Do you tip the cable/satelite people?

[MichelleCarmen]

We switched service today and my husband stayed home this morning to be here for the installation (an easy one b/c we have a post already cemented into our back yard) and yet the guy was here for TWO hours. He wouldn't leave. He just talking and talking. My husband says he thinks the guy was post-poning leaving b/c he wanted a tip.

I was able to vacuum my whole house & do two loads of laundry then the worker asked if we have kids pointing toward our Legos. No, my husband and I play with Legos. And, we just hang random photos of the same two kids at various stages of age all over our house...but, no kids. duh! Obviously, we do

Anyway, tip or not?

 

[katharath]

We do, but I might be a bit biased because we live in Vegas, so we tip almost EVERYONE. Really

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We do, but I might be a bit biased because we live in Vegas, so we tip almost EVERYONE. Really

Yay! Vegas is awesome. We just went for our fifth time a few months ago

It's kind of confusing b/c it seems like everyone wants a tip and I start to become overwhelmed with where to draw the line. Maybe it was also because the guy USED our bathroom, if you know what I mean. That grossed me out. lol! I better go scrub it down. hahaha

 

[amc80]

No way. Tipping is out of control. I tip waiters (and if it is takeout I usually add a dollar or two), bellboys, my hairdresser (which I am confused about because she rents her own spot within a salon so she's her own boss and sets her own prices), taxi drivers, and I think that is it. Oh, and the guy at the car wash on the rare occasions I get my car washed.

I don't know if this is company wide, but I know here, with DirecTV they get paid based on a per job basis. Certain jobs pay more than others. The more jobs they do in a day the more they make.

What's next? Am I supposed to tip a plumber I'm paying $100 an hour to fix a pipe? The guy who changes my oil?

 

[ericad]

Tipping makes me cranky. Just charge what you want to be paid and I'll pay it and be on my way, please and thank you. I've never felt that contractors, vendors, etc. like a cable installer expect a tip. Maybe that guy was just the chatty type, or he was trying to kill time because his company pays him based on how long each job takes and he was having a light day or something. I tip in the usual situations - hairdresser, nail lady, restaurant, etc. But I get mad about it every time. And in a situation that falls into a gray area, I usually abstain.

I also find that I'm totally dumb when it comes to tipping. For typical things I know the drill, but I can never figure out what I'm supposed to tip a bellhop, or skycab or taxi driver. I suck at that.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Tipping makes me cranky. Just charge what you want to be paid and I'll pay it and be on my way, please and thank you. I've never felt that contractors, vendors, etc. like a cable installer expect a tip. Maybe that guy was just the chatty type, or he was trying to kill time because his company pays him based on how long each job takes and he was having a light day or something. I tip in the usual situations - hairdresser, nail lady, restaurant, etc. But I get mad about it every time. And in a situation that falls into a gray area, I usually abstain.

I also find that I'm totally dumb when it comes to tipping. For typical things I know the drill, but I can never figure out what I'm supposed to tip a bellhop, or skycab or taxi driver. I suck at that.

Yeah, he might have been trying to stretch his time out, but he was wasting ours. He spent a great length of time telling my dh that a customer service rep would be calling to see how the service was and if we didn't give him a perfect on everything, he wouldn't get a good rating...My dh was gritting his teeth at the dude. Maybe we should complain that the guy talked too much?! lol

 

[ericad]

That actually does kind of sound like he was hinting for a tip, lol. Maybe he's just lonely?

 

[katharath]

That's great MC! It's a fun city. We've been here about 12-13 yrs now. We didn't start out planning to settle here for so long, but my husband got a great job here about 11 years ago so we're not planning on going anywhere for probably another 20 years, lol.

I also lived in New Orleans for two years (went to college there), and I have to admit that I truly loved that city. I still miss it! I got married there too, so many good memories...

As far as the tipping goes - whenever I have friends that visit me here they kind of look at me like I'm crazy for all the tipping they see me do. (Most of them are the opposite of me/my husband and don't even seem to think the bellhop deserves a tip!). But all of the tipping - it's just the way it is here. As far as "tipping the guy who changes my oil" - yes I've done that. Also the guy who fixed my tire, the guy who did our smog check, etc... Not everyone who lives in Vegas tips like this, but a lot of people do. I don't tip everyone, everytime - but if I get great and quick service, I'll tip for just about anything.

As far as tipping people that come into your home to provide a service, IMO it really depends on the situation, the service, how happy you are with it, etc. I don't really follow hard and fast rules but I do tip more than the usual person, I think, and I really didn't get this way until I moved to Vegas, lol. (And we're just "normal" people, not even close to rich, so it's not bc we're rolling in cash or anything, lol. It's just part of the culture here, IMO)

 

[TooPatient]

Nope.

Never have. We've had people out multiple times from Dish Network and Comcast and have never tipped. No one seemed to expect it. I did have one technician agree to help with extra stuff (above what he'd been sent for) because he was scheduled for a certain length of time and couldn't be early for his next appointment. Another sat in his van in our driveway for almost an hour because we were his last appointment and he wasn't allowed to go home early even if he had finished the work.
One technician was a woman and asked if she could please use the restroom -- they usually have to use gas stations

 

[kenny]

Hell No!

 

[lulu]

No. I'm not even particularly nice to them.

 

[missy]

No. I'm not even particularly nice to them.

LOL. I'm nice to them (usually but once when the comcast guy came late I was pissed...we were the first appointment!) but no I don't tip them. That's just not usual and customary in our area.

And I'm with Erica. All this tipping is putting me in a bad mood. Just pay people more. Goodness knows our cable bills are out of control. I am not adding tipping to the mix.

 

[JewelFreak]

Agree, Missy -- pay enough for cable; I'm not gonna tip too, especially when I HATE Time Warner's (non)-service. Never occurred to me & none of them seemed to expect it.

I tip the newspaper deliverer, my hairdresser, in restaurants & taxis, that's it. Those people depend on tips; others are paid by the job or salaries, same as I am.

--- Laurie

 

[momhappy]

My last cable guy was a no-show for is first scheduled appointment and then 2 1/2 hours late for his rescheduled appointment. Needless to say, no, I do not tip the cable guy. Never have and probably never will.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Thanks, everyone. Okay, glad it's not the normal procedure.

I've kind of had a couple too many of these clingy, needies lately (like my neighbor that I was complaining about), then a woman who is dating a friend of my husband who had asked to work with me but she did NOTHING all day then and she contacted me SEVEN times over a three day period and then had her boyfriend contact my DH to ask me why I hadn't returned her calls. That was after I handed her her pay and she demanded more while her face turned bright red. Then the Dish guy hovering. lol

The woman who worked for me said I have "one of those faces," and I have NO idea what that means, but she said that after I said I had two separate men walk up to my car the same week asking me for something (stamps, then the other was money - one even banged on my window). Both times I said no. I'm trying to figure out what she meant by that. ?

ETA - and I interviewed a possible employee but she started bossing me around on the phone and left me wondering WTH. I think I'm being too nice or something. I need classes on how to be more b&tchy.

 

[sonnyjane]

Hell No!

This! It's not like tipping a server who makes $2 an hour - "the cable guy" gets PAID a real wage to come out to your house. That's his job. It would be like tipping the mailman for every delivery!

 

[rainwood]

It would never even occur to me to tip the cable guy. As others have said, Comcast gets enough of my money already.

 

[JewelFreak]

Poor you, MC! She might have meant that you have a kind expression. Needy types glom onto people who look that way -- I can tell ya from experience. I'm not sure what I project, either, but something scammers & want-ers go for. An example: 2 yrs ago at a party I met a new neighbor who said later she decided right then that I was her best friend in the neighborhood. Turns out she's an evangelical Christian & ever since, I've been bombarded with invitations to church functions, ladies' prayer groups, and Care packages full of candles & Bible verses. I've told her it's just not my cup of tea, thank you, but I guess she still hopes. She really is sweet otherwise & means well so I can't be rude to her, just can't do it. Their house is on the market, so it's now a short-lived problem, but I have no idea what sort of vibes I give out. Happens frequently.

Sounds like you are not afraid to say no -- that's the main thing. Whatever people see in you, it appears to be a nice thing. Better than the alternative.

--- Laurie

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I have never felt the cable people wanted a tip. So, no.


The IRS is deciding whether or not it wants to stop "tips" for income tax purposes. Looks as if the IRS will be making restaurants pay people better--so that people are not forced to give tips for a service. They felt it is an outdated way of paying people. I agree.


Annette

 

[kathley]

Never!

 

[kenny]

The IRS is deciding whether or not it wants to stop "tips" for income tax purposes. Looks as if the IRS will be making restaurants pay people better--so that people are not forced to give tips for a service. They felt it is an outdated way of paying people. I agree.

Interesting.
I suspect many people will continue to tip.

 

[ForteKitty]

The guy who installed our dish actually turned away a tip. He was working outside/in the attic on an extremely hot day, and had issues with a few things that were beyond his control, so we felt he really deserved one. We then offered him some cupcakes, which he accepted. He did give the same speech about how they are rated on service, and that customer service reps will be contacting us. (which they did, and we gave him excellent ratings) Perhaps your dish guy was just concerned about getting bad ratings because their employment depends on it? I wouldn't give him a bad rating for being over-cautious or overly friendly.

 

[CJ2008]

It depends.

Normally any time anyone goes out of their way to go above and beyond what they're expected to do we consider it. These days that's not always saying much - so in my book if someone is pleasant, particularly detailed/thorough and / or does anything he didn't really "have to do" usually give them something. And yes, always the glass of water, or cookies, or coffee if they're pleasant.

I had the same experience with Cable people hanging around way too long where you can tell they're just killing time. This is just as unacceptable as me wasting their time with tons of conversation or in any other way. Worse, because they have the easy out of "I have to get to my next call." I would also feel funny about giving them a negative rating on this too, though - if I didn't in the moment cut them off (pleasantly) and tell them I had to go do x or x and thanks for their help.

 

[monarch64]

No, but we also haven't subscribed to a television service for 2 years. We bought a $17 antenna (looks like an ipad) that picks up 4 PBS channels. Never a shortage of excellent programming. If I need a trash t.v. fix, I watch Real Housewives on Hulu, and if my husband needs to watch a game he streams it online. We enjoy giving the cable industry the proverbial finger.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Poor you, MC! She might have meant that you have a kind expression. Needy types glom onto people who look that way -- I can tell ya from experience. I'm not sure what I project, either, but something scammers & want-ers go for. An example: 2 yrs ago at a party I met a new neighbor who said later she decided right then that I was her best friend in the neighborhood. Turns out she's an evangelical Christian & ever since, I've been bombarded with invitations to church functions, ladies' prayer groups, and Care packages full of candles & Bible verses. I've told her it's just not my cup of tea, thank you, but I guess she still hopes. She really is sweet otherwise & means well so I can't be rude to her, just can't do it. Their house is on the market, so it's now a short-lived problem, but I have no idea what sort of vibes I give out. Happens frequently.

Sounds like you are not afraid to say no -- that's the main thing. Whatever people see in you, it appears to be a nice thing. Better than the alternative.

--- Laurie

Ha - I'm not sure about the vibes I put out but had a similar one with a church gal (she kept hounding me to go to singles events at her church even though I was engaged...when DH and I married, she quit talking to me). Seriously though, I must send out strange vibes because I was in the dr. office today and a guy walked into the waiting room and told me I have nice toes! I was in middle of text messaging my DH so I stopped quickly and gave him a dirty look. Is there any unspoken rule that I have to keep being nice to weirdos? My toes! Yuck. What a freak. My mom raised me to be polite and to always say thanks, etc., but sheesh NO MORE!!! (she use to say yes to everything...I put my foot down last year after someone tried to get me to volunteer 10 after-school hours to an event my kids weren't even involved with and she wanted me to be her assistant. I said no and she came up and made a point to tell me the following week that she approved of me saying no. How nice of her!)

Anyway, my dh did offer the guy a bottle of water and the contact number the company has is my dh's and my DH wouldn't give him a bad review unless the guy did something that was inappropriate.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

No, but we also haven't subscribed to a television service for 2 years. We bought a $17 antenna (looks like an ipad) that picks up 4 PBS channels. Never a shortage of excellent programming. If I need a trash t.v. fix, I watch Real Housewives on Hulu, and if my husband needs to watch a game he streams it online. We enjoy giving the cable industry the proverbial finger.

This is how I feel, too. I'm fine with streaming shows and we usually have only one show going at a time...like Breaking Bad right now. Then, eventually the next Game of Thrones season. I'm also going to buy the second season of Homeland on Amazon Prime.

My dh wants the dish for football. It's his deal. I don't care either way...as long as he's fine with me ordering my entertainment things - books, etc, and he is

 

[MichelleCarmen]

The guy who installed our dish actually turned away a tip. He was working outside/in the attic on an extremely hot day, and had issues with a few things that were beyond his control, so we felt he really deserved one. We then offered him some cupcakes, which he accepted. He did give the same speech about how they are rated on service, and that customer service reps will be contacting us. (which they did, and we gave him excellent ratings) Perhaps your dish guy was just concerned about getting bad ratings because their employment depends on it? I wouldn't give him a bad rating for being over-cautious or overly friendly.

Yum, cupcakes.

That's good that he didn't take the tip...I guess there are good honest people in the world. Maybe they're not suppose to take them and he follows the rules.

 

[packrat]

We don't. We recently switched to Dish after 20 years w/DTV, and it took the guy 3+ hours to hook everything up, and we had nothing but problems after. Kept calling Dish and they were just like mehhh yeah not our problem. Finally they sent out a guy to look at it, an independent contractor, who was some sort of magician and got everything working and we've had no problems since--the guy who originally set it up, who was a Dish specific worker, messed it all up. He was super nice and gave us his number in case anything else happens.

but no, I tip at restaurants and when I get my hair/nails done.