The newsletter article on tipping campground workers asked for input so here goes.
As workampers, I received tips occasionally and gratefully. When operating the Honeywagon (poo mobile) some folks appreciate the nature of the job and other folks don’t want to make eye contact with you. No worries but a polite “thank you” goes a long way.
Now as Operational Owners I am offered tips when helping with a repair. I mostly wave these off with the exception of not wanting to offend a guest.
I think most folks can spare $5 to show appreciation and it’s a bargain to positively impact another person’s day.
Nothing says thank you like cash and a smile
We've been campground hosts for 6 years now and have never received nor expected a cash tip. 2 years ago we were gifted a bottle of wine from a park visitor. Last year we did receive a very generous restaurant gift card from one of our campers and were pleasantly shocked by it. We have however bought a gift card for a camp host that we thought went above and beyond.
Now, food...that's another story all together! We are blown away by the countless times we have been gifted food from our campers. Just this morning the boy scouts brought us breakfast burritos and will be bringing us dinner as well.
So I guess the moral of my story is there are numerous other ways to show your appreciation other than a cash gift.
We are from Las Vegas, NV and tipping for everything is the normal here. Most workers only make minimum wage & live off their tips. Why not make somebody feel reall appreciated & give them a few bucks? It's all about kindness. Yes, I've worked in a tipping industry for over 20 years & continue to be grateful for my tipping customers!
I’ve been working at a camp ground for 4 years now . I clean sites & bathrooms & showers. Also pick garbage up. Also when needed I work at the other two camp grounds that is on the lake .
I do not receive free camping. They usually give us half of sites & or rental of boats . They don’t provide water I must drink from a spigot . We used to get half off from store/food items that ended last year. In a few weeks my season will begin I make 2$more then minimum wage .last year they stop with the 50€ raises every year we work . It’s hot so I do not wear a mask to clean restrooms. Last year was bad people are really mean wipe feces on the walls or floor. NOT ALL PEOPLE. Last year I also learned the office/store works had a tip jar . That disturbs me a little thinking they stand in the air conditioning getting tipped.
so besides the mean people. I love my job . It’s beautiful. I meet a lot of interesting campers . I do work my butt off . I’m also a local with no transportation. Finding a ride to town is difficult. The store here is so over priced. I think it would b nice to tip .
I don't see tipping not unless it is cabins. I view as staying at a Hotel/Motel. Now for the Honey Wagon, that too.
I have tipped at an RV park for extra help getting set up after I had a leg injury and could not get my hooks ups without hurting. The second time was when a camp worker took me in to town to get a new sewer hose when my sewer hose decided to leak. I figure when someone goes beyond normal service, they should receive something for their time and affords.
Tipping should be a choice and happily given to someone who's doing a great job or may be under appreciated. Operative word....choice. Every time a choice is turned into an expectation, there it s a domino effect that isnt always positive.
I volunteer in a camp office. The conditions, co-workers and guests are 95% pleasant and fun. The biggest battle I have is wind. When you pull up to the window and we slide it open anything and just about everything can go flying (think 20-40 mph winds). Some workers don't open the window and just wave you in, I personally open the window each time, it's more personal and gives guests a chance to ask questions etc.
We are the 1st and sometimes the last impression guests have, make it one that matters.
We seldom get lunch away from our station so it is really appreciated when a guest comes in the gate and has donuts, pizza, cold bottled water. I never thought about the possibility of a cash tip when I began but man that 1st delivery of warm donuts on a cold windy morning- Heaven
The most taken advantage of group of RV park workers, I think, are the "volunteers" at National Parks and Corps of Engineers campgrounds. For example, the National Park I'm in right now on the Gulf of Mexico. The park ranger rides through periodically and growls at campers who don't have all four wheels of their tow vehicles on the small patch of asphalt left on the designated campsite after you park your motorhome, while the volunteer is out there helping check campers in, cleaning any clutter left by careless campers, going around to be sure everything is ok. The park ranger has a nice government salary, fringe benefits, and a pension. The volunteer gets a free space to park, period.
I often try to do something for those hardworking volunteers, a few days before Christmas, before I pulled out for a trip to another destination, I stuck a Christmas card with a $50 bill under the windshield wiper of the volunteer's car.
The government should include some kind of financial compensation, no private campground that I know of would get by with simply providing a free spot with electricity and hookups.
Until last year we never considered tipping campground workers/volunteers, we were camping at a KOA campground in Dubois Wy.on vacation to temp and gtnp. I was on the utility side of our trailer and tripped over the sewer hose and broke the coupling, after going to the local hardware store to no avail, I just happen to run into the campground maintenance man and asked if he could help me out. Showed him my coupling and said give him a few minutes,30 minutes later he came back with it fixed, asked how I owed him he said nothing. The next day we were leaving for Gillette and when checking out I left a 20 in a envelope with a note saying thank you. So when camping and someone goes out of their way to make my stay better than it's worth a 5 or 10 for the effort. Yours in camping, Ray
I agree, Ray! That's service beyond what's expected, for sure! Happy camping!
Yum! We've left "goodies" from time to time, as well.
I am not a camper, never have been.
My son has been a campground worker for about 13 years in the NJ pine barrens region. He works very hard, in all weather conditions, exposed to deadly insects(ticks, mosquitoes) and drunken irate customers. He is paid minimum wage and no medical benefits despite being full-time. l have asked him if he ever receives a tip. He said "very rarely".
l wish people would be more appreciative of nice hard-working low-paid workers barely eeking a living.
I agree, Diane. It takes people like your son--dedicated, hard-working--to make the camping experience so much fun. I truly am sorry your son has to struggle.