I’m feeling really happy. I’m all caught up holiday-wise. We had our annual “White Elephant” Christmas party last Thursday and it was so much fun. We have the photo cards being processed and we’ve completed our gift shopping. I just have a few people who I need to figure out what to do for:
Question #1: Should I tip them?
–Letter carriers/ Package Carriers: I get a lot of packages because of my Mom in the City work. I really like my UPS guy, so I’m definitely giving him a tip. The FedEx/DHL people constantly change, so I probably won’t get them anything. I keep going back and forth in regards to whether or not to give my mail lady a gift. Normally, I do give mail carriers a holiday gift. However, my mail person/local post office has been pretty bad this year. (Besides losing a couple of packages, my mail lady has left an “I’m sorry I missed you” notice in my mailbox when I’ve been home several times. She just didn’t take the time to call-up/check. One time, I happened to “catch her” getting ready to do that again. Her excuse: “She had a lot of mail that day.” I don’t want to be unsympathetic, but it has happened many times this year. It’s a pain having to make an extra trip to the post office to pick up things!) What do you think…tip or no tip?
–My superintendent and his assistant: Once again, I normally tip my super. However, my super hasn’t been so “super” this year. I don’t blame him for things that he can’t control (i.e. the heat/ bad air circulation, etc.) – that’s a building thing/why we’re moving in the summer. What do you do though when your super’s attitude isn’t great? His assistant is much more personable and helpful. I can’t tip the assistant without tipping the superintendent though…can I? Would you?
Question #2: If I do tip, how much should I tip?
This was the easy part. I turned to my top three hospitality type magazines that I like (Real Simple, Oprah & Martha Stewart).
The general consensus:
–Doorman, Superintendent, Building Staff: Tip from $20 to $200
–Letter Carrier, Package Courier: Postal carriers can accept gifts (no cash or checks) worth up to $20. FedEx allows workers to accept cash or gifts worth up to $75. UPS does not have a policy – their workers can accept cash or gifts.
If you have any tipping questions, you can also check out their articles:
–Real Simple’s Holiday Tipping: Who? How Much?
–Oprah’s Guide to Tipping
And
–Martha Stewart’s Holiday Tip Sheet
