08/2012 - Rumba "self -tipping" waiter alert.

[DASBOOTY]

When I was in Sosua in March I went to Rumba bar one night and ordered three drinks from the waiter. The cost was 220 pesos and I gave him 400 pesos (two 200 peso notes). I waited 45 minutes for my 180 pesos in change before I got fed up and asked him "where is my change". He acted surprised but gave me my change and I tipped him 50 pesos.

I was in Rumba Friday night with my chica and ordered a drink from the same waiter. The cost was 150 pesos and I gave him a 200 peso note. Once again, the fucker didn't bring me my change. For 30 minutes I observed as he took orders from tables with Dominicanas and Haitianas and promptly returned their change.

I wanted to order another drink and my chica called over a female waiter. I pointed out to her the other waiter and told her he had not given me back my change. She sent him over to my table and I told him he owed me 50 pesos. He did not have any 50 peso notes, so I gave him a 50 peso note in exchange for a 100 peso note (NO TIP).

The waiter in question is short, skinny, about 25-30 years old and scurries around Rumba like the Roadrunner (not when it comes to bringing my change though ).

While all of this may seem to some to be petty on my part, if we don't stand up to them on self-tipping, short-changing, and bill-padding etc., some of them will keep on trying to take advantage of gringos.

[El-Rey]

Sounds like Max. Never had a problem out of him, But I wouldnt be surprised.

[bk8987m]

Tipping is the customer's choice... something to be earned for good service, not taken for granted by the waiter... it would piss me off too...

[jacknback]

I would have gone looking for the jefe the second time.Lord knows how much he's skimming.It's to bad because if hes the same guy we think he is,he does a good job and should make decent tips from the gringos.

[MrHappy]

Something I learned decades ago.....

Whenever you pay a bill, you study it first, and make sure you agree with the amount owed.

You ask the server to tell you how much it is, to see if they tell you the same thing as is printed.

You hand them the bill(s) and tell them how much you're handing them.

You make sure they acknowledge how much you gave them.

It only takes a second or two, but it makes it abundantly clear to the server that you are aware of the "facts", and avoids a TON of confusion.

BTW, I usually "round up" to the next hundred or so with my payment, and tell them to keep the change(if I have exact change, which I usually do)

[j_d66]

I always tell them one way or another. If I want change back I say "change" otherwise I tell them that "I am all set" which means the difference is theirs.

I typically don't study the bill in detail but I always have a rough idea as to what I think the bill should be. If it's alot more than I study it. I also remember that 100RD is less than $3 so unless it's off very much I am not going to make an issue out of it

[dmoney]

I also remember that 100RD is less than $3 so unless it's off very much I am not going to make an issue out of it

i agree with everything you said until you said this.

i feel that it is more about the principle. even if it was one cent i still want it back and then i will give them the tip myself at my discretion.

To me it speaks to the waiters honesty and character. Yes i know this is a third world country and some will say that we should not hold them up to the same standards as we do with people back home. That is not me, i try to treat everyone the same no matter where i am.

Also i have spend a good amount of time in third world countries and what you said above is EXACTLY what they want. It makes them think it is ok. Notice how the OP said he did not do this to the locals.He knows they wouldn't put up with that crap. Him doing it to a foreigner was not a mistake. Taking 100pesos from one guy might not seem like much but if he does it 9 or 10 times during the course of his shift. Guess what he just made 1000pesos right there (enough for a ST )

I tip really well both here and stateside but i like to do it myself.

[MrHappy]

i agree with everything you said until you said this.

i feel that it is more about the principle. even if it was one cent i still want it back and then i will give them the tip myself at my discretion.

To me it speaks to the waiters honesty and character. Yes i know this is a third world country and some will say that we should not hold them up to the same standards as we do with people back home. That is not me, i try to treat everyone the same no matter where i am.

Also i have spend a good amount of time in third world countries and what you said above is EXACTLY what they want. It makes them think it is ok. Notice how the OP said he did not do this to the locals.He knows they wouldn't put up with that crap. Him doing it to a foreigner was not a mistake. Taking 100pesos from one guy might not seem like much but if he does it 9 or 10 times during the course of his shift. Guess what he just made 1000pesos right there (enough for a ST )

I tip really well both here and stateside but i like to do it myself.

If a person has not been brought up with strong standards of honesty and character(which includes 99.9% of most people working in that type of industry) how could you ever expect them to display those characteristics?

Same goes for their consideration for others, level of responsibility, or manners( or lack of any or all of the above).

If you've never been trained in calculus, how could I possibly expect you to solve any sort of calculus problem?

Those are things we are brought up with since childhood and take for granted. Not so for them.

There's an old saying here "Mas claridad, mas amistad" - Make sure things are clearly understood, and you greatly diminish the amount of problems you encounter.

[deezl]

I've had the same issue at Rumba but with a different guy.

Actually had to hunt him down to get my change back which pissed me off so - no tip for him.

It was 'only' 40 pesos, but it's the principle of the thing.

I'd have had no problem dropping 40p as a tip, except he took it upon himself to take it and be disrespectful, so not only did he not get the tip but I always make sure to get a waiter other than him now.

[dmoney]

If a person has not been brought up with strong standards of honesty and character(which includes 99.9% of most people working in that type of industry) how could you ever expect them to display those characteristics?

Same goes for their consideration for others, level of responsibility, or manners( or lack of any or all of the above).

If you've never been trained in calculus, how could I possibly expect you to solve any sort of calculus problem?

Those are things we are brought up with since childhood and take for granted. Not so for them.

There's an old saying here "Mas claridad, mas amistad" - Make sure things are clearly understood, and you greatly diminish the amount of problems you encounter.

but how do we know that 99.9 of them are not brought up with a strong standards? I know alot of people who have been taught to have good character and honesty but yet they still cheat as much if not more than those who were not. That is just how people are but i like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to prove me otherwise (that is how i was brought up). If they do prove me to be wrong then that benefit of the doubt won't be applied in the future. guess i think that there is more than .1 percent of them out there.

i like that saying and totally agree with you. By response was more of a retort to what the other person was saying

[MrHappy]

but how do we know that 99.9 of them are not brought up with a strong standards? I know alot of people who have been taught to have good character and honesty but yet they still cheat as much if not more than those who were not. That is just how people are but i like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to prove me otherwise (that is how i was brought up). If they do prove me to be wrong then that benefit of the doubt won't be applied in the future. guess i think that there is more than .1 percent of them out there.

i like that saying and totally agree with you. My response was more of a retort to what the other person was saying

In Sosua?? I don tink so...


Get into the city, and chances are, most places you go into it's highly unlikely they will do that sort of thing.

Go into some dump, and there's a good chance it will happen.

[Seville]

I always tell them one way or another. If I want change back I say "change" otherwise I tell them that "I am all set" which means the difference is theirs.

I typically don't study the bill in detail but I always have a rough idea as to what I think the bill should be. If it's alot more than I study it. I also remember that 100RD is less than $3 so unless it's off very much I am not going to make an issue out of it

They love that attitude....they count on it. In areas like Sosua they are counting on the tourist not giving a shit about 100 pesos on the bill or 50 more pesos for the moto or 500 more pesos when the chica asks for it. Your attitude just feeds into the "entitlement" they feel to rip off the stupid gringo who, in their minds, has more money than sense.

[MrHappy]

They love that attitude....they count on it. In areas like Sosua they are counting on the tourist not giving a shit about 100 pesos on the bill or 50 more pesos for the moto or 500 more pesos when the chica asks for it. Your attitude just feeds into the "entitlement" they feel to rip off the stupid gringo who, in their minds, has more money than sense.

That is true for the entire country.

And in effect, that's the truth. More money than sense.

I challenge any guy on this board to go to a colmado, and hang out and watch the people that come in and buy things.

See how many of them are inclined to say "forget about it" when it comes down to one peso in change.

One peso.

It's highly unlikely you'll see even one person do that. They keep track of their pesos meticulously.

Hanging out in a colmado is an eye opener. Have you ever seen a person buy one spoon of tomato paste?

1/2 of a chicken bouillon cube? A half a plastic cup of cooking oil? One piece of bread?

People that deal at that level LOVE the guys that throw money around like burnt matches.

[dmoney]

They love that attitude....they count on it. In areas like Sosua they are counting on the tourist not giving a shit about 100 pesos on the bill or 50 more pesos for the moto or 500 more pesos when the chica asks for it. Your attitude just feeds into the "entitlement" they feel to rip off the stupid gringo who, in their minds, has more money than sense.

couldn't have said it better myself

quite honestly i do not blame them. its a nice little hustle but it can easily be stopped by gringos if they just took better care.

this whole thing leads to the overspending debate. That is another topic in its own but the two do go hand in hand imo.

[Irie]

I would have gone looking for the jefe the second time.Lord knows how much he's skimming.It's to bad because if hes the same guy we think he is,he does a good job and should make decent tips from the gringos.

It probably is who you're thinking Jack. I agree too. He's was the first and only to impress me with serving this trip. Previous trips left a bad taste in my mouth with much to be desired. I contemplating not even patronizing the place because the past experiences were so terrible.

[jacknback]

But this surely doesn't give him permission to rip people off.

[Irie]

But this surely doesn't give him permission to rip people off.

Permission???.......no. Read above. Happys got it.

Service?.....best I've had there. And that's not saying much.

[steviewonder]

That is true for the entire country.

Hanging out in a colmado is an eye opener. Have you ever seen a person buy one spoon of tomato paste?

Yes, and one egg

1/2 of a chicken bouillon cube?

Yes, and two national cigarettes that he put into a Marlboro empty box

A half a plastic cup of cooking oil? One piece of bread?

Yes, that's when I realized I have too much food in my fridge

[rahsta]

Yes, and one egg



Yes, and two national cigarettes that he put into a Marlboro empty box



Yes, that's when I realized I have too much food in my fridge

This is why we all have to be thankfull, we can travel to foreign countries. I try to stay humble.

[DASBOOTY]

I've had the same issue at Rumba but with a different guy.

Actually had to hunt him down to get my change back which pissed me off so - no tip for him.

It was 'only' 40 pesos, but it's the principle of the thing.

I'd have had no problem dropping 40p as a tip, except he took it upon himself to take it and be disrespectful, so not only did he not get the tip but I always make sure to get a waiter other than him now.

This kind of stuff seems to be a common occurence at Rumba.

Last July I met up with vew dew and his favorita at Rumba one night. I wanted to get a beer and vew dew told me to go up to the bar to get a beer and tell the waiter to put it on his tab. I had a difficult time trying to communicate this to the waiter in Spanish (and with the loud music blaring in the background), so I just paid for the beer.

When vew dew got his tab he noticed the waiter had charged him for the beer I had already paid for.

The waiter in question now works across the street at El Flow. When I returned to Sosua in November I was walking past El Flow one evening and he motioned for me to take a chair at a table on the sidewalk.....................I pointed at my AI wrist band and kept on walking .