Vietnamese Tipping Habits

The only time I pre-tip is in hotels.

If the room is clean, try moving that furniture and looking underneath/behind it to make sure it is clean, I make a point of locating the woman responsible, as opposed to the woman who covers days off (if any).

Then I tip the person a good sized tip and generally it results in all the 'goodies' (fruit-bowls, extra towels, etc) being delivered and leaving key-operated power switches in the bypass position and the air-con left on. And I deliver it personally, not in an envelope.

I was sick for a week, once, in a hotel and the room staff made sure I git all my meals, etc. They even brought in outside food - again, I had pre-tipped the room maid.

Far better than tipping when you leave, all that does is leave a smile on their face, if the room supervisor didn't pinch the money.

Once I learned a waitresses sister was very ill and I gave her a very, very large gift to help out with the operation - the sister recovered and the two girls and I keep in touch, and share meals in their homes, after 19 years.

Thanks for the tips on tips.  I'll have to try pre-tipping on my next trip.

I never tipped before nor saw the tipping process in person. Last month I went out and had dinner with an international guy and I didn't see that he had to tip for waiters/waitress. This might be because it's not compulsory in some places, some situations and some people.
The only thing which I felt unfair is the discrimination. When I were a trip to Mekong Delta, in a hotel, foriegners must to pay 40usd/night/room, while Vietnamese only 400000VND/night/room, room quality is not different. But it leads to another situation: international visitors are treated better than Vietnamese. Receptionist usually say "Hello" before "Xin chao" while my group had both Vietnamese and international people.

I am a little confused about tipping so I just let my Vietnamese fiance take care of that. 
I have never felt that I was being treated better than Vietnamese anywhere during my visits.  But I have noticed that most people in southern VN answer the phone or greet others by saying "hello."  I think I say xin chao more!

MeoMun,

In north Vietnam, you guys don't as often tip as in south Vietnam. 

In Can Tho, foreigners are still being charged double.  But, that is only in hotels and are owned by the government (city or military).  So, if you have foreign friends, don't bring them to such places next time.  Usually, those places are reserved for "Ong Bu" here.  Heee!!!  The next time you come here, let me know and I will tell you exactly where not to go.

As for the "better" treatments...  Being a Vietnamese-American, I recognize a lot of that.  I used the think that was "khon nha dai cho."  But, after learning that most of the staffs are college students, trying to learn English, I don't hold that against them too much.  Many of them, in their free times, have to go to the nearby boat dock to look for foreigners to practice their English.  So, easy there...

Howie

So the question I would like to pose to the experts is how much to tip in restaurants, coffee shops, bars? I am not referring to those inside the 4-5-star hotels, but rather upscale/representable places that you frequent.

Anatta,

I still use that 15% rule.  But, I keep mine on even bills: 10, 20...  But, I don't go over the 200,000 VNDs limit though. 

I gave a waitress 500,000 VNDs once and caught a lot of flak from my Vietnamese friends.  So, no more. 

But, nowaday, you guys must also pay attention to your bills because a few places have incorporated that "service charge" onto there.  Currently, that is at 10%.  But, as soon as I see it; I exempt myself from tipping. 

Howie

Wild_1 wrote:

I still use that 15% rule.

I tend to work on 10% as that what we tip in UK. Usually I just round up the bill to what ever is convenient. Here I keep getting told not to tip by my VN friends they just call me a fool

Wild_1 wrote:

I gave a waitress 500,000 VNDs once and caught a lot of flak from my Vietnamese friends.  So, no more.

I can only think of one area that I may tip that amount

Wild_1 wrote:

a few places have incorporated that "service charge" onto there.  Currently, that is at 10%.  But, as soon as I see it; I exempt myself from tipping.

Those place that add service charge on automatically I exempt myself from frequenting for that very reason. I tip for service not for sitting in the place. The only exception I allow to this is if it's a large party of people then I'll allow it as long as the service remains good.

I have pre-tipped in the past to ensure good service. Usually find 100k gets there attention and level of service of desire. These are on rare occasions when I need something a little different or important business deals etc.

Thanks guys.

laidbackfreak wrote:

I can only think of one area that I may tip that amount

"Want really good service do you, hmm? Pay more, you must" - Yoda 

Wild_1 wrote:

MeoMun,
In north Vietnam, you guys don't as often tip as in south Vietnam.

I see, it's one of many differences between Northern and Southern. Take for example, in north VN, there are many beggars while in south, there are many lottery ticket sellers who bother visitors everywhere and sometime make embarrassing situations.

Wild_1 wrote:

In Can Tho, foreigners are still being charged double.  But, that is only in hotels and are owned by the government (city or military).  So, if you have foreign friends, don't bring them to such places next time.  Usually, those places are reserved for "Ong Bu" here.  Heee!!!  The next time you come here, let me know and I will tell you exactly where not to go.

Thank you, my company mostly books hotel room in some fixed hotels which nearby water companies and convenient. For instance:
Cuu Long, Long Xuyen, Dong A hotel at An Giang.
Ham Luong hotel at Ben Tre.
Ninh Kieu hotel at Can Tho.
Song Tra hotel at Dong Thap.
Thanh Tra hotel at Tra Vinh.
Cuu Long hotel at Vinh Long.

Wild_1 wrote:

As for the "better" treatments...  Being a Vietnamese-American, I recognize a lot of that.  I used the think that was "khon nha dai cho."  But, after learning that most of the staffs are college students, trying to learn English, I don't hold that against them too much.  Many of them, in their free times, have to go to the nearby boat dock to look for foreigners to practice their English.  So, easy there...
Howie

I don't think that most of the staffs are college students. Anyway, I meet same problems when I want to find international friends to talk in person in Hanoi.

OK gang,

How do you quote with the name of the writer on the top left now?  I thought I did that before.  But, eversince I switched to this desktop of mine, that has vanished.

Anyhow...  Laidbackfreak, don't shun those places.  Look at it this way, they learned that fine art of including the service charge into the bill from...  Drum roll, please...  From none other than us!!!  Another reason not to shun such places is they are usually the better establishments.  So, just keep that in mind as you go pay your bill, that is all.

Laidbackfreak and Anatta, you guys, man...  No, it was not at that kind of places! 

MeoMun, yup, all of those hotels are government owned (army).  If their staffs are not young, then they are even more desperate to learn English pronuciations.  Have you tried to talk to them in English?  Mercy, mercy...  If you don't have to, don't try!  But, services from those joints and their staffs are among the worst in Vietnam.

Howie

Wild_1 wrote:

How do you quote with the name of the writer on the top left now?  I thought I did that before.

Press the "quote" button.. multiple quotes you'll need to take the text out of the forum and paste it back in.

Wild_1 wrote:

Anyhow...  Laidbackfreak, don't shun those places.  Look at it this way, they learned that fine art of including the service charge into the bill from...  Drum roll, please...  From none other than us!!!  Another reason not to shun such places is they are usually the better establishments.  So, just keep that in mind as you go pay your bill, that is all.

Tbh I shun those places in the west too, the main reason is that the tip's rarely back to the staff and even if they do I'm not tipping the people who served me but everyone who works there. Ok the tips may all end up in the same jar to be devided later but I still prefer tipping those people I want too.

Wild_1 wrote:

Laidbackfreak and Anatta, you guys, man...  No, it was not at that kind of places! 

Of course not 

Press the "quote" button

Let see if this works?

Laidbackfreak,

Funny.  I was debating with a couple of local friends, who had just bought a restaurant, about the handling of tips a couple of days ago.  Like you, I was for everyone keeping his/her tips; I argued that gives the employees an incentive to serve the customer better.  But, my friends countered that everyone for him/herself will create divisions, frictions among the sexes and between haves and the have-nots.

I thought that their argument was pretty valid, because they had to look at the bigger picture.

Howie

Wild_1 wrote:

Press the "quote" button

Let see if this works?

I'm guessing not quite....

Wild_1 wrote:

I thought that their argument was pretty valid, because they had to look at the bigger picture.

I can see the argument for it no problem with that. I'd still rather it was up to me to decide if I want to leave a tip or not and certainly the amount.
As I said previously I usually top around the 10% mark rounding up or down to the nearest 10k but if I've had surly service I'll either not leave a tip or it's very mean.