Residential deliveries and tips

####ty service by ltl company, no more business for ltl company, need job delivering pizza, get tip. Holy cow! I just found ops solution.

 

When i was a trash man, we got tips every Christmas from some customers. Usually the ones we took extra care of. Some did it just because, but it wasnt expected. We did it because trash is a cut throat business and every customer counts.

Now pulling a tanker, i get more cookies, pies, rolls, and other food treats than i know what to do with. This past Christmas i had a bunch of plates of cookies from previous farms i picked up. At my last farm a contractor was putting in a drainage pipe next to the driveway, when i came in they moved all the equipment out of the way for me and on the way out they got a big plate of cookies and a big thank you for not delaying me. It wasnt required, but its a kind gesture.

The op? You're out of your element if you think you should be tipped because you went above and beyond your instructions to help the customer.

If they tip, you remember that address and give them exceptional service next time. If they dont tip, you give them the best service a man can give for doing his job.

Now excuse me, i gotta go tip my local grocery store bagger for not putting the kitty litter in the same bag as the eggs and bread.

 

In certain professions, a tip is expected. In ours, it is a gift, and should always be viewed as such.

Example: Mr. homeowner gets two pallets (1300#) worth of a bedroom set. He lives on a hillside with a driveway that's 8' wide and snakes up at a 15% grade. I have to park at the bottom, facing downhill on the road. Freight broken down and dragged up there by 2-wheeler until I thought I was going to puke up a lung. No tip.

Next day, I have a 700# pallet (another bedroom set, WTF) to a guy with a flat lot, tons of room--and a Bobcat with forks!! He just asked me to steady it while he got it to the ground, and tipped me $20.

Regardless, I'd have done the exact same thing even if they'd both tipped or neither had. It's called doing your job. And I'll always refuse that tip at least the once, so I won't take it unless they totally insist.

In the words of Mr. Pink, "If ya ain't makin' enough money, you can quit."

 

Not picking on you, but you obviously have never worked as wait staff, or have any family that has. I understand your point of view, tips are supposed to be for exceptional service, however that is not how it works in sit-down restaurants. The wait staff is paid much lower than minimum wage and relies on tips to make a living wage. Tipping, even for normal service is expected. It is how restaurants keep their menu prices low, well lower than if they had to pay $7.25 or more per hour. In some places the wait staff has to split their tips with dishwashers, bus boys and even bartenders, making it even more important they are tipped.

Wait staff minimum wage is $2.12 per hour, so when you don't tip unless they meet your expectations of exceptional service you are making them even less likely to try to exceed your expectations next time they see you, even setting yourself up for a worse experience.

It isn't right that restaurant owners subsidize their wait staff with tips, I think tipping should be done the way you suggest -only for service above and beyond, but that is not the world we live in in the US. Same with pizza delivery, they usually get a set fee per night, like $50, plus tips. Tips are how they earn their living. Overseas tipping is rare, can even be seen as an insult in some countries.

As for the OP, most residential customers have no concept that what you are doing is above and beyond, I dealt with this for years doing car haul and picking up at houses, same with towing. It is part of our job, and if you chose to go beyond what is expected by your carrier that is on you. I often did in the name of customer service, without ever expecting a tip. I will give you a hint, try explaining to them that your company policy is curbside, if it really is, and that you are not allowed to bring it up the drive or into the house. This usually results in them offering something extra for the effort, if you are nice and don't try to pressure them into tipping.

 

I would be the same doing freight. Not going to hurt myself just to deliver something.

 

I tip my garbage man. Every Christmas I wait for him after my run is over in the early morning and we have a beer out front. Afterwards we leave the bottles on top of the other can so the ####### that picks up my recycling can deal with them.