Tipping wood sellers for delivery?

well, long time ago i tipped the firewood guy very well... but that was because i would call him and he would bring me wood half price... so i figured it out one day he was actually overfilling his truck for deliveries.. 2 cord=3 so he would drop the 2 off and bring me one... i was feeling bad .. then one day we were drinking a beer and he told me his boss was a pain .. not paying him right etc.. he told me to go look at the operation.... WHOA 10s of thousands of cords tree length with a HUGE processor that went up 30 ft in the air... needless to say i figured it out he was prolly stealing that extra wood as much as it hurt had to cut it off .. didnt wanna be on the news as part of a firewood scam(lol) but sometimes i wish i hadnt as the guy charges 225-250 for wood plus delivery when everyone else is 150-175 for green no delivery charge... i ask for green... "they dont sell green" "all their wood has been cut and stacked log length for at least 1 yr! --- so we here know its really green!

I should note that I'm NOT a big fan of tipping.......

If it's quality wood at a really cheap price, and, the guy is pleasant to deal with, then yes, I'd give him a tip in the hopes that it would curry me favor in the future. When I used to buy wood, I would always tree the delivery person well i.e. I was ready for the load (car and trucks moved, etc), offered him/them refreshments, and, if I really liked him/them and the wood was good I'd send them home with a 12 pack and that seemed to work really well for me.

NP

firefighterjake said:

Extraordinary service above and beyond the normal and agreed upon business deal . . . deserves an extraordinary moment . . . a tip perhaps. However, normal transaction = no tip.

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when assholes expect a tip, i get pissed off.
a tip is for doing something above and beyond the expected level of service.
i run a loading dock 40 hours a week, and i have only once been tipped by a customer. ONCE! i load up their vehicles with anywhere from 500-2500# of product. by hand. no pallet jack, loose cartons weighing 30-47#
if they are older or have a health problem i always offer to load it for them,, instead of handing it off to them from the docks edge and they place it in their truck/pickup/van.

do i expect a tip? no way. im doing my job.
however when i did get a tip(50 bucks too!) i was ecstatic for a week.

It's not proper etiquette to tip the owner. It's the hired help working minimum wage that deserves the tip.

At the price my wood guy charges me, he's tipping himself.

I should back up and say there is one time that I always tip . . . waiters and waitresses . . . since they're working below minimum wage and the tipping is part of the package deal.

Other than wait staff, I don't tip very often . . . but then again I don't use services that require a lot of tipping. In fact the only other time I remember tipping folks involved guides -- white water rafting guides on the Kennebec, Penobscot and Dead Rivers . . . tour guides on a Carribean vacation a few years ago. Oh yeah, just remembered . . . I also tip hotel chambermaids.

firefighterjake said:

I also tip hotel chambermaids.

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One job I was working construction and staying in a camp. There, the chambermaids were making really good money, definately NOT minimum wage. Anyway, I hate having loose change in my pocket so I would always empty my pocket and toss the change into an ashtray. The chambermaid must have thought I was tipping her as she always emptied the ashtray. She was doing a good job cleaning my room so I dared not stop putting my change in the ashtray for fear I may not get as good service.

I used to save up all my loose change and give it to my two young sons whenever I went home for a visit. I had to go buy change so as not to disappoint them. I also didn't want to have to explain to the wife that I gave away all my change to the chambermaid.

go the extra mile,make my task easier,a gratuity will surely come your way,doing the bare minimum,expect the same....

No tip from me. If the guy does a good job and delivers quality I will use again, if not then say-la-vee.

I think tipping is out of control these days. I do not think you need to tip anyone for doing their job they get paid to do.

Some people work in jobs where they pay is tips and that is different.

Hurricane said:

...if not then say-la-vee...

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Funny how you Americans put your own slant on French sayings like this and "walla" (voilà). Whenever I see "walla" I think of the place Walla Walla, Washington.

"C'est La Vie" translates to "This is life". That kinda sounds like you accept it. Did you mean that or "good bye"?

p.s. Yes, I am the self-appointed language police. :coolcheese:

tipping the wood delivery guy?? Do you tip UPS? the postman? the propane delivery guy? They are being paid to DELIVER the wood, and aren't doing you a favor by delivering it! Drives me nuts the mentality that we have to leave a tip-had a waitress expect a tip at a serve yourself buffet-she didn't even have to get drinks! All she did was ask us if we wanted the buffet, said help yourself, and gave us our bill at the end. Then she had th audacity to ask: "Do you want your change, or is it the tip this evening" I started to say something in return but the boss (wife) splintered my shin w/ her high heel.

Sure, give a little something at Christmas as a GIFT, but not an expected tip.

LLigetfa said:

Hurricane said:

...if not then say-la-vee...

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Funny how you Americans put your own slant on French sayings like this and "walla" (voilà). Whenever I see "walla" I think of the place Walla Walla, Washington.

"C'est La Vie" translates to "This is life". That kinda sounds like you accept it. Did you mean that or "good bye"?

p.s. Yes, I am the self-appointed language police. :coolcheese:

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He was just givin ya the Jersey version :cheese:

If you are the language police you do not want to follow me. I speak all kinds of crap and write like I speak. You have a full time job trying to fix me

I meant good bye, and by no means accept bad product or service. The best way I can get back at a business it to never give them any of my money again.

Screw me once shame on you screw me twice and shame on me.

ilikewood said:

He was just givin ya the Jersey version :cheese:

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Phonetically would that be the "Joysey voysion"? ;-P

Such diversity is the spice of of life. :coolsmile:

ilikewood said:

LLigetfa said:

Hurricane said:

...if not then say-la-vee...

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Funny how you Americans put your own slant on French sayings like this and "walla" (voilà). Whenever I see "walla" I think of the place Walla Walla, Washington.

"C'est La Vie" translates to "This is life". That kinda sounds like you accept it. Did you mean that or "good bye"?

p.s. Yes, I am the self-appointed language police. :coolcheese:

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He was just givin ya the Jersey version :cheese:

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Hey now - why's it always got to be Jersey. You don't want to go there - cause Northern NJ is well represented here! We might just have to pull a soprano on ya!

LLigetfa said:

"C'est La Vie" translates to "This is life". :

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Technically, it's translated as "It's the life".

Usage would be more like "That's life", or "That's the way the cookie crumbles".

Just sayin'...

Stephen in SoKY said:

Traditionally the owner of a business is never tipped. To many (Most) it would be considered an insult. Employees of businesses are tipped when they provide excellent service.

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I agree with this and follow this rule. I also follow the rule that if I get charged for delivery than no tip. No delivery charge? Tip.

Heck (most of) the wood guy's around here that I have dealt with deserve a shovel upside the head more than a tip !

I've never bought firewood, so I know nothing about the proper protocols dealing with guys that sell and deliver it, but from the experiences in this forum Ive read it sounds like the best tip you could give them would be to tell them that "wood burns better if it's been split and seasoned for a couple years"...... How's that for a helpful TIP? ;-)

HehHeh . . . been enjoying the French and American translations . . . around here I would guess many folks know the correct spelling since Maine has a fairly large population of French speakers . . . particularly in Waterville, L-A (Lewiston and Auburn for non Mainers) and The County (i.e. Aroostook County).

I often use French phrases . . . correctly I might add . . . but not as much as my cousin's LA self-proclaimed "Frenchman" husband.

OK, enough for me. Au revoir . . . or as the Americans might say . . . say-la-vie or Oh-re-va.

Ja, I don't want to come off as a littérateur but many French translations need to be paraphrased to convey the meaning or intent and not be too literal. Since it is unlikely I will "see" you later I won't say au revoir but rather adieu!

this is about the only french I know: "I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

not sure what that translates to in English, but I'm pretty sure it's a compliment reserved for your in-laws during the holiday season.

I don't tip the fuel oil man or the propane man or the mail man and I don't tip the store for putting a roof over the merchandise I buy. The only real tip I get at work is "show up the next day or don't get paid". He is the business man incharge of his prices. My tip to him would be do a good job and sell a good product and I might buy from you again. Don't and I won't and I will tell others about the bad deal I got. I tip waitresses because the businesses they work for usually won't pay them what they are worth. I have sold and bought wood and my thought to him is "are your prices so low that you think to undercut everybody else and then expect me to tip you so your wood costs more than the competition?" Hey I have to "work for my money too!" How about I buy the other guys wood and give you a farewell? That's free! My tip would be "get caller ID and don't answer the phone if you know the people don't tip."

Just because somebody else wants to give their money away because somebody else said they should bothers me.

I delivered my first ever load of wood last week $50 for 1/3 cord. I helped the dude stack it... fiance of my co-worker. I even brought an extra pair of gloves for him. His fiance told me he has soft hands. LMAO. HE WAS BITCHING THE ENTIRE TIME ABOUT HIS SOFT HANDS. It was hilarious.

I got an extra $5 but it was entertaining.

I'll tip if someone does an outstanding job, but not just the job I was paying them to do.

I pay cash on the dash. He probably tips himself more when the wife doesn't know how much went in his pocket. A lot of guys around here don't let their wives know how much they take home. I pay my neighbor in beer cuz his wife will take the cash if I paid him in green.