My brain is too fried right now to look this up. I had two packers here today for about 5.5 hours and everything is packed. When they first got here, as I was showing them around, I asked if they’d be coming back tomorrow or if it would be a different crew. They said they’d be back tomorrow. I guess at some point during the day it wasn’t so clear that they will be part of the crew that comes back tomorrow and I didn’t really find out about this until they were ready to leave and told me I might have to explain some things to the crew tomorrow if they aren’t part of it.
So, do you tip a moving crew… if so, how and how much? Do I find out who the crew head is and give tip money to him and ask him to share with the crew? Or give to each guy individually? And if the two guys today are not back tomorrow, how do I make sure they also get some tip money (although not as much as guys tomorrow who will be doing a lot of heavy lifting and hauling up and down stairs).
Last time I did a major move I tipped 10/hr/man. It was suggested tip from the mover. I think you would tip 15-20%. I have moved a few times in the last few years, and that’s what I usually tipped.
Yea, I’m thinking 15-20%, but did you spread it out evenly to each crew member? And hand it to them personally? Of course, I don’t know how much the total is going to end up being because they work on an hourly basis. I’m guessing they’re going to put in an 8-hour workday tomorrow at a minimum. I have already given them a deposit, and I did make another payment today for today’s services (but then, didn’t tip the guys). The guys today were absolutely caring and professional - I hope they’re back tomorrow. If not, I guess I’ll have to call the company and find out how I can get a tip to them.
I don’t know if this is true everywhere, but at least for the companies I’ve used the crew captain gets to decide how to split the tip up. The other guys won’t even take the money. I give the total tip to the captain, but I usually make sure a few other guys on the crew see me do it - “Thanks - Here’s $x hundred for the crew” - just to make sure there’s no funny business. I wouldn’t give the loaders the tip for the packers from the previous day unless the same guys showed up. I think $10/hr/man + buying them lunch is a good guideline for loaders. (Those guys earn their money. Older guys than me who are half my size are carrying heavy stuff all day.)
I didn’t think there was an official captain for packing / unpacking, so I just gave each guy the same tip for packing / unpacking. I also think packing / unpacking is an easier job than loading / unloading, so maybe the tip is a bit less??
Yes, I gave it to the captain, and I did it in front of the crew. The guys I worked with (NYC) preferred to take a break to get their own lunch.
One of my moves was over 2 days. I didn’t know who was coming back, so it was easier to give it to the captain at the end.
4 moves ago, I left my wallet in a bag in our bedroom closet while the movers were packing. When it came time for me to tip them, I discovered that one of them had “already helped himself”.
I can’t remember if I tipped each mover $20 or $40 (plus lunch) but I made sure to give it to each person. I’ve heard too many stories about tips being withheld to trust any boss.
When I moved last year, I tipped 20% ($600 on a $3000 bill). And yes, I gave it to the head of the crew to split up as he saw fit; it’s my understanding that that’s how it’s usually done.
Hey, I was told that that’s the going rate. And the crew chief looked at it when I gave it to him like it was garbage – obviously, he expected more. Admittedly, it was a very long day for the crew.
Are you sure it wasn’t a look of shock and surprise instead of disgust? That’s a generous tip and I have a hard time believing he is used to getting those kind of tips often.
I believe we tipped the movers who hauled H’s table and chairs down 66 steps as well as hauling a couch up those same 66 steps. It was a lot of work and I was glad it was them and not us. Can’t remember the amount.
We did tip the two guys who came to haul away 3 fridges and install 2 fridges at my folks home. Gave them $100 cash. They seemed shocked and VERY grateful. They worked very hard.
OK… the worst is over. They worked a 12-hour day yesterday, but got everything moved over to the new place. One glitch that we couldn’t have foreseen. Our new place is just about directly due east of our old place, but two of the major roads that we usually take to get here from there, don’t allow trucks over a certain size, so by the time they made several detours to get here, travel time which should have taken 30 minutes, took an hour and 20 minutes. Wind was just absolutely wicked when they got here and I’m sure bigger items were quite tricky - I did see two guys try to carry a special delivery door up to our building and they almost could have used a third guy because the wind kept catching it.
Anyway, we only had $20s on us, so we tipped each guy $60. I handed it to each one. There were five total. They were very appreciative.
Thanks for all the collective wisdom of your previous moves.