Woman complains at being charged S$12/day for tips for China tour, but others tell her this is standard

SINGAPORE: Earlier this week, a woman took to a popular complaint group on social media to warn others about a travel agency, saying that its sales staff was charging her for tips for a tour to China.

On the Complaint Singapore page on March 2 (Monday), a Facebook user wrote that when the staff of the travel agency sold them the tour package, she was not told about the tips she was expected to pay. Furthermore, as she did not attend the tour briefing as she was not in Singapore at the time, the staff did not send any notes about what was discussed during the briefing.

She later received an email regarding the payment needed for the balance of the tour, and added, “The worst thing is they want to collect your leader’s tips when no tour leader will go with the China tour to Xiamen from 19 March to 26 March.”

The post author explained that the trip only included a Chinese tour guide and driver, not a tour leader from Singapore, and added that the company wanted “to collect exorbitant tips of Sing dollar $12/day from customers,” and that “the staff have the cheek to say the China tour agent is doing the job of tour agent and tour leader.”

In effect, they were being charged a total of S$108 for a tour of eight days and seven nights.

The staff allegedly said that these fees had been stated in the terms and conditions, but the post author was upset, adding, “Be warned, everyone, of this unscrupulous company and their unfair dealings,” she added.

What netizens are saying

Many commenters on the post expressed surprise that the post author was outraged, saying that it has become standard to tip the staff who accompany travellers when they go on tour.

One urged her to check out the itinerary, where it should be stated. He even posted a screenshot from his own tour, which indicated a service fee guideline.

“I'm a regular user of EU tours. All their tours, whether it's an online brochure or a hard copy, will write for sure about tipping. Not just EU, other tour agencies I’ve engaged are also the same,” another commented.

“You have to pay the tips. It's not discretionary. It's actually a service fee not included in the tour package. You don't need an SG leader to bring you there, it's ok. The whole tour will be taken care of by a China tour guide from the time you arrive until you depart from the airport. There is nothing much to do for the SG leader,” a third wrote.

“If you book with an agent, it’s quite standard practice to collect tips for the local agent,” a Facebook user chimed in.

“We paid $12 day too for our 12-day China trip for the tour guide & driver. It’s pretty common. If you don’t want to pay tips, travel independently,” advised another.

Many others also said that the post author can just travel on her own if she objects to tipping tour staff. /TISG

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