Hotel staff on the scam

[kunash]

have spent a week at centara hua hin with my wife and 2 kids. we checked out this morning leaving the room at 6.15 am. when we left I saw a member of the reception staff waiting discretly down the stairs. I assumed to check the mini bar in our room. don't know why, but I thought hmmmm. I had left 1000 baht in 100's plus a few 20's plus coins on the side.

we had breakfast and I asked my 2 children to go and check if the money was still there. they returned and said nothing was there. no coins and no notes. ( I didn't know this till later ) but when my 2 kids left the room and were going downstairs the man saw them. he was in another bedroom. my kids saw him there.

we went to reception, and I said said we had left 1000 baht in the room, as a tip for the cleaner. my kids had gone to the room and told me the money had gone. they called the man over, who had checked the room, and he told the reception staff the money was there. at this point it was obvious he had been caught out. as I was checking out still, I asked my kids to go back to the room with the man.

the first thing my kids saw was the coins under a tissue. hidden by the tissue, which is not how I left them. the man said to my kids the notes are under a large bunch of grapes. he said he put them under there to stop them falling off the table. now, when my kids went up to check the first time, there were no notes there and no coins under a tissue. my kids are thai, and said when he spoke to them he was very nervous, and was spluttering his words. when he saw my kids leaving the room, after they had looked for the money, he must have gone back there and '''hid''' the money.

they all came back to reception and my kids told me what they saw. I knew he was on the steal. I made it very clear to reception that the money was for the cleaner, and cleaner only.

I will email the general manager and voice my concerns.

the thing is, this must happen a lot I am sure. it is not fair. the cleaners get paid very little.

if you are giving a tip ever to the cleaners, give it to them directly.!!

[zeichen]

So you are upset that the overtipping went to someone that you didn't intend. Perhaps next time just tip the person directly. Sending your kids to do the checking sounds like you have some issues. Do your own work when you leave the money.

Don't blame the man who was obviously wanting the money as he is a worker there too and gets paid probably as little as the cleaner.

Personally, I don't know why you would even start a thread at all about something so menial.

[robertthebruce]

I always leave a tip for the Cleaner or maid, as it's a low paid thankless job..

Kind of you to even think of the,... Well done, pity it fell into the wrong hands.

[Beechboy]

I agree with the OPs annoyance in this instance and it re-enforces my own habit of tipping directly to the person I want to reward.

It makes me feel good as well, I might add. Not a lot of satisfaction in leaving dosh around, especially as it could well be 'stolen.' Tipping needs be a two way personal thing in my opinion.

Things and money left lying around are open house to many, and not just Thai hotel employees.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Beechboy

[guzzi850m2]

Yes OP intentions were nice but this practice by the mini bar "counter person" is very common in most countries here in south east Asia.

Since you are such a generous tipper you should have tried finding the cleaner and handed over the money personally.

I am not a generous tipper myself but try tipping the cleaners directly the day before I check out (if very early).

[Spoonman]

you left 1000b for the staff and they collect.... I see no problem other than the massive tip left.

[wooloomooloo]

If I checkout early then I'll tip the cleaner the day before. I never leave money in the room.

[Costas2008]

There are some rich people around........

Leaving 1000Baht tip.......that's my shopping for the whole week.

Sir, if you need any services, do not hesitate to contact me.

I'm well domesticated.

[ukrules]

My girlfriend leaves the tip under one of the pillows.

I told her that if someone wanted to steal a hidden tip that would be one of the first places they would look.

[David48]

Geeze ... you guys, well, the OP anyway, are rich.

When I stay more then a day in the Hotel, I leave Bt20 on the pillow-case.

Always works for me.

The cleaner gets it.

IMHO ... Bt 1,000 is way OTT. But this being Thailand, each to their own.

[landslide]

I was always in the habit of tipping 40 baht a day for the cleaning staff. I would leave it on the night stand. Now that I am married, my wife insists on giving it directly to the room cleaners on the day before we leave. It is always appreciated, and we never worry about it going to someone else.

[RickyJB]

Geeze ... you guys, well, the OP anyway, are rich.

When I stay more then a day in the Hotel, I leave Bt20 on the pillow-case.

Always works for me.

The cleaner gets it.

IMHO ... Bt 1,000 is way OTT. But this being Thailand, each to their own.

20 baht?? cheap charlie...there really is some dour miserable greedy tight fisted sods go to Thailand... 1000 baht is basically only 20 quid... and if the cleaner is doing a grand job, polite and goes out of her way to make sure you have a pleasant stay , why not tip generously.. hard working people , long hours and get no thanks... make her day...

[David48]

Geeze ... you guys, well, the OP anyway, are rich.

When I stay more then a day in the Hotel, I leave Bt20 on the pillow-case.

Always works for me.

The cleaner gets it.

IMHO ... Bt 1,000 is way OTT. But this being Thailand, each to their own.

20 baht?? cheap charlie...there really is some dour miserable greedy tight fisted sods go to Thailand... 1000 baht is basically only 20 quid... and if the cleaner is doing a grand job, polite and goes out of her way to make sure you have a pleasant stay , why not tip generously.. hard working people , long hours and get no thanks... make her day...

Welcome to Thailand Ricky.

Only a Tourist would refer back to his Western Currency and make a comparison based on relative wage rates.

If the cleaner is Thai, her wage would most likely be Bt 300 a day.

She would clean maybe 10 or 15 rooms during her working day ... maybe more.

A tip of Bt 20 from everyone's room she cleaned would double her wage and for that, I can tell you, she would ever be so grateful.

When you have lived here for 5 or 10 years ... come back and revisit your comment.

.

[rhythmworx]

You succinctly took the words out of my mouth there David.

I'm a tourist, these cheap Charlie haters are peeing on their own chips IMO.

[apiwan]

1000 baht tip. Your having a laugh.

Always a score on the pillow without fail.

More than enough.

[rhodie]

I hope you left a note with the money so the staff knew who to give it to!

You checked out and left a tip for the staff. The staff got it. What's the problem?

[BoonToong]

I wouldn't exactly call it a 'scam'

[Beetlejuice]

1000 baht is still considered a lot of money to many in Thailand, and leaving that amount of cash on the side, whatever the OP means by that? In an open room is a huge temptation for anyone. People have been murdered for less here in Thailand.

Also how would the cleaner had known that it was a tip exclusively for her and not for all the staff, unless a note was left with it? He/she would probably have thought, considering the large amount of 1000 baht, that the OP had either left the money in the room by error, because rarely are guests so generous or it was meant to be shared with other staff members of the hotel?

Why did the OP not ask reception to call the cleaner and then the OP hand the tip over to the cleaner in person?

Although there can be no justifications for theft, if it was theft that I doubt, the OP was still negligent in leaving such a large amount of cash in an unattended and open hotel room and not handing the money over the cleaner himself, which would have saved any confusion later on and then this incident would not have occurred.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Beetlejuice

[cooked]

Exactly, this is not really a scam unless you look at it from the cleaning lady's point of view. It seems to be common practice to try to be the first into your room when you leave: as we were leaving our room someone virtually brushed past us to go in. Five seconds later my wife realised she had forgotten her phone. Of course it was gone! We got it back with neither apologies nor trouble. Moral: you're in Thailand now.

[rickthailand]

i make a point of tipping the cleaning lady after the first night always extra stuff the following days and they clean your room as soon as you leave the room for the day so always a nice clean room when you return.

rick

[Songhua]

OP tips more than I spend on a room.

[seabass69]

It's idiots like the OP who put it in Thais' heads that we farang are walking ATMs!

[canman]

Dissapointed in some of the attitudes on here, not suprised mind you. Everyone is within their rights to tip or not as their budget dictates.

I always tip generously to the low paid in places like Thailand, it's my form of charity. I don't contribute to "offical charities" as I don't believe in financing the admistrators of those charities while pennies on the dollar if any trickle down to those who need it.

A generous tip to a room cleaner, assuming she/he is doing the job properly is perfectly acceptable. I understand that 1000 baht to some seems alot and that's fine but to others it is less than an hours wage and they should not be berated for spreading some love around.

[dddave]

I usually tip the maid on a daily basis, normally 30 to 40 Baht left under the bedsheet. Doing it this way insures she gets the tip and I get good service, including the extra towel I like to have. I never return to an un-made up room after having breakfast.

[zeichen]

"20 baht?? cheap charlie...there really is some dour miserable greedy tight fisted sods go to Thailand... 1000 baht is basically only 20 quid... and if the cleaner is doing a grand job, polite and goes out of her way to make sure you have a pleasant stay , why not tip generously.. hard working people , long hours and get no thanks... make her day..."

Well since the average cleaner spends less than 30 minutes in a room, 20 baht would actually be generous. Personally I don't tip ever for the cleaning staff. Do they actually work harder than others? People do their jobs and get paid what they think they are worth. I don't tip doctors or engineers and they work hard too.

If you tip more than 100 baht, you are crazy. Matter of fact if you actually gave 1,000 baht directly to the cleaning staff, they would turn it down. Most wouldn't accept such an over tip. They would feel embarrassed.

I really don't understand this cheap charlie comment. So anyone that lives in Thailand and follows the cultural norms, is a cheap charlie? I am sorry that I am not a big spender and equate my value and contribution to society by how much money I throw around.

[keestha]

It is better if the hotel encourages guests to put all tipping money in a tipping box which is shared equally among all the workers, otherwise you get jealousy among the staff, some people getting more tips than others.

Will never forget that when working as a receptionist in a hotel in Amsterdam, we reception staff almost got zilch tip, but the Colombian guy who carried the suitcases upstairs for the guests got substantial tipping money every day.

[WhizBang]

I don't know. 1000 baht sounds like a lot, BUT... how long was the stay, how many rooms and how many people (messy, very messy or what)? It might be that 1000 baht is quite reasonable.

Personally, I tip about 100 baht per day, per room, Not much money for me and I am sure it makes the cleaning ladies happy. I always gets lots of 'Welcome back, how are you' greetings from the staff (including the cleaning ladies) when I arrive.

I also tip the girls for room service when they bring my food. Usually 20 to 40 baht.

[Zeegator]

I always leave a tip for the Cleaner or maid, as it's a low paid thankless job..

Kind of you to even think of the,... Well done, pity it fell into the wrong hands.

If he didn't specify who the tip was for then it didn't fall into the wrong hands.

[martin81]

It is kind of stupid to give a large tip at the end of a longer stay. You will not get any better service from that unless you plan to come back soon.

It would be smarter to give a daily tip to the cleaning lady then she might even give you better service on the following days.

[martin81]

It is better if the hotel encourages guests to put all tipping money in a tipping box which is shared equally among all the workers, otherwise you get jealousy among the staff, some people getting more tips than others.

Will never forget that when working as a receptionist in a hotel in Amsterdam, we reception staff almost got zilch tip, but the Colombian guy who carried the suitcases upstairs for the guests got substantial tipping money every day.

Well I always tip the bell boy as he provides a good service carrying luggage.

I don't see any reason to tip the check in staff unless they provide special service like a free upgrade or another special room.