...........................

[BYE]

.

[OnTheBrink]

I don't tip him; I give him a festive ziplock bag of goodies. And, I make sure the porch steps are shoveled for him if it happens to be snowy. 

 

[Chelle in MO]

We have somewhat of a relationship w/our mail carrier since my dh and ds do a fair bit of eBay selling/shipping.  I am on a first name basis w/her, and I see her often when I'm carrying things to the mail truck or she's bringing things to the house. I just give her things in person--usually either homemade candy or a $10 Bread Co. gift card.

 

 

[BYE]

I don't tip him; I give him a festive ziplock bag of goodies. And, I make sure the porch steps are shoveled for him if it happens to be snowy. 

Do you put it in the mailbox?

[OnTheBrink]

Do you put it in the mailbox?

 

Sorta. I have one of those narrow boxes attached to the house by the front door. I clothes-pin it to the outside of the box. 

[Liz CA]

I wrote a Christmas card and addressed it to "Our Mail Carrier." (No stamp on it) I put it in the mail box with the flag up (rural type box). Inside was a small gift card for Starbucks. A day later we got a Christmas card from the mail carrier thanking us and wishing us a "Merry Christmas."

[kbutton]

Put the mail carrier's name on it in case there is a sub the day you put it out. My dad was a walking mail carrier for many years.

[momto10blessings]

Put the mail carrier's name on it in case there is a sub the day you put it out. My dad was a walking mail carrier for many years.

What if you don't know their name?

[kbutton]

The post office will know--just give them your address, and they can tell you the carrier's name. If they feel funny about giving it out, just tell them what it's for, and ask them for a first name only. I think they'll understand that you'd like to leave the gift for the regular carrier, not the sub, if you explain.

[Kalmia]

Surprisingly there are actually rules about what your mail carrier is allowed to accept as a tip.

 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/12/what_can_you_give_the_mailman.html

 

[Library Momma]

I just put a card addressed to" Steve the mail carrier" in our mailbox.  I usually give him a gift card as they cannot accept cash.  He usually gives us a holiday card about three weeks before Christmas (just so we don't forget about him!)

[Jane in NC]

My mail is delivered by a rural route carrier, a contract worker as opposed to a postal employee.  I always leave a cash tip in a Christmas card in my box.

 

I really value our postal workers. One year, an elderly neighbor slipped in his bathroom and was immobilized.  The person who knew something was wrong was our postal carrier.  No matter what the weather, George always got his mail.  The mail carrier asked a neighbor if someone should check on him. Neighbor had a key and found George lying on the bathroom floor shivering.  An ambulance was called.

 

Postal carriers really know what is going on in neighborhoods.  I salute them and encourage everyone at least to wish them good cheer.

[Mergath]

I refuse to tip my mail carrier until he quits giving our mail to the neighbors.  We've been here five years now, so I really don't see how he continues to mix it up.

[happyWImom]

Sorry to say, but our regular mail carrier is the last person I'd give a tip to!  He tries jam pkgs that are way too big into the box (leaving the door wide open for all to see) or sits in the driveway and honks until we come out to get it.  The sub is great, he always comes up to the porch, rings the bell and waits to see if we're home.

 

I do give a tip to our UPS man, however.  He is here so often, he's like a friend, so we give him a card with cash as well as goodies.

[songsparrow]

We always gave a card with a gift card and treats to our mail carrier directly - we'd watch for him. But we got a note at the end of November that routes were changing and we haven't seen them since. I don't know if it's permanent or only for the holidays. So we didn't give anything this year.

 

We also used to tip the UPS driver, but now we never see him after the end of November either.

[Mandylubug]

Our area runs twice a day now and some times two different people. I feel sorry for them. I suppose I could do a morning tip and an evening tip? However, one may be doubly tipped lol

[kbutton]

I refuse to tip my mail carrier until he quits giving our mail to the neighbors.  We've been here five years now, so I really don't see how he continues to mix it up.

 

Even if he doesn't "put up" the mail for his own route, if you've complained, someone (or several someones) should be leaving notes to double check. (Postcard style bills are a bit tricky though--they come in batches, stick together ruthlessly, etc.) 

[Scrub Jay]

Our mail carrier is pretty terrible.  He never closes the mailbox all the way, even on days it may rain!  He gives us other people's mail on a pretty regular basis, too.

[Wheres Toto]

We have a lousy mail carrier too.  We have centralized mailboxes at the entrance to our neighborhood.  He's constantly putting things in the wrong boxes.  Packages are supposed to be brought up to the house if they won't fit in the large boxes meant for them, but he never brings them up, he just leaves a slip for it to be picked up at the post office.  Usually it says he tried the house and no one was home but we know that's not true.

 

We seem to have a different UPS driver every time.  Some are worse than others.  One left a package in front of our garage, which is all the way out at the street and where the trash cans/recyclables are.  Another left one on the hood of our car.  They very rarely bring it up to the door but never knock even when we are home, they just drop it off.

[Jen in NY]

We love our mail carrier... she is the sweetest! We know her pretty well ... we even know where she lives, because she and her husband put on a massive holiday light display every year, and her house is pretty well known in the area. One year I left cookies for her, and in her thank you note she remarked on one in particular... so now I leave my standard assorted cookies, a package of the linzer tarts she likes, and a small gift card. We are so lucky to have her!

[Mergath]

We have a lousy mail carrier too.  We have centralized mailboxes at the entrance to our neighborhood.  He's constantly putting things in the wrong boxes.  Packages are supposed to be brought up to the house if they won't fit in the large boxes meant for them, but he never brings them up, he just leaves a slip for it to be picked up at the post office.  Usually it says he tried the house and no one was home but we know that's not true.

 

 

I wish we got those slips!  I'd much rather pick my packages up.  Our mail carrier just leaves the packages laying outside on the steps, right next to a busy alley.  Once I found one laying on the sidewalk.  :cursing:

 

Even if he doesn't "put up" the mail for his own route, if you've complained, someone (or several someones) should be leaving notes to double check. (Postcard style bills are a bit tricky though--they come in batches, stick together ruthlessly, etc.) 

 

I've complained for years.  Nothing ever changes.  Our mail carrier just sucks.  And it's been the same guy for as long as I can remember.

[Piper]

I love our mail carrier!  He's the sweetest, most cheerful guy, and very personable.  I think I might cry when he retires!  We give him a Christmas card containing a gift card (Applebee's this year, since we found out he doesn't drink coffee!), and make sure to put his name on the envelope.  I'm never sure if he's going to be taking a day off, so this year we were lucky that he had to knock on our door the other day to deliver a parcel.  My son ran out and handed the card directly to him.  We got a thank-you card from him the next day.

[nmoira]

I miss our regular carrier. The current guy (I'll bet he's a temp) leaves at least one item for a different address in our box every day, and yesterday delivered a package to another address entirely. I know it wasn't stolen from our porch because DH was home and came to the door as soon as he heard the knock for a second package that did make it. Also the delivery time was over an hour prior to that at our house. :/ Thankfully a replacement is already on the way.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I just put goodies in the mail box and put the flag up.

I usually get a thank you a day or two later.

[AmandaVT]

i love our mail carrier! We're rural and he drives from house to house to put mail in the boxes (end of driveway). Anything that's too big, he walks up to the house with the package and our mail to hand deliver. Always with a smile too. I'm giving him a gift box of homemade cookies and a $5 gift certificate to the local coffee shop.