Tipping is Very Appreciated

[gr8gazu]

No, but I don't eat at McDonalds either. Their food and service are crap. A waitress at a decent restaraunt is serving you for the whole time you're there, and hopefully doing a good job. Employees at McDonalds and other fast food joints generally could care less about you once they've gotten their money, which (somewhat disturbingly... what IS the special sauce?) is before they give you your food. There are exceptions, they usually get better jobs in a very short amount of time, either by getting promoted within McD's, or (hopefully) moving elsewhere.

The most service I've ever gotten at a fast food joint, after paying for and recieving my food, is being told to leave after 1/2 an hour.

They either turned you down or fired you right?

I never worked there but both of my kids have and McD's has great training and advancement opportunities for kids. Working there reinforced what I have tried to teach them on being responsible and accountable. It is an entry level job so I wouldn't be too quick to criticize them.

They are in the food service industry but they refer to their locations as stores. Stores sell things and in McD's case, that is food products. Tips are not required or encouraged.

Sit down restaurants are service oriented and service is traditionally rewarded with tips.

See the difference?

If you want to show your appreciation to line service at an FBO, buy them pizzas or other items for lunch. It is always appreciated and welcomed as a gesture and is long remembered when a $5 tip is long forgotten...

[Tui]

It doesn't sound like many people are aware of this but T.I.P. stands for To Improve Performance. If you do a half-assed job when you don't get a tip you're a half-assed worker. You should be doing your job with the quality expected of you by your employer. If you go above and beyond and get rewarded for it (with money or compliments) fantastic. If not, that's your perogative. If someone complains about your service and you say it's because they don't tip, don't be surprised if you're sent packing.

[Greg87]

As a ramp rat, it is great when people tip you for going above and beyond what is "expected". For example, if a passenger flies out and you take the time to wash his car and groom the inside, without them asking, it would be appropriate for them to tip (by appropriate I don't mean necessary). If all I do is marshall the plane in and give it some gas, I didn't do anything other than my job.
Another example of when it would be appropriate to tip would be when I was working during the big golf tournament, by myself. I handled 6 corporate jets in 2 hours, all of them wanting fuel, some wanting lavs, and other services, and I was literally running from plane to plane, doing the best I could by myself because my employer was too cheap to schedule someone else in.
I would never expect someone to tip, though it is very much appreciated when they do. Personally I usually use it to buy coffee for everyone working, that way everyone gets thanks for the job they are doing. I would much rather have the would be tipper speak to my supervisor/manager or write a letter to the manager. I have recieved praise that was passed down by my manager, and things like that play a part in getting raises/promotions. As a side note, when I am flying around and going to FBO's I intend to tip, if the rampies deserve it.

[sinjin]

Greg 87, you got it so right. I did mention this earlier as well but seemed to go un-noticed. As a ramp supervisor I continually hear the complaints of pilots that had to wait for fuel/gpu/what ever when we have 20 planes on the go. but when the time comes that they come in and go in no time flat on a quick turn in a driving blizzard -20 and the pilots never even get out of the cockpit, I would love to get a phone call telling me that one of my guys did a great job. But alas I know that if I hear nothing from the pilots I know that my guys are doing a great job. If they wern't I would be the first person to get the call that something went wrong.

[floatpiperdriver]

http://www.happylanding.com/articles/2_ ... y_when.htm

[Greg87]

The tires would be soft, the fuel tanks empty and the topsides would be covered with bird residue. The linecrew would be nowhere in sight.
The irate owner would charge into the office ranting about poor service.

What would the other customer think if he saw this poor service given to someone else? Regardless of what attitude pilots/owners etc give you, working on the line is a paid job. If it is your job to be courteous and have the aircraft prepared (groomed/fueled/clean/maintained) then do it! It is attitudes like the one expressed here that give linecrew a bad name.

When I worked at an FBO that had hangar tennants, we rarely got tips from the tennants themselves. If it was an extremely cold day, or very busy, or they came on very short notice and were in a rush, or some other extreme circumstances, they may tip us. One of our tennants owned a cookie manufacturing plant, he'd give us each a box of cookies. As I said before, in my opinion, kind words go a lot further than a couple of bucks.

Sinjin, you sound like an excelent supervisor. I had a supervisor before who would not pass on praise, constantly gave people a hard time, rarely did any work, and if he was given a tip, he'd keep it for himself, eg one day "The Great One" came through and this supervisor did no work, he actually stood there talking to WG while we fueled and loaded bags, he got his picture taken etc, and got a $20 tip, which he kept! (there was no policy regarding tips, but the majority of people either split the tips or used it to buy coffee's, or even lunch.)

[sinjin]

I am a supervison there, for not entitled to keeping tips (in my mind) you can ask any for the guys on the ramp that I am often the one that get the tip but it is broken up and given to all the guys on the ramp. Even if I have another guy filling a diferent airplane he is still entitled to tip because he was busy doing something that had to be done. If you are sitting on your ass when there is stuff going on then no portion for you.

[Pencil Driver]

How about young pilots-

I had a young lad fly my wife and I over the English River in NWO in C-FCNL a couple years back. He graciously landed at Ball Lake for us and flew over some other territory I wanted to see. (hour and a half sightseeing trip for him)

During this time my wife noticed the words "Tip your pilot" scrolling across the counsel. I was quite oblivious to it. When we landed, she handed him $30 and later in formed me that was all the cash she had.

Knowing what some of these kids go through to get there endorsments, I'm glad she did.

[xsbank]

And you always tip the driver of the FBO bus/car/van. Always.