Korean Job Discussion Forums

[digsydinner]

do any of you tip cab drivers or feel it's weird to?

perhaps it's something i just got used to living back in the states...but i tend to tip cab drivers here..mostly, just rounding up to the nearest chun-won. a fellow foreign teacher shared a cab with me last night in the rain and totally got on my case for tipping the driver. the fare was 4,600...i gave the guy a 5,000 and told him to keep the change. to me, it's no big deal...and a token of appreciation.

generally, drivers seem pretty thankful but not completely caught off guard by it either....so i'm under the impression many others tip as well.

[oskinny1]

I hate carrying around loose change so I either give them the exact amount (if I have it on me) or just let them keep the remained.

[wylies99]

Korean cabbies usually refuse tips.

[kiwiduncan]

I tip the taxi drivers in Korea when they give good, efficient and friendly service. So I give tips about 70% of the time. I think I've had drivers feigning refusal once or twice at the most.

Very rarely have I encountered genuinely rude or unfriendly taxi drivers in Korea.

[aldershot]

don't tip the cabbies! unless they spend the extra dosh on driver's education. tip 'em enough and they'll begin to expect tips from you. and me.

[Major Kong]

Tip only if they help you load and
unload your luggage.

[Clockout]

I practice the round up rule in Korea.

[benji1422]

no no no! please stop this unless its like 5won.

If this continues, any cost of living benefit in Asia will be totally erased if companies start getting cheap and making customers pay their employees (like in the tip system of N. America.)

[Yu_Bum_suk]

If you want to pay too much just take the black taxi with the gold stripe and driver with white gloves.

[bassexpander]

Vowed not to take a taxi unless absolutely necessary, since they increased the base rate to 2400 last weekend.

I've saved almost 10,000 won and probably burned off some fat.

I wonder if the rate hike has caused many Koreans to do the same? I see a lot more empty taxis this week.

[Major Kong]

I prefer the older taxi drivers. They have a knack
for genuine smiles and conversation! Besides the fare,
they have backbone.

[Rusty Shackleford]

When they increased the fare I stopped tipping(not really tipping, just rounding up to the nearest 1000w). Have started again now, because 300 won is worth less to me than the energy it takes to carry it around.

To those people who said not to tip, take a hike.

[ekul]

[nathanrutledge]

I'm with Major Kong and kiwiduncan. Took a taxi three blocks from my place to the airport shuttle bus. The driver came to my door (down a twisted alley) and helped my load and unload, so I tipped him. I've had drivers that just struck a chord with me and I've tipped them.

The other side of this is when I was back in the U.S., I didn't tip nearly as much because coming from here where I get excellent service with no tip expected and go somewhere and get mediocre service with a tip expected... no no, it doesn't work that way. THAT'S what the posters SHOULD focus on, not ruining the no-tipping policy here, but changing the tipping policy back home!

[polonius]

I tip when I want to, never because I have to. This goes for in Canada as well. While many people think tipping is mandatory in Canada or the States, I say that it isn't. T.I.P.S are To Insure Prompt Service. If people walk around thinking that they deserve the tip or carry a chop on their shoulder, than they get nothing or the minimum. The same applies for anywhere I am in the world. It is a token of my appreciation.