Do you give your post/bin/milk/delivery man a Christmas gift?

[Newdad19]

If so, what do you give them?

we give the money on Boxing Day or near to that as is feasible - postman,milkman and window cleaner...the local council forbids people giving to bin men which seems a bit harsh

I would feel weird giving cash but our binmen are as helpful as they can be so will be a tin of sweets or selection boxes for them (I've put frozen bottled water out for them on hot days in the past as well). Our Hermes lady and postie are both brilliant so they will get some chocs or similar again- I normally get postie some sweets for him to keep in his van as he's not a foot delivery route. Just yesterday he stopped for a natter when he saw us elsewhere in the village, I've probably had more conversations with him than some 'friends' over the last year or so so it doesn't feel weird to give him a little gift.

And we don't routinely tip takeaway delivery drivers but we saw the same guy regularly last year so he got a card with a tenner in it. Haven't seen him this year unfortunately!

Nope because we don't have a milkman, post we're on a small run & it is picked up by whoever's unlucky enough to be first back at the depot, so have several that come, bin men I'd love to leave a tip but it would be in the form of a nite about their volume & topics of conversation at 5am...

My Hairdresser I used to take a gift bag with wine/dog treat (her dogs are her kids) and whatever other Christmassy bits I thought she'd like, but haven't seen her since FEB20, she's someone I genuinely miss. Might drop off a pressie this year.

@AutumnAlmanack

We've had a really good postman all year, and I would have given him a tip, but he seems to have suddenly disappeared and now random people deliver! I won't bother with the bin men as they come so early (5.30 am) and make such a lot of noise, laughing and shouting to each other, then chuck the food bin anywhere on the pavement.

I will tip the milkman £10 - always reliable.
My hairdresser £15.
Cleaners - probably a box of chocolates or biscuits between them (3 in same family)
Beautician - £10 and a bottle of something
Gardener - Couple of bottles of good wine

Tried to give the window cleaner a tip last year - he is fantastically reliable - but he wouldn't take it!!

Why do your cleaners get a box of chocolates between three of them and everyone else gets good stuff? That's hilarious!

No, because I don't live in 1953.

I give my hairdresser £50 though.

For those of you who tip your paperboy/girl can I say thank you?! My eldest delivered papers for 2 years before he got a part time job and my youngest is currently a paper delivery boy - he gets up every day, no paid holiday of course! He delivers in all weathers and rarely moans!
A welcome tip at Christmas really makes him smile and he’s very grateful!

We usually give biscuits or chocs... mostly because we aren’t always around so don’t wanna leave money on top of the bins etc. My mum just puts the stuff in a bag on top of the bin.

Postman gets nothing, because he is a gossipy bastard who can't wait to tell you that so-and-so at number whatever still has her curtains closed at 10am.

Binmen get a tenner because they're good. On the rare occasion I forget to put my bin out they take it anyway and I appreciate that.

Our lovely postman gets £20 on his Christmas card - usually see him Christmas week and hand it over

Well if nothing else has been learned from this thread.... it's that there is varying levels of bin, postal and Hermnes service up and down the country!

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Our Hermes driver is great. He doesn’t drink, do we (I) give him chocolates (he mentions that’s his weakness once). Our lovely postman has retired. The woman who has replaced him does the job, but isn’t friendly. I tend to re-gift wine to others (the window cleaner comes to mind) as neither DH or I drink. I take a big tub of chocolates to the hairdressers for all the staff. I don’t tip our dog groomer. We have 2 Poodles. They are in their every 3 weeks (full cut, alternated with a bath and Tidy) and it costs a fortune. I figure the money I pay is enough.

I gave the Hermes Lady a tub of chocolates today altho i will prob see her atleast 3 or 4 more times before Christmas

The gardener we gave an extra £20 in his last pay before he broke up for the winter, we pay him by bank transfer, so that was easy

The window cleaner we will give £20 on top of wages, the last time we see him which will be roughly, a week before Christmas

The same as the postman, we will give £20 when he knocks on the door to deliver a parcel , sometime from mid December onwards

The cleaner will get a voucher, wine and chocolates and chocolates for her children the last day shes here before Christmas

Our postman gets a tenner handed to him and he updates me about his children. He is a great guy.

So many typos in that post, including their instead of there. I do wish there was an opportunity to edit.

@Welcometothejingles

Nothing but mainly because I have different people every few weeks. Maybe it's a bit different in London but I've never seen the same person for long.

This. The bin men come at 6am, I’m not setting an alarm and sprinting downstairs in my nightie to give them a box of chocolates.

I have no idea who my postman, Hermes delivery person etc are - it is a different person each time. And the Hermes person is shit, parcels dumped on the pavement when we are out (main road, they last two minutes before being nicked), or thrown into next-door’s flooded basement.

Milk man, postie, window cleaner and bin men all get £20 and our Hermes driver is so kind so I buy him a gift as I have got to know him with the gazillion things he has delivered to us.

Tipping my mum's 2 carers and her cleaner with cash and chocolate and or wine as without them, life would be intolerable. They are doing jobs I never could and deeply appreciate them. They are keeping mum out of a home and whilst she can't thank them, I can.

Who are all you people who know your postman? Even when I was working from home the letters just got put through the door. It's not like I stood in the threshold chatting about Mrs goggins with the guy.

I was considering a card for our Hermes delivery driver, he’s really friendly and always very polite. We never see the milkman but considering a card for him, but don’t know their names. Do you just address the cards ‘To milkman’? Do you say ‘from number x’ instead of your name?

To those who do, how do you do it?

Bin men - £20 to share. Usually involves me legging it down the street after them on the last collection before Christmas.

Postman - £5. Similar.

Milkman -£5 left inside a card inside the bottle carrier.

WE give our postman one since Covid. He really entertained our kids during lockdown

Blimey. The bin men wont be able to move after all these chocolates!

@GreenLunchBox - you're right - it had better be a box of chocolates/biscuits each!!

Nope dont give anything, our postman/ lady changes every few months so not consistent. Bin crew have been known to chop and change so wouldn’t have a clue who they are. Don’t have a milkman or window cleaner (binnned him off cause he was shit!)

But If I had a more personalised service ie Gardner or cleaner ie people I actually knew, then I’d consider it.
But not for anything like courier services etc I don’t know any of them from Adam!