General Info

[QUOTE=XMan;1994297]I tip the security guard if he goes beyond the call of duty with pulling a bag our of a taxi trunk or hailing a taxi. I don't know what kind of trouble BM get's himself into, but to each his own. There would be two or three shifts anyway.[/QUOTE]Also, have often found it beneficial after check-in to give a (relatively) liberal tip to the head or senior bellman, especially in a smaller hotel. Bellmen will usually have been around for years, have "seniority" as a practical matter, and can help to smooth out difficulties and make your stay more pleasant.

It's really a gut-call, best made at the time, sensing who is the (sometimes not so apparent) hotel alpha on duty at the time. Even a relatively liberal tip by their standards is easy enough on our wallets, and is meant to express our appreciation and establish good will.

YMMV.

OM.

[QUOTE=StevieW;1994375]What about at restaurants and to taxi drivers? What would be consisted an appropriate amount?

I've been to Philippines before but I don't think the thought ever cruised my mind.

Cheers.[/QUOTE]Stevie, can you send me a PM? I have some info for you regarding this tipping thing. There is no "appropriate amount".

[QUOTE=SaltyPete;1993885]Apparently not limited to ISG.

[URL]http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/men-in-india-are-buying-lists-of-women%e2%80%99s-phone-numbers-in-order-to-sexually-harass-them/ar-AAmzQdx?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=MSIDHP[/URL][/QUOTE]Unfortunately, the practice has now made it's way to the Philippines as load has largely replaced load cards. Attractive girls now have to be wary of where they purchase load as they may receive very disturbing messages after doing so. A lot of these pervs also prowl Facebook sending friend requests to girls, once accepted as a friend they proceed to send perverted messages and photos of their cocks. Once the digits bro guys get a girl's number they will harass her until she tosses the sim and disappears. Girls now rarely keep the same number beyond a couple of months.

[QUOTE=StevieW;1993857]Is tipping normal practice in Philippines? I don't mean from the mongering aspect. More for like taxis, restaurants, hotel concierge service. That kind of thing.[/QUOTE]Taxi rides of less than p200 I usually tip p20. Nice restaurants that don't include service charge I tip 10%. Nightclubs that I visit often and hook me up with a good table and are attentive I tip p500 on a p2000 - p3000 bill.

[QUOTE=ChochaMonger;1994477]Unfortunately, the practice has now made it's way to the Philippines as load has largely replaced load cards. Attractive girls now have to be wary of where they purchase load as they may receive very disturbing messages after doing so. A lot of these pervs also prowl Facebook sending friend requests to girls, once accepted as a friend they proceed to send perverted messages and photos of their cocks. Once the digits bro guys get a girl's number they will harass her until she tosses the sim and disappears. Girls now rarely keep the same number beyond a couple of months.[/QUOTE]They have the similar problems in Thailand from the delivery guys who deliver for Lazada. Seems like creeps are everywhere.

[QUOTE=Hutsori;1994689]Taxi rides of less than p200 I usually tip p20. Nice restaurants that don't include service charge I tip 10%. Nightclubs that I visit often and hook me up with a good table and are attentive I tip p500 on a p2000 - p3000 bill.[/QUOTE]Filipinos, in general, are not big tippers and tend to leave whatever loose change they may receive as a tip regardless of the size of the bill. For this reason, some of the Western restaurant owners I know have started to impose service charges of about 10% to more fairly compensate wait staff. Westerners tend to be more generous. My pattern it similar to that indicated by Huts, though I'm a bit more generous with Uber drivers and hotel drivers. I'll also usually tip room maids either daily or at the end of my stay, particularly at the Fairmont where I receive excellent service.

GE.

[QUOTE=GoodEnough;1994749]Filipinos, in general, are not b.I'll also usually tip room maids either daily or at the end of my stay, particularly at the Fairmont where I receive excellenGE.[/QUOTE]Leaving just a 20 or two twenties if there are two maids, or a 50 p on the pillow every day (or more if you had an especially messy date) is the one place where you get assured good value for tipping. Who knows what maids make, must be pretty bad wage scale. Also establishing some kind of rapport will help you learn best room (low noise, everything working) which front desk staff (believe it or not) don't know as they don't get up into the rooms.

[QUOTE=SaltyPete;1993885]Apparently not limited to ISG.

[URL]http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/men-in-india-are-buying-lists-of-women%e2%80%99s-phone-numbers-in-order-to-sexually-harass-them/ar-AAmzQdx?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=MSIDHP[/URL][/QUOTE]Sexual frustration will do unfortunate things to a person. Can't say I envy the guys in India that get laid so infrequently that that's an outlet for them.

Found the last paragraph interesting.

"But that's little solace for the women at the receiving end. Criminal lawyers such as Avninder Singh feel that more stringent action is needed. "It's a breach of trust. The woman has shared her phone number with the recharge person on the assumption of trust. If he sells her information, he is guilty of exchanging that privilege for economic advantage, a criminal offense punishable with as much as seven years in jail. He is also abetting phone stalking."

Sounds a lot like Facebook, Google, and pretty much everything else you could hit by swinging a dead cat in the general direction of the internet these days. The exchanging privileged information for economic advantage part. It's practically the backbone of the digital economy. Why should the little guys be left out?

On a practical note, I had to toss a Globe sim a month or so back after using a reloading shop in a local mall because the fucktard kept subscribing me to some gaming channel or something at 5 p per day. If your girl has a sister auntie or whatever who sells load (most all do) it's safer to get it that way. Plus hey, 3 p to the family, you're a hero.

[QUOTE=GoodEnough;1994749]For this reason, some of the Western restaurant owners I know have started to impose service charges of about 10% to more fairly compensate wait staff. GE.[/QUOTE]Yes, when eating at a restaurant always look at the printed bill before paying. Often times they have tacked on a 10-15% 'service charge' (read: MANDATED TIP -- which also happens sometimes in my country). If you don't see it, you might accidentally leave your tip (a second tip). Also look at the fine print on the menu, often it states there is a service charge in addition to the food prices (unfortunately usually in small print).

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;1994920]Yes, when eating at a restaurant always look at the printed bill before paying. Often times they have tacked on a 10-15% 'service charge' (read: MANDATED TIP -- which also happens sometimes in my country). If you don't see it, you might accidentally leave your tip (a second tip). Also look at the fine print on the menu, often it states there is a service charge in addition to the food prices (unfortunately usually in small print).[/QUOTE]In Davao and Makati, it appears to me that many of the more expensive establishments are incorporating service charges into their bills, usually at a rate of 10%, so I agree with Westie that it pays to check the bill. I don't find anything offensive about this practice, but it does affect my tipping behavior.

GE.

I rarely use these operators because I can always get good taxis in front of my condo but for various reasons today I needed to use Uber (twice) and Grab (once).

The popularity of these services has obviously meant that they have recruited new drivers. It appears many of them have come from out of town or have a poor knowledge of the street system.

I had 3 instances today in travelling from Ortigas Center across to near Intramuros and then back to Pasay and again to QC where each driver had absolutely no idea about directions in Manila. They fiddled and fussed around with the mobile app that is supposed to give them directions getting from A to B.

Easier said than done. The app had them turning in all directions, and they were mindlessly following the maps because they had no local knowledge. In the end I bailed out of one Uber, grabbed a "normal" taxi, and we sped to my destination without fuss.

I am sure that those of you who are tooling around Makati between Burgos Street and / or EDSA are not having any problems. I am also sure that most of you using these services wonder what I am talking about.

Nevertheless, it happened to me today, and I have lived and been driving in Manila for 20 years. Maybe it was a bad-luck-day. However, it's a heads-up for those of you who use Uber or Grab to fetch or return companions from or to their home. The driver just might get lost.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1995179]I rarely use these operators because I can always get good taxis in front of my condo but for various reasons today I needed to use Uber (twice) and Grab (once).

The popularity of these services has obviously meant that they have recruited new drivers. It appears many of them have come from out of town or have a poor knowledge of the street system.

I had 3 instances today in travelling from Ortigas Center across to near Intramuros and then back to Pasay and again to QC where each driver had absolutely no idea about directions in Manila. They fiddled and fussed around with the mobile app that is supposed to give them directions getting from A to B.

Easier said than done. The app had them turning in all directions, and they were mindlessly following the maps because they had no local knowledge. In the end I bailed out of one Uber, grabbed a "normal" taxi, and we sped to my destination without fuss.

I am sure that those of you who are tooling around Makati between Burgos Street and / or EDSA are not having any problems. I am also sure that most of you using these services wonder what I am talking about.

Nevertheless, it happened to me today, and I have lived and been driving in Manila for 20 years. Maybe it was a bad-luck-day. However, it's a heads-up for those of you who use Uber or Grab to fetch or return companions from or to their home. The driver just might get lost.[/QUOTE]I've had new Uber drivers who have no idea where they're going, which is why I use Waze on every trip and insist that the driver follow those directions. On Thursday, for example, I had to get to a slightly out of the way address in Marikina, a part of the metro area that I don't know at all. No sweat at all as I just had the driver follow Waze and he took me right to the door; no wrong turns and no wasted time. I did the same thing on the return trip. As I've stated before, I prefer Uber to taxis for a couple of reasons: first, the cars are new (ish) and invariably clean and odor free and second, because should I prove absent minded and leave something in the car, I can always contact the driver and get it returned, as I've had to do on one occasion.

I rarely use taxis anywhere in the metro area these days.

GE.

[QUOTE=GoodEnough;1995196]I've had new Uber drivers who have no idea where they're going, which is why I use Waze on every trip and insist that the driver follow those directions. [/QUOTE]My warning is still current for those guys who don't know where they are going or who use Uber to fetch or deliver companions.

Very few girls will know anything about Waze to check whether Uber or Grab is working effectively.

It seems a bit odd to have to use a second app (Waze) to check on the accuracy of the Uber app. Maybe we need a 3rd app to ensure Waze is accurate.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1995253]My warning is still current for those guys who don't know where they are going or who use Uber to fetch or deliver companions.

Very few girls will know anything about Waze to check whether Uber or Grab is working effectively.

It seems a bit odd to have to use a second app (Waze) to check on the accuracy of the Uber app. Maybe we need a 3rd app to ensure Waze is accurate.[/QUOTE]I don't have extensive Uber experience but on my last trip, 5 of 5 drivers were using Waze. One even remarked that thanks to Waze, he no longer ends up the wrong way on a one way street. I'm not aware of an Uber app for directions; at least, none of my drivers were using one. Maybe you happened to draw of the 1% that is oblivious? I see your point about drivers unfamiliar with Manila but that could happen in a regular taxi as well.

Some of the long shifts these guys (Uber / Taxis) pull would not be allowed in the US. Still, I am always amazed about the lack of accidents I see under those traffic conditions.

Uber is now advertising extensively for drivers.

It seems many taxi franchisees are buying into Uber too and getting new cars but needing new drivers for them.

I chatted with a taxi owner-driver the other day who drives now and then to alleviate his "boredom" or fill in for sick drivers etc. He has 75 units. He told me some owners have 1000 plus taxi units, so it is easy to see that they will also switch to Uber, because they get much better returns.

Example: My condo to NAIA from Ortigas in a regular taxi when moderately busy is around 400 php.

Last week I used Uber (for no real reason other than to test it out) and it cost me 831 php (surge pricing).

While I was waiting for my ride at least 3 taxis stopped wanting to pick me up. I felt a bit silly.

I hope more people switch to Uber so that more regular taxis will be available for me. I don't have any hassles with regular taxis and certainly around my area they all seem to be clean and well-maintained.

I saw lots of very crappy units though when I was in Malate / Cubao yesterday.