How to tip the binman?

[HomeCookingWannabe]

Hi,
My first year living in a place with bins per house (previously was communal) so need to tip.

How do you do it, given they come round at 6am? Do you wake up early and hover around? I'm obviously not going to leave cash on my bin overnight so i'm stumped

I've never tipped my binman? Is this for Christmas? I leave a tin of biscuits in a carrier bag obviously placed for them to share between them.

OP, are you American?

@TheSillyGoose No, fully British, I thought everyone tipped? They certainly did where I grew up

I’d never heard of tipping bin men until joining Mumsnet.

@TheSillyGoose Also I know fairly senior at another council and he said they get about a grand each!

Oh, I've just done this today and last week.
I do it every year.
Box of chocolates, wrapped up and in a clear plastic bag, put on top of rubbish/recycling inside the bin, with a note taped to the top, saying, please check inside bin before emptying. I do it 1 week for rubbish, next week for recycling...I do realise it may be the same people, but they might be shift workers etc..so could ve different.
I put the bins out the night before.
Yes, there is a risk that passerspby could see note/ peer inside and pinch the sweets but so far, the note has been taken out of the plastic bag ( taped to top of the bin). I don't think an opportunist would bother to do that.
Caveat: we live in a LARGE village, main road, potential for crime, certainly, but possibly less risk that being on main road in big city.
HTH x

A grand, as a Christmas bonus?

@Oneearringlost mad isnt it, I would have thought couple of hundred but if you think they only need 100 houses to give a tenner each so it's not unreasonable

I have never tipped the binmen and nor would I want to. They are well paid for the job they do. Why not tip the council receptionist or the care home workers, if it's council employees?

Or the Amazon delivery drivers or post workers? All of whom change from week to week?

@MyrtleStrumpet Because I travel a lot with work so any help I can get with the house is a blessing. And if it costs me £100 to secure my bins being emptied even though I wasn't there on the day to put them curbside, it's money well spent. The same doesn't apply for those other trades you mention

Mine ring the doorbell every year. Sometimes give them a few bottles of wine so they have enough to share between the 3 of them, not every year. Had the same bin men every week for many years in London.

If my bin didn't get put out by me or DH it doesn't get collected. I think it's a massive cheek to expect additional money on top of a good salary.

@MyrtleStrumpet Yeah exactly, and you don't want an uncollected bin for weeks on end!

They used to call round to collect tips years ago but I heard they weren’t allowed to do that any more so I don’t tip at all.

50 years ago they did, when the binman went round the back of the house and carried the bin out on his back!

There will be around 4 or 5 men on the truck. Are you going to tip them all?!

Honestly it's not a thing any more and I think they'd be confused. Maybe a tub of Quality Street if you must!

Even more reason not to do it.

Bonkers

If your bin isn’t emptied, you call the council and they come and pick it up. If they keep ignoring your bin, you keep calling.

I usually leave £100 in £20 notes balanced inside the top of my wheelie bin. Hopefully they find it before they get emptied.

I'm amazed to learn that people tip the binmen. It has never occurred to me to do this (and the binmen still provide a brilliant service even without sweeteners).

I don't get the need for tipping at all. I just try to be a friendly and respectful service user and support any action workers ever need to take to ensure they are paid a living wage.

I'm the same OP. It wouldn't normally cross my mind but our guys go above and beyond and will drag the bins out if I'm away etc, as well as take overfilled bins!

I normally tape something to the bin telling them to knock, and make sure I'm up/have a gift & tip ready by the door.

@Pinkissmart you've misunderstood. The council-determined requirement is for households to put their bin by the curb ready for the binmen. The binmen are not responsible for walking all the way down my driveway to collect it. So if i'm not there to bring it to curb, technically it wouldn't get collected, and they are within their rights not to do so. If I can encourage them to collect from within my property then it's of significant benefit to me

I don't understand your point. My bin is in my back garden and I need to move it out if the garden, down the path and to the kerb. The binmen are not going to look for it in my garden if it's not put out. They are paid to take the bins from the kerb and load them on the wagon and press a button that tips the bin upside down. It's not difficult work.

As you spelled kerb as curb, I'm assuming you're American and different arrangements operate. In the UK they don't do a better job because they get a tip.

@MyrtleStrumpet i'm still not American, lol, just very tired. And yes they do collect it from my garden, sometimes

I’ve lived 26 years here, 17 years of those in a house and not once have the bin men knocked our door to request tips.

In my home country it used to be a custom to leave a packet of coffee for bin men. In fact coffee was also often brought as a hostess gift if visiting someone’s house. (When I say packet, it was always vacuum packed, never in tins like here).

So it's not exactly a tip. It's a bribe to get additional services that aren't part of their job. Good luck with that. I'm not sure that your neighbours or the binmen's employers will be too happy about a two-tier service.

Maybe you can save yourself some cash by taking your own bin out. Or try not tipping. I bet they'll still drag your bin out for you.