The problem is that some restaurants do not pass on the 10% "Ley" to the workers as they should. Not being American, I usually pay about 10% on top of the total bill. I don't think anyone else in the world overtips like Americans do!
- Thread starter rey
- Start date
Tipping etiquette in Santo Domingo
I always add on an extra 10% in restaurants and bars as I know that many times the 10% ley does not get shared with the employees. I will still tip even if the food was not to my liking, that was not the fault of the waiter/waitress. I always tip an Uber driver just because I find Uber so cheap and an extra 50 pesos on a 150 pesos fare is nothing. The same with the bag guys in supermarkets, they always get 100 pesos from me when they take my bags to the car. For me it is a matter of respect and I keep that as a principal.
i tip the bag guys 200 pesos ...they pack the bags much better than i would and bring it to the car .
In a restaurant i tip 20% ......but this can go up or down depending on the service i get .
When i go to the beach ( Bocana restaurant ) I tip more ....because i dont want to wait for my table or my sun lounger ,I also want to make sure my things are watched when i go into the water .
A small price to pay for the sense of peace i get .
I am a bar owner and I was a bartender for many years and depended on tips
In a restaurant i tip 20% ......but this can go up or down depending on the service i get .
When i go to the beach ( Bocana restaurant ) I tip more ....because i dont want to wait for my table or my sun lounger ,I also want to make sure my things are watched when i go into the water .
A small price to pay for the sense of peace i get .
I am a bar owner and I was a bartender for many years and depended on tips
For me it's quite simple.
Give good service,
get a good tip (your discretion)
Give bad service,
get good advice...
Next time give better service.
Give good service,
get a good tip (your discretion)
Give bad service,
get good advice...
Next time give better service.
Being a bag boy at one of the gringo supermarkets here like Playero, Pola, or Janet's is probably a really good gig here. If you figure they might take 15 carts out to the parking lot in a day at 100 pesos each, plus all the tips they're making at the cash register, they're probably making about 2000 pesos/day or more. If they work a 6-day week, that's close to 50,000 pesos/mo. For unskilled work, that's pretty good. That's way more than teachers and many other salaried workers make. I think a bank branch manager here makes 60K pesos/mo.(?).
Most Dominicans give them air. Don't assume everyone is like yourself. Spend a little time at the register and observe and you will see what I mean.............
Yes, I agree with that. However, at the supermarkets I mentioned, a high percentage of the customers there are gringos. Most Dominicans don't tip much at restaurants either. That probably explains why, in general, the service at restaurants is so bad.
Most bills include tip - ITBIS. If you want to give extra, anything is appreciated. I will usually max out at the 20% number that is common in the USA but anywhere between 5-10% is very fair and more than the local culture would expect or would give under the same circumstances.
Are you saying ITBIS is a tip? I hope not.
I have almost exclusively had EXTREMELY high quality service here in the DR, especially at higher end places but just in general. Certainly there are those fair share of people who are "over it" and DGAF but there are lots of people who are very professional, cordial and polite.
What I *DO NOT* like that I have experienced on quite a few occasions is getting DGAF attitude or energy from someone at the checkout, for example in a café or supermarket and having that same person seconds later, directly in front of my face turn around and laugh and become animated and giggly with their co-worker. I find it to be a very robotic "The customer isn't really a person, I hate my job" kind of vibe and as someone who has worked in retail and with the public my entire life I find it extremely disrespectful and the antithesis of what a positive customer experience should be. I get having a bad day, but you should not reserve your negative energy for customers/patrons and then turn around and be all smiles with your buddies on the job.
That said, like Dave Chapelle said, I don't become upset about it because after all, I'm not the one that works at Jumbo earning 150 pesos/hr. And with that kind of mentality and attitude those individuals will never advance into something more worthwhile.
So what is it again, ITBIS and "La Ley"? I'm not sure what the name for it is but gratuities are included within the bills at all restaurants and cafe's. That said, I understand that it is questionable as to whether or not the employees actually receive these monies, and as said I almost always tip, usually between 15-20%. Sometimes 10% if the service is lackluster, but almost *always* 15-20%.
ITBIS is 18% in restuaurant, and 16% on some grocery items. It's a Value Added Tax that goes to the govt. The 10% ley at restaurants is a service charge that is suppose to go to the staff. How often it gets to them I have no clue. I've heard on here it's rare for the employees to get it. I have no knowledge of it either way.
Before we get carried away with this: https://ideasparaviajar.com/propina-en-republica-dominicana
Una de las primeras cosas que debemos conocer sobre la mayor parte de los restaurantes en República Dominicana es que suelen cobrar el 10% del servicio en las cuentas. Esto quiere decir que, indirectamente, ya estamos pagando una especie de propina al establecimiento.
Apparently ITBIS is basically "taxes". I don't know the formal name for the service charge that is added to bills for propina but I'm sure one of the learned sages here can inform us.
¿Cuánto hay que dar de propina en los restaurantes en República Dominicana?
Una de las primeras cosas que debemos conocer sobre la mayor parte de los restaurantes en República Dominicana es que suelen cobrar el 10% del servicio en las cuentas. Esto quiere decir que, indirectamente, ya estamos pagando una especie de propina al establecimiento.
Apparently ITBIS is basically "taxes". I don't know the formal name for the service charge that is added to bills for propina but I'm sure one of the learned sages here can inform us.
Yeah, idk. Went on a road trip yesterday with a dominican friend.
He is by no means rich, but lives fairly well, albeit does not show it.
Anyway, he was handing out 100 pesos bills like candy, and for the slightest thing lol.
Maybe I really am tacaño 🤔🤔🤔
This is one of the gripes waiters, waitresses, and bartenders have. The 10% Ley(if they even get it) is divided up between everyone(cooks, cashiers, doorman, cleaning lady). It's not just for the servers.
For those that have been here a long time or venture into restaurants" found in small towns and barrios, your tab will be hand written and there will be no ITIBIS or Ley on the tab. Just like a 15% used to be considered standard in the US, I've been told a 10% tip is standard here.
I've seen those types here in Cabarete. They look like campesinos and then they go into the liquor store and grab a couple bottles of Johnny Walker Green.
As so many have already mentioned the ITBIS is a value added tax for goods and services, and the 10% ley is the tip, which as many already mentioned is in many cases not handed down to the staff, but in one sense, that's not my problem if they don't get it or not. I'm not going to ask the owner of the place if they pay their staff okay.
Anyways, tip whatever you want. It all depends on the service, personally I feel the majority of places I've been too have medium to even bad service, I get it you are paid basically nothign for your work, but it's not my fault as a customer.
And sadly as everything has risen like 100% the last couple of years, so has my own means to be extra generous.
I remember my favorite restaurant selling 50 wings for 550 pesos, now the same amount is 1100 pesos. So the few times I actually go there, instead of tipping like 15-20% because the food has become 100% more expensive, it's not possible anymore.
For baggers at the supermarkets, well it's not a service that I even want, they majority of those doing that are either too slow or just packs the groceries completely wrong, raw meets together with cheese and so on.
So as it's not a service that I even want to get, I would even prefer to do that myself as I come from a country where the customer is the one who does it, and I know how to best pack my own groceries, why should I pay for a service I don't even want? However, there are always exceptions to that rule. If the bagger has gone out of their way to accomodate me, like if I make a bigger purchase and they actually do help, or if they are very friendly (I've actually gotten to know a couple of them at some supermarkets), then of course no problem, I'll give them a 100 pesos or so.
Anyways, tip whatever you want. It all depends on the service, personally I feel the majority of places I've been too have medium to even bad service, I get it you are paid basically nothign for your work, but it's not my fault as a customer.
And sadly as everything has risen like 100% the last couple of years, so has my own means to be extra generous.
I remember my favorite restaurant selling 50 wings for 550 pesos, now the same amount is 1100 pesos. So the few times I actually go there, instead of tipping like 15-20% because the food has become 100% more expensive, it's not possible anymore.
For baggers at the supermarkets, well it's not a service that I even want, they majority of those doing that are either too slow or just packs the groceries completely wrong, raw meets together with cheese and so on.
So as it's not a service that I even want to get, I would even prefer to do that myself as I come from a country where the customer is the one who does it, and I know how to best pack my own groceries, why should I pay for a service I don't even want? However, there are always exceptions to that rule. If the bagger has gone out of their way to accomodate me, like if I make a bigger purchase and they actually do help, or if they are very friendly (I've actually gotten to know a couple of them at some supermarkets), then of course no problem, I'll give them a 100 pesos or so.
It's certainly a relevant question. For example, using the U.S. as an example, tipping is mandatory except for egregious service. In the D.R., if you exclude the tourist economy, tipping is between nil and rare and closer to nil. An exception to that would be for the Dominican middle and upper classes at venues such as Restuarant Cantabrico. But even in that case it is subjective and there is no common social more that mandates 10% or 15%, etc. So, if you are an expat here, the rule of thumb for everyday working class venues and activities would be "No tipping." For this argument, you might assume that expat tourists who reside here intersect with the class of Dominicans who are middle class and that, therefore, tipping in those contexts would be the norm, however, not even close to the sense in the U.S. where tipping is considered mandatory. Another factor is that if you are a "tourist" participating in everyday non-tourist Dominican venues and activities, that even though no tipping is the norm, Dominicans might expect you to tip, recognizing that you are middle class. That's your choice.