Tipping Vent...

[kinntj]

Most years I only tip the postal guy. He lives 4 doors down from me, so I walk down there and hand the card with cash inside to his wife. My kids play with their kids, so we all know each other. Never had a problem.

This year I will tip our garbage service men. They are awesome!!! We would put boards and drywall down on the ground by the trash bin and he still picked it up and took it. It's even written in the policies, that they won't take things on the ground unless it's bundled. It wasn't bundled. I would say they went out of their way to give great service. They will get a nice card and cash.

 

[shamrock30]

I don't agree with the tip jars at Dunkin Donuts, etc, but I give a gift to the mail carrier. He isn't perfect, and we sometimes get the wrong mail or a mistake with our vacation stops. However, he goes out of his way to be friendly and get to know everyone on his route, and that's rare these days.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I have never tipped the mail carrier. I have no idea what this person looks like or if it is a male or a female, I never knew you could tip them since they work for the government and they are very strict on what they can accept. (I know, I work for the Fed govt.) But after reading this thread, I think I may tip whoever this year and hope it is my normal mail carrier and not a temp because twice this year I have had a package addressed to me but did not include my unit number and it still arrived to me.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Definately don't tip our mailperson (don't know if it's a man or woman) or the garbage men. These people are not paid under minimum wage (ie.- like waitstaff...whom we always tip well). I will start tipping people who are being paid a full salary when people start tipping me at work

An additional story of the rudeness of "expecting a tip"...my best friend passed away very unexpectedly last week. I went to her home to help her husband out with their two young child. Over the weekend, I answered the door for many flower deliveries. And every one of them stood there as if they were expecting a tip. Um no..1) the flowers were in SYMPATHY...you think they would give grieving people a break and 2) the flowers weren't for me, I'm not going to be enjoying them, so I'm not tipping you for walking 50 feet up the driveway. Harsh I know but this really is a pet peeve of mine.

 

[kjgy]

I do tip my mailman. We have had him for years and he does a great job.
I only occassional tip in dunkin donuts because I go there most days.

How does everyone feel about giving their hairdresser and extra tip
at Christmas? I really need to have my hair colored and cut for the holidays but I don't feel I should have to tip extra because it is the holiday season.
I have been going to the same person for about a year.

Kim

 

[graygables]

Our mail carrier has been on our route for years even though we've all been begging for him to be fired. Despite gifts (I've always been told that monetary "gifts" were illegal for mail carriers) and kindness, he still trashes/loses my mail. He actually took a certified letter HOME with him over a long weekend rather than drop it back off at the PO for me to pick up. I've watched him THROW packages from behind my van against my house (um, yeah, with DISHES in them...guess who had to file a claim ) The guy is psycho, but they can't get rid of him. A few years ago, I was giving everyone homemade hot cocoa mix in a jar, but hubby warned me that he'd probably accuse me of giving him cyanide or something. That was the last year I bothered.

We don't get a paper, or we would tip the carrier. Never understood tipping the garbage men...

As far as the eBay seller and the USPS pick ups...my PO told me that the carriers are given a bonus for each one they do, so they actually like getting the priority mail pick ups...I'd never give extra for that, either.

 

[gillenkl]

My husband works for USPS and they do not get any extra bonus for priority pickups.

 

[disneymom3]

Wow, if I had garbage men like that I owuld have tipped too! Our current company stinks!! More often than not, I still have garbage left in my can. I am hoping our township goes with a different company next contract.

You know what though, that is our problem here. In the last city we lived in, companies were required to collect on only one day of the week for each various neighborhood but it was your own choice who your service came from. This city is divided into 4 sections and the city has assigned service to particular companies in each section. Supposedly this costs us less, and let me tell you, it's not much less. When you take away the need to compete, quality goes down. That is one of the founding principals of capitalism afterall. So, our carrier could not care less if we complain because the city contracts them not us.

 

[ICF]

We don't get a paper, or we would tip the carrier. Never understood tipping the garbage men...

Why one and not the other?

 

[angel_bright05]

We also have a succession of Postmen, I wouldn't know who or how to tip them all. We've never had a paper delivered. I consider it a waste of paper when all the news anybody cares to read is available electronically.
I tip really well in restaurants, usually whether I've received good service or not. I have a soft spot for wait staff and their base wage IS less than minimum wage usually.

Sometimes I throw some spare change into the cup at Starbucks but I don't obsess over it. Starbucks pays very well.

The place that always irritates me is hotels and airports trying to get all the people who want to touch your bags whether you've asked for help or not or even want help or not. It's not even paying the money that irritates me the most, it is the constantly trying to make sure I have enough $1 bills in my pocket to hand out. Sometimes it feels like adult trick or treat.

Not every newspaper is fully online. We get a few highlight stories/sports, etc. but nothing in depth. I would hate to not have my morning paper to read.


I tip our paper carrier because he's always on time and has done it for years. He gets the tip at Christmas and once in the summer. I like to split it up. Our mailperson...I have no idea who they are. We always get the wrong mail and sometime's we don't get our mail for days.

I've never thought about tipping the G-man. I'm not sure if it's the same guys each week, but they've been good.

Also about tipping hairdressers. I hate this. I haven't been able to find a good/regular stylist so I've just been going all over. Honestly, the last cut I got, my hair wasn't even cut even. Why should I tip for poor service? Plus the cut was already $35. I just got a trim (so not a huge cut or anything) while the guy next to me had twice as much hair cut off and his cut came to $13. I still tip, but I feel unless they're really good, I don't really want to.

 

[englishteacha]

My mom makes cookies for her mailman and the garbage men at Christmas time. They've all worked in her neighborhood for years and years and she knows them, and they're all very kind and do good work. I've never met my current mail carrier, and wouldn't think of tipping or giving him/her a gift. I actually get nervous about tipping in the few times I've stayed in a nice hotel with bellmen/porters/whatever they're called. I never know who to tip and how much. I went to a conference with one small overnight bag, which I can completely handle myself. A porter walked up to me and took it out of my hand! I had no money to tip him, and was perfectly fine with my own bag. I said a gracious "thank you," but I'm sure he was expecting a tip.

 

[Lisa_M]

Why one and not the other?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_does_a_garbage_collector_earn
How much money does a garbage collector earn?
Answer
$80,000 in New York City. 35,000 in Pensacola Florida.

Answer
Garbage men make in between 12-18 per hour but that depends on who your working for or where or how well you do it.


Not a bad wage for picking up trash....

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_...orking_on_a_paper_route_at_the_age_of_12_earn
How much money does a person working on a paper route at the age of 12 earn?
Answer
40 dollars a week which is about 20 pounds

That's probably why one would tip the paperboy and not the garbage man....

 

[tinkerone]

i will NEVER tip our paper person so long as they do not get out of the car! i have had to get right into a window well to get it several times every week in the summer. he has his aim just right. in the winter, i have to figure out where it may have been tossed so i can dig it out of the snow. if it rains it is always a queston as to whether or not it is to wet to read. windy day, start picking up the pieces that are all over your neigbours lawn. worst service EVER!
now, having said that, i have complained bitterly to the paper itself as i was canceling the subscription. they asked me to try again, that they would talk to the carrier about putting it neaty in our mail box. mostly, this has been happening but if i put my head out while he is still at my door i get the 'scowl' !
nope, nothing for him.

 

[LSchrow]

I choose to tip for personalized service that is above and beyond the job someone is already paid to do.

exactly

 

[ICF]

How much money does a person wor...s about $1 / house and that was 20 years ago.

 

[crzykid]

My mailcarrier will NEVER get a tip from me. When we first moved into our house he would not deliver our mail. It seems that right before we moved in the people who lived here before changed the mailbox and now it was maybe 3 inches in front of the persons that was next to us. So he would not deliver our mail because the boxes did not line up. Well guess what none of the boxes on my block line up. What a lazy person he has to stick is arm and extra couple of inches out of his truck. Went back and forth even had the head carrier come out and look and finally we got our mail delivered. He cant even get it right I always get some one elses mail and someone always gets mine.


On the other hand my garbage men are GREAT. They always take stuff that I should have to pay extra for.

 

[problemchild718]

I agree! I don't tip my faceless paper person or my postal worker who won't get out of the car!
I really think if people are getting tips for making coffee, delivering the paper or picking up trash, I should get one for whiping my patients butt, cleaning up puke and dealing with nasty families in addition to being compasionate, on top of my pts care and quick with the pain meds!

 

[flakypuff]

I agree! I don't tip my faceless paper person or my postal worker who won't get out of the car!
I really think if people are getting tips for making coffee, delivering the paper or picking up trash, I should get one for whiping my patients butt, cleaning up puke and dealing with nasty families in addition to being compasionate, on top of my pts care and quick with the pain meds!

Hey, why dont you tape a bedpan to your hip with a sigh that reads"tips" sorry..

 

[cynjam]

You're gonna be hard pressed to find many 12 year olds that deliever the paper to their neighborhood these days....this isn't the 1980's much less the 1950's. Most "paperboys" are adults that deliver to hundreds of houses by car each day. Not some kid walking up and down their street.

I can also tell you that back in the mid-80's I was a "paperboy" and I delievered to about 50 houses in my neighborhood and made more then $40's a week. I think it was about $1 / house and that was 20 years ago.

My DD13 is a paper carrier, a darn good one, too. She has been for about 5 years now. She has a lot of help from Mom & Grandma, but she puts the papers in the mailbox, on the porch, between the doors, where ever the customer wants it. She does it right after school and earlier if there isn't school. She leaves candy canes on the papers the day before Christmas, not her name & address. They get that when they first start, so they can contact her directly if there's a problem. Yes, she gets tips, but not because she asks or expects them, because she takes care of her customers. She gets paid $0.07 per paper. She even delivered papers on Thanksgiving.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

A couple of years ago, there was a tip jar on the counter of our local video rental place.

Oddly enough, there were always a few bucks in it...probably from the workers trying to convince customers that it's perfectly normal to tip the video rental clerks.