A traveler has shared his frustration after he was greeted with a tip jar in a vacation rental.
Brian, who is from Cincinnati, Ohio, was staying at a cabin for a family vacation with his in-laws in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
“I noticed the tip jar in a little basket on the kitchen counter. There was nothing to indicate whether the tip was for the cabin owners or a house cleaning crew,” he told Newsweek.
The jar had a white label stuck on the front that read: “Welcome to the cabin. We hope you enjoy your stay!” before adding: “Tips are appreciated.”
A spokesperson for Heartland Rentals, who let the vacation cabin, told Newsweek: “We have contract cleaners that clean the cabins after every stay. The cleaners have a set price for cleaning each cabin price depends on size of cabin. Some guest respect the cabins and others trash the cabins. We allow the contract cleaners to leave a tip jar for tips.”
“Seeing the tip jar irritated several of us, especially my in-laws who had paid out a handsome sum to rent the cabin, paid a separate cleaning fee, and had a litany of instructions from the owner on how to prepare the cabin for their departure,” said Brian. “I was particularly irritated because of the excessive tipping culture in America.”
Tipping culture in the U.S. has been gaini