Do you tip tradesmen?

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I was a bricklayer full time up to few years back (have since changed to a different career) But still do a few private jobs now and agin.
My policly on tipping is actuall the other way round.
When doing jobs I just hire myself out, i.e. the customer has to arrange a labouror, scaffolding etc,.
if The customer has provided me with a good labouror and has not caused me any unnecessary delays, I often tip the customer or the young lad or girl they have labouring me. And if the customer tips me I always give it back or to the labouror.
besides that, I never tip anyone for anything when i am the customer of any service.
 
I must be a sucker. I always tip tradesmen. Especially if it's a small job and not really all that worth their while. I don't live in the city and I always find it difficult to find a really good plumber, leccy, drain cleaner etc...

But when I tip I always know that word gets around and I find it gets easier and easier to get the small jobs done right.

I also feed tradesmen. And believe me they hate when they arent offered tea, breakfast etc. And they do talk about it as well...

I am a yank and I agree that tipping over here is very different to the states. Hourly wage over there for waiters is 50% of minimum wage plus tips. Over there you tip a minimum of 10%. If you want to send out a message that the service was so bad you wont ever go back you still tip 5%. Any less and you are just demonstrating that you are ignorant.

Over here though I am totally confused as to how to tip in restuarants. Especially if in a group - or in a nice place but not out for dinner.
 
I always tip and offer tea & light lunch as well.

It's nice to be nice in your own home.
 
I think a lot of people tip because they think they'll look mean if they don't. I think richer people might tip less because they tend to work harder than the average slob so they're hardly going to reward someone for just being average. :-0
 
I would never tip a tradesman, they are already too expensive and most make more money than I do.

I'll offer them a cup of tea and biscuits, or a bite of lunch if it's a long job.
 
It's funny listen to most of you talking about "loaded" tradesman, and how great it is, and hoe easy they make their money.

Let me tell you this, my hubby works an average of 12 hours a day (taking into consideration traffic to get to and from jobs), and often suffers from pain in his back, knees, not to mention the state of his hands sometimes. He is exposed to very loud noises all day, dust, chemicals...and yes, of course the money is coming in, nobody works for nothing! Nobody in my office works as hard as some of these guys. So take that into consideration. If you want to reward somebody, maybe get them a bottle of wine or something. What an argument for a 20euro tip!
 
I thought everyone tipped their postman and binmen at Christmas!

Whether I would tip a tradesman would depend on the circumstances. I suppose I'd be more inclined to tip a younger person starting out but I would tip someone if: they did a good job, I wasn't overcharged in my opinion and especially if I felt I might need them to come back again in the future. Call me cynical but I find tipping can shorten wait times for the next time and ensure better service.
 
I must use that trick next time an annual review (or tipping opportunity) comes up - measure my working day to include time to get to work.
 
Let me tell you this, my hubby works an average of 12 hours a day... <snip> ... Nobody in my office works as hard as some of these guys. So take that into consideration. If you want to reward somebody, maybe get them a bottle of wine or something. What an argument for a 20euro tip!
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I bet I work just as hard as your husband, often longer than 12 hours a day too. Today I'm going to have to work from 8:00am to 11:00pm because of a project I'm working on.
No one tips me, and I would regard €20 as a lot of money - certainly not to be frittered away on tips to the well paid.
 
What's the going rate for Christmas presents for binmen?
Mine are quite obliging as far as willing to bend the rules about an extra bin bag or 2 being allowed.
 
leghorn said:
I bet I work just as hard as your husband, often longer than 12 hours a day too. Today I'm going to have to work from 8:00am to 11:00pm because of a project I'm working on.
No one tips me, and I would regard €20 as a lot of money - certainly not to be frittered away on tips to the well paid.
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Stick at it - work your way up and be a project manager. Then watch the cash roll in. No tips still though - bu then you could afford to tip youor tradesmen.

Money is like manure - you gotta spread it around.
 
I am amazed some of you think €20 would be standard for a tip. There were days I had 3 or 4 tradesmen working on my house that’s €60/80 on tips alone.

As for bin men I never ever, ever tip them… We pay €98 euro every 3 months for our bins waaayyy too much imho!

I tip my hairdresser, my postman and always the waiter/ress. Probably because I was a waitress while I was at school…
 
I understand why giving tips to tradesmen has raised an eyebrow or two. The behaviour of some tradesmen has understandable given them a bad name - exorbitant prices, failure to return calls, not turning up, poor workmanship, payment in cash / tax avoidance culture are just a few reasons to irritate people ...

While the actions described above are common it is not fair to generalise and while I have had some poor experiences with tradesmen I have also had some very positive experiences.

For example two guys came to my house to fit a timber floor but went away again because it wasn't level enough and on the third visit they fitted. If they were cowboys they could have fitted it first day and fobbed me off if and when the floor started to buckle/fall apart!

I'm definitely not one for giving tips out easily but taking into account that I could have ended up with a shoddy floor with little or no recourse and they were out of pocket for making 3 visits for one job and missing out on other jobs I gave them a very, very good tip. But for their honesty I could have been out of pocket by a multiple of the tip I gave them !!

If the price is fair, good job, good experience and you think you might like to get them to do work in the future then I would tip.

If over priced or poor work/finish or hassle - NO WAY JOSE !
 
I've never even seen my binmen/postmen. They come round when I'm in work. How exactly do you tip someone you've never seen?
 
leghorn said:
I bet I work just as hard as your husband, often longer than 12 hours a day too. Today I'm going to have to work from 8:00am to 11:00pm because of a project I'm working on.
No one tips me, and I would regard €20 as a lot of money - certainly not to be frittered away on tips to the well paid.
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I really dont think you work as hard as a tradesman, you might think you do but go onto a site and work your hours and see how tired you are after a days work. Manual labour is way more tiring than project type work, thus implies working harder. It is a fact tradesmen do work very hard for their money. Even if they are loaded :)
 
Trish2006 said:
I've never even seen my binmen/postmen. They come round when I'm in work. How exactly do you tip someone you've never seen?
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My postman nearly always calls or meets me around christmas time as I'm off work say chrismas eve or the likes. I used to tape the binmens tips to the inside cover of the bin but apparently the year before last some enterprising thieves made a pre strike on bins around some parts of the county. So I ended up going out of my way to meet them. My dad leaves drink for them in a plastic bag on top of his bin.
 
tip ????
i'm going to do the tiling myself and tip my self with a nice holiday
sound right to me
 
I really dont think you work as hard as a tradesman, you might think you do but go onto a site and work your hours and see how tired you are after a days work.
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I have done general labouring. I've worked on buildings, laying concrete floors, breaking up concrete, heavy lifting and digging etc. It is hard work, this I do not deny.

However, I'd rather do that work than the 'office' work I currently do. I find the office work far more stressful and taxing. At least with the labouring you can relax your mind to a certain extent, and switch off when the day is over.

(I've even done both on the same day!)
 
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