Movers - What is expected in tips and meals?

[mickeysgal]

Moving day is here finally. My questions are: what is expected for us to provide and what is the general guidelines for tips? I have a cooler stocked with water, gatorade, and soda for them. Do I provide lunch every day, some days, or not at all? We have a separate packing crew (3 people) than the loading crew. The packing is going to take 2 days and the load will take 2 days and 1 day to unload. What would you say is appropriate amounts for a tip for each?

 

[golfgal]

I know most people tip movers but we don't. They are paid well to do their job. I also don't feel it is necessary to provide food for them. Would you feed a crew that is roofing your house, no. If you built your house, did you go out and feed that crew every day, no. We just moved a little over a month ago and I did order pizza while the crew was unloading our stuff at the new house but they had brought food along, too.

 

[Robinrs]

I know most people tip movers but we don't. They are paid well to do their job. I also don't feel it is necessary to provide food for them. Would you feed a crew that is roofing your house, no. If you built your house, did you go out and feed that crew every day, no. We just moved a little over a month ago and I did order pizza while the crew was unloading our stuff at the new house but they had brought food along, too.

I do tip them because the company is paid well but the workers most times, are NOT.

I generally pay $20 a worker and give them drinks but no food. I've actually made good friends of past movers!

 

[golfgal]

I do tip them because the company is paid well but the workers most times, are NOT.

I generally pay $20 a worker and give them drinks but no food. I've actually made good friends of past movers!

The high school kids that were helping with our move were making $15/hour, the regular workers make $20/hour+. The driver makes more then that yet. In our old town, this was VERY good pay (most office workers were making $10-12/hour).

 

[aprilgail2]

I know most people tip movers but we don't. They are paid well to do their job. I also don't feel it is necessary to provide food for them. Would you feed a crew that is roofing your house, no. If you built your house, did you go out and feed that crew every day, no. We just moved a little over a month ago and I did order pizza while the crew was unloading our stuff at the new house but they had brought food along, too.

I would tip them but I am not sure how much since we never used movers. But when we had roofers here I sure did order pizza and drinks for them!

 

[AtlantaSue]

We did our own packing, but we did tip our movers - I think around $20 each. DH is a firm believer in tipping well. He also ordered them pizza and sodas for lunch. They did a great job, and we had no complaints.

This reminds me of my BIL, who sees no reason to ever tip the baggage guys at the airport. His luggage never seems to end up in the right place....

 

[golfgal]

We did our own packing, but we did tip our movers - I think around $20 each. DH is a firm believer in tipping well. He also ordered them pizza and sodas for lunch. They did a great job, and we had no complaints.

This reminds me of my BIL, who sees no reason to ever tip the baggage guys at the airport. His luggage never seems to end up in the right place....

I tip the baggage guys, they aren't paid that well and live off tips. When the high school movers are making MORE then I was at my job, I am not going to tip them.

 

[CEDmom]

We recently moved but it was done in one day. I had water and gatorade for them along with some granola bars in case they needed a quick pick me up. They didn't eat them but did drink a lot. We had 4 guys who did the entire job in 5 hours(we packed everything so it was just a load/unload) and couldn't have been nicer. We gave them each a $25 tip. I probably wouldn't have given as much had they not been as nice, cooperative and efficient as they were.

Is yours a corporate move? If so, is a tip factored into the price? You might want to check that out. Given that you'll have many people involved I'd probably plan to tip each guy $10-15 but have extra cash to bump that up if warranted. As far as food I wouldn't provide actual meals since they'll likely take a lunch/dinner break. Ours did on their ride to our new house. Maybe just have some quick snacks they could grab and definitely drinks. We always have drinks available for anyone doing work at our house.

 

[DisneyMama2H&O]

We tipped our movers very well but we also had a fantastic hourly rate they had given us so I felt it was worth it. We moved in the summer time and it was very hot. We ordered pizza for lunch and chinese for dinner and invited them to join us. I believe it's rude to eat in front of people and not offer them to join. I also think that when you do something nice for the movers they will take extra care of your belongings. I know ours did.

 

[Cindy B]

When we had roofers (no movers) at the end of the day, I put two cold six packs out and some cookies.

All of it was gone.

 

[dizagain]

Hi. We used a national moving company supplied by DH's employer. The packers were AWFUL, however I did go get their lunch. The loading/unloading crews and the driver were wonderful...I had a cooler of drinks, but they were never still with us at meal time and needed to finish. Each mover got $25 and the driver got $40 from us both times. Smooth move for us!

 

[mickeysgal]

Is yours a corporate move? If so, is a tip factored into the price? You might want to check that out. Given that you'll have many people involved I'd probably plan to tip each guy $10-15 but have extra cash to bump that up if warranted. As far as food I wouldn't provide actual meals since they'll likely take a lunch/dinner break. Ours did on their ride to our new house. Maybe just have some quick snacks they could grab and definitely drinks. We always have drinks available for anyone doing work at our house.

Yes, this is a corporate move. Right now, the moving cost (we had to get three estimates) does not show any line items on it for the cost of tips or meals. We're trying to find out now whether this would be covered via the company or if we could get the paperwork changed to reflect these costs. Its a lot of out of pocket money. Its a $13000 pack and move - 5 days total (25000 lb move - its a big house), so I'm not sure if $25 each for all that time is appropriate.

 

[Microbio]

I do tip them because the company is paid well but the workers most times, are NOT.

I generally pay $20 a worker and give them drinks but no food. I've actually made good friends of past movers!

This is true. My friend owns a moving company, and I know what they get and do not get, the money is made BY the mover... the help relys on there tips.

I always tip, and do the lunch with drinks thru-out the day.

 

[CEDmom]

Yes, this is a corporate move. Right now, the moving cost (we had to get three estimates) does not show any line items on it for the cost of tips or meals. We're trying to find out now whether this would be covered via the company or if we could get the paperwork changed to reflect these costs. Its a lot of out of pocket money. Its a $13000 pack and move - 5 days total (25000 lb move - its a big house), so I'm not sure if $25 each for all that time is appropriate.

I don't blame you for not wanting to shell out a few hundred more on top of everything else. Ours was a local move using a local company who in the end charged about $250 less than their estimate so I didn't have a problem giving $100 for a tip. One thing you could do is give a group tip and tell them to go have a beer or 2 on you.

Good luck with everything.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Great question--

When we switched houses, they were about 10 miles away from each other. 4 guys came and it took them about 5 hours to move all of our stuff. We packed ourselves, had all the beds broken down, etc. We didn't tip them, but did give them water/gatorade and bought Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

 

[NJDad18]

We moved in June 2005 and we had a moving company. It took them about 8 hours to load our things on one day and then it took about 4 hours to unload the next day. We bought the movers pizza on the first day. They had their own drinks. We did not get them lunch the second day. We gave the crew chief $100 to split with his workers (there was a crew of 5).

 

[mickeysgal]

I don't blame you for not wanting to shell out a few hundred more on top of everything else. Ours was a local move using a local company who in the end charged about $250 less than their estimate so I didn't have a problem giving $100 for a tip. One thing you could do is give a group tip and tell them to go have a beer or 2 on you.

Good luck with everything.

I should add that the huge moving cost is being reimbursed by the company - thank goodness. However, its all those hidden costs of moving that aren't reimbursed that have been really adding up.

 

[Hannathy]

I don't understand the lunch bit if this is a professional moving company. I don't expect people to bring me my lunch at work, do you? They are working at their JOB not volunteering. Volunteers I'll give lunch paid workers I won't, unless I start handing out pizza at Walmart or taking a sandwich for the dentist. I live in a community that the large employer used to move people a lot ie every three years and I never heard of anyone giving them lunch. Most don't do drinks either.

 

[Melissa R]

When we were relocated (employer paid for moving) last year, someone mentioned to me that I needed to feed the packers/movers. I was shocked and never would have thought of it, but asked the moving coordinator who I was working with (who worked for the moving company, not DH's company), and she said it's not necessary but is appreciated. I figured that if they had to get their own lunches, then that would be extra time away from my house, so by bringing them lunches, they were able to work more of the day.

I had them for 2 days of packing, 1 day of loading, and then when they got to the new house (in another state), 1 day of unloading. I fed them subs twice, fried chicken once, and pizza once. I also had Gatorade, water, and soda in the refrigerator for them. It sort of annoyed me to think of having to feed them when I heard about it, but once I met these men and saw how wonderful they were, how careful they were with my things, and how hard they worked (in the hot south Florida summertime heat), I was happy to feed them. I got lucky - they were such great men. I also tipped them at the end of the move, but I can't remember how much. (It was complicated when we got to the new house, because there were 2 new guys to help with unloading the truck. So I think I gave the new guys like $10 or $15 each, and the guys who had been with me for the whole move got $50 or $60 I think. I know that sounds like a lot, but they had been with me for 4 days, so that would have been $15 a day.)

I know it ended up being a lot of money for the food and tips, but I felt like they totally earned all of it with how hard they worked and how nice they were to work with.

Good luck with your move!