One Love Pub Crawl

[Kevin, PA]

I was always under the impression that Lenbert worked for tips, and think that's been said here before as well. I feel like I've read it said specifically that Lenbert is only paid in the tips he receives and doesn't receive kickbacks!

If he's getting kickbacks at every bar, why are we "encouraged" to tip him $10 or more per person? Seems to me it should be one or the other, not both. Thinking of all the people he packs on that bus three times a week, if everyone is handing him $10 AND he's getting kickbacks, he's doing very well for himself on a part time schedule, all cash, presumably completely tax free.

Does it really matter what his business model is, if its even his business, or how much in tips he's making? Maybe he only gets to keep tips? We don't know and frankly its really none of our business. Would we ask these sort of questions of other businesses we deal with every day? Would you ask a bartender if he works for tips only? What about their hourly wage? Would your tip change if you knew the bartender was making $100 per hour? What about if they were given a percentage of the totals sales during their shift? How should any of that factor into a tip?

It was always advertised as free and tipping was completely up to the individual. I recall from previous topics that $10 is often suggested as a recommended tip and that seems like a reasonable starting point. I don't believe gouging is the norm. Besides nobody is forced to buy anything and its not like your stuck at any one place for long. The reviews speak for themselves. Most find it to be an enjoyable experience and good for Lenbert if he happens to be making a decent living delivering this experience to visitors.

[booger]

Does it really matter what his business model is, if its even his business, or how much in tips he's making? Maybe he only gets to keep tips? We don't know and frankly its really none of our business. Would we ask these sort of questions of other businesses we deal with every day? Would you ask a bartender if he works for tips only? What about their hourly wage? Would your tip change if you knew the bartender was making $100 per hour? What about if they were given a percentage of the totals sales during their shift? How should any of that factor into a tip?

It was always advertised as free and tipping was completely up to the individual. I recall from previous topics that $10 is often suggested as a recommended tip and that seems like a reasonable starting point. I don't believe gouging is the norm. Besides nobody is forced to buy anything and its not like your stuck at any one place for long. The reviews speak for themselves. Most find it to be an enjoyable experience and good for Lenbert if he happens to be making a decent living delivering this experience to visitors.

Exactly.......

[ladyluckireland]

I Total aggree with Kevin we have done and realy enjoyed it and will do it again in the future when we visit we were there in April last year and we did not find the bars overly expensive most red stripe were 3 $ the one place that we thouugh was expensive was xtabi i think a red stripe was $4 but we were out for the day and we had a great time.

[Mike_D]

I agree with Kevin, as well. It is a relatively inexpensive and fun way to get introduced to the bars of the West End. Many experienced Negril travelers are repeat customers, even though they can do their own bar crawl because it is still a good value. The cab fare alone from the beach would be over $10 per person, if you made all those stops. The problems occur when a spot decides to blatantly overcharge customers of the tour. I think those spots have gotten called out here in the past, and when Lenbert is made aware of it (hopefully) the practice stops. My solution - ask the price of the drink before you buy it. If it's too much, I'll wait until the next stop.

As a side story - on one trip, our driver kept promoting Sweet Spice as a place that my wife and I should try for dinner. After eating at all the other restaurants that we wanted to try, I told our driver that we would like to try Sweet Spice that night, knowing that we would need a taxi to get there. Once we got to the restaurant, our driver walked in with us. We were seated in the dining area and our driver walked over to the take-out counter. A few minutes later, I saw our driver walk out with a smoothie. It was obvious to me that he was given a smoothie as a kickback for referring us to the restaurant. I still paid the same prices that were advertised on the menu and had a great dinner. Our driver got a free smoothie. Sounds like a win/win to me!

[HarryS]

The tipping culture has arisen because employers, where allowed, pay much less than a living wage knowing it will be covered by tips left by patrons.

So NO, I would not tip if I knew my server, bartender, or driver, or anyone else who would normally receive a tip, was making $100 an hour.

When it comes to tipping, prices should be raised and included in the costs, workers should receive a living wage, and customers should not feel required to tip so that someone can earn a living.

Where is the line drawn? What about the employee at Home Depot who barely makes minimum wage and doesn't have health insurance, who not only shows you where 10 different things are, but advises you on how to use them? Why aren't we handing him a wad of cash, but we do to the person that twists the top off our beer? I can go on and on about how the tipping culture is completely arbitrary.

I want to make very clear that I am not one of those people who doesn't tip - I tip well, and if you go above and beyond for me I tip extremely well. That being said, I'd rather see the bill go up 20%, employees get paid more, and then not have to tip at all unless service is actually exceptional.

Now when it comes to Lenbert and the bus, I assumed he was the owner, it's his bus, and the money is his. If that's the case, and he's being paid by all the bars he visits, AND sticking his hand out for tips from every person on the bus, he's double-dipping. If he's an employee and he works for someone else, that's a different story. I get that everyone loves the crawl and doesn't want to hear bad things said about it, but the truth is, if you knew the server at Dennys was making 50K a year, would you feel the same obligation to tip as when the server is making two bucks an hour?

Another thing that's not mentioned about the bus - they pack it so full, people sitting on laps, standing in the aisles, it's an accident waiting to happen, potentially a really bad one. I wonder how much insurance Lenbert carries?

[Rob]

HarryS,

I am tempted to remove your post as it is fraught with speculation but am leaving it as guide for others. "Assuming" this and "wondering" that when everyone has access to both Lenbert's email address and phone number is unfair. Email or call the man and stop the speculation that is becoming increasingly libelous. Just ask him and allow the man to answer.

To others,

Lenbert's bus is legally licensed and insured under the JTB guidelines. That is not an inexpensive proposition. Maintenance on the bus is a never ending situation, as anyone with a bus knows. When the AC goes out, he has to fix it. When the tires need to be replaced, he replaces them. When the oil pump goes out, he has to put out the money to repair it.

He has provided a free service for his guests for years, bringing thousands of people who didnt even know anything about the West End, showing them bars and restaurants along the cliffs they didnt even know existed. If you want to tip Lenbert, you can - that is your choice, I have seen many people not tip having helped Lenbert get the Pub Crawl started when we had our live webcasts from the bus - but the trip is free. There is no charge for the passengers.

I am aware that some may think that he is "raking in millions" but what about the slower days? Or slow season for that matter? His costs for legal licensing and maintenance do not go down.

Just last week he had a total of 9 on the bus as a large group had cancelled when he arrived to pick them up. There have been cases where groups on the beach got picked up and dropped off at the first place and simply walked off, using him as nothing but a free ride to the West End. He got nothing for that.

Lenbert has a difficult job in choosing which places to stop and trying to be fair to all the West End businesses. While you may not know, he is related to many if not most of the business owners on the West End and can be easily accused of playing favorites by people who dont really know the facts or the dynamics. It is hard if not impossible to keep all the businesses happy. It is the close knit nature of the West End.

The crawl is only so long and he can only visit so many places during any one trip. Not everyone will be agree with his choices. I dont agree with his choices at times, but it is his business that he is trying to run so who am I to tell him otherwise?

But it is a simple fact that Lenbert Williams has brought more business and more money to the small businesses of the West End than all of the people who make the daily sunset trips to Rick's Cafe combined since 1974.

[TandJ]

We did the pub crawl last time to Jamaica (and of course will do it again the next time!)

Who CARES what his business model is? A $10 pp "tip" for that excursion is more than worth the money!

Who CARES is he's getting kickbacks from the bars - its a great and very inexpensive excursion even paying for your drinks!

Let him earn whatever he can.

[Negril1990]

Now I feel bad for not showing up last time, was hung over from the day before, I will apologize to Lenbert next week

[Kevin, PA]

Discussing the pro's and cons of our tipping culture is a totally different topic up for debate and here is probably not the right place to discuss it further. However, within the norms of the tipping culture many live in today, it is customary to tip most private drivers (non-public transportation drivers). The tip shouldn't change based on some means testing of the person receiving the tip but rather it should be based on the level service you received and what the individual giving the tip feels they can afford and\or the person deserves.

It would be no different of someone called a restaurant that offered free pickup. Yes the service is free and the driver is probably still getting paid for the ride but most people would still tip the driver....and then the waitress. Some would tip the driver even more then they would if they had hired the driver, irregardless of the driver collecting a fee from the restaurant, simply because they recognize the value of a free ride.

[saeyedoc]

Yes, like when they comped our meal at Ivan's due to their double booking the 100 candles dinner, boy did they get a good tip!