 per hour increase, you have a much bigger problem.