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Original poster

How much do you tip your postman

141 replies

TwigTheWonderKid · 24/12/2020 12:48

Just realised we've got no cash and are isolating so can't go out

There's a fiver in DSs money box but is that an insult rather than a tip ?!

OP posts:
thelegohooverer · 24/12/2020 20:25

My postman is awesome. He looks out for everyone and is an absolute treasure. I tip him €20 on the basis that I’d like to give him a bottle of something but his bag is heavy enough already.

Nichola2310 · 24/12/2020 20:36

£15 gift voucher in a card.

We live rurally, and get a lot of parcels. We love our postman, he's always cheery, always asks after our toddler and we just want to show we appreciate him.

emilyfrost · 24/12/2020 20:38

My DP is a postman. He's worked his socks off this year and hasn't taken a day off in the last 2 weeks in case whoever covers him messes up. Your mail may not reach you until mid afternoon sometimes but he's up and out of here at 5am, walking miles whatever the weather.

marriednotdead If he hasn’t taken a day off that’s not something to be commended for; being a martyr isn’t a good thing. It’s just silly.

It’s also not a reason to tip, because there isn’t a reason to tip. Anyone who tips is just contributing to low wages as employers realise foolish customers will pay their employees wages for them.

80sColourfulChristmas · 24/12/2020 20:44

Can you imagine if EVERYONE tipped their postman/woman?!? They'd either be unable to get back to their van and need to call Pickfords or they'd be quitting their job and jetting off to Barbados 🏖

80sColourfulChristmas · 24/12/2020 20:45

@NailsNeedDoing

Nothing, ours insists on folding every letter in half to shove it through the letterbox so everything ends up crumpled. Tips are for people who do more than is expected of them, not people who are shot at their job.
Well said!!
rosie39forever · 24/12/2020 20:46

@emilyfrost
Jaysus you're a laugh a minute, nothing wrong with recognising someone who does a good job in this shit show of a year.

queenofknives · 24/12/2020 20:51

Tenner and a box of roses chocs. He's lovely. Always has time for everyone and knows all our routines and where to leave stuff.

I don't think you have to but a fiver is nice and definitely not an insult.

PegasusReturns · 24/12/2020 20:53

I don’t give cash because I don’t want to/can’t put a price on the service.

DD writes a card and we wrap a box of chocolates/biscuits.

80sColourfulChristmas · 24/12/2020 20:54

@SpineyCrevice

A four pack of guinness. He gets this in the summer too. He texts me when he's got a parcel for us. I luffs him a bit to be honest. : )
How on earth is he meant to carry that round with him!?

Also, I don't mean to sound like a miserable cow but how did you get to the point of exchanging numbers with the postman?! X

marriednotdead · 24/12/2020 21:08

@emilyfrost

My DP is a postman. He's worked his socks off this year and hasn't taken a day off in the last 2 weeks in case whoever covers him messes up. Your mail may not reach you until mid afternoon sometimes but he's up and out of here at 5am, walking miles whatever the weather.

marriednotdead If he hasn’t taken a day off that’s not something to be commended for; being a martyr isn’t a good thing. It’s just silly.

It’s also not a reason to tip, because there isn’t a reason to tip. Anyone who tips is just contributing to low wages as employers realise foolish customers will pay their employees wages for them.

He doesn’t work on Sundays, no martyrdom going on Xmas Smile

Tipping is a choice some customers make.

emilyfrost · 24/12/2020 21:19

He doesn’t work on Sundays, no martyrdom going on

marriednotdead Irrelevant; he’s being a martyr by refusing to have his scheduled days off.

Tipping is a choice some customers make.

It’s a poor choice some customers make which contributes to the low wages in the first place. By tipping they are only encouraging low wages and providing no incentive for an employer to raise them.

Erictheavocado · 24/12/2020 21:30

I envy those of you who ha e a postman who does their job well enough to even consider tipping. Every postman we've had at this address (over 30 years) has been a miserable devil. Our delivery office has a reputation for being bad and on one occasion I had to threaten to call the police when they denied having a parcel there for me - they had put a card through my door telling me to collect it. As soon as I mentioned the police they miraculously found my 'non-existent' package within minutes. So no, I don't tip our postman, I wish I had one that did even the basic job to an acceptable level.

viccat · 24/12/2020 21:48

Usually a tenner in a card but I didn't catch him this week with them not having a regular delivery schedule every day at the moment. I do a lot of my shopping online and get a lot of parcels so really appreciate my postie.

My parents always did the cash in a card thing too over 30 years ago - definitely not a new thing.

ImnotCarolineHirons · 24/12/2020 21:50

DH is a postman. He is definitely not offended by a fiver. He's had £600 in tips so far this Christmas and usually gets another hundred between Christmas and the New year.

Fucking hell I'm in the wrong job. 😲 might not bother now as mine must be earning better than most of the people in my street.

Plussizejumpsuit · 24/12/2020 21:58

We don't have the same postie all the time so feel it wouldn't work!

AaronPurr · 24/12/2020 22:11

@Stormy373

DH is a postman. He is definitely not offended by a fiver. He's had £600 in tips so far this Christmas and usually gets another hundred between Christmas and the New year. He's done the same rural round for 7 years and many of his customers he now considers friends. We've had lots of cards to our family with some lovely messages written inside.
Are there are rules regarding declaring gifts? Over £600 is quite a substantial amount.
Minster2012 · 24/12/2020 22:13

Have tipped our milk lady & each of our 3 posties, one was due to retire this year but then didn't due to the workload, they are great, always waiting for me to secure my over friendly large dog & small one (& toddler) before opening door, or if not in they put in safe place or try to deliver to neighbour as opposed to taking back to sorting office which is never open & 15 mins away 🙄. Always smiling & happy to chat they have been visually stressed & working so hard this year. As we all have but we've had a fair few parcels so I wanted to write thank you to them for helping me stay safe & entertain a toddler whilst my DH worked too

All of them were very grateful & one wrote a lovely red card thank you note ☺️

tararabumdeay · 24/12/2020 22:16

In the olden days the bin men used to knock at the door for a tip which was usualy given.

I used to deliver papers to an upmarket place in London. A promin MP at the time said to his family whilst out walknig: 'How I love to see the peasents working.'

I think his wife may have been fragrant.

LittleOverwhelmed · 24/12/2020 23:05

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Stormy373 · 25/12/2020 05:47

AaronPurr no of course posties don't declare their tips at chritmas. They work so hard all year under tremendous time constraints. He never takes a lunch break, doesn't even take a flask of tea as he doesn't have time to sit and drink it, its all done on the go. He goes above and beyond for people all the time. £600 might sound a lot (and it is) but he delivers to over 300 houses. Most people tip between £10 and £20 so you can do the maths on the percentage of people who actually tip him, its not that many. These are the people he talks to every day. Lots of elderly people who have little contact with anyone else, his round is a wealthy rural area, these people are quite isolated and really value the service he delivers. He knows them all by name, he knows about their children and grandchildren, the ups and downs of their lives. So no he doesn't declare his tips and none of them would expect him to. As I said in my PP many of these families are now considered as friends.

Stormy373 · 25/12/2020 05:48

*wouldn't expect him to

Tanfastic · 25/12/2020 05:59

@ChochoCrazyCat

Mumsnet is a different world. It has never occurred to me to tip the postman or give him a present or biscuits, wtf. It's never even the same person who comes.
Same here! Different one every day who leaves a trail of elastic bands down my path. He probably earns more than me as well so no I keep it in my purse!
emilyfrost · 25/12/2020 06:46

no of course posties don't declare their tips at chritmas.

Stormy373 Are they meant to? Because it doesn’t matter how “hard” they work if they are.

He never takes a lunch break

Why not? He is entitled to one and if he’s refusing to take one he’s deliberately doing something illegal (perhaps twice if he’s meant to declare his gifts). Bring a martyr shouldn’t be commended; he’s just being silly.

All the backstory you’ve included about knowing them for years etc. has absolutely nothing to do with it.

motorcyclenumptiness · 25/12/2020 07:29

It’s a poor choice some customers make which contributes to the low wages in the first place
Unlike those in hospitality/hairdressing industries, postal workers don't rely on tips to subsidise their pay and aren't treated as such. RM is unionised - CWU has just negotiated a 3.7% two-year pay deal backdated to April and an hour's reduction in the working week.
Are they meant to?
No
if he’s refusing to take one he’s deliberately doing something illegal
He really isn't, although if his employer was denying him a break they might be.
Happy Christmas to all the posties and delivery drivers, you've made a tough year a lot more bearableXmas Smile

AuntieStella · 25/12/2020 07:33

I really hope a postie wouldn't think a £5 tip was insultingly low, because that was the only note I had when I saw him

I tip the binmen sometimes, but this was first time for postman.