Gratuity is personal.....I prefer face to face with a handshake and thank you

Evans M'Kanza (spelling may be incorrect) in 2003 kept the tips for the staff as well as my trophy fee for a buffalo. That rotten low life son of a bitch lost his PH license for other infractions. I believe another PH may have kept a portion of the tip money. Now, I always insist to give staff tips in person. Evans, if you see this, FOAD.
Cheers, gents.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by bbruce:
Tipping should never be expected. If you take a job you should be working to make the person you your working for happy. Outfitters make a living if the clients are happy there for If you work hard for your boss the client should leave happy. If the client is happy he may leave a tip. a tip should be concidered a bonus, If not it is a fee. I tip what I can afford and if I think It is warrented . In my opinion it should be personal,

I agree. Tip only based on satisfaction with work done and what one is comfortable paying.

quote:

Originally posted by postoak:
Well then they'll be pleasantly surprised when they get money from the outfitter a couple of days later.

If you don't trust the outfitter to pass on the money then you probably shouldn't be booking with him at all.

Why would any professional outfitter want to be stuck in this spot. Having to dole out tips after the hunter is gone. Everyone in camp questioning if he held back anything.

At places I hunted in in Zim and Botswana - I asked the PH and outfitter what to tip the staff. They gave me the range and I tipped them. I kinda said once let me just give you the money and was told that tipping is between client and staff. Everyone knows what they get and they get it directly - there is no miss communication and resentment of outfitter by anyone.

Why I always take small bills with me and envelops.

Mike

The goal here is to make the tipping situation easier for the client, not the outfitter, the PH, or other staff.

Clients are confused about two things, how much to give, and how it should be divvied up among the various people they encounter.

The range of figures I posted from that chart gives clients an idea of how much other people are giving and they can decide where they want to fit on that spectrum. For me it is 10% which is slightly more than the median of 8.2%

Giving to the outfitter to distribute solves the second problem for the client.

I've spoken to one outfitter by PM and he said he is fine with the method I've outlined.

quote:

Originally posted by fujotupu:

quote:

Originally posted by postoak:
Implying that I believe the outfitter wants to keep his employees happy and knows better than I who has done the best work and should be kept happiest.

Then you need to do some more research to include the hidden (despicable) habits regarding some outfitters; the ones who short-change their PH and staff or at worst, even stiff them.

However, its your money and your call but sleep well in not knowing if your generosity was well received or until the recipient calls to thank you.

Yep.

Some big name outfitters don't pay their PHs for months after the safari.
Going as far as only paying when they threatened.

I have seen all sorts.

From the PH who lined up his staff and hands them the cash, to the ones who take the money and pay them at the end of the season.

But, one can always tell if the money reaches the staff, by how they continue to work for the same PH, and how happy they are to see you come to hunt with them again.

Handing cash directly to the staff may be frowned upon. Unfortunately some take the cash and run off to town for a week or two bender and don't show back up for work.

It is best to discuss this with the PH before you do it. You may not be doing him or the camp any favors by tipping directly. Also, it is better to tip with things like watches, shirts, sunglasses, hats, even cell phone minutes for the staff as they are more difficult to turn into alcohol.

I have tipped PHs with cameras, binoculars, rifle scopes as these things are difficult and very expensive for them to obtain. Anything that is imported into Africa costs a minimum of twice what we pay for it here in the States. Plus you don't have to carry as much back with you.

What I don't understand is these tipping threads always seem to take on the attitude that tipping is a great financial burden and causes a whole lot of angst. Guys tipping on safari is part of the experience and needs to be part of your budget. One of the moderators here years back said "If you can't afford to tip don't go". Tipping to me is enjoyable. I like rewarding folks for a job well done. often there is a little ceremony at hunt's end where the tips are given out or the crew is told how much the tip will be and it's fun.

Another thought I had was what kind of safari operators are people booking with that are stealing the tips? Maybe I'm naive but when a safari operator has told me he'd rather not have me directly tip the staff for good reason it never crossed my mind that the staff would not get their tip after I had given the PH their money.

Mark

You have one group of clients who say tipping isn't either mandatory and shouldn't be expected and you've got the other side who says if you can't afford the tip, don't go or go on a cheaper hunt trip (which would mean no African trip at all for some guys).

I posted my 10% figure and then you have some of the rich guys objecting to a $10,000 tip on a $100,000 hunt. My response then, would be if you can't afford a $10,000 tip then don't take a $100,000 hunt!

As for as a $10,000 tip being unreasonable, on that survey you can see at least one person left a $4,000 tip on a $9,000 hunt and another person left a $10,500 tip on a $27,000 hunt.

Also, you guys who take these high-end tent camp safaris have it kind of easy deciding who to dole the money out to because you've been isolated with all the employees in camp with you.

You never consider that on your typical RSA game ranch, there are people all over the place that you occasionally see, not sure what all of them do, know that it might seem unfair to not tip them and tip others. The same thing is repeated as you are driven around from place to place. It is extremely complicated compared to the camp-out-in-the-wilderness situation.

You know I've been watching this conversation progress. If you look at who is contributing, it tells you a lot. 1. What would you expect an outfitter to say? What would you expect someone to say on here when you really don't know what they do. The statement if you can't afford 10% on a 100,000 hunt don't go is B----t.
I have known a lot of people of very high means and they don't give money away especially if they got it the old fashioned "Earned It". I don't even consider what an outfitter tells me in this regard. Think about it!! A fool and his money soon part!

quote:

Originally posted by postoak:

I posted my 10% figure and then you have some of the rich guys objecting to a $10,000 tip on a $100,000 hunt. My response then, would be if you can't afford a $10,000 tip then don't take a $100,000 hunt!

Don't confuse afford for someone's individual rule on tipping. I normally tip 15% of daily rate (adjusted for special situations). I don't like tipping on trophy fees that are set by some government agency.

Tipping is a cost of going on a guided hunt. But its not a hard and fast rule on percentages.

Saying you won't tip $10K on $100K hunt then don't go on the hunt is like me telling you don't go hunt in south Africa where you have to drive from one farm to another to shoot an eland and then a kudu. Go hunt in Save or Bubye where you can shoot them all and be around big five. My statement is just ill informed and wrong.

Mike

quote:

The goal here is to make the tipping situation easier for the client, not the outfitter, the PH, or other staff.

How about theses ideas to make the tipping situation easier for everyone, 1) Make it very plain to all concerned that you will not tip, period!, or 2) Have a set maximum amount you will tip, any problems the amount is reduced. If either of these methods are used, there will be no question about tipping. Personally, I'm tired of vendors expecting a tip; if service is crappy, they get nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by wrenchmaster:

quote:

The goal here is to make the tipping situation easier for the client, not the outfitter, the PH, or other staff.

How about theses ideas to make the tipping situation easier for everyone, 1) Make it very plain to all concerned that you will not tip, period!, or 2) Have a set maximum amount you will tip, any problems the amount is reduced. If either of these methods are used, there will be no question about tipping. Personally, I'm tired of vendors expecting a tip; if service is crappy, they get nothing.

It's not the amount or percentage that makes this way easier. It's not having to bring cash over and not having to decide how 30 or 40 people at a game ranch headquarters have to have their tips allotted (plus having to track them all down on the day you leave -- an impossible task).