A couple of readers we're calling Newt and Dot recently
took advantage of a Groupon coupon they received for a discounted glass blowing
lesson. In the class, which was three hours long, an instructor patiently
taught them how to create class items ranging from a paperweight to a small
bowl. Each item was infused with colors of each student's choosing and they
were walked through the process right up until the final firing of the items
they created.
The three-hour class for two typically cost $340, but with
the Groupon certificate, Newt and Dot split the $193 fee for the class.
"It was a great class," writes Dot. "After
the class, I asked the guy if I could tip him."
Given how much time the instructor had spent with them
and how much they had learned, Dot's was a reasonable question, but she was
surprised by his answer.
"He said 'yes,' but that he'd rather we bought a
piece of his glass."
Dot and Newt took a look at the shelf of his glass
pieces, which were for sale.
"It was nice enough," she writes, "but I
thought it was overpriced for something we really didn't plan to buy. We didn't
want to purchase any." One goblet, Dot reports, was $40.
But then she writes that they found themselves stuck with
the decision of what to do.
"Are we obligated to buy something since we asked?
And if we don't, tip or no tip? And how much to tip him if we do tip him?"
Neither Dot nor Newt were obligated to tip their
instructor after their class. That they asked if they could was a thoughtful gesture.
Once they considered his glass pieces for sale and
decided they were too expensive, they were not obligated to purchase an item
even if it was the instructor's preference over a tip.
If they thought a tip was warranted for the instructor
(and clearly Dot did because she asked him if she could tip him), then the
right thing is to tip him. They should feel no embarrassment over tipping him
rather than purchasing an item. He may have preferred to sell his pieces, but
offering a gratuity instead is no insult.
In fact, it might have been a bit more insulting to have
asked if it was OK to tip him and then leaving without doing so. It could have
sent the unintended message that Dot and Newt simply wanted to know if they
could tip him so they could decide not to do so.
I'm no expert in tipping, although I tend to be on the
generous side when it comes to tipping service providers, particularly those
like restaurant servers who typically work for a lower minimum wage than other
workers.
But a 10 percent tip on the cost of the class seems fair
enough and it certainly wouldn't have been insulting to offer $20 from the two
of them for the $193 course.
"We plan to go again and take another course,"
writes Dot. That in itself seems the right thing to do for good services
rendered.
Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of The Simple Art of Business Etiquette: How to Rise to the Top by Playing Nice, is a senior lecturer in public policy and director of the communications program at Harvard's Kennedy School. He is also the administrator of www.jeffreyseglin.com, a blog focused on ethical issues.
Do you have ethical questions that you need answered? Send them to rightthing@comcast.net.
Follow him on Twitter: @jseglin
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