What meaning does life have? Where is the world going to end? How much for movers to tip?
There are no easy answers to any questions. But we're going to give it a shot.
First off, as a mover, let me say that: I never felt I had a right to a tip.
I worked on the idea, as my fellow crew members, that it was ultimately up to the customer to decide whether or not to tip.
All we movers could do was give great service and hope (and we hoped!) that our customers would be impressed enough to loosen their wallets.
We were appreciative when they did so. There was not much we could do when they didn't, except shrug our shoulders and go home.
There are many reasons you would want to tip your movers: they were polite and courteous; they did a wonderful job; they gracefully treated all your questions and requests; they came on time, finished on time, and did not waste any time in between.
Maybe they just did their work, not scratching a single thing or breaking it.
On the other hand, the movers may not have lived up to your expectations.
They may have taken too many breaks from cigarettes or used a lot of bad words.
Perhaps your condition makes it difficult to tip your movers. The bottom line is, the decision is yours on how much to tip movers.
If you want to tip, fine. It will delight your crew. The question is now:
How much am I going to tip?
The most popular response you'll hear or read is $15 for a half-day mover, $20 for a full-day mover.
If you are very pleased with their service, other suggestions call for $5-6 per hour, per mover, or $7-8 per hour.
By using a percentage of the cost of your move, 5-10 percent seems to be the common range, another way to find how much to pay movers.
This will work out in some ways, such as hiring Umzugsfirma Schwalbe movers for the day, so you know what the actual cost of moving the day will be.
But a good chunk of the cost of your move goes to transportation if you move long-distance, making it pretty hard to work out the cost of a single day's labor.
Protip: There are two ways to get paid by movers:
Hourly, as is the case for movers from Umzugsfirma Schwalbe.
By the work, which is usually the case for a long-distance move.
Getting paid hourly ensures that your movers will be charged automatically for the time it takes to negotiate those extra stairs and bring all your stuff to your front door and finally to your home up to your sloped driveway.
Getting paid for the job means that they're not. Only something that you can bear in mind.
Note: for "accessory services" such as additional stair flights or long distances between truck and front door, certain van lines will charge fees.
However, the movers doing the grunt work may or may not see a lot of these additional charges.
How am I going to tip?
Although handing some cash to the lead mover and telling them to divide it among the crew could be faster and simpler, the sad truth is that the occasional unscrupulous leader will pocket the cash and tell the crew "Sorry, they've stiffed us."
It's probably very uncommon, but it happens. (Never, I may say, to me, but then again, how do I know?)
Will you truly want to express your appreciation?
Throughout the move and at the end, call the movers by name.
When you tip them, thank them for something they've done well, or something you've enjoyed.
This kind of positive feedback positions you in the rarified territory of "awesome customer."
It can also, in the minds of your movers, make the money seem secondary. (Almost, well.)
What if one or two of your movers work harder than the others, you notice?
Is it all right to give a little extra to them?
Completely. Absolutely! How much movers can tip can depend directly on the performance of each person.
Will you be in silence about that?
This question is a trickier one to answer. "Once in my ear, one customer whispered as a big tip slipped through me: "Don't tell the other guy how much I gave you".
I figured the other guy was working as hard as I did, to be honest, so the trip back was pretty uncomfortable. (I would have felt happy on other days if the customer gave me more than the slouch that took all those cigarette and pee breaks.)
If you thought one or more of your movers should be rewarded for going above and above, go for it.
One way to articulate that you are giving them a little extra is to say something more like "Thank you for the extra effort" when you give them their tip.
When am I going to tip?
It can seem obvious to answer this: at the end of the move! But once or twice before we got underway, I had a customer hand everyone on the crew ten or twenty times and say, "Take care of my stuff guys, all right?"
If this is how you act, fantastic.
It won't matter to your movers to get tipped for turning up.
But there would be no need for bonuses if you've hired a trustworthy mover, one with a nice number of 5-star ratings.
However, you might prepare something for the guys to drink.
When they are dehydrated, people don't work well.
This goes double or triple for movers, or whatever.
So providing water or sports drinks to your movers right from the beginning isn't just a nice gesture, it's a good investment.
Is pizza just a tip?
It's quick and they offer pizza.
For something fresh, take sandwich orders and run down to the deli if you have the time.
Or do what an amazing customer did and put out a bunch of sandwich stuff, a few bags of chips, cold cuts, cheese, rolls, mayo, and mustard.
Enough should do everyone right for a few sandwiches per mover.
Can pizza take the place of a tip?
Even a small tip for your movers on top of lunch will mean a lot.
But if you can't swing it, if their tip is lunch, if there's no tip at all, then don't worry, there's nothing to tell.
Except, of course, thanks to you.
What would happen if something went wrong?
A nice question. Accidents do occur. Just note that no matter how responsible and careful your movers, they are also humans.
The main thing is not that something goes wrong, but if it does, how they handle it. Imagine if hurting your back for five hours at your job was invalidated after a minor accident!
Also, note that you are tipping the movers, not the moving company for which they work.
These people are all different from the moving staff: sales managers, office workers, customer service personnel.
It's both helpful and reasonable to keep this in mind if things get extreme.
Regardless of if anything goes wrong, please take the time to give your movers one last tip in the form of a positive review if you believe your movers have done a fantastic job.
What costs you nothing but a few moments of your time will help to attract more customers and land way more work for the people who broke their butts for you.
And that helps put in their pockets more cash.
Definition of life? I'm not sure how that should be answered. How much for movers to tip? We've got some ideas.
But the answer lies with you finally.
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