In Reply to: How much show I tips? posted by John on Friday, 2. April 1999 at 15:10 Bali Time:
In Feb this year we tipped the bellboy at the hotel 2000rps. We caught a few taxi's. If they were taking us direct to a destination, we would just round the price on the meter up to the nearest 1000rps (or if we only had big notes, the nearest 5000). We did take one around the South of Bali for half a day. We wanted the meter left on, but the driver said that he'd turn it off when he stopped and we could pay "a little bit more" for him to wait. We agreed, but should have arranged how much more. At the end of the journey the meter said
48 000rps. We figured we would give approximately 20% more as a tip. The driver wanted 120 000rps. We said that was too much and we would give a little bit more as agreed upon. We said 60 000rps and he said it wasn't enough. We stuck to this amount and started to get out of the car. The driver kept saying it wasn't enough and that he had spent all of his time waiting for us. (In Bali the drivers seem to spend a lot of time waiting anyhow). He asked for another 5000rps which we agreed to give him. We still don't know whether we paid him correctly, but felt that 65 000rps was fair. The driver had said that he keeps 20%of what he makes and the boss gets the rest. So, on the meter he would have earned about 10 000rps for our time. Our tip would have gone straight into his pocket and that was 17 000rps - almost double his normal earnings. Tipping is difficult as there is no set amount. We tried to keep in mind how low their wages are, but they also have no problem with trying to get as much as possible out of us. A bottle of water from a street vendor usually cost 1500rps. The price rarely started below 3000rps, and one guy said 5000rps. As soon as we'd say no and walk off they would ask how much. We'd say 1500rps and they always agreed. If they can get your money they will, so be on the guard. To be ripped off a few thousand rps is not much (less than AU$1), but when it happens every time you buy something for the duration of your stay it adds up. In restaurants tipping is not necessary. Usually we would round the bill up to the nearest 5000rps, but when the service was exceptional we would sometimes give up to
10 000rps. Lonely Planets suggests giving about 500rps as it says tips are not expected. We decided that was too low as the book was written before their dollar fell. Keep in mind that they don't expect it, then give tips when the service warrants it. We found this the best way.