Tipping your instructor

[Lone Wolf]

I was addressing this comment:

In a post that you thanked....

If these employees are accepting of non-Americans not tipping - the implication is that they do not accept Americans not tipping. If that's not judging based on nationality, then I dunno what is.

I would change the accept to expect. However as I said if you believe that tipping is wrong then do not tip. And if you feel you are right then what does it matter to you what others think or expect!


Nevertheless, I would hope that people wouldn't judge other people AT ALL. That's what courts and gods are for.

I agree people should not judge, but in my experience we all do. As a point courts are made up of people no more qualified to judge than any other person on earth. Courts are needed in society, but they tend to make as many mistakes in their judgements as any other group of people.

 

[BekaLynn]

This instructor you call a "poor soul" should not be an instructor.
She was to take you on and evaluate some skills.Did she have you do any skills?
She was not to be on a pleasure dive at all.What if something was to happen with you during the dive? How can she respond while giving attentionj to her buddies,with cameras no less!

No there were no skills done. She stayed with me during the decent and again on the accent. While on our accent we did our safety stop at 18 feet of course for 3 minutes. We stopped, and I was having a lot of trouble with it, most likely because it was the first time I'd done one. It seemed to me that she and her 2 friends (picture people) were going deeper, but when I looked at my gauge I was at 10 feet... oops, she didn't seem to notice, (if she did notice, she didn't do anything about it) but I managed to get myself down a bit, and stayed there the rest of the 3 minutes... then at the surface she stayed with me until the boat came over... then she said ok, get on the boat... yeah, some instruction would have most likely prevented my fin from ending up at the bottom.



I never said anything to the instructor that was planning to take me down because I had no idea until much later that there was anything wrong with what was done. This is one of those things that if you've never done it... you don't have any clue what is being done wrong or substandard. I didn't know at the time that playing around and leaving me on my own was wrong. I knew I didn't like it, and I felt worried. So I stayed close to the DM that was there... even though it was not her responsibility to watch me, I figured if something went wrong, she most likely was the next best person down there to help. I knew it was my final check out dive, and thought this is the norm. I wanted to go up earlier, but if it was going to count as a cert dive, I had to stay down a certain amount of time. And when I turned to see where the instructor was, and then wait for her, she motioned for me to keep swimming around. So I stuck it out. I stick to springs for now, and have arranged with a fantastic instructor to go out to do an ocean dive with him, and lots of instruction, later this year.



I referred to her as a "poor soul" because I have no doubt she showed up that day, after paying to go on the trip with her friends to have a fun dive... only to learn she was working. I felt as though I was "dumped" on her. Had I known before I showed up there, that I was going to be with another instructor, I'd have said no thank you, and arranged a different dive. As a student, it is most unsettling and confusing to keep being handed off to another instructor. I'm just really glad it's all over now!

 

[oly5050user]

No there were no skills done. She stayed with me during the decent and again on the accent. While on our accent we did our safety stop at 18 feet of course for 3 minutes. We stopped, and I was having a lot of trouble with it, most likely because it was the first time I'd done one. It seemed to me that she and her 2 friends (picture people) were going deeper, but when I looked at my gauge I was at 10 feet... oops, she didn't seem to notice, (if she did notice, she didn't do anything about it) but I managed to get myself down a bit, and stayed there the rest of the 3 minutes... then at the surface she stayed with me until the boat came over... then she said ok, get on the boat... yeah, some instruction would have most likely prevented my fin from ending up at the bottom.



I never said anything to the instructor that was planning to take me down because I had no idea until much later that there was anything wrong with what was done. This is one of those things that if you've never done it... you don't have any clue what is being done wrong or substandard. I didn't know at the time that playing around and leaving me on my own was wrong. I knew I didn't like it, and I felt worried. So I stayed close to the DM that was there... even though it was not her responsibility to watch me, I figured if something went wrong, she most likely was the next best person down there to help. I knew it was my final check out dive, and thought this is the norm. I wanted to go up earlier, but if it was going to count as a cert dive, I had to stay down a certain amount of time. And when I turned to see where the instructor was, and then wait for her, she motioned for me to keep swimming around. So I stuck it out. I stick to springs for now, and have arranged with a fantastic instructor to go out to do an ocean dive with him, and lots of instruction, later this year.



I referred to her as a "poor soul" because I have no doubt she showed up that day, after paying to go on the trip with her friends to have a fun dive... only to learn she was working. I felt as though I was "dumped" on her. Had I known before I showed up there, that I was going to be with another instructor, I'd have said no thank you, and arranged a different dive. As a student, it is most unsettling and confusing to keep being handed off to another instructor. I'm just really glad it's all over now!

Beka; not to stir up the pot,but you are required to complete 4 ow training dives for certification.Each has its required oblectives/skills to complete for certification.I think that maybe you should go to the owner of the lds and tell them this story.Maybe even contact the training agency and file a complaint onthis person.Did this "instructor" certify you? Is her name on your card? If she did the last training dive standards dictate that she is the certifing instructor.
If she paid to go on dive why did she accept to make the dive with you?(read my earlier post about paying for a dive and being asked to only accompany an unknown person,much less complete a training dive with them)

 

[nixon1cj]

after my O W i and the other 5 students gave a tip of about 20 dollers each it was not much per person but it adds up and he seemed to like the gift

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

after my O W i and the other 5 students gave a tip of about 20 dollers each it was not much per person but it adds up and he seemed to like the gift

Oh no, of all the topics to bump up

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I am an instructor and the shop owner. I don not expect any type of tip.

I have been offered them, and I refuse. I DO tell them, when they offer, that the next exotic dive trip they go on, to bring me back a cheap cheesy dive souvenir. They do. I have gotten some really cool shell ankle bracelets, shirts, magnets, etc. All cool stuff that I usually put in a case in the shop with a picture of them. People Love to show their stuff off and tell about their trip. Good marketing, but even better for keeping friends and divers...

But this is not a tourist destination with those fly by divers.... I can't speak for those instructors. They don't get to build a long term customer base. I do.

 

[psychocabbage]

Tip the instructor? No.
Tip the DM or boat crews while on vaca? Sure. We didnt our first time out and then learned it was customary.. They earn it with us for sure.

I dont like to tip for every little thing.

If 6 of us go out to eat and the restaurant tries to force a certain percentage tip just cause we are a party of 6, then I will write my own tip amount in. If I have to, I do dispute their charges and I always win that.

 

[ONESPEED]

Tip the instructor? No.
Tip the DM or boat crews while on vaca? Sure. We didnt our first time out and then learned it was customary.. They earn it with us for sure.

I dont like to tip for every little thing.

If 6 of us go out to eat and the restaurant tries to force a certain percentage tip just cause we are a party of 6, then I will write my own tip amount in. If I have to, I do dispute their charges and I always win that.

You sound like a real joy to dine with. You probably don't have many people dine out with you more than once.

 

[psychocabbage]

You sound like a real joy to dine with. You probably don't have many people dine out with you more than once.

Gotta love these barbs! SB members at their best! (sarcasm heavily implied)


Let see.. from the info I posted, nowhere did I mention anything about how I am with my friends and family while eating out yet, with your divine wisdom, you were able to surmise that I must either berate my friends or bore them with idle chatter.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I do neither. We actually eat out quite often. If the service is good, it is rewarded but never to extremes. If I am dining out at a $50 a plate restaurant that does not mean to me that the server is going to make an easy $10 per person tip. Far from the truth. At an upscale restaurant I expect to never have to see the staff unless called upon. It should be virtually seamless. At regular eateries, I tip within reason. I like to use the "double the tax" rule to ball park my tips. I donÃÕ have many friends that are waiters. That is true. I have owned my own restaurant and my wife used to manage a restaurant so I can say that we both have been in the "biz" and it does not alter my mentality. Call me "Mr Pink" if you will.


Now back on topic. Tipping instructors.. From our experience, both of the instructors who I have had and whom my children have had owned their own dive shops. I dont think tipping them was anywhere near appropriate. I dont throw money away. Thats just bad financial sense. I do use them to fill my tanks for now while I get ready to purchase my own compressor.

As for tipping DMs and boat staff, we do, but only on the last day of the dives when we are covering all the dives for the week. I dont think of it in terms of "if this were an American" I think of it in terms of the value of their $ and go from there. Any $ I am handing out is deserved and if its not much, it may mean we have to make up next time. Some times we just go to dive and budget just enough to get us there and in the water and back real fast.

 

[RJP]

Any $ I am handing out is deserved and if its not much, it may mean we have to make up next time. Some times we just go to dive and budget just enough to get us there and in the water and back real fast.

If you can afford the trip, you can afford to tip.