A couple guys just dropped off a dishwasher we bought from Home Depot. It occurred to me after they left I maybe shoulda gave them a fiver each or something.
To me it depends on the difficulty of the delivery. Off the truck and into the garage, nope. Off the truck, up the steps, around the corner, down the hall, and place in final position, sure give them $10 apiece. If I’ve just spent $1500 on a new refrigerator, what’s another $20?
I grew up in a New York City apartment and I remember my folks tipping everybody from the newspaper delivery guy to the postman. Out here in the Midwest, not so much.
No. Fuck.
I usually tip everyone. I don’t have to, but I can afford it, and it’s a way of saying thank you that’s appreciated by the people who work for low wages. Sometimes it’s a waste, unappreciated and/or undeserved, but I can afford it. I guess in the case of delivery guys there’s some chance they’ll be delivering something again and I’ll want them to be careful, but in general I want them to know that someone appreciates what they do and maybe they’ll do a little better for everyone. For waitstaff it’s a bad system because so many of them depend on the tips, but for delivery men it’s a purely voluntary system and I wouldn’t tip someone who did a bad job, or was rude for instance, and I select the amount based on what seems appropriate.
Shorter answer, sure, tip the guys if they did the job competently, tip them more if they did it well.
I worked delivering appliances years ago. We didn’t expect tips, but always appreciated them.
I’ve given $5-10 as a general rule.
The last appliance we bought came with “free delivery and installation” (a washing machine).
I picked it up, brought it home, and installed it myself. Mostly I did it because I know I’d do a good job. A very minor part of the equation was eliminating the need to deal with a tip situation.
I usually do, for appliances and heavy furniture. Out house is difficult, and a long way off the beaten path. $10 or $20, depending on what I have on me.
Yeah, off the truck and into the garage, that’s exactly what it was.
When we had a hot tub delivered last year, the guys were only supposed to take it as far as the driveway, but they brought it all the way into the backyard, helped me hoist it onto the deck and remove all the plastic and tape. Them I tipped $20 each.
It’s a matter of whether there was some element of personal attention to your needs. If they just banged it off the truck, there’s not really any “service” there. On the other hand, if they took time and care, working with the vagaries of your steps and doors and cabinets, it would be right to support that.
I normally do tip but didn’t the last time. Had a new front load washer and dryer delivered and the delivery guys refused to put it on my home built platform, they claimed liability issues. I made them wait while I tore out the platform. Didn’t tip them either.
A big factor is if there is a delivery charge. If so, then no tip. Also, as folk said, if they do some personal service above and beyond the simple delivery.
But generally, no, I don’t tip anyone other than restaurant/bar servers, barbers, cabbies, pizza delivery, household movers, and - depending on the circumstances - hotel maids.
I don’t understand the “I just spent $1500, what’s another $10-20” mentality. If that is the case, why not tip the salesperson?
(Mr. Pink’s got NOTHING on me!)
Do you think those guys get a piece of the delivery charge?
I’m going with this answer. Our first house everything was straight flat easy access. This place is narrow halls, steps, and odd angles. IF they make some effort to be gentle and not just ram things through I’ll throw a $20 or something their way. In my case it did help; I was getting a couple things delivered from the same place over a couple days; I got the same guys who did a great job and I was “last on, first off” so I didn’t spend my whole day waiting.
Yup.
I have a new refrigerator delivered a few months back. Normally two guys worth this big box stores delivery trucks, but the driver told me the person who was working with him called him to tell him he was running late. Driver told him basically, “I can’t wait. I have a truckload of appliances to deliver.”
So this one guy took apart my old fridge (and kitchen door) and assembled and installed the new one all by himself. From the time he pulled up to the time he left it was 75 minutes. I gave him a 20.
Why wouldn’t they? I wasn’t aware that Home Depot was a charity that has its deliveries done by volunteers.
I don’t know how it works, but it’s likely they get paid the same whether or not there is a delivery charge.
Yes, I think they are hourly.
I tip, depending on how helpful they are. My last refrigerator the line was dripping (the former owner did some interesting things - long story). Guy refused to install the fridge. No tip for you!
My new stove, the guy busted his ass. Did a few things that were above and beyond what he was normally asked to do. He got a $20. I may never see him again, but maybe he’ll be nice to the next folks.
No, but in my mind the tip is essentially paying for that part of the service - the delivery. If I’ve already paid a specific surcharge for that service, that lessens my incentive to make that aspect of the transaction more expensive.
My bottomline is how much I pay for the particular service/goods. I’m not particularly interested in personally determining what portion of that price goes to which employee who participated in which step of the manufacture/sale/delivery.
My preference would be that all employees get paid a decent wage, and that that be reflected in my purchase price.
Yep.
I tip if it’s challenging. My most recent appliance was a refrigerator. Had to go up 6 steps to get in the side door. Doors had to be taken off the fridge to fit through the door. Old fridge had to have the doors off to move it down to the basement. Those guys got tipped 20 bucks each. It was free delivery and I was happy to pay 40 bucks to avoid all that work.
I wouldn’t tip if it was curbside or garage.
Home Depot appliance deliveries are done by contractors. The contractor gets paid x per appliance regardless of what HD is charging for delivery or if they are offering free delivery. Those contractors may opt to pay thier employees hourly or by the piece.
I agree with the other poster, I don’t care if the delivery guy gets paid via delivery fee or not. If I pay for a service I’m less inclined to tip or tip less.
The town I used to live in a local pizza place charged a delivery fee of 3 bucks per order. I in turn tipped less because of that. This was a common for those drivers. The drivers weren’t getting the fee, so there was high turnover. If a company wants to exploit their employees like that it’s not my responsibility to pay more.