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Do you tip your UPS man?


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I don't**. However, I have read if you have regular UPS pickup service (like an in-home eBay store, etc...) it is acceptable. I found a message board for UPS drivers, and they were discussing tips they have received, so apparently it is not unheard of.

 

I think that special holiday tips outside of restaurants and hair salons is VERY regional and even more expected within major urban environments. I only remember making cookies or fudge for the mailman (BTW, USPS workers are not allowed to accept cash or cash equivalents...)

 

ETA: ** because he delivered my Nutrimill to the neighbor (who is happily one of the few people we know), delivered my neighbor's $200 workbooks to another neighbor, etc....

Edited by BikeBookBread
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How? I'd have to chase him down the street.

 

UPS doesn't really take the time to knock on the door, say hi, etc.

 

This time of year they are running in teams. One drops the boxes and the other drives. They are gone before I can say, "Boo."

 

I live in a bigger city (300K) though & those guys are run ragged.

 

Oh, as a pp stated, I can see giving a tip for regular pick-ups.

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How? I'd have to chase him down the street.

:iagree:They leave the box, ring the bell and go. Even for deliveries throughout the year, they don't hang around. And I have no idea if we have the same guy all the time.

 

I was at my MIL's a couple of days ago when the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and through the window saw the UPS guy running back to the truck. He looked too busy to stop & chat! :)

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Seems like we never have the same one more than a month at a time, and about half the time they run their trucks off my driveway at the bottom.

 

We do gift our mail carrier, but that's an entirely different situation (same wonderful guy for 10+ years) and we keep it within the federal guidelines.

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They leave the box, ring the bell and go.

 

Wow, yours rings the bell? Mine drops (sometimes literally drops) the package on the porch and leaves. Sometimes, on rainy days, he even leaves it in the puddle at the front of the porch rather than taking the three extra steps to tuck it into a dry corner close to the house. :glare:

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(BTW, USPS workers are not allowed to accept cash or cash equivalents...)

 

Actually, the rule is $20 or equivalent. How do I know? My mailman at my old house was a rule follower. He gave me back the extra $5 I had put in his holiday card. For real! It was a funny lecture I received for trying to give him the equivalent to what I tipped out everyone else.

 

The UPS/FedEx guys/gals and town trash men are fine with $25 eash. At least I've never been lectured by them. :tongue_smilie:

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Wow, yours rings the bell? Mine drops (sometimes literally drops) the package on the porch and leaves. Sometimes, on rainy days, he even leaves it in the puddle at the front of the porch rather than taking the three extra steps to tuck it into a dry corner close to the house. :glare:

They're pretty considerate here. If the package is small enough, they put it between the storm door and the front door. If it's too big for that, they often leave it behind the bushes by the front door so it can't be seen from the road. If it's rainy they put it in a plastic bag. A few days ago they delivered our new laptop, and they left it on the top step, but off to the side, and put our doormat on top of it. Dh had left a note for them to leave it, since we wouldn't be home and it had to be signed for (the note is an acceptable equivalent). I didn't see it as I drove into the driveway, so they disguised it well enough that you wouldn't know from the road that it was a laptop.

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One year I did tip the UPS man, but it was because he had delivered a ton of packages to me during the months before Christmas. I was pregnant with my oldest daughter and was doing marketing work where I had to go into doctors' offices and replenish pamphlets and samples. "My" UPS guy brought at least 70 or so boxes of these pamplets over the course of a few months right onto my porch so that I wouldn't have to bring them in from outside. He was so awesome that I wish I had more to give him, but DH and I gave him a $25 gift card to a restaurant.

 

I haven't tipped him since (same guy after 7 years!), but we have a system where he rings, leaves the package(s), I go to the door and we wave to each other. :)

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Our UPS people are wonderful. They always leave our packages inside our house as do the mail carriers...and anyone else who stops by with something. I wonder what they would do if our house was ever locked?

 

I wonder if we can lock our doors. :confused:

 

Love my TinyTown!!!!

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They're pretty considerate here. If the package is small enough, they put it between the storm door and the front door. If it's too big for that, they often leave it behind the bushes by the front door so it can't be seen from the road. If it's rainy they put it in a plastic bag. A few days ago they delivered our new laptop, and they left it on the top step, but off to the side, and put our doormat on top of it. Dh had left a note for them to leave it, since we wouldn't be home and it had to be signed for (the note is an acceptable equivalent). I didn't see it as I drove into the driveway, so they disguised it well enough that you wouldn't know from the road that it was a laptop.

Yes, our guy is like this. He's great! I guess I should call and say what a good job he does if others are so inconsiderate. We have the same guy usually and he also does my mom's house. Both of us catalog/internet shop, so we see him a lot. But like everyone else has said, he doesn't linger too much.

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No, and if I did...I'd have to chase them down the street too. Our city isn't huge, but we don't have A delivery man. They change and work in teams and stop and toss is their method of delivery.

 

Hey, should I toss a few bills out the door at them? jk...

Edited by Tammyla
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Actually, the rule is $20 or equivalent. How do I know? My mailman at my old house was a rule follower. He gave me back the extra $5 I had put in his holiday card. For real! It was a funny lecture I received for trying to give him the equivalent to what I tipped out everyone else.

 

The UPS/FedEx guys/gals and town trash men are fine with $25 eash. At least I've never been lectured by them. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh no!!! We only gave ours $10-now I feel so cheap!

 

Ours is like a friend. He rings the bell & always waits for us. We don't chat long, but we still talk, and he knows my dc. We have him one of our photo Christmas cards, with the money. (He's here a lot)

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I've been on both ends. My UPS guy is normally my bil, so he does not get a tip :lol: However, I will give gift cards to the local coffee shop to the sub drivers. It doesn't cost much, it makes their day, and this time of year is so stressful that the little things do mean quite a bit to them.

 

Having recieved tips as a BB deliverer, I can tell you it is always a surprise and always touching. No one here expects it, they don't count on it, but when they get it they always remember. Not to say you won't get good service if you don't tip, but they will go the extra mile for those that do, because they feel a personal connection. The same goes for super friendly recievers and even the wackier zanier ones, though. Nice people, for the most part, are remembered by their drivers.

 

One more thing, if you do make that connection, then you get a chance to tell the driver 'ack! I can't take that right now (big eyes towards the kids in the other room) Can you put it X (garage, car outside, etc. as long as it is not rediculously far or off their route, I've had them sent to my mom's house in another neighborhood and I've taken them to businesses where the spouse worked)' and your driver will (unless completely slammed, or one of those special union darlings that will never be fired). At UPS they take Christmas and the responsibility of 'playing Santa' very serious. We had am meetings discussing the importance of what we were doing, and how children and adults alike relied on us to get things there, safely, and concealed if needed. It's something you have to see to really appreciate.

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I love our UPS guy! He always compliments the house or my garden, or some improvement we're doing. I've personally never met a bad one, they all seem happy and like they enjoy their job.

 

It's NEVER occurred to me to tip him :001_huh:.

Even just a Christmas Card is nice ;)

 

Thought I'd add that.

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I try to always keep a baggie of cookies on a table in our entryway during the holidays. So if we see mailman/UPS/Fedex man coming, we can hand it to him as he leaves our packages. (they usually ring the doorbell, but are gone so fast that if we don't hear or see them drive up, we miss them). They always seem very appreciative for the goodies.

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WE have GREAT guy! It's the same guy 90% of the time, there's only 1 other guy that can find our house. Our guy jokes around with us. He has even carried packages into the house for me. I'm glad I saw this post I need to make him some cookies he should be here tomorrow. There's a running joke in our house that I'm having an affair with the UPS man! I guess ds kind of beleives it because he won't let me collect packages without him!:lol:

 

On another note, we've been blessed with a great trash man also. He got out of the truck in the wind and rain to pick up our dumpster that had fallen over so he could collect the trash. Another time we weren't home and he took the dumpster from the driveway to collect the trash and then replaced it! I can't get ds to do that! I made him cookies last month for that!

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