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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you still 'tip' the postie, bin men, etc at Christmas?

239 replies

kitnkaboodle · 20/12/2016 23:16

I say 'still', because it is kind of an older generation thing to do. Having not done it before, I gave our postie a box of chocs last Christmas Eve as I work at home and have quite a lot of chats with him. My mum would leave whisky for the milkman, etc, and I think some people used to leave money in the dustbin lids for the bin men. Now wondering if I've started a new tradition and I should get him something this year too.

It's obviously not anything that anyone would get offended by, and no-one's going to say it's a bad idea. Just wondering how many people did it these days.

OP posts:
DillDongMerrilyOnHigh · 21/12/2016 00:16

Window cleaners - yes

Post-people & waste collectors - no, only because they regularly change.

Footinmouthasusual · 21/12/2016 00:18

Post people and waste collectors?

So postie and bin men then Wink

steff13 · 21/12/2016 00:18

I always give my mailman a giftcard to a local restaurant. I don't do anything for the trash men. They come every Monday, but they're here so early I never see them, and I'm not sure how I would even give them a gift. Leaving it with the trash seems weird and gross.

SenseiWoo · 21/12/2016 00:19

The bin men are wonderful, always get a tip. The regular postman did, but with his retirement there are different people all the time and I don't see much point in tipping.

The cleaner will get a tip and a small present.

I don't see it as recent-my parents and grandparents did it, as did theirs.

jeeperdoo · 21/12/2016 01:03

Chiming in here from the States. I tip everyone (although here we call it a holiday bonus): garbage guy, mail guy, newspaper guy, fuel guy, lawnmowing/snowplowing guy, the cleaners ... basically if you're at my house more than once a month, you get a holiday bonus. Fifty bucks a pop!

For the garbage guy and the fuel guy, I usually put the envelope in a plastic baggie and tape it to the rubbish barrel/propane tank. The newspaper guy actually tucks a little holiday letter into the paper sometime in December. It always has some oh-so-nonchalant reference to financial hardship and includes his full return address, lol. I'm always glad for it though, because there's no way I'm standing out there at six o'clock in the morning in the dead of winter just to catch him as he throws the paper out of the car.

I live in a small beach town in a relatively isolated area (in the off-season, anyhow) and I think it has something to do with seeing the same people on a regular weekly or bi-weekly basis month after month, year after year.

For me, it's just a way of showing a bit of extra appreciation to the folks who make my day-to-day life so much easier. I think if one has the means to do it, it's a lovely gesture.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 21/12/2016 01:12

We tip the postie a tenner in a Xmas card as she's great!

73kittycat73 · 21/12/2016 02:06

No to the postie, as like others, we get different ones. No milkman or cleaner here so no to those. We have tipped the bin men though. They are really good, will take overflowing bags even though they're not supposed to.

zad716 · 21/12/2016 08:11

In the past there would only be one crew of bin men who used to come up the driveway to get the bin and return it to the same place. They deserved a tip. Now I have three different crews who will ignore bins if they are not on or right next to the pavement.

I have had the same postie for many years though I admit I have never thought to tip him.

DollyPlastic · 21/12/2016 08:15

Yes, my mum always did too, and my grandma.

Usually a tenner, box of chocolates or beer, depending on who/what.

questioningitall · 21/12/2016 08:22

Postie is a regular and gets a big tin of chocolates, a Christmas card and a tenner.

PollyPerky · 21/12/2016 08:24

No never. I pay taxes and the price of mail has shot up so I don't feel any need to supplement their income. They're doing a job.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 21/12/2016 08:24

Yes we do. Postie, bin men, milkman.

Abetes · 21/12/2016 08:24

I used to tip the bin men but now they won't take the bags out of the dustbin and only take them if they are on the pavement. So, if you go on holiday, the rubbish stays there until you are home as you can't leave it out without the foxes ripping it open. So, no tip now as I'm doing most of the work!!!

JungleInTheRumble · 21/12/2016 08:28

I know my parents would always leave a card with some money in it for the postman and the milkman. They used to do the same for the binmen until they started having to put their bins on the pavement.

treaclesoda · 21/12/2016 08:31

There will be two moons in the sky before I ever leave a tip for the bin men. They are so rude, and so deliberately obstructive. And are apparently both blind and deaf, which is the only explanation for why they can't hear or see you when you approach them and politely ask if they wouldn't mind moving the lorry just a little bit as they are blocking the driveway and you need to leave for work. Angry

Joinourclub · 21/12/2016 08:32

No tips from me. I buy the support staff at work chocolates, but that's it.

HeadDreamer · 21/12/2016 08:33

I don't even know who delivers my post or collects my bin. I've seen the rubbish trucks and there are a team of them. Do people actually interact with these people? If I tip my postie, should I tip the random amazon delivery guy? I get way more from him than the royal mail postie.

IamWendy · 21/12/2016 08:34

I hate tipping. It's so cringy, and superior imo. I detest the way card machines at restaurants now have this whole 'do you want to leave a gratuity?' bollocks that you have to openly skip through just to pay!
I use my toilet more than the bin, but People don't tip the sewerage workers.

embo1 · 21/12/2016 08:41

No. They're doing their jobs. (Haven't met the binmen, no milkman and we have 3 or 4 different posties, I wouldn't recognise them out of context) I'm not their employer, if they've done a good job, their employer should give them a bonus.
We did however buy a box of chocolates for each of the staff in DS's room at nursery.

TheProblemOfSusan · 21/12/2016 08:52

Has just occurred to me yet I have no way to tio them anyway - anything discreetly left anywhere round here would just get nicked within minutes.

(In fact, if you live in a city and ever need to get rid of an old washing machine or similar, stick it outside with a sign on saying "£30 ono, please ask inside", and watch in amazement as your problem simply disappears into the back of a van.)

sayatidaknama · 21/12/2016 08:53

I live in a country where people don't traditionally tip but the firemen come round every year with their calendar which you "pay" for (no fixed price). People are happy to do this as 1.many are volunteers and 2. they will not rush if your house is on fire if you don't Grin

Purplebluebird · 21/12/2016 08:54

No, I don't tip. I'm not from England originally, and we certainly don't tip them in Scandinavia. I find it a bit strange tbh! :P Nice though, but a bit odd.

MontePulciana · 21/12/2016 08:54

What a great idea. Will leave milkman a pressie for tomorrow.

Frouby · 21/12/2016 08:55

I will be tipping our binmen. They are the beat we have ever had and take any extra bags we leave out even though they are not supposed to.

I definitely want to encourage this!

ScruffyTheJanitor · 21/12/2016 08:58

I don't have a milkman.
We never have the same postie.
Rarely the same Tesco delivery man.
Never met the bin men.

I don't disagree with tipping someone, I'd worry I'd be tipping someone for their hard work this year and to say thanks when in fact they've never been to us before, sounds crazy I guess.