[revrandy]

I was up in Mackinaw City this past week riding around on my motorcycle and stopped at a Citgo just outside of town. Although the station was self-serve, they had attendants filling cars, cleaning windshields etc. At first I thought it was a nice gesture then I noticed they were hitting up the car drivers for tips. What!!!

Is this normal in Michigan or an anomaly? I have been to 47 states and all the Canadian provinces and never once have I seen gas station attendants asking for tips.

What gives?

[michmoldman]

Hmmm...maybe some kind of fund raiser? No...that is not normal.

[HarryBTL]

Originally Posted by revrandy

I was up in Mackinaw City this past week riding around on my motorcycle and stopped at a Citgo just outside of town. Although the station was self-serve, they had attendants filling cars, cleaning windshields etc. At first I thought it was a nice gesture then I noticed they were hitting up the car drivers for tips. What!!!

Is this normal in Michigan or an anomaly? I have been to 47 states and all the Canadian provinces and never once have I seen gas station attendants asking for tips.

What gives?

Never seen this sort of thing either? When i was a kid ( still too young to work legally ) though for extra money i would go to self serve stations and pump peoples gas for a little extra cash. I never asked for it though. Just asked if they wanted me to pump the gas for them.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by revrandy

I was up in Mackinaw City this past week riding around on my motorcycle and stopped at a Citgo just outside of town. Although the station was self-serve, they had attendants filling cars, cleaning windshields etc. At first I thought it was a nice gesture then I noticed they were hitting up the car drivers for tips. What!!!

Is this normal in Michigan or an anomaly? I have been to 47 states and all the Canadian provinces and never once have I seen gas station attendants asking for tips.

What gives?

Not normal, but just somebody's bright idea. I notice many places encourage tipping but without the hard sell. Could be a desperate sign of the times.
A local bartender stopped serving me for some reason after the first drink - I'm assuming because I didn't tip. Speculation, but I can think of no other reason. Like I said, just an individual decision.

[chiroptera]

Never seen this before.
Are you sure they were Citgo employees? I have seen people at gas stations offering to clean windshields and so on for spare change.

[revrandy]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Never seen this before.
Are you sure they were Citgo employees? I have seen people at gas stations offering to clean windshields and so on for spare change.

They were Citgo employees, even wore the uniform. You went inside to pay, there was a giant tip jar on the counter, plus the Citgo employees let the customers know they were providing full service for tips etc.

If they didn't wear the uniform, I would have figured someone trying to make a buck, it was the uniforms that threw me off.

The Citgo was located at exit 337 off of I-75. On S. Nicolet St., if that helps.

[CSD610]

Call the regional manager of Citgo and ask them if they allow tipping for their employees and if they allow all the services you said they provided. It could be a group of employees who decided to do this without knowledge or consent of the station/store manager.

[Nephler]

That station is a full service station, always has been. The tip jar has always been on the counter, but I've never seen one of the workers ask for tips.

[revrandy]

Originally Posted by Nephler

That station is a full service station, always has been. The tip jar has always been on the counter, but I've never seen one of the workers ask for tips.

If it is full service the pumps don't say so. Every pump had painted onto the side panel SELF SERVE. None of them say full serve.

One employee did say to a customer that the service was provided for tips. Weird, just weird.

[detwahDJ]

Seems like they want to remain full service, but raising prices would not be a good strategy. I have seen stations with both full-serve and self-serve lanes - each clearly marked, and with different prices. Tough situation.