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I've just given the bin fella £10 with "have a beer later"
He seemed stunned at this and was showing all the others with a massive beaming smile.
I thought it was a normal thing to do. Up in Liverpool it was just what you did....
Is it more a northern thing ? Do you do ?
My postie rang the doorbell loudly at 6.40 this morning waking up the whole house when dropping off a small parcel that could have sat happily in the porch so he can get in the sea if he wants a tip!
We have an excellent Postie, so we leave a bottle of wine out for him.
Currently tip the postie - a tenner & sometimes a bottle of wine and a card. We live on a rural lane and leave our bins and recycling 400m away on the main road so never see our binmen.
Growing up our postie, binmen and milkman would all get a tip. I did a milk round and we were very well tipped at Christmas. This was in Chester.
I thought it was a normal thing to do. Up in Liverpool it was just what you did….
Is it more a northern thing ? Do you do ?
It used to be a normal thing to do in Glasgow - although I think that may have been much reduced once wheely bins came in. I believe some people still do it with paperboy/girls but definitely not the norm any more over here in middle class East of Scotland suburbia. Of all the people who come to my house like that the only ones I actually recognise (so are consistently the same person) are the postie and window cleaner (who has disappeared without trace for several months).
My postie rang the doorbell loudly at 6.40 this morning waking up the whole house when dropping off a small parcel that could have sat happily in the porch so he can get in the sea if he wants a tip!
Or he could have taken it back to the sorting office and made you pick it up!
We have a great postie and DPD driver.
They both get a bottle of wine at Christmas. They really appreciate it and are really helpful.
If you get a lot of deliveries, then it's a no brainer to me.
Growing up our postie, binmen and milkman would all get a tip.
Same here, and from pretty much the whole street. Hardly seems to happen these days.
One of my neighbours leaves my postie a card (no idea if there's a tip in it) every year. I know this as it ends up in my recycling bin every year! First year I was curious why my empty bin had a card in it.
Our postie is tremendous. Friendly, helpful, chatty. Looks after the old folk too. He’s definitely getting a tip and a card.
Bin men not so much!
Bin men get a large selection of biscuits - postie gets nothing other than a Christmas card (may be a free coffee) as he's more of a colleague.
We tip the postie. He's great always friendly and helpful, so will usually leave a parcel somewhere sensible if they can. I dunno whether it's cause or effect, but I'm gonna keep tipping them at Christmas!
On the housing estate i live, a few people used to give the postie a couple of quid. So everyone could get involved they setup a 'go fund me' type page.
Turns out the postie is getting a £1300 tip this Christmas.
Personally, i dont tip (in all walks of life, unless someone has really gone beyond the call). No one gives me extra for doing my job.......
I've got a tip for my bin man - if you fail to get the rubbish/recycling into the truck, please pick it up instead of leaving it all over the road.
I used to tip the binmen/women at our last house in beer. They were great - always popping into the garden to get the bin if I forgot to leave it out.
I’ve got a tip for my bin man – if you fail to get the rubbish/recycling into the truck, please pick it up instead of leaving it all over the road.
I expect they give a better service to the people who tip them 😉
Yeah, binmen and recyclists get packs of Twix and Snickers from time to time when I feel grateful
I expect they give a better service to the people who tip them
That sounds like a protection racket! 😀
As someone who is on the receiving end it’s a nice gesture that is appreciated. I don’t expect tips, just a thank you would do, but it’s nice to know that when you’re out grafting in all weathers that some are thankful. Almost makes the moans the rest of the year worth it
Our MyHermes man is great. We often have a chat and he is a genuinely nice bloke. He will be getting some beers from us over the next week as a thank you.
We had the same postie at the old place for 15 years, he used to get a tip every year.
The Gousto delivery delivery driver is the only constant who'll get a tip this year.
I always leave a slab of lager for the binmen, usually pays dividends as ransos pointed out, a few quid for the postie, Xmas was a lucrative time when I was a lad on my paper-round!
Yep, we tip the Postie/DHL lady, she is great, super helpful.
Yeah, tip the milkman. The Hermes lassie might get a tip, I've seen her alot this past year.
That's how she ended up with Hermes
Postman, binmen and milkman all get a tip at Christmas. This year we’ve added the Hermes guy as he’s always great and as others have said he’s had an extraordinary year.
We’re in Worcestershire but we are from the northeast, so not sure about the territory behaviour.
This reminds me of the old joke that ends "Well, my husband said give the driver a tenner and **** the rest of 'em.'
That’s how she ended up with Hermes
That gave me a giggle.
My postie sent [i]me[/i] a card. Quite bizarre. Does that mean I have to give him one in return?
The binmen round here are grumpy sods who won't give you the time of day.
Try saying something like "thank you" or "good morning" and you either get ignored or given a weird look.
After yet another bin day when they've left the bin on its side 2 houses away and a small heap of spilled rubbish in the road, I don't much feel like tipping them!
i tip all of them. you get what you pay for.
Do you do ?
People don't tip me for working so no, I never tip.
I could tell our binmen were angling for Christmas tips this week as they actually put everyone’s bins back at the bottom of their drives, rather than halfway down the road.
I expect they give a better service to the people who tip them
i tip all of them. you get what you pay for.
Chicken/egg isn't it. Do you tip them and the service goes up or do you reward them for giving above and beyond service? If the current service is mediocre do you tip in the hope it will improve or **** em? I bought my mum's house from her and she was a bit appalled when I said I wasn't too fussed about tipping the binmen (she'd rung me to 'remind me that 'we' tip the the binmen). These are the same binmen that would not empty a very old lady's bin unless she dragged it the last 2m to the edge of the lane from where it lived against the wall. Yep, get the 80 year old to do it, my legs can't handle those last 2 paces. That £20 didn't buy a lot of 'extras'.
We always used to buy Chris, our old postie, a present because he was awesome. A real local legend who knew everyone's name; would take the piss about another wiggle parcel arriving and carefully put the post in just far enough that it stuck out the letter box when my wife had back surgery so she didn't have to bend down. Here the postie changes really regularly - seems to be about a dozen that'll do it, so we havn't build up any sort of relationship.
I don't know what they are doing but someone in the recruitment or training teams at Tesco are doing great work as I don't think I've met a bad delivery person. All so friendly and helpful.
“Well, my husband said give the driver a tenner and **** the rest of ’em.’
Meh, well beaten, but it is a great joke. 👍
Postie gets a tenner - we know his name and everything...
Other deliveries there isn't enough consistency of who is doing the delivering - nor in the "performance" of the service.
Bin people - we don't ever really see or speak to them and they are "just doing their job" no above and beyond so no tip there.
When I was a nipper I did a paper round in the week and a milk round at weekends, the milk job was much more rewarding at Christmas than the paper one - relatively rural Worcestershire.
People don’t tip me for working so no, I never tip.
I remember people like you, from when I was a paper boy.
The last time one of my local bin men ask me for a tip I suggested they wear the correct PPE or risk a written warning but then I am one of their line managers!
Its not unusual for a well liked crew to collect up to a £1000 in tips on a good year and that is before you account for the booze, chocolates and biscuits they all receive. Our operations office is already turning into an overflow for the chocolates they have gotten sick of eating. I've already gone off Heroes and Quality Street.
Don't feel too bad if you don't tip the local bin men, they do quite well at this time of year. I predict not a single driver or loader will be off sick next week in our department.
Never tipped the postie; he seems to always give me my neighbours post.
Card and a tenner for the postie. He's a lovely guy, always friendly, always has biscuits for dogs, makes the effort to put parcels in the greenhouse if we're not in.
Binmen? Nope - easy life now. Bins are on wheels and they don’t even have to chuck it in the back of the truck! 🤪
I’d tip the paper boy/girl if we had one but even the papers round our way get delivered by car!
Window cleaner yes, bins no as they leave people's bins all over. Maybe it's a silent protest?
Teachers, after-school staff, sports coaches, music teachers all get something. Anyone who has to deal with my kids deserves a medal.
We used to tip the coal man, out every week whatever the weather, lugging huge sacks of ovals into our bunker. This year he fell off the back of his wagon, broke his shoulder and died in hospital. Turned out he was 77 years old.
Nope, not anymore. We seem to have a different postie every week & the bin men only do the basics. IE, if it ain’t in the bin it doesn’t go in.
I used to when we had the same postie for years & the binmen went over & above.
On behalf of my fellow Posties I would like to say a massive thank you to those of you who have said you tip the Postie. The rest of you tight b***s can go * yourselves! 🙂 Merry Xmas!....But seriously, tips are not expected, just a nice touch at this time of year.
Of the times I've been minded to do this a completely different person shows up for that delivery, never to be seen again in the future. So I haven't...
We have a brilliant friendly postie. She got us a gift when we had a newborn and when our dog passed away. So we always get her something. Also make mince pies and non alcoholic mulled wine for delivery drivers. They really appreciate it. I always think if I can make them happy and show appreciation with a minimum amount of effort, then I should do something for them.
Our Hermes and DPD drivers are great too.
the bin men only do the basics. IE, if it ain’t in the bin it doesn’t go in.
Crumbs, you have high expectations, do you expect them to take stuff that isn't in the bin?
Wowzers, we're extremely lucky if they do take stuff that is in the bin...
Yup i try to give them a little gift as i do the DPD driver as it’s usually driver who I keep busy all year.
I reckon any job you wouldn’t want to do yourself - in all weathers - which is physical and hard work - needs to be considered for extra tips. Especially if all you do is sit in front of the PC all day in a warm room.
A lot of these people end up with broken bodies after years of these physical jobs so an extra few quid once a year isn’t much to give up for them.
Well said
id like to tip my postie but ive got no idea if it will be the regular one or some random parcel thrower at the moment. Im always at work when they call so how do i ensure that the correct postie gets it?
Bin men, Again how do you leave it. i live on a main road with school kids so i cant really leave a box of chocs on the wall.
Back in esselgruntfuttocks day....
Our postie seems to change every few weeks. At xmas you get all sorts of random temps, one of whom managed to deliver the entire street with another streets mail!
I've never heard of this, paper boys/girls/non binary/whatever and pub staff yes, but posties and bin men/", hell no, the amount of times I've had to go looking for my bins they should give me a tenner and the amount of soggy letters and other people's letters pushed through my letterbox by the current postie, not getting a slap will be my tip for him.
not sure I could pick my binmen or postie out a of lineup, so no.
my mum always tips the bin men, and the street sweeper. the street sweeper would always saly her Steps when it snowed when he did the pavement. Judging by the fact he only did our steps, it was definately related to the tip.
Bin men, Again how do you leave it. i live on a main road with school kids so i cant really leave a box of chocs on the wall.
Definitely don't just leave it in the street as they won't pick it up.
A lot of these people end up with broken bodies after years of these physical jobs so an extra few quid once a year isn’t much to give up for them.
Probably all the beer and chocolate in Dec/Jan!
When I was a waiter in the 90s HMRC decided that I needed to pay tax on my tips. As this was before putting tips on credit cards etc they just decided what my average tips would be - do they do the same for delivery people or can we assume that HMRC only tip people in hospitality so never applied this elsewhere?
Not round here, the amount of rubbish that seems to miss the back of the lorry is disgusting. The retired couple that walk around after they've been and tidying up deserves a tip though!
I thought it was a normal thing to do. Up in Liverpool it was just what you did….
Is it more a northern thing ? Do you do ?
I'm guessing it can't be a general thing anywhere.
Think about it for a moment.
Assuming that big red chunk in the middle is mostly your typical council bin lorries. thats 12,100 of them.
3 crew members is about 36,300 bin men.
27.8 million houses
So an average of about 800 houses per bin man.
That'd be eight grand in tips.
I'd give mine some horse racing tips.
3.15 @ Wetherby. Dusty Carpet. Never been beaten.
Or the 12.30 @ Kempton. Dripping Tap. Keeps on running.
But why? You don't go in to the town hall and tip the other council staff? Or pop down to the hospital, dishing out tenners. And why tip the window cleaner?? You know it his business, right?
But why?
I reckon any job you wouldn’t want to do yourself – in all weathers – which is physical and hard work – needs to be considered for extra tips. Especially if all you do is sit in front of the PC all day in a warm room.
A lot of these people end up with broken bodies after years of these physical jobs so an extra few quid once a year isn’t much to give up for them.
I wonder how many here have never in their lives accepted any kind of perk in addition to their normal salary. No tip, no bonus, no gift from a supplier, no meal paid for, no Christmas voucher...
Definitely don’t just leave it in the street as they won’t pick it up.
This deserves more credit:-)
Yoda: To accept you first have to be offered.
In 30 years of local government, the most I have ever been offered is a cup of tea. And to think, the binmen get thousands in tips!
But why? You don’t go in to the town hall and tip the other council staff? Or pop down to the hospital, dishing out tenners. And why tip the window cleaner?? You know it his business, right?
Its an interesting question. Why tip at all? Hairdressers/Barbers, Taxi Drivers, Waiters, etc - i'd much rather they all just charged a fair price and/or were paid a fair price. Some of it is just social convention, some of it was trying to put the cash in the hands of the person working their arse off rather than the owner sitting at home with their luxury car etc.
I do tip my window cleaner at Christmas, he's running a tiny business in difficult circumstances, comes out in all weathers, and I'm sure hasn't a clue about market dynamics or ways he could charge more - in very bad weather his income will go down. He's not the brightest guy in the world but he is actually quite helpful and well-meaning. If he was an employee who put in that much effort with that little fuss I wouldn't think twice about giving a Christmas bonus!
Would I tip doctors, nurses etc? Well, not routinely but I have bought flowers, chocolates and given thank you cards when they've done something that I thought deserved it (particularly when they've been caring for my wife or kids but done a very good job of looking after me too as a tired/stressed husband/dad). If I had a chronic condition and regularly met my specialists to manage it and they made a difference to my life it wouldn't strike me as odd. I have a friend who is a GP and some of his regulars bring Christmas gifts.
Looks like there's a box of biscuits/chocolates waiting for the regular postie and indy delivery guy.
Binmen can whistle. In 25 years, they've never once managed to put the bin where the garage door won't knock it over when going to bring it back in. Every. Single. Time.
Also this
But why? You don’t go in to the town hall and tip the other council staff? Or pop down to the hospital, dishing out tenners. And why tip the window cleaner?? You know it his business, right?
In the 27 years, 6 months and 3 days I worked at Nissan in Sunderland, no one ever tipped me for making a nice cylinder head for their Nissan/Renault/Dacia/Smart Car
Because it's Xmas and it's nice to be nice?
We never get the same postie for longer than a week so kind of pointless there, and the binmen are more than happy to spill stuff and not bother their arse picking it up so they can go swing.
If you do tip, you spoil the level of service for those who don't tip.
I don’t think expect better service because I tip. It’s because I’ve received good service that I do.
The Xmas tipping is more of a “you’ve got a tough job and I appreciate what you do” sort of thing.
Maybe the posties were tipped traditionally as they delivered vast amounts more at Xmas so it was a thank you for that but I’m not sure that’s as true nowadays. Certainly if you’ve got a regular and good courier who delivers you loads of stuff they might be worth a consideration as they put crazy hours in at this time of year!
Personally I’ve tipped workmen who have come to my house if they have done a great job as it’s so hard to find good tradesmen I want them to remember me in the future so I can get them back easily if needed!!
There's a kid on my street who goes around picking up all the elastic bands the postman leaves everywhere, I think I'll put some money in a Christmas card for him instead.
So do you give every binman a tenner, isn't there a crew per lorry, and is it the normal bin, the plastics n glass, paper n cardboard or garden waste crew, I'm sure it's a different guy each week where I'm from.
Also, scousers giving out tenners was a shocking revelation. 😀
I reckon any job you wouldn’t want to do yourself – in all weathers – which is physical and hard work – needs to be considered for extra tips.
Just because you find the idea of a physical job in poor weather unpleasant doesn’t mean that everyone else does.
I've had several different posties this year, so it'd be difficult to tip any particular one. The Hermes chap has pretty much driven off by the time I've opened my front door. I've not actually seen him face to face ever.
When I was a child I remember my Mum sending my Dad out chasing the bin men down the road in order to give them a tip. I also had a Sunday paper round when I was a teenager and Christmas tips were the best - I'd normally make about £6ish a week, but at Christmas I'd get between £100 - £150.
Milkman and regular Postie get £20
Just because you find the idea of a physical job in poor weather unpleasant doesn’t mean that everyone else does.
Well aren’t you a lovely ray of sunshine? 🙄
Some very interesting points being made here both for and against. As a postie now and briefley a bin man around 35 years ago I have experienced both sides.
Being a bin man back then was very diferent to now. Having to go around the back of houses and haul a heavy metal bin onto your shoulder that was usually overflowing with wet ash and any other kind of waste you can imagine was seriously hard and unpleasant work. Especially at this time of year when people were burning more fuel and paths would be very slippery. Almost everyone tipped the bin man and it was a very much appreciated addition to the pretty poor wages. Not sure the modern bin man has it quite so bad.
Someone further up the page said they didn't think the modern postie was delivering the same kind of volumes as they did in the past. Well, I can attest that RM is currently shifting far greater volumes of packets than they ever have. Have been all year really but especially now. And that is despite the fact that there are many other couriers doing the same thing.
I would say, there are probably less xmas cards being sent than there was a few years ago but still enough to double/triple the usual quantity of mail we have to sort at this time of year with the result that we are usually an hour or so later getting out on delivery than usual.
I have no idea what goes on with town posties but us rurals with our own regular rounds usually develop a decent relationship with most of our customers and are willing to go out of our way a bit to help them. So, if they are not in we are happy to walk around the back to find somewhere to leave a parcel safely. In most cases I find it easier/quicker/preferable to do that than stand out in the rain trying to write a missed delivery card for them. The upshot is though at this time of year we probably have parcels for every other house rather than maybe one in seven of them with the inevitable time penalty. So, most of us end up working two or three hours overtime every day through december. I usually think of december as a write off month with regards to doing anything out of work time.
Now, I think tips for posties are getting less frequent. This doesn't bother me as such because I think we are reasonably well paid for what we do and with all the overtime and annual bonus, december is usually a lucrative month. But, they are a nice touch which do help you to feel appreciated for your efforts. And I reckon that is what it's all about really. If you do think your postie has done something extra to help you out and you want to show your appreciation then go ahead and tip a bit of something........or not, it's entirely up to you 🙂
Someone further up the page said they didn’t think the modern postie was delivering the same kind of volumes as they did in the past.
I bet they don't live in Shropshire.
I speak to several postal delivery and collection staff, both near home and at the office.
Deliveries have gradually got worse since privatisation. One chap I know quite well, who has been a postie for 30 years, said he walks an average of 32,000 steps a day, sometimes over 40,000. The rounds are getting longer and longer as more houses are built, they are always doing overtime because of this and the fact that experienced staff are leaving, the management seem to actively try to piss people off. Covid has made the job worse, online shopping went nuts last year so the number of packets and boxes has soared and there's no let-up (and no support or additional manpower). Also management are forever coming up with ideas to make more money (for shareholders, not the workers) with delivering flyers and crap nobody wants. I don't envy them one bit. It's not even as if the pay is any good and they're out there in all weathers.
RM van drivers on rural rounds have been permanently snowed under with parcels, this means they're often not even trying to deliver letters more than 3 times a week, including to businesses, because parcels take priority and completely fill the van. Management have just rejigged the van routes, for no apparent reason. None of the drivers can understand why they've done it or why they refused to wait until after Christmas to implement it. There are not enough of them available to train the others so a lot of them were tossed in the deep end, learning the round from scratch as they go. "Yeah right, it's not that bad with sat-nav, google maps etc" you say but in the countryside knowing which farm is down that track and where this house name or that farm actually is on the route all adds up and makes a huge difference to how long it can take. Post codes can be tricky and you'd be surprised how much mail is not correctly addressed. At work the post arrives around 1-2pm, that's on the days we actually receive it.
@Simon-E That's all pretty much spot on but you forgot to mention the bullying management. I tried to keep my post in the context of the thread though and not turn it into a moan about work conditions, I could go on all day if you get me started on that Lol! Actually, I don't think the pay is that bad for what we do. I suppose it's a matter of perspective, I compare my pay with others in the same area doing work with simillar skill levels and it seems ok. It's the only reason I don't leave and do something else.
Tip the postie and binmen if I see them. I’d also tip the checkout girl at my local shop. All proved to be very useful during the past year having to do people facing jobs during COVID with no working from home option. I got a tip on Friday followed by can you do me a favour? Why yes of course as you in effect just bribed me.