Do you tip (or give present to) mail carriers and gardeners around Christmas? (apartment, rental)

[michgc]

Our mail carrier went above and beyond for me. First of all, we have our mailbox at our door, so he has to walk up to our house. Also, I am an eBay shipper. My mailman told me to just leave the packages for him, and he'd take them. I didn't mind doing it if they were small, but one time I went out there with a bigger package, and he insisted that I do not drive to the post office to drop them off, since he was going there anyway. Unfortunately, he hurt his foot and is doing a driving route, and we've had several substitutes lately. I miss my regular mailman.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by michgc

Our mail carrier went above and beyond for me. First of all, we have our mailbox at our door, so he has to walk up to our house. Also, I am an eBay shipper. My mailman told me to just leave the packages for him, and he'd take them. I didn't mind doing it if they were small, but one time I went out there with a bigger package, and he insisted that I do not drive to the post office to drop them off, since he was going there anyway. Unfortunately, he hurt his foot and is doing a driving route, and we've had several substitutes lately. I miss my regular mailman.

Yes, that's different. You know your mailman. He does things specifically for you. If my mail carrier walked, was the same person on a regular basis, and I chatted with him/her it might be different. But I couldn't pick mine out of a line up. Some days the mail comes before 4pm., other days it doesn't come until 8 or 8:30 at night. I appreciate what they do, whoever it is, but the mail carrier is not one I think of tipping.

[Lucky★]

I tip the mailman and my hair stylist. I would tip the gardener if I had one. I’d also like to tip the trash men, but I don’t ever see them and not sure if it is customary.

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Originally Posted by michgc

Our mail carrier went above and beyond for me. First of all, we have our mailbox at our door, so he has to walk up to our house. Also, I am an eBay shipper. My mailman told me to just leave the packages for him, and he'd take them. I didn't mind doing it if they were small, but one time I went out there with a bigger package, and he insisted that I do not drive to the post office to drop them off, since he was going there anyway. Unfortunately, he hurt his foot and is doing a driving route, and we've had several substitutes lately. I miss my regular mailman.

Then it is totally understandable to remember him for Christmas!
My parents' mailman was/is like this and they always get him a little bottle of the cologne he likes every Christmas.
(They are not supposed to receive cash, though.)

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Originally Posted by Lucky★

I tip the mailman and my hair stylist. I would tip the gardener if I had one. I’d also like to tip the trash men, but I don’t ever see them and not sure if it is customary.

I don't know if it is customary either, but if I can give a shout to the trashmen in our neighborhood...
They are seriously the nicest guys who gladly help me when bags are heavy,
wait for me if I forgot to put the trash out and am running down the street after them, etc.
Does anyone do anything for their trashmen at this time of year, and if so, what?

[beatlecrazy]

We gave our mailman a $20 gift card to Red Lobster, lol. He's always really nice and my husband always gets tons of packages every day. My husband collects Transformers, you see, and is always doing trades with other people (online and through his friends), so our mailman always has to bring up at least 3-4 boxes a day for us. He's really nice and gives treats to our doggy when he sees him in the backyard. We figured a little gift would be a good gesture for him.

[ICS67]

Originally Posted by Alltheusernamesaretaken

I don't know if it is customary either, but if I can give a shout to the trashmen in our neighborhood...
They are seriously the nicest guys who gladly help me when bags are heavy,
wait for me if I forgot to put the trash out and am running down the street after them, etc.
Does anyone do anything for their trashmen at this time of year, and if so, what?

I also have absolutely great trash service from a small family-run business that has only three employees, including the owner. I always remember them at Christmas time for their outstanding work -- $10 per person in cash, plus about another $10 per person in the form of some nice chocolate, cookies, or something similar.

Our regular mailman also gets a box of homemade chocolate truffles, because we know he really likes them.

[halfabuck]

I do tip the mailman about $25 but am inclined to give him a gift card this year. With the economy the way it is I agree that it can get way out of hand. Last year I even tipped my pharmacist as he takes very good care of me. But you can get carried away with it with the trash men, the hairdresser, barber (it's that time of year), doctor, and everyone else you do business with. It gets to be a little too much especially when you are trying to buy for the rest of your family.

[sullyguy]

If I had employees like a housekeeper or personal gardener or butler, etc, then they would for sure receive something, probably money, around this time of year.

Since I do not, they don't.

OTHER peoples' employees are their responsibility to tip or not.

[jimpatova]

Years ago we had the same wonderful carrier "Sam the Mail Maam" every day and she got a box of chocolates from us at Christmas which she loved and shared with her coworkers at the PO. Now it's a different carrier throughout the year, but we figure the box of chocolates is shared anyway, so we still do it.

Except for two years ago when the mail carrier would leave cigarette butts on our curb. We wanted to give her a jar full of her butts for Christmas, but instead we gave nothing.

Our trash men are the same each week, so we we tape an envelope to the trash can containing $20 for each of them. It's fun to watch them react to it (and make sure they get it). Then for the next few weeks, they carefully place our trash can back up on the sidewalk or even walk it back up the driveway to our garage.