Treatment as foreigner

El Hijo de Manolo

It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Dec 10, 2021
4,910
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Dominican Republic
We are in the DR. I don’t expect Americans in the DR to know many of the differences in the cultures in Europe. In some countries the minimum wage is higher than most places and it’s not very common to tip. I think in some Northern European countries it’s like that.
Slow down King Frederik, there happen to be members here who have a deep fondness for booze that happen to have worked in many European countries
 

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
3,561
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Europe
Fulano, I used the term in general ok..sorry. Would it have been better if I named each friends country, would that work for you...SMH
Sorry if I hurt your feelings. What I meant to say is that in one european country it is more common to tip than in another. In Hungary for example, not the richest part of Europe, it is very common to tip while in Belgium not that much.
 

aarhus

Gold
Jun 10, 2008
4,713
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Slow down King Frederik, there happen to be members here who have a deep fondness for booze that happen to have worked in many European countries
I don’t know myself that many states in the US. They are all very different too which is becoming more clear these years
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
33,205
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dr1.com
I don’t know myself that many states in the US. They are all very different too which is becoming more clear these years
We do our research before going anywhere and have travelled all of Western Europe but not eastern Europe yet. There is plenty of information available on tipping in each country. I almost always tip for food services, sometimes the grocery bagger, and sometimes the gas jockey. I give to several old women and the occasionally to a young Haitian girl with a baby but usually ignore beggars.
 
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El Hijo de Manolo

It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Dec 10, 2021
4,910
3,174
113
Dominican Republic
We do our research before going anywhere and have travelled all of Western Europe but not eastern Europe yet. There is plenty of information available on tipping in each country. I almost always tip for food services, sometimes the grocery bagger, and sometimes the gas jockey. I give to several old women and the occasionally to a young Haitian girl with a baby but usually ignore beggars.
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chico bill

Silver
May 6, 2016
13,177
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says another tightwad Brit
I worked with some Brits in the US and they tipped well.

But I worked in Puerto Rico with 3 French Canadian brothers. They would wait till the bill was paid and we all left our tips on the table then pretending like they had to use the bathroom they would scoop the tips off the table until one of my friends caught them because he had heard how cheap they were.
Needless to say we put them on the don't dine with again list.

But karma had a way of catching up with the cheapest one of them. A couple years later he was wind surfing in Key West and a big wind gust blew him into a building onshore where he died
 
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El Hijo de Manolo

It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Dec 10, 2021
4,910
3,174
113
Dominican Republic
It's been so pleasantly polite on DR1 while you've been away.
I heard you squeaking as you walked out of your Mojito Bar after you enjoyed the usual 2for1 Long Island Iced Tea happy hour and left your favorite bartender 65 pesos, because that was the change from your check. That's what you folks do right? Round up?
 
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aarhus

Gold
Jun 10, 2008
4,713
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We do our research before going anywhere and have travelled all of Western Europe but not eastern Europe yet. There is plenty of information available on tipping in each country. I almost always tip for food services, sometimes the grocery bagger, and sometimes the gas jockey. I give to several old women and the occasionally to a young Haitian girl with a baby but usually ignore beggars.
I forgot the thread was about tipping. I had been so stupid to answer a troll
 

Big

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2019
5,384
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The price of the haircut where I go is 300 pesos. So a 100 peso tip is +30%. I know this guy very well and I doubt he talks behind my back.
So a person that cuts your hair is worth less than a 2-dollar tip. The entire public sees you with this haircut! We live in different worlds. In my world that is called a cheapskate.
 
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josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
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So a person that cuts your hair is worth less than a 2-dollar tip. The entire public sees you with this haircut! We live in different worlds. In my world that is called a cheapskate.
As you have kindly said that I have no respect towards service workers and are now saying this same to someone else, but yet you have not included in one single post any facts or details on what you do better, so please inform me:

How much do you pay for a haircut in the DR and where is your barber located (nothing specifics, city is enough)?
For a short/normal taxi/cab ride, how much do you pay?
For the above mentioned, how much do you tip?

As you said that it's better to pay properly for the service of those who have to do with our security, to exactly which services workers do you pay and how much? And please refrain from comments that make no sense or provide no factual information, such as this:
stay committed to your values. Keep sticking it to the service workers. That 5 or 10 dollars you save will change your life for sure. When you check into a hotel and the bellman drags all your bags to your room, give him a banana. He would rather have that than a cash tip and he will most certainly keep an eye out for you.
 

XQT

Well-known member
Dec 7, 2022
469
425
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Puerto Plata
I agree with you on tipping in Santo Domingo. Honestly at the AI's the bartenders/waitstaff IMO deserve the tips they get. They work hard, and some of the clientele demand a lot of them. We have many friends from Europe, I really have never seen them react any which way toward tipping. They always tip, at least when I have been with them. There is a lot of discussion about tipping on different travel sites, so I do see where different cultures have varying opinions on it. I have been accustomed to tipping (good service) my entire life so to me it is not a big issue. When I first started coming to the DR back in the early 80's while working for the airlines, we would stay at the Sheraton Hotel. I would always leave a tip in the room as housekeeping would provide us with water, extra towels, etc... We were always appreciative of the service.

In Germany and other EU countries servers earn high wages including all benefits, medical, dental, social security, pensions, vacation pay and long vacations.
The custom was to simply round up the amount of the bill, never a 10-20% tip.
The employer pays the wage not the customer.
Of course well travelled EU citizens have learned and know tip situations around the world.

Most adjust to this and the countries customs and income level.
Tips are a percentage base of the bill and not based on a $6000 income elsewhere.
Of course some do gooders like to throw money at people thinking they are helping.

In Canada and US servers work for minimum wage, in touristic locations even less in some US locations Florida and Hawaii I think.
The customer is expected to subsidize owners earnings and profit margins.
The whine goes " If we pay high wages we will have to close"! I call bull sheit.
However in good restaurants servers can make great tip income, not largely declared in taxes.

In the DR with and outrageous 18% tax and a included tip of 10% customers pay and additional 28% on top of menu prices.
Servers often expect an additional tip.
If those rates where in existence in the US there would be a revolution.

That's another reason why people like the natural setting of Sosua beach and the absence of forced tip and tax.
One can still get a large beer for DOP 200, tip as you see fit.
Other hole in the wall places in the DR also charge no tax/tip, that's why average Dominicans/ gringos go there.
 

XQT

Well-known member
Dec 7, 2022
469
425
63
Puerto Plata
I've been everywhere, and there's one thing that holds true no matter what: There exists nowhere in this world where giving extra cash to someone will not gain you favor.
Wrong,

In the DR if you give cash it becomes expected on a consistent basis.
People will not hesitate to ask for it.
Even people you never met will not hesitate to beg, cash, food drinks, if you are a foreigner.
Don't give one day you become tacaño.

In the DR mostly it will gain you ZERO favour or appreciation.
Dumb gringo!

You will get more respect if you act as a Dominican does, give nothing.
In tourist areas you'll never see them asking of Dominicans.

In India Pakistan and Bangladesh you could be handing out money 24 hrs day till you are broke.
Zero favour.

The US concept of appreciation and gratitude is a response not learned in the DR.
A completely different emotional compass.
There are some decent and helpful Dominicans for neighbours or family.
Yet in many cases witnessed they will steal from the family, expect free money, food without ever helping.
Dominicans taking advantage of Dominicans and gringos whenever they can, often also in business.

In the outside world US, CAN, EU, people often help foreigners and do not overcharge them to take advantage.
As well as grigos in the DR wanting to help the poor and uneducated.
Doing good, a different moral learning and compass.

Remember Mother Theresa and Albert Schweitzer?
Yes, they were born outside the countries they helped.
 
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El Hijo de Manolo

It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Dec 10, 2021
4,910
3,174
113
Dominican Republic
Wrong,

In the DR if you give cash it becomes expected on a consistent basis.
People will not hesitate to ask for it.
Even people you never met will not hesitate to beg, cash, food drinks.

In the DR mostly it will gain you ZERO favour or appreciation.
Dumb gringo!

You will get more respect if you act as a Dominican does, give nothing.
In tourist areas you'll never see them asking of Dominicans.

In India Pakistan and Bangladesh you could be handing out money 24 hrs day till you are broke.
Zero favour.

The US concept of appreciation and gratitude is a response not learned in the DR or elsewhere.
A completely different emotional compass.
There are some decent and helpful Dominicans for neighbours or family.
Yet in many cases witnessed they will steal from the family, expect free money, food without ever helping.
Dominicans taking advantage of Dominicans and gringos whenever they can, often also in business.

In the outside world US, CAN, EU, people often help foreigners and do not overcharge them to take advantage.
As well as grigos in the DR wanting to help the poor and uneducated.
Doing good, a different moral learning and compass.

Remember Mother Theresa and Albert Schweitzer?
Yes, they were born outside the countries they helped.
where you are wrong, my dear, is that you need to know the situations when a discreet exchange of cash will get you favor. You don't stand up on the table and scream how much you love the place and the service. More than that, I am not just speaking of a food and beverage establishment. I appreciate your pointers on how to handle money in DR.
 

Big

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2019
5,384
4,572
113
As you have kindly said that I have no respect towards service workers and are now saying this same to someone else, but yet you have not included in one single post any facts or details on what you do better, so please inform me:

How much do you pay for a haircut in the DR and where is your barber located (nothing specifics, city is enough)?
For a short/normal taxi/cab ride, how much do you pay?
For the above mentioned, how much do you tip?

As you said that it's better to pay properly for the service of those who have to do with our security, to exactly which services workers do you pay and how much? And please refrain from comments that make no sense or provide no factual information, such as this:
Oh the futility! Let your conscious be your guide! Interact with service people as you see fit. You are a grown man, and I will not sway your habits or business dealings.
 

XQT

Well-known member
Dec 7, 2022
469
425
63
Puerto Plata
We are in the DR. I don’t expect Americans in the DR to know many of the differences in the cultures in Europe. In some countries the minimum wage is higher than most places and it’s not very common to tip. I think in some Northern European countries it’s like that.

The difference is if someone is well educated and well travelled.
EU is full of US citizens with education and well travelled.

Someone with basic US education and who never has been out of their county won't know much about the US nor the world.

Maybe we should increase our expectations of people, to educate themselves about the world.
 
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Big

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2019
5,384
4,572
113
Wrong,

In the DR if you give cash it becomes expected on a consistent basis.
People will not hesitate to ask for it.
Even people you never met will not hesitate to beg, cash, food drinks, if you are a foreigner.
Don't give one day you become tacaño.

In the DR mostly it will gain you ZERO favour or appreciation.
Dumb gringo!

You will get more respect if you act as a Dominican does, give nothing.
In tourist areas you'll never see them asking of Dominicans.

In India Pakistan and Bangladesh you could be handing out money 24 hrs day till you are broke.
Zero favour.

The US concept of appreciation and gratitude is a response not learned in the DR.
A completely different emotional compass.
There are some decent and helpful Dominicans for neighbours or family.
Yet in many cases witnessed they will steal from the family, expect free money, food without ever helping.
Dominicans taking advantage of Dominicans and gringos whenever they can, often also in business.

In the outside world US, CAN, EU, people often help foreigners and do not overcharge them to take advantage.
As well as grigos in the DR wanting to help the poor and uneducated.
Doing good, a different moral learning and compass.

Remember Mother Theresa and Albert Schweitzer?
Yes, they were born outside the countries they helped.
yet more justification to stiff the hardworking.