We’re moving house on Monday and I want to tip the guys involved. We’ve had two people packing for two days and there will be a team of four on Monday. It’s a pretty big job although we’re only moving a couple of miles.
So... in addition to bacon sandwiches, Krispy Kremes and coffee on tap, what’s a decent tip? I don’t want to be Mr Tight but, conversely, I don’t want to be Mr Mug.
The guys so far have been fine although not exactly bend-over-backwards/nothing’s too much trouble.
We live in Hertfordshire, BTW, if you’re thinking about regional adjustments.
Any ideas?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No idea as to how much to tip.
The hardest job , I ever did, was as a furniture remover!
did it for a couple of months, on a working visa in Australia in the 80s............Back-breaking work back then..........the sun shine didnt help either!
Sorry , my thread isnt much use to you....but i still have nightmares! About carrying beds, tables, wardrobes etc etc..up flights of stairs/tight bends etc etc!
A couple of pints each, alternatively a tray of lager, £20 ish.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Moved multiple times over the past decade and usually tipped either a bottle of whisky or a slab of lager/bitter each, assuming I’ve been satisfied with the work.
The one time I ended up working as an extra pair of hands and two of the lads broke an antique desk was an exception, and we declined to tip.
I moved, in Herts too, If it's Rodgers Removals they're great by the way.
I tipped a tenner each, there were four of them too.
I used to work for a removal firm many years ago. I maintained the fleet of vehicles and one day when there was no work, I asked to go out on a job with them. It was the hardest bloody days work in my life and I was bathed in sweat. At least I found out why the porters stank like polecats when they came back at the end of each day!
Have you ever been tipped at work
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A tenner each if you are happy with the job. Well worth it if you have been looked after.
I tipped £20 each for a local move, and they all seemed genuinely pleased, so I assume that's above the going rate.
It's one of life's inequalities; they work the hardest of anyone involved in your house move, and get paid the least.
Last edited by hogthrob; 14th April 2018 at 20:19.
Find out who they were and report them to the local council....oh I see.
I reckon that’s what I’d do too.Originally Posted by tixntox
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I did £20 each. I reckon that's about right.
a tenner each for the guys who moved us last year
they seemed quite happy with that, plus tea and club biscuits on demand
Thanks everyone. Feels like a case of beer plus twenty quid a head puts me firmly in good-guy territory.
They certainly work hard although I usually end up pitching in. I just can’t sit and watch other people grafting. In fact, when I moved out of my first flat the removal blokes bought me a beer because I did as many trips up and downstairs as they did!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Give them a oner between them perhaps.
I know it’s common to tip removal men but it’s odd that some trades attract tips and others don’t.
I presume you are paying handsomely for the removal service?
Given the fact any tipping will be post eventum and have no bearing on the service, I wouldn’t bother. One would assume they are already getting paid anyway. No one seems to tip their GP, kids teacher etc for their services, why the need to tip removal men I have no idea.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Totally agree with this.
Tipping is -or should be- a thing of the past.
I tipped the 5 guys who moved us £20 each, they did a great job and made the move much easier than it could have been. Wasn’t much to me but they seemed genuinely chuffed so was well worth it!
There are some truly miserable gits on here though.....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
£20 per skull is what I did and I reckon that's that's reasonable
What proportion of the handsome fee that is paid to the removal company , do you feel goes to the individuals who do the lifting and carrying?
I like to tip when someone has done their job for me well and I know they're struggling to make ends meet by default.
Someone who is making more than me - or about the same - may get a bottle from me if I'm really happy with the service provided. I have given gifts for my kids' teachers, have given a bottle of wine for a doctor, a bottle of gin for a watchmaker and a bottle of vodka for a builder etc. It's just basic decency to show your appreciation when it's due.
Cultures may differ, but over here tradesmen may take a tenner as an insult whereas everyone is happy to receive a bottle of plonk worth the same.
Grab afew crates of beer , keep them cold till the end of the day and let them divede between themselves , pretty sure after a forecasted hot day they will appreciate a few cold beers over anything else!
A few weeks ago I was working in a house where two lads were carrying out removals.
They only stopped for lunch because the customer bought them fish & chips.
They were given £20 each as a tip and to me worth every penny.
I can’t quite remember what I tipped when we moved a while ago, £20 and a four pack each rings a bell, as said before, they are getting paid, but the firm will be earning more. They were great, really careful and helpful.
Cheers..
Jase
There's an episode of Seinfeld that establishes the rule that anyone who works up a sweat working for you should get beer.
Not perfume or lingerie?
Indeed.
Most people of professional standing and business owners would feel insulted by a tip but a gift is a different matter.
I absolutely agree with tipping low-paid service industry workers like bar staff, waiters/waitresses and cab drivers.
When I get MOTs done on my bikes. I give an extra £5 for the mechanics’ biscuit fund, and returned to a tyre fitters with a few packs of choc buiscuits.
Took me a minute! Very good.
My last move, I had done my back in literally the day prior so knew if it wasn’t in the correct place, it was going to be incorrect on brand new carpet for weeks...so I was very specific in my ‘left a bit, right a bit’
Given the royal PITA I probably was, and the afore mentioned earnings divide vs graft (some people seem to work their backsides off physically, I move pixels about on a screen and build relationships). They got a £50 tip each, plus as they loaded & unload the big green egg perfectly without even the slightest damage, I cooked them all burgers and ribs for lunch.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Blind eye biscuit fund? Looking to get the front side windows on the car darkened slightly as the rear sun glass vs fronts jars with me.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
We had a team of four guys all day and as there was more than they expected, another van with two guys turned up late in the day for an hour or so to muck in and ensure everything went smoothly.
I gave the foreman £100 and told him to divvy it up however he liked.
He gave the original team £20 each and the latecomers a tenner which I thought was the right thing to do, and all the guys said ‘thanks very much’ and seemed very happy so I guess it was at least ‘about right’.
I agree with this. I assume they’re charging the going rate for their service so why would you feel the need to tip? I don’t tip the bin men, window cleaner or wheelie bin cleaner because they’re already getting paid for the work they do.
Nobody expects up to tip our GP or the public servants who administer all of our public services so why tip one group of people and not the other?
Spoken like a true Scotsmen...
Do you tip when you go to a restaurant?
I think £20 is about right.
I tip those I believe are on a low wage and do a physical job.
I wouldnt tip tip the checkout assistant but the carpet fitter or removal man that is likely going to be half crippled by middleaged is worth a tip from me.
Ah, don’t even get me started on that. We’re expected to tip in a restaurant but not in a fast food outlet yet they both serve you food. What’s all that about?
So no, I don’t often tip in a restaurant as they’re being paid to do their job.
I work in hospitality. Tips are great, it's free money, but I really couldn't care if there were none. I took the job because I agree with the pay. This isn't America where tips form part of your pay package. If the tips were that important to me, then I'd go and find a better paying job, or change my lifestyle to live within my salary.
The reason I ask is because we went to London last week and everywhere we eat included a 10% service charge so most of the time we didn't leave a tip.
I don't know whether the staff will get that but I doubt it.
If I receive good, friendly service and It says that tips are shared between staff then I am happy to tip.
Adding the service charge to the prices is an absolute disgrace. It’s never happened to me but if the service is terrible would you request 10% off the bill?
I probably would but we didn't eat in a swanky restaurant but I was happy with the food and the price we paid.
For example, we had some lunch in Chinatown which came to approx £22. There was a service charge of 10% so I wasn't grumbling.
The food was very good also.
I get a tip now and again as a tradesman and I think it shows that people are happy with the job and the price they have paid.
I also tip other tradesmen who have worked on my jobs.
Personally, I think that if I receive tips its fair for me to give also.
I work on A & E Emergency Ambulances for the NHS these days and I am NOT allowed to even accept tips... even though I think that performing CPR and Life Support is 'doing a decent job' LMAO! ;) Which is fair enough. I come across vulnerable adults in my work and there ARE people without scruples out there who possibly WOULD exploit. Sad but true.
However... I would tip lads / lasses who are grafting hard for a honest day's pay. The company will take in money at the top and I doubt will filter it down to much for the workers on the frontline. I'm thinking that it's manual work that will get a minimum wage rate, no matter how much the firm takes in a the top.
I agree with the service industry comments though. Tipping should be by choice. I go by the performance of the waiting staff too. I once got SHOCKING service at Pizza Hut.. however this was due to them being severely understaffed. The guy waiting was running around doing absolutely everything (and REALLY working hard!) and was aware how shocking the situation was. The wait to eat was lengthy but the kid grafted so hard. So I paid for the food on the card and tipped him cash for his efforts. He was quite taken aback but at the end of the day it wasn't HIS fault that staff hadn't turned in. So I judge by what I see. In America, the guys / girls waiting tables are NOT on a minimum wage. They rely on tips. Over here people are paid up to at least the minimum wage ... but still, I like to help if I can and if it's necessary. I have been known to tip if the food wasn't great too. Why should the person running around grafting lose out because the person cooking isn't so great.
It's crazy that we are on a forum discussing something as unnecessary (if we look at it with realism) as nice watches, yet people are suggesting that NOBODY gets a tip in this day and age? Oh dear. Even the G-Shock's / Seiko's that I own would be a financial 'no-no' to many people people struggling these days. Paying more than £50 for a watch would give many people a nose bleed.
So I'd tip a £15 a head if there were perhaps 4 of them. £25 each if there are two people. Every little helps. Plus I don't see beer being usable to pay bills and the mortgage these days. Alcohol is nice, but straight hard cash can buy alcohol if they desire any. These dudes graft hard. It takes its toll on the back. I wouldn't like to do it.
Greg.
Regularly serviced motorbikes - don’t fail MOTs
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
