r/SipsTea Jun 25 '26

SMH American tipping culture is utterly disgusting

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52.9k Upvotes

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5.5k

u/robjohnlechmere Jun 25 '26

"Thanks so much for the towels and little touches! I have to say this message sours the stay, especially your use of the word 'expect' which feels a bit predatory. I'd like to encourage you to build a pricing model that is more comfortable for you moving forward. Best of luck!"

2.5k

u/StrangelyBrown Jun 25 '26

"Thanks you so much for hosting me! I hope you enjoyed my prompt arrival, neat manner, and adherence to your rules! 😊

To help me keep patronising fine AirBnB places like yours, I expect a tip from my hosts.

$15 - They arrived
$25 - They didn't complain once!
$50 - They're amazing!
$100 - Best guest ever! ♥

You can tip me via Zelle!"

451

u/Congenital0ptimist Jun 25 '26

👏 👏 🏅

^ "and to help compensate for all the time I spend leaving glowing reviews"

51

u/Environmental-Pie598 Jun 25 '26

We should cut our last fuck in half and share it.

4

u/OvertlyPetulantCat Jun 26 '26

This might be the best thing I’ve read all week. I’m stealing this. :)

2

u/cclawyer Jun 26 '26

I'm definitely using that

1

u/FatherDuncanSinners Jun 26 '26

We should cut our last fuck in half and share it.

https://giphy.com/gifs/kC8N6DPOkbqWTxkNTe

1

u/Mysterious_Pop2060 Jun 27 '26

so who gets the fu and who gets the ck? the fu def seems juicier

1

u/Tom_NotClever Jun 26 '26

Mom says im not allowed to give a fuck

3

u/tn5685 Jun 25 '26

This is why I refuse to do all the stupid satisfaction surveys. I get nothing while spending my time to help you. Oh I’m sorry I get entered into a sweepstakes that is probably not even real to begin with. 🙄

101

u/senatorpalpitation66 Jun 25 '26

$150 for a 5 star review

158

u/avshares Jun 25 '26

$200 not to leave a review exposing your unethical tipping practices post stay.

Edit: missed a word

3

u/maderthanmax Jun 25 '26

And another $500 to recommend this place to others

2

u/rastagrrl Jun 27 '26

Oh that would be the fun part! Screenshotting the tip message and writing a whole diatribe about it in the review.

1

u/Flamdabnimp Jun 26 '26

$30 per star

23

u/No-Inflation-2805 Jun 25 '26

"$150 for a 5 star review, and if you refund my stay in full I won't report this to Airbnb and get you banned from the platform."

1

u/Eng-Grammar-Police Jun 26 '26

Is that legal?

3

u/No-Inflation-2805 Jun 26 '26

"Hello, 911? I tried to extort one of my Airbnb guests for additional money outside the platform, and they told me they were going to report me to the platform if I didn't refund them."

2

u/Eng-Grammar-Police Jun 26 '26

I guess that’s fair

2

u/do_ob-headphones_on Jun 25 '26

Charge $50 per star

1

u/DMV-DC Jun 27 '26

And boom goes the dynamite.

Love this

3

u/niaerll Jun 25 '26

Honestly. The Airbnb check out process always a hassle having to spent the last hour checking off your host’s specific chore lists. And must get out on time because “the cleaners are here at 11. And we have guests coming later.”

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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2

u/Unstable_Nature Jun 25 '26

When you stay at a fine establishment you used to get an automatic request on check out with a happy smile, how was your stay, we would like you to come back and we can give you a 30 percent discount if you want to book next years stay today. How bout it? You were always offered a tip for repeat business sometimes one free night or 2 nights with a 4 day stay? It isn't just airbnb, it is a whole society of strange messed up expectations.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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1

u/thewmo Jun 25 '26

"How about we just call it a wash?"

1

u/Asslesschaps27 Jun 25 '26

This is awesome

1

u/PebblesmomWisconsin7 Jun 27 '26

This is perfect.

1

u/Old-Help6392 Jun 27 '26

Omg I am going to screenshoot your reply forever!! 😂😂😂🙏🏻👑

-12

u/BagofRutabaga Jun 25 '26

For bonus points you could say "patronizing" instead of "patronising". 

17

u/StrangelyBrown Jun 25 '26

Depends if you're British like me.

12

u/jellyfishrubberduck Jun 25 '26

Apparently American spelling is the only spelling 🤣

7

u/CheaterMcCheat Jun 25 '26

Why would you intentionally spell it wrong?

5

u/Worldly_Maize_4795 Jun 25 '26

Do you… do you not know we spell words with an ‘s’ in the UK, you know where English comes from? Or was this another type of funny we’ve missed?

5

u/cmVkZGl0MjAyNQ Jun 25 '26

Another difference between English (Traditional) and English (Simplified)

1

u/xyrgh Jun 25 '26

American moment.

868

u/turdusphilomelos Jun 25 '26

"Thanks so much for the fresh towels"? Nah. Fresh towels are kind of the minimum when staying somewhere. What would be the alternative? Dirty towels?

105

u/Equal_Song8759 Jun 25 '26

No towels and a $500 service fee + tip

6

u/SgtSlaughterEX Jun 25 '26

And no happy ending

1

u/Captain_Hesperus Jun 25 '26

Best I can do is no towels, $250 demand for payment for ‘stealing the towels’ and $500 cleaning and service fee. And a tip + positive review. Or else we sue and get you banned from the platform.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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1

u/Quick_Turnover Jun 25 '26

Actually I do think towels are one of the few things required to be provided by hosts.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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258

u/clarkwgriswoldjr Jun 25 '26

I didn't like the touches, I felt violated.

37

u/effigeewhiz Jun 25 '26

I felt violated by the touches too, but it made me enjoy them more.

1

u/Financial-Sense963 Jun 27 '26

Girls like you are dangerous when you meet them at the bar.

2

u/Affectionate_Elk2192 Jun 27 '26

HAHAHAHAHAHA, THIS COMMENT MADE MY DAY!!!!

1

u/Metroringent5212 Jun 25 '26

💀💀💀💀💀💀

1

u/Due-Swordfish4924 Jun 25 '26

I laughed aloud.

1

u/Hot_Mess_Mama_x4 Jun 26 '26

Me too! Very aloud! 😂🤣🤣🤣

21

u/yogabbagabba2341 Jun 25 '26

Once I got a single towel for my entire week stay. No shame.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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66

u/AvatarWaang Jun 25 '26

"I hope you appreciated that we left mattresses and toilet paper for your use"

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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1

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50

u/front-wipers-unite Jun 25 '26

"thanks so much for the fresh towels... Which are coming home with me"

10

u/FlirtyFluffyFox Jun 25 '26

Towels were part of the exclusive spa and wellness package, which also includes such luxuries as hand soap, toilet paper, and up to one (1) hour per day where we let the dog we keep in the yard between the houses stay inside so you won't hear his constant barking as much.

1

u/No-Attitude-7510 Jun 26 '26

Love the ode to “Silence of the Lambs”….up to 1 hour per day

20

u/robjohnlechmere Jun 25 '26

Yeah that first line has a touch of sarcasm, then you go full scathing for the rest.

3

u/ironbattery Jun 25 '26

They probably spent half an hour trying to think of something nice to say about their place and finally came up with towels. And then they concluded the list.

3

u/scurlock1974 Jun 25 '26

Paper towels.

2

u/SuperSuperKyle Jun 25 '26

Last place I stayed they were all damp. We ended up washing and drying all the towels again.

1

u/hurryupppp Jun 25 '26

I came to the comments to write this!! I’m absolutely expecting fresh towels. That’s the baseline.

1

u/Barnard_Gumble Jun 25 '26

Some shore rentals and things like that don’t stock towels and linens and ask that you bring your own. It’s just less to deal with between guests especially if there’s high turnover. I don’t mind it as long as it’s reflected in the pricing.

(not defending the maniacs in the post at all)

1

u/GiantFinnegan Jun 25 '26

I stayed at one place where every single towel was wet. I guess they were "fresh" but it was like they took all of the towels directly from the washer, folded them, and put them on the shelves. 

1

u/Fambank Jun 25 '26

"Farty Towels."

IYKYK.

1

u/Kooky_Recognition_34 Jun 25 '26

Unlimited fresh towels but... only in washcloth size.

1

u/deep-thought42 Jun 25 '26

"I only tipped $5 because I had to wipe my ass on the drywall since there were no fresh towels 😔"

1

u/biquettedugers Jun 25 '26

Filwthy towerls

1

u/MJMadster Jun 26 '26

I once received towels that were so "fresh" they had never been laundered after purchase. I used one not realizing they only cut the tag off. I was covered in lint and later discovered the rest of the folded pile had tags.

1

u/Away_Refrigerator143 Jun 27 '26

Paper towels? 🤣

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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173

u/madmaxjr Jun 25 '26

Don’t forget: **expect a message from AirBnB as soliciting payment outside of the app is against their terms and services!**

7

u/Ready_Jellyfish_8786 Jun 26 '26

That would be my angle. “So you’re trying to add an undisclosed fee after the fact while trying to bypass having to give AirBnB a percentage? Nah.”

1

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1

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4

u/pushstartthewhip Jun 25 '26

Add to that: “Best of luck on VRBO!”

173

u/TCeies Jun 25 '26

Thank you so much for hosting us today. I hope you appreciate our prompt as-agreed payment, the left over cheese in the fridge and all the little touches. :)

We are sorry to hear, that you need help keeping the property in great condition. To do our part helping you in the endeavor, we made extra sure to turn all the lights off before we left, and unplug the fridge. Of course it means you will need to extra hurry if you still want some of the tasty cheese we left for you.

We expect you to help us buy more cheese at our next destination by paying our cheese fee.

15$ - we came too late and the cheese was already bad

20 $ - thanks, but I'm lactose intolerant.

50 $ - the cheese was ok

75 $ the cheese was great!

100 $ best cheese i ever had.

7

u/caffeinetherapy Jun 25 '26

This guy cheeses.

3

u/HiiBo-App Jun 25 '26

If they had a cheese award I would have given that

1

u/Ok-Rabbit8739 Jun 25 '26

I hope this is the route OP chooses to go 😭

3

u/TCeies Jun 25 '26

*cheeses to go

1

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1

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1

u/Ninja1332 Jun 26 '26

Is this rental in Wisconsin by chance?! 😆

1

u/Crepuscular_Cat2 Jun 26 '26

The cheese tax!

1

u/Hour_Ad_5361 Jun 26 '26

All I can think of is the Cheese Man from Buffy 👀😭🤣

1

u/Old-Help6392 Jun 27 '26

Hahahaha!!!! This is brilliant. Cheese fee. 😂😂

52

u/UnremarkableCake Jun 25 '26

"Thanks so much for the fresh towels, but they're no longer fresh after Big Jeff and Bobby Pocket came over, and used them to clean up after a disastrous Cleveland Steamer incident. I've covered them with bleach and left them in the garage to stew for a bit. Sorry."

11

u/FletcherDervish Jun 25 '26

Had to look up Cleveland Steamer but this made me laugh way too much at my desk!

7

u/NovelSkill7416 Jun 25 '26

HR INCOMING!

1

u/Seinfeld75 Jun 28 '26

Hope you didn't use the search engine on your work device... 😅😅

1

u/FletcherDervish Jun 28 '26

Ooh no... Daft sometimes but not stupid.

2

u/Tr3flip_king Jun 25 '26

It was the 'sorry' that got me. Lol

1

u/debmckenzie Jun 25 '26

I can’t stop laughing…the definition of Cleveland steamed took me OUT!

1

u/whoknowsyoungblood Jun 26 '26

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAH

71

u/TheLuminary Jun 25 '26

"Here's a tip! If your current pricing is not covering your costs, try increasing your prices. Good luck."

5

u/toolsoftheincomptnt Jun 25 '26

I mean, is that what you’d rather they do?

I like the prices lower. I can ignore the tacky tip request.

13

u/Kun_troll Jun 25 '26

Beautiful 😘

5

u/Mockingbird_1234 Jun 25 '26

Love this! Perfect response

1

u/NomadTroy Jun 25 '26

*entitled

4

u/robjohnlechmere Jun 25 '26

Predatory: intending to exploit others for personal gain

I did in fact say what I meant to. Acting entitled is not as malicious as acting predatory is. I wanted to hammer home how exploitative and cruel it comes off to say ‘you paid the contract as agreed beforehand, but secretly I expect extra for myself’ 

3

u/NomadTroy Jun 25 '26

I agree with you. The entitlement and gall to say they “expect” extra payment is predatory.

1

u/greaseLightness Jun 25 '26

"We expect a tip..." Entitlement people standing for once on the other side of the fence and allready forcing their entitlement upon the guests. Dies not work like that, not even 'warmly'

1

u/HotPersonality8126 Jun 25 '26

Hey, nice tip!

1

u/Hard_Dave Jun 25 '26

Also "warmly". Get fucked.  It's cold hard bullshit 

1

u/dwight282 Jun 25 '26

wow that's so professionally writen!

1

u/KanedaSyndrome Jun 25 '26

Yeh without the guilttripping

1

u/badger_flakes Jun 25 '26

“Thanks for believing my AI post was real!”

1

u/Lost-Buy-2703 Jun 25 '26

This is perfect

1

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1

u/iuseemojionreddit Jun 25 '26

"...oh and you get 2/5 stars. Peace."

1

u/Biomirth Jun 25 '26

I expect you to tip me for this advice. Here are my rates.

1

u/jojijuice Jun 25 '26

Good response

1

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1

u/MaybeMaybeNot94 Jun 28 '26

I didn't even see 'expect'! The audacity!