Regional customer differences?

[TREETX]

Do your customers tip out the crew and foreman?? You know, $5 or $10 per man on the crew??

That happened to me for the first time in Texas yesterday. Customer came out smiling and gave each one of us (3) ten dollars and said,"Thanks". Kinda threw me off.

When I work in Germany, everyone on the crew gets tipped $5 or $10 per job. Not every job, but it is an almost daily event if not daily. It is nice, because it gives you a little pocket $$ for the day.

I know what the norm is in TX, does this vary regionally in the United States??

Nate

 

[Treeman14]

We get about one or two tips per month. Usually $5 or $10 per person. I've noticed most tips come from those who seem least able to afford it. Perhaps they know the value of good, honest hard work more than the dude in a multi-million dollar house with a Hummer and a Jag in the garage. Hmmm.

 

[NickfromWI]

Yep, a couple times a month is average around here. I got a fifty once from a customer and she told me not to share it. Seemed fair to me! 5 or 10 bucks is what we usually get.

I notice the jobs where we spend a lot of time in the trees tend to bring along better tips. I think people think of it as "paying to watch the show."

love
nick

 

[ORclimber]

A few times a year. An elderly middle class single customer gave 2 of us $10 each and peanut butter sandwiches Thursday. Friday we worked in ritzy Portland and were given pop and bottled water, that happens all the time.

 

[NickfromWI]

Pop, aka soda, aka coke

Yep. Pop occurs on probably well over half the jobs where the client is home. It doesn't bode well for those that don't do the bubbly, but I'm not too shy to ask for OJ!!!

love
nick

 

[treeman82]

Often if the client is home while I am doing the work, everybody on the crew will get a $20 tip each. I think that's the most common tip I see. I did get a $1,000 tip a couple years ago at the end of the season from one really rich guy. However there was a story behind that. A lot of the time customers will bring out water, or iced tea. Couple times here and there the husbands will bring out one beer for each crew member.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's allways nice to be appreciated by a customer to the point where they actually tip. It doesn't happen that often, but it's neat when it does! I've had a few people order pizza for us, and a couple times actually fix us a complete lunch!

I was in New Iberia, La. the day after Andrew hit in '92, and it was pretty bad there. When we were in backyards, the people were cooking all their food outdoors (hurricane party) before it spoiled. Talk about eating good! Every yard we worked in seemed to be grilling/bar-b-queing something, and they weren't afraid to share! It was hard to resist the cold brew that was being offered!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'll have to agree that it is skewed along demographics, not geography. Though old money does seem to give better then new, they understand what "gratuity" means.

One thing I did when running a crew was tell the people who came up asking "how much to chip this" was to ask the guys doing that work. I would let them take a 10 or 20 if it did not effect how we completed the current job. As long as I knew about it going on .

 

[NeTree]

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn

One thing I did when running a crew was tell the people who came up asking "how much to chip this" was to ask the guys doing that work. I would let them take a 10 or 20 if it did not effect how we completed the current job. As long as I knew about it going on .

I get tips pretty often usually $10 to $50 each, and the occasional pizza. Mostly from the middle class, older people.

Ditto to the few pieces of brush, JPS.