Just when you thought you’d figured out how much to tip your wait staff and hair stylist, a new group of potential tippees is emerging.
Angie’s List, the nation’s premier provider of
consumer reviews on local service companies, is picking up on an expansion of the pool of service providers who are finding a little extra in their payment envelope.
“While more than 90 percent of the service providers we surveyed said they don’t expect tips, nearly half of them are getting tips anyway,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks, citing a recent survey of nearly 1,500 service providers across the country, about half of which represent the building trades.
In a separate poll, 16 percent of Angie’s List members said they routinely tip their building trades crews. Nearly all of the respondents say they routinely tip service industries, like wait staff, and for personalized services, like hair and nails.
“Most of the tips to building trades workers come in the form of cash or a nice gesture like providing lunch or drinks during the work day,” Hicks said. “One roofer told us his crew was given a whole wild salmon a happy homeowner had caught during an Alaska fishing trip.”
Not every service company welcomes the tipping trend, and Hicks advises homeowners to ask their company contact about gratuity policies before they assume a bonus is acceptable. Many companies have policies against tipping for tax purposes, she said. Others prefer to give employee bonuses themselves.
“One of our respondents said tips are nice but not necessary because the best tip is a good customer and great references,” Hicks said. “Another said he prefers no tips at all because great service is his business and the client shouldn't have to feel that a tip is necessary in order to get top quality service.”
1,642 respondents Angie’s List members responded to the poll. 1476 service professionals responded to the industry survey.
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