You’re sitting in a restaurant, have a great meal, waitress and food,….do you tip??…..of course you do…how much?? 15%?…18%?…maybe 20%??…..as for me, my mom was a waitress so if service was good, i tip 25%……so on to my rant……
WHY IF AFTER A CREW OF 3-4 MOVERS, LOADS YOUR LIFE INTO ONE OR TWO TRUCKS, TAKES A VERY SMALL LUNCH BY MOST STANDARDS, UNLOADS AND SETS UP ALL YOUR STUFF IN YOUR NEW PLACE TO EXACTLY HOW YOU WANT/NEED IT, CAN’T YOU SEE IT IN YOUR HEART MIND OR SOUL TO EVEN THOW THEM A MERE 20 OR 30 BUCKS EACH…
IF YOU DO THE MATH ON A 8 HR MOVE ( FIGURING ABOUT $150 PER HOUR FOR ALL 4 GUYS), THATS ONLY AN 8-10% TIP, AND WE SPENT ALL DAY LUGGING YOUR HEAVY ITEMS, BOXES AND SUCH AROUND!!!! COME ON PEOPLE, I’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND YA KNOW WHO TIPS THE BEST??….PEOPLE WHO EARNED THEIR MONEY OR ATLEAST REMEMBER WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WORK!!!!…….THINK ABOUT THIS HARD THE NEXT TIME YOU GO OUT TO EAT!!
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$37/hour per guy isn’t enough money?
Waitresses get what, $4/hour? They live on tips. Your job is already paying you a living wage.
john on November 3rd, 2008 at 8:54 pm | Link
john, I work with the complainer above, and what you don’t realize is that you are one of those people who conveniently ‘forget’ to tip, don’t know to tip, or are just an asshole and flat out don’t give a tip.
I say that, not to be an asshole myself, but simply as a point to show how oblivious people can be. Don’t think for a second that we are getting anywhere NEAR $37/h per guy. We are not independant contractors, we work an hourly wage for someone else, so the owner charges, say, $150/h for a 3 man crew, but we only see (as an example) $10-12/h.
This is why we complain about non-tippers as we clock out at 9pm or later sometimes. Again, taking pride in being (I’d say) one of, if not the safest and most efficient moving companies in our area, it should go without saying that we bust our ass for what little we make to be as sure as humanly possible that your stuff arrives in one piece and ends up where you want it. It may not sound that complex, but when it’s YOUR stuff, every little thing matters. Every little trick we’ve learned over the years finds itself useful at some point in time, and while the customer may not notice, it’s experience, and it’s part of the subtle complexity of the job that makes it a true profession, not just a summer job.
On another relevant note, we see close to 100 people fly through the revolving door that is the moving industry. Why? Simple: it takes a lot more than an average Joe Retard to do this job. We’ve had weight lifters that didn’t last a week, and here I am, no more than 155lb wet, moving 200lb entertainment systems, safe’s, piano’s. I’ve been doing this for years as well. Filling our trucks twice with your massive canvas’ paintings, putting a standup piano upstairs using nothing more than brute strength and a pad to save your floor from pretty scratches deserves a tip, wouldn’t you say? How about a 5 day move? How about simply sweating our balls off in the WINTER, as we move over glare ice, move in snow storms, rain storms, hot, cold? There are very few days we DON’T move, very few considerations in the weather that we adhere to, and most of those off days are holiday’s and Sundays. We’re on call 6 days a week.
The point is: It’s not like we work for a furniture delivery store, alright? And I think that’s what most people equate our work to. There is a difference between tipping a McDonald’s employee and a waitress. The difference is the same when speaking of moving companies vs. furniture delivery stores.
A little consideration is all that I’m asking for.
Sometimes a handshake and a thank you is more like a slap in the face…
AlsoAmover on November 4th, 2008 at 8:46 pm | Link
john, you’d have to work as a mover or someone who does earn every penny they make from their paycheck to understand why you would tip the movers. enough said
Big Poppa Pump on November 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm | Link
I think the issue with this situation is mostly lack of information. Let’s start off with facing the fact that most customers who use a moving company are at least comfortable (financially speaking). Add to that the fact that most people who are financially comfortable are in that position because they’re very careful with their money, regardless of whether they built their “empire” or simply inherited it. The fact is, if they were pissing it away, they’d have too many bills in comparison with their income/holdings, and they wouldn’t have the disposable income to spend on movers.
Now, with that said, I think what happens is simply that those people see what it costs to hire movers, divide that by how many people are working the job, maybe even cut it in half, and feel like they’ve made a fair assessment of what you’re each getting per hour. They probably assume that even if your employer takes half, you’re still getting nearly $20/hour. I’m trusting that the earlier-mentioned $10-12/hour is more accurate, which means that they’re estimating incorrectly. They simply don’t know that you’re making only enough to get by.
That said, it’s good for you to come on here and educate people. Now, if I ever actually have the financial comfortability to hire movers, I will know to tip.
Until then, I’ll break my back and my mind figuring out how to get my things from here to there just as you guys do. And by the way, I always tip at least 20% for good service, even if I can’t afford it.
Sub1ime14 on December 12th, 2008 at 10:28 am | Link
well, it’s me again, the original complainer, and i’m back with another semi gripe session….first i’d like to say thank you to sub1ime14 for your honest comments……now onto my gripe…lol….
aside from the tip issue i must mention other issues the get to me and many of my fellow movers all across the industry.
we, or most of us have been doing this job/career for many years and while we have not seen nor experienced everything or situation with every piece of furniture, we do have the knowledge( more than a monkey) to do this job.
also we do not make it a habit of disregarding your wishes on how things are done,however you must understand that if we’ve tried to get your sofa or item thru a door way or into a room for 20 plus minutes and in every possible position, then that is it, it will not go!!!!
please do not take it out on the movers because it will not fit, we did not build the house or the furniture!!! and regardless of how many times you thought you measured it, angles must be accounted for as well as furntiure size. now at my company we have whats called an exclusion form. if you want us to shove the couch thru the door because its a 1/2 inch from going, we have you sign that it could damage the couch/door. please do not get pissy with us if you sign said form and something gets damaged, we followed your wishes.
now onto floors…..omg….i pride myself in taking care of a persons belongings as we as their old or new house….i have no problem laying down pads from my truck to protect your floors, along paths i will be walking, however please do not ask me to pad your staircase, it will not happen because it is VERY DANGEROUS.
and while these pads do alot of good, if it is winter time or any other day other than sun and dry, please understand they only do so much.
they will get wet and dirty but your floor is protected the best it can be.
also we do look at your walls, floors, and furntiure for damage before we start, however if we move your things and WE do no damage and something like a floor, wall or furniture had previous damage, please do not try to blaim us for it, be honest as we are.
we are also not miracle workers…..if you call and book a job tell us EVERYTHING you have, especially items like a 600 lb gun safe or piano because we have to send enough people to move it safely and with out damge to the item, house or US!!!
i am quite sure i’ll have more to talk about here as i’ve been doing this for 11+ years but for now i think i’m done.
thank you
yep me again!! on December 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am | Link
ok one more floor comment and example of recent move complaint……if your golden retriever is carrying around a bone the size of a t-rex rear leg bone and dropping and dragging it on the part of the floor we haven’t even walked on, the give me a break!!!!
yep, me again2 on December 28th, 2008 at 8:02 am | Link