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For Edmontonian Jodi Costello, a night on the town is a flurry of mandatory monetary thank-yous: First, the cab driver gets a tip. Then the bartender during the wait for a table. Then the waitstaff when the cheque arrives.

On vacation, she tips the hotel housekeeping staff $3 to $5 a night — but only if the room is impeccable.

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“When it’s just the basics, that’s the hotel’s job, I’m paying the hotel to stay there as it is. I don’t feel that I have to go above and beyond to make up somebody else’s wage when I’m there.”

It is what observers are calling tipping fatigue — when the act of giving a gratuity becomes more of a social expectation than incentive for performing better service.

Global hotelier Marriott Hotels and American journalist/activist Maria Shriver were criticized this week for their new The Envelope Please campaign. It encourages guests to leave a tip for the staff who clean their room during and after a hotel stay, but comes amidst a recent wave of advocacy for a no-tipping service environment, claiming service staff should not have to rely on extra, discretionary funds from a client.