Marriott hotels placing envelopes in rooms to guilt guests into leaving gratuity

Daily Mail ^ | 15 September 2014 | By Associated Press

[CorporateStepsister]

Do you leave a tip in your hotel room for the maid? Marriott is launching a program with Maria Shriver to put envelopes in hotel rooms to encourage tipping.

The campaign, called 'The Envelope Please,' begins this week. Envelopes will be placed in 160,000 rooms in the U.S. and Canada. Some 750 to 1,000 hotels will participate from Marriott brands like Courtyard, Residence Inn, J.W. Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance hotels.

The name of the person who cleans the room will be written on the envelope along with a message: 'Our caring room attendants enjoyed making your stay warm and comfortable. Please feel free to leave a gratuity to express your appreciation for their efforts.'

[cherry]

well, I think being a hotel maid is a thankless job...the only reason I tip is because I think these gals could use a few extra bucks...

[cherry]

and you’ll pay extra for a refrigerator...

[cherry]

I'm sure a lot of us on FR did not have parents that could afford to take the whole family to a hotel....we didn't....

still, I thought most people leave a tip in their room, and I think maybe we're too cheap to leave much but we do leave something...

[DoughtyOne]

If an employer voluntarily agrees to charge a bit more for his product, and he explains to the public why, and they voluntarily agree to pay a bit more, what is the problem?

If people realize they are helping out their neighbors, and they like the idea, why shouldn’t the program grow legs?

I realize you’re sticking to basic market principles, but I don’t think voluntarily dickering with it is a problem.

The public will still be able to chose. Some won’t like it. Others will. It would be interesting to see how it played out.

[Vision Thing]

if someone stays multiple nights and leaves a tip on the morning of departure, how can they be sure the tip will be shared amongst the various maids who helped them over the different days?

[PieterCasparzen]

If an employer voluntarily agrees to charge a bit more for his product, and he explains to the public why, and they voluntarily agree to pay a bit more, what is the problem?

If the employer's board of directors had agents of outside influence on it and they are the key factor in setting the policy AND if the policy is NOT in the best interests of ALL the shareholders of the company.

The board is supposed to be putting shareholder's (OWNERS) interests FIRST.

In that case, the employer has a parasite that is USING the employer as a weapon to inflict a harmful social policy the public.

On the other hand, if the local environs the company operates in WOULD benefit in the long run, such that it would indeed be the best LONG-term sales and profitability policy, even including factors such as safety, cleanliness, etc., then, even if it cost the shareholders some earnings in the short run and some complained, it actually would be the "smartest" thing to do that IS in the best interest of all shareholders.

So, the question essentially falls back to: is a minimum wage a net long-term good policy from the point of view of economic prosperity ?

The BEST, BY FAR, policy on wages is for each employer to individually negotiate with each employee to determine a wage rate for that employee which is acceptable to BOTH employer and employee. BY FAR, what is most important towards employees have good negotiating power is their being able to find ALTERNATIVE jobs. This gives them a choice which gives them the most power at the bargaining table.

I have heard firsthand stories of production employees whining when another employee received a bonus, when that employee was literally producing several times the output they were, all defect-free, in a safe manner, and using machinery and tools properly so as to not damage or excessively wear them. The owner/boss told them point blank: when you produce what they do you will receive a bonus.

Paying every employee the same amount by the hour (unit of time) is inherently unfair because employee productivity will NOT be the same for every employee, as people are all different. Consequently, under a system where employers pay the same rate for every worker for a given job description, employers are driven to want to decrease wages for employees that deserve more because of their productivity because if they pay the rate that they deserved based on their production, the employer would be then overpaying for all the less productive employees per unit of time worked.

[SoFloFreeper]

We tip depending on the length of our stay, but generally $2.50 to $4 a day.

Way back when I was a kid, I used to work in hotels. Housekeepers are generally very industrious and hard workers and are among the lowest paid in the hotel business.

I don’t “feel sorry” for them, but I do recognize when they work hard.

I find it strange you don’t want them in the room. I love getting in a freshly made bed and having empty trash cans and clean towels every day. :)

[Junior_G]

Obligatory tipping at hotels and restaurants may be customary, but it is a truly obnoxious custom. Pay the servers more and bake it into the price if you must.

One of the greatest customer service experiences of my life occurred in a hotel in Ireland where my wife and I were on our honeymoon. When we first arrived, one of the hotel workers helped us carry our bags to our room. Before he left, I offered him several dollars as a tip; but he politely refused and simply said, "No. You are a guest here." It was such an incredible contrast to most other hotels, which treat you more as a mark than a guest. Yes part of the arrangement is you pay to be their guest; but having to cough up extra chunks of cash here and there for basic service should not be a part of that arrangement. We had a similar experience in a restaurant there, when a waitress refused our tip. She said tipping is not expected there like it is in America because they are paid well enough not to need them.

Mr. Pink was right as rain

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you for your response.

You guys get too wrapped up in your current way of thinking. To be honest, I’m a lot like that too.

All you are doing is coming up with excuses why this couldn’t work.

IMO, this could be part of a plan to totally revamp everything from Social Security, Medicare, various insurances, home acquisition and a few other things.

In the end, the employer would benefit in that his costs for insurance and other things could be taken over by the employees.

The way we are running things, we’re not improving as a nation. This goes far beyond salaries. Actually, salaries are farther down the list of things I desire to see addressed, but it is in there too.

I believe we need to incentivise bringing jobs back to the United States. I am not convinced Capitalism works between first world and third word parties to the benefit of both.

Later...

[DoughtyOne]

I owe you a apology. I’m so used to one person linking in others on issues like this, that I took it for granted your thoughts would run along the same lines as Jim.

I read your post, and found the comments to be much more reasoned than I thought they would be, and it wasn’t reflected in my comments to you.

I wanted to fess up to you. Thanks! D1

[PieterCasparzen]

Many years ago I worked the front desk and night audit in a cheap hotel chain; I worked directly under the location General Manager, was the site manager whenever I was on alone (as well as maintenance, housekeeping, security, etc., since I was all alone), talked to the housekeeping manager and the maids, maintenance, lifeguard, etc., all the time, of course.

I saw what housekeeping did and what they were paid, and I got a very full view of their feelings, hearing about daily conflicts, guests who would literally destroy a room (in the most digusting ways you could imagine - the worst ever was a European business/diplomat type), etc.

That’s why I always tip maids $5 every day. And when I leave a room it’s almost untouched and stuff is all set for an easy cleaning job. I’ve stayed at hotels for months at a time, and I always did these things; IMHO, it’s just the decent thing to do. One time one hotel said they made some mistake - I don’t even know what, I was so tired - they left me a massive basket of goodies on my “dining area” table with a note from the manager.

FYI, the first thing to do when entering a room: flush the toilet and make sure it works. If it doesn’t, you haven’t touched anything yet and the desk will be most able to help you change to a different room at that time. If maintenance is not available, you’ll have (want) to be switched to a different room.

If one is actually nice to housekeeping staff, I find most are very happy and appreciative.

Incidentally, most of the maids where I worked were not recent immigrants but the families had been in America for generations. The pay was a few dollars an hour more than minimum, but even so, they earned every penny if they lasted for a while. The lazies would be let go rather quickly - just too much work that has to get done.

Oh, on “incentivizing” to bring back jobs, the elites of this country, the UK and Europe are calling the shots, they do not take advice from the sheeple.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the great reply. You’re comments about your experiences were enlightening, informative, and appreciated.

No, these nations don’t listen to the sheeple.

In this nation it is no longer of the people, for the people, and by the people.

It’s a real shame. This nation has lost it’s way. Did decades ago.

[DoughtyOne]

I wanted to respond to this post when I wasn’t very tired. You deserved a better reply.

I agree with your logic. You have thought these things out, and your take makes sense.

Your comments on individual employees were good. Different pay should cause the lackluster employee to at least do better, even if they can’t catch up to the ‘star’ employee.

I do have a problem with employees knowing how much each other make though. That would be a weak point in your model. I suppose a chart causing employees to know they could make more, or could have made a lot less, would be helpful.

Things that help management (owners) and employees to be more productive with very minimal mistakes, is good for both entities, and should be explored.

[cherry]

the way I look at any worker, illegal, immigrant, or natural citizen is that they are WORKING....working, not getting welfare or unemployment....

anyone that works a legit job should be respected....

[CorporateStepsister]

Thanks; I dislike that in addition to paying hundreds per night, I’m obligated to throw more cash at a maid who is supposed to be doing her JOB and doing it well in the first place. It is their JOB to neaten and freshen the room up. Prices are too high at hotels as it is.

I’m seriously tired of it. Pay them well and I would gladly pay a raised fee in a restaurant if it means no more obligatory tipping.

[WhirlwindAttack]

I heard about cruises where tips are included - and I’m going to look into one of those for me and DH for our 25th anniversary next year.

Stay away from Carnival It was horrible. Loaded with EBT types. Smelled like a monkey house and the service was horrid. We're going with Viking cruise lines next time.