Solicited holiday tip from paper delivery person?! Anyone else? (lawyer, home) - Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area - Florida (FL) -Manatee and Sarasota Counties - City-Data Forum

PixiStix · 11-29-2009, 10:13 AM

Yesterday, we come home to a holiday card stuck in our front door from our newspaper delivery person. Thinking, wow.. how nice, we open it to find a self addressed stamped envelope for us to send him $$ (i.e. a holiday tip).

Frankly, I was surprised how "in your face" this was. Now, mind you, we aren't cheap & do tip well. We think of people during the holidays & give accordingly. I'm not against tipping the mail carrier, gardener, etc..as we have done so in the past during the holiday season but the manner in which this was done put me off a little. It's the first time I've ever seen this done. Is this normal & have I been living under a rock or would you feel put off by this?

Honeycrisp · 11-29-2009, 10:17 AM

IMO it's kind of nervy but all over there are 'tip' jars etc (for them giving me my change @ a fast food place - ?!, LOL) - would just ignore it, if you want to give, give but do it on your terms.

photoman_6 · 11-29-2009, 11:13 AM

ii also find it kind of nervy. My paper carrier actually slips in a "tip" envelope into my paper every quarter. you've got to be kidding, right? Paper carrier, UPS guy, garbage man, landscaper. I ignore them all.

jvelte · 11-30-2009, 06:19 PM

That is just ridiculous! Since our world is so tip-crazy now, I guess I will put my hand out in monetary expectation each time I open a door for someone.
Paper delivery, mail delivery, garbage man, etc.... why tip someone for doing their job???

beachbum wannabe · 11-30-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvelte

That is just ridiculous! Since our world is so tip-crazy now, I guess I will put my hand out in monetary expectation each time I open a door for someone.
Paper delivery, mail delivery, garbage man, etc.... why tip someone for doing their job???

You are so right,and I will tip someone who goes the extra mile,but not everyone who does something for me,and just doing they're job !

Obrero · 11-30-2009, 08:12 PM

I got the same thing from our paper guy last year. Along with a long letter about how expensive gas is and how he hardly makes any money. I was put off by it but I also understand why he did it. I think he could have been smoother about it and less in your face with the letter. It would be pretty hard to tip him without having his address to send it to though.

Augie · 12-09-2009, 02:47 AM

a bit less forward. I Xmas tip the mail lady ($50), the landscaper ($50), and will tip the newspaper deliverer ($25), as they do many nice things for me during the year. I might also tip the garbage men who are very good , although they change often, and you don't get a steady guy that you get to know.

But, I refuse to tip the lady on the hot dog cart with her tip jar, who hands me the hotdog I just purchased. Does she expect me to make it myself or feel that she is doing extra by handing it to me for $2.50????

I think I am a generous tipper for people who go out of their way for me, but I resent getting my arm twisted for "nothing special" service.

beerme1 · 12-09-2009, 05:56 AM

We are generous tippers and we tip $50 per year for the paper delivery. When we had a kid delivering and he would come collecting we would tip him a buck a week.Think about what little income those people must have. Our newspaper will just add it to our bill just like at a restaraunt.
While a UPS or FedEx man may be a dubious tip considering what they make and the fact that most of us dont get the same one twice, the paperboy/adult carrier/rural delivery is a different story.
Now with all of that said I am getting a little angry with our adult delivery supposed to be here by 6am that keeps showing up at 7:30 which is to late to read before work which makes the am delivery useless. We used to be an afternoon paper but that changed with a 6am guaranteed delivery.

This year our carrier and spotty service may be expect less than the usual.

jvelte · 12-09-2009, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerme1

Our newspaper will just add it to our bill just like at a restaraunt.

Adding a tip to your newspaper bill is just ridiculous!!! There's no way I would pay that! A tip is a courtesy gesture for good service, NOT an obligated duty. Plus, if you just pay it with your bill, how do you know that the carrier actually gets it? It wouldn't surprise me if the accounts receivable dept added it to the books as revenue instead of giving it to the carrier.

beerme1 · 12-09-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvelte

Adding a tip to your newspaper bill is just ridiculous!!! There's no way I would pay that! A tip is a courtesy gesture for good service, NOT an obligated duty. Plus, if you just pay it with your bill, how do you know that the carrier actually gets it? It wouldn't surprise me if the accounts receivable dept added it to the books as revenue instead of giving it to the carrier.

We know out carrier gets it because we do get a thank you from them. If the company didn't forward their tip money I suspect some lawyer would get rich as a result so its not worth screwing around with.
p.s. you tip your server in a restaraunt or bar don't you? And they also are just doing their job. But you know that they get paid squat and live on their tips. That is very different than a UPS or FedEx guy making $20 an hour.