# tipping



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I suppose there's probably a thread on tipping already, but it's probably gone off topic anyhow, so here's another, they're free and recyclable.

My question has to do with the guys bagging groceries for you at checkout. I've been through the line a number of times but this time I got the distinct impression the guy was annoyed that I hadn't tipped him. So, is it customary, and if so, how much?

The guy didn't deserve a tip anyway, he put all the heavy stuff in one flimsy bag that broke open before I got beyond the line of carts outside. I've had them put 14" long boxes in bags that were only 6 inches deep because that's the largest bag they had. Useless. I'd be happier bagging my own groceries, but the guys are always there grabbing your stuff before you can pay. Is there I way I can I politely tell the guy to back off and let me do it?


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

"Amigo! -Deja lo por favor, yo puede"


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

nice guys, this is the way these people or kid earn money they are not paid otehrwise and you are too cheap to tip them..nice guys..


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Well that's why I asked, I thought at first the guys were paid by the grocery store. I'd been through the line a dozen times and never seen the guy get any money from anyone, so I have no frame of reference. 

And when the bag bursts open within 30 feet and I have to gather my groceries up off the sidewalk I don't feel very generous anyway.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Yes,they just work for tips, bring your own cloth bag with you , sometimes when i get heavy stuff I ask for a box........


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

So what are they expecting, 10 pesos per person or 1 or 2 pesos per bag or what?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I usually give 5 pesos....unless they hunt up the box then 10.........


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Thanks for the helpful and informative responses.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

eastwind said:


> So what are they expecting, 10 pesos per person or 1 or 2 pesos per bag or what?


A peso per bag would be generous in most places, but Cancún might be different. Americans are well known for out-tipping everyone else, to the point where it starts to be expected.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

If I buy a few bags they it's 5 pesos. If more, then 10 pesos. You can always ask them to double bag heavy items.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes if there is something heavy ask them to double bag the groceries. In some areas the kids who are doing well at school get the job and it is a way for them to learn the value of work, in other businesses, the handicaps and the old get the job. They have to share the money with their team in many places and they are also rotated so they will not get rich. a few pesos is not a whole lot of money and it helps people.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

joaquinx said:


> If I buy a few bags they it's 5 pesos. If more, then 10 pesos. You can always ask them to double bag heavy items.


Ditto on the 5 pesos or sometimes a bit more if the change from the purchase includes 7 or 8 pesos. I also bring my own canvas bags all the time. I don't understand why they are not used universally. Even if you ignore the ecological disaster of plastic bags, the canvas ones are just easier to carry.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Orfin said:


> "Amigo! -Deja lo por favor, yo puede"


Please allow me (a former Spanish teacher) to make a couple of tiny corrections to your Spanish: "Déjalo, por favor, yo puedo".


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

perropedorro said:


> A peso per bag would be generous in most places, but Cancún might be different. Americans are well known for out-tipping everyone else, to the point where it starts to be expected.


WOW, a whole 5 cents a bag for someone who survives on tips, whether it is a school child or an elderly person they are not getting the minimum wage ( which is $4.25 USD a DAY).


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I know a school boy who bads grocery and he makes 200 pesos a shift not bad for 6 hours. He is lso very charming so it probably helps a lot , He works at farmacia Guadalajaa and only on week-ends.. I would think the regulars at the supermarket make at least that and maybe more..


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

At the 3 supermarkets I go to in Cancun there's always a line waiting to check out at all the registers, and the baggers are busy constantly. It seems to me there will be one customer a minute at least for each line. If every customer (besides me) has been giving them 5 pesos, they would be making more like 300 an hour - better than the minimum wage people are lobbying for in the US, and double the US federal minimum wage.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

"I know a school boy who bads grocery and he makes 200 pesos a shift not bad for 6 hours."

WOW, $1.83 an hour or $22.00 a week, of course we do not know his circumstances, he may be helping to support his family or has to pay for schooling or supplies.....

" I would think the regulars at the supermarket make at least that and maybe more.."

Most GDL Farmacias I go into only have two front cashiers and one bagger per cashier, at supermarkets like Mega where there may be twenty or so baggers rotating I doubt they are making 200 pesos a day.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

chicois8 said:


> "I know a school boy who bads grocery and he makes 200 pesos a shift not bad for 6 hours."
> 
> WOW, $1.83 an hour or $22.00 a week, of course we do not know his circumstances, he may be helping to support his family or has to pay for schooling or supplies.....
> 
> ...


They have I believe 3 or 4 boys who rotate at the farmacia GUadalajara in Ajijic. You would not know it because the kids do not hang around right there but they do rotate there as well


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I just paid a plumber who came to fix a few things at my house he stayed 5 hours and charged me 200 pesos..and he supports a family..


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

So how much did you tip him? That is what this thread is about......
Headline reads " Plumber pays Plumber"


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I have a second tip question.

I'm renting a furnished condo. When I moved in there was already one of those stands for 20L water jugs with a few inches of water left, which I soon used up. I took my empty to oxxo, which is literally right next door, I only had to walk the length of the condo property, maybe 40 yards and lug the 20L bottle back. The security guard waved me down and let me know that I don't need to do that, because the condo buys water ahead of time and stores it, all I have to do is let any of the security guards know and they will bring up a new 20L bottle to my unit. So you can see where this is going, how much is it going to cost me to avoid carrying the water 40 yards? 

When I had a maintenance guy from the condo change the trap under my sink he came and looked at the problem, and I gave him money to go buy parts. He brought back the change and spent an hour trying repeatedly to get his work to not leak. I tipped him 200 pesos, but later called him back because it was still leaking. Actually a second guy came that time, and eventually brought the first guy back, and I ended up tipping the second guy 100 pesos, the first guy nothing more. In the end they used silicon caulk to stop the leak :< (Note that these maintenance guys are being paid a salary by the condo association, you're only "tipping" them for doing special work for you, since you're already paying them a salary via the condo association fees)

Chicois8 will want to know: they had two leak problems. The first was where the descending pipe screws onto the bottom of the sink strainer. I think after repeated tries they eventually used enough teflon tape to get that to not leak . They didn't have anything like thread sealant paste.

The real problem was that he didn't use the plastic descending pipe that came with the P-trap kit, he re-used the old aluminum one. And the compression ring that came with the P-trap kit was too loose on the aluminum pipe. It slid up and down freely. That's the one they eventually sealed with silicon caulk. Not the right stuff for the job I thought, but my housekeeper assured me it was used all the time for plumbing in mexico. 

So back to the water jugs, it seems like they'd expect at least a 20 peso tip to bring a 30 peso jug of water up the elevator on the hand truck and heft it up onto the dispenser. What does the group think?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

The group to ask would be your neighbors in that same condo. It is not something most of us would even make a guess at. You are in Cancun, in a condominium populated by others. The rest of us are everywhere else. and probably not living in condo settings.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes each are is different but since in my area 200 pesos is what a plumber cost for 6 h job, 200 is not a tip ...it is paying someone for a job.. as I said every area is different and you are in a tourist economy we are not.
Again 2o0 pesos to go up an elevator is way too much but then we do not have elevators ... The water guys bring my water whereever I need it and they get 5 pesos or 10 if I do not have 5..again ask your neighbors. It is all a question of what they expect.. in our town they expect to put the water bottle in the holder of old ladies and they get nothing as a rule..


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I believe Cancun and Cabo are the 2 most expensive tourist traps in Mexico so it is hard to compare what is a fair tip in Cancun and a fair tip in say Chapala is...Here was a question on the Cancun board from another forum: 

"In researching tipping etiquette I came up with a tip budget for our stay. When I mentioned to a friend we were expecting to pay almost $500 Canadian in tips he said we were crazy. Here is our breakdown and I don't believe we are over or under tipping. However it does seem like a lot for 8 days but I don't know. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

These folks were staying at an All Inclusive,tips included in the Cancun area.. So $500 CAD =$373 USD divided by 8 days = $46+ USD just in tips a day they are planning for their week vacation...Now to me that sounds a little loco....

P.S. As a retired plumber, under normal conditions it should take no more than 15 min. to change a sink trap...


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

To be honest - we have a handful of craftsmen that have really done good work for us over the years. Sometimes I 'invent' work for them simply to keep in touch. I can't remember what it was the plumber did for us on his last visit (with his son the apprentice) but I think he wanted 200 peso and I gave him and extra 50 for gas. Perhaps he was here for 2-3 hours. We have a fumigator (for the garden) with a gas powered backpack sprayer. We buy the chemicals. Lately he is spending about 1.5 hours here and asks for 600 pesos. I am looking into other options. We pay the albanil 350 pesos for 4 hours work - pretty regularly.

The first couple years we were here we used the big jugs of water. Had it delivered to the door. Last couple of years we had a reverse osmosis system installed at the kitchen sink. Think it cost in the area of 350 USD (plus installation). Works great. No more bottles. I am a big guy - but I have to tell you - getting those large bottles into the dispenser was starting to get a little old.

The first year here we rented and the landlord - a Mexican working for a large chemical company in the US was totally agreeable to any improvements we wanted to make to his house and was willing to reimburse those expenses. At one point I was even getting quotes on a sistema de riega. I would be willing to bet that he would have picked up the expense of the RO System in his house at that time.

Tipping - to be honest I never carry coins in my pocket. If we have a bagger at checkout and I receive some small coins in change I give it to them. I would never break a bill for coins to give to the bagger. And I have another rule. Where we live there are always people in the parking lot trying to help you back out of your parking space - even if you are the only car in the lot. If the parking lot is going to charge me between 3-8 pesos for a half hour stay I don't tip those people in the parking lot. Oh and some of you are going to say that is so mean - but I'll tell you - on Sunday mornings, when it is slow I have played games with those guys in the parking lot where we all flip coins across the parking spaces trying to see who can land on a painted white line. They always keep my coins and I never claim victory...


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I must be spoiled living in Rincon de Guayabitos, Gatos, I do not know where you are since your location just says Mexico but if a worker asked 200 pesos I sure would not tip 25% ( for gas )...
There are different types of garafon bottle holders, the swivel type so no lifting and flipping it over usually spilling some and where you set the garafon on a counter and use a hand pump that can be bought for 20 pesos.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Thank you Gatos, are you going to ignore me a second time?


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## LMtortugas (Aug 23, 2013)

Don't forget to also tip the parking lot attendant.


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> Please allow me (a former Spanish teacher) to make a couple of tiny corrections to your Spanish: "Déjalo, por favor, yo puedo".





Isla Verde said:


> Please allow me (a former Spanish teacher) to make a couple of tiny corrections to your Spanish: "Déjalo, por favor, yo puedo".


 Both work and usually when you end in "o" it implies the "Yo" part so that you don't have to say "yo puedo" you just simply say "Puedo". Other wise, "yo puede" works as well as simply "Puedo". "Dejar lo, por favor, puedo". Also Varieties of spellings and compressions of phrases if you get technical. And knowing variations makes it easier to work translations between italian, portuguese and French.. All with the same Latin base. Dialectics. 
I was often corrected by first langauage spanish speakers when i always used to say "yo tengo" or "yo puedo" and such. They said to just just say "tengo", "puedo" without the "yo" attached because it is implied by the "o" at the end rather than the "e" or "er" at the end. 
But that was in Nicaragua, so maybe dialectics take it another route when borders or regions are crossed? 
I was in Spain long ago and Catalunya doesn't even acknowledge their spanish as Spanish, but it does have a kind of Romanesque accent to it.
Also I never heard "Por" used in Nicaragua. Always "Para" . Except where it was attached to few composite words made by compressed phrases like "por que" or "por favor". Can't recall how much they use "por" in place of "Para" in Mexico, but i suspect by the size of Mexico, they may have variations of Spanish per region. Maybe I will find out. Some say they can even tell the old port in spain the original colonialists came from by the manera/manner/way of spanish they speak in the americas
I could tell a huge difference in the Spanish accents of Nicaragua which had a slight italian drawl to it and i even caught some Nicaraguans making fun of how a mexican guy talked as he was soliciting in the restaurant. Maybe its like when a Kentucky hillbilly walks into a NewYork city bar running his accent like he feels at home. Sounds funny to the unfamiliars. 

Some wierd things happen when the usually compostite use of "Dar" ends up as "Dale" versus "Dar Le" They end up with more differences than in the case of using "Pueder". slight differnece also between "Dame" and "Dar me" but hard to know when it is spoken because the space and "r" are silent.

I think there is street spanish bersus(versus) University standard Spanish just like there is street english versus(bersus) University standard english used in USA. Some will accept "Give me" while others accept "give it/that to me". Dame/Dar me.

No matter what i exposed here, i will still sound like a sorry mouthed ****** as soon as i open it to speak spanish to a Mexican in Mexico. They will understand that i know nothing about their language with my thick US accent.  

Spanish will be my third focused Language and the second one in which i have to work out various dialects. French would be a fourth but i have let it sit for so long that now i only cross reference it where the words are similar to spanish. I passed through France once on the way to spain but I also stayed in French speaking African countries last year and french was the only second-langauage course i took in high school long ago.

I was in an english speaking african country where the portuguese left a lot of word artifacts infused and they are so similar to spanish. "Dame" is among them as well as Sabe or sabi. Ya or Oya is also a part of them. Poqueno is actually dialected into Pikin. They have them infused into their english and native African dialects where most locals don't even know its infused by the portugeuse from several hundred years ago. 
Same when i was in Philippines, Spanish is infused into their native language and my house helper there was assuring me that "Basura" was a native philippines word for garbage. Many other Spanish and arabic words which are spelled different to suite filipino use of the langauge ,to make it feel like their native set. 
I had no idea how many Arabic and asian words or cognates were in the African language i learned until i started seeing a few definitions of arabic and asian words and they were so familair ,like a dialect -similar to difference between portugeuse and Spanish. 
I am a real big enthusiast for language cognates and dialectics. I use the same approach in music composition. I am a big music composition enthusiast too. 
I hope to learn more.


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## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Gatos said:


> To be honest - we have a handful of craftsmen that have really done good work for us over the years. Sometimes I 'invent' work for them simply to keep in touch. I can't remember what it was the plumber did for us on his last visit (with his son the apprentice) but I think he wanted 200 peso and I gave him and extra 50 for gas. Perhaps he was here for 2-3 hours. We have a fumigator (for the garden) with a gas powered backpack sprayer. We buy the chemicals. Lately he is spending about 1.5 hours here and asks for 600 pesos. I am looking into other options. We pay the albanil 350 pesos for 4 hours work - pretty regularly.
> 
> The first couple years we were here we used the big jugs of water. Had it delivered to the door. Last couple of years we had a reverse osmosis system installed at the kitchen sink. Think it cost in the area of 350 USD (plus installation). Works great. No more bottles. I am a big guy - but I have to tell you - getting those large bottles into the dispenser was starting to get a little old.
> 
> ...


 Oh God, sounds like you are describing "Touts".
They just show up anywhere around brisk commerce and look for a niche to obstruct in the guise of doing a service. And use that to get money out of people. Some places you can't even enter a cab or hire a ride without the driver being made to pay a tout who holds up your trip until the driver forks over. Also Parking lot touts. None of them approved by the establishment owners.
"Tout" is the polite word . But, in all form and function of what they do, they are trolls, the kind that lurk under bridges waiting for all travellers to pay to cross.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I'd worry that if I didn't tip the parking lot "attendants" I'd find a nice big scratch on my car door when I came back. On the driver's door where I'd be sure to notice it every time I got in. Maybe Mexico is not as mean as NoB though.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

eastwind said:


> I'd worry that if I didn't tip the parking lot "attendants" I'd find a nice big scratch on my car door when I came back. On the driver's door where I'd be sure to notice it every time I got in. Maybe Mexico is not as mean as NoB though.


My wife´s quote to those guys who block off parking spots on the street or intimidate you in parking lots: "You are not the owner of this street!" Don´t worry about them they know they are annoying people.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

*Whistle while you work*



LMtortugas said:


> Don't forget to also tip the parking lot attendant.


The Pátzcuaro Mercado Soriana has an aged parking lot attendant/unofficial greeter. He does little than tweet his whistle. The parking lot rarely has many cars in it and he always tweets us safely on our way. Yes, we tip him. Two to 5 pesos.The checkout baggers get tipped invariably, usually $5 MXN.

At Costco in Morelia, we usually turn down offers of help with our purchases, as I have "my way" of packing the perishables in the ice chests and would rather not instruct the amiable parking lot attendants. But we do gladly accept their assistance to safely exit our parking slot. That's worth $5 MXN to us.

If buying heavy stuff, like storage shelving our furniture, we accept help and tip much more generously.

These customs are part of living here in Mexico, and I try not to have an "us _vs_ them" attitude. On the other hand, some aggressive windshield washers, more often encountered at intersections in Morelia, can be annoying. Sometimes we give them a minimal tip for doing nothing, just leave to us alone.

At the local tienda de abarrotes where we buy our garrafones de agua, (purified water), a family member will carry the jugs out to our car. They refuse an offer of a tip.

Noted that the culture of our area in Michoacán is undoubtedly different than that of Can Cún.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I tip the windshield cleaners IF I ask for the service. I usully shake my finger at them and they know to stay away, if they do the windshield anyways I just drive off without tipping..pretty simple. I learned that one from a cab driver.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

citlali said:


> I tip the windshield cleaners IF I ask for the service. I usully shake my finger at them and they know to stay away, if they do the windshield anyways I just drive off without tipping..pretty simple. I learned that one from a cab driver.


What I find particularly annoying about the aggressive washers is how a vehicle with NOB plates will draw them like flies, causing them to race past a line of cars to attack their target, and no amount of finger wagging or screaming "No!" will deter them. They also seemed very disappointed when I tipped like a Mexican, perhaps a peso rather than the two dollars they were expecting. I like your idea a lot better.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

citlali said:


> I tip the windshield cleaners IF I ask for the service. I usully shake my finger at them and they know to stay away, if they do the windshield anyways I just drive off without tipping..pretty simple. I learned that one from a cab driver.


That normally works for us. But there are some intersections where the windshield washers are especially aggressive.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Anonimo said:


> That normally works for us. But there are some intersections where the windshield washers are especially aggressive.


In Guadalajara they are polite and easily take no for an answer. In Torreon they are very aggressive and spray the window anyway trying to force you to let them clean it. They did this once when we had must come from a gas station where we had cleaned the window. It was immaculate until they sprayed it. Needless to say they did not earn anything from us.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

They can be aggressive in Guadalajara as well but I am not an easy person and they find that out pretty quickly..especially when they spray my windown after the gas attendant cleaned it..

I have Mexican plates and they come to me too foreign plates is not the only thing that attracts them. I have to say they bother me very little, I think body language is a great thing and they do not try to be too aggressive with me.


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