non-holiday tipping for Super

I would tip handymen who are doing something in a condo that you could be doing yourself, or for which you might have to hire someone.

As for the super... no sorry I am against tipping the overpaid, free-rent supers.

no, that's his job.

your maintenance pays for his salary, family's benefits, pension, and housing..

..if he happens to renovate your bathroom while unclogging your toilet, by all means..

but tip him to do his job, when you do so every month by way of maintenance payment? nahh

My understanding is that as a condo-owner you (I am in the same boat) are responsible for everything within the 4 walls of your apartment. The building handy-man is responsible for the common areas and and things up to your walls. Thus, if you tub gets clogged or the faucet leaks, the owner is 100% responsible for repairing it. As a courtesy (with a tip expected), a handy-man will make minor repairs for you. If you don't compensate him each time, he is a lot less likely to help you in the future. Basically, he saves you the trouble of having to call in somebody from the outside. These type of repairs are not included in your common charges.

I would love to have somebody tell me I am wrong and that my common charges are meant to pay for the handy-man to make minor repairs within my apartment, but that is not the way I understand things.

downtown1234 - I agree with you. Considering what plumbers/electricians, etc. charge these days, tippimg the handyman for fixing things that would require calling in one of the aforementioned is definitely cheaper.

Doing things that the building is responsible for, like cleaning A/C filters in prep for summer, or where something the building has had done which caused problems in your apartment IMHO doesn't call for a tip. (For example, every time the building shuts off the water for some repair they're doing, my faucets get clogged from tank sediment. I call the handyman to clean them out and generally do not tip for this).

In most condos, unlike in rentals, it isn't the super's job to fix a clogged tub or leaky faucet. He's not even supposed to be doing that (it's technically moonlighting during working hours), but when he does, you're supposed to tip him.

"no, that's his job."

As anti-tipping as I am, I have to disagree on this one.

As the owner of a condo or co-op, it is not the super's responsibility to fix anything inside your apartment that's not the express responsibility of the building (windows, smoke alarms, etc.).

Not only should you tip him, you should pay him the prevailing rate of what you'd pay any other plumber/electrician/handyman.

We tipped the co-op super as soon as we met him, two weeks before we even moved our furniture in. A couple of weeks later, when we needed him for something, he was right there for us. When I tried to tip him, he shooed it away, saying "you've already been more than generous."

I'll happily tip him again at holiday time, and his staff as well. I don't see anything wrong with this, I consider it a win-win.

If you want to be stingy with somebody, it's best to do it with somebody you'll never see again.

"I'll happily tip him again at holiday time, and his staff as well. I don't see anything wrong with this, I consider it a win-win."

But on the broader scale, it's a lose-lose.

Not everyone in the building can afford to slip the super $50s every time they turn around. And this tipping encourages building staff at best to provide preferential treatment to big tippers, and at worst downright bad service to those who can't afford to tip.

"And this tipping encourages building staff at best to provide preferential treatment to big tippers, and at worst downright bad service to those who can't afford to tip."

for someone with distinct conservative tendencies, you can be such a communist sometimes.

The return on the investment is so worth it. When you need them, they're there. Wait and see what happens when you need them and you haven't tippped them.....

just what everyone needs. building staff and management companies that will only respond if you give them money. bravo.

"just what everyone needs. building staff and management companies that will only respond if you give them money. bravo."

..seriously what kind of dumps do some of you live in...

...mgmt state its our super's jobs to come in and fix unclogged toilets, etc INSIDE our apartments as OWNERS..

does everyone in this thread live north of 125th where this kind of service isn't standard anymore?

>Not everyone in the building can afford to slip the super $50s every time they turn around. And this tipping encourages building staff at best to provide preferential treatment to big tippers, and at worst downright bad service to those who can't afford to tip.

Yeah, but those of us who can aren't worried about if people who can't pay get bad service. Those who can't pay could have easily joined a union and gotten their body clocks messed up for triple overtime and a half in addition to the regular overtime. But they chose to have their normal body clock. So next time they can ask themselves, messed up body clock, or messed up toilet.

"Not everyone in the building can afford to slip the super $50s every time they turn around. And this tipping encourages building staff at best to provide preferential treatment to big tippers, and at worst downright bad service to those who can't afford to tip."

Sorry, Matt, not my right to dictate how others choose to spend their money, and certainly not yours either. Regarding the co-op, as long as everyone pays their maintenance, it's their choice whether they tip the super or buy a garage to house their Mazarati.

Our super charges us for these kind of repairs. He literally prepares a bill. As far as I am concerned I am paying him for a service and I thus dont need to tip him in addition. He always performs the repairs during normal working hours so I must say I do think that I am already paying him to be there and he is in essence being paid twice

The building staff is employed by the building as a whole. Any private work done for our residents must be done on that staff members own time and not the buildings. What does that mean? that particular staff member can only do this private side job, before or after his/her shift or during their lunch period. This is the policy that my current board put in place, also in my past positions' this was also the policy. We are here to provide service and to be proactive and vigilant of all building matters. As in any building there are those residents who feel self entitled to everything and everything and we do try to accommodate them within reason? what might that be? everyone has their own opinion. I as a resident manager do not accept tips from my residents. Believe me many of have tried to tip me for assisting them one way or another and yes there are those who wont take no for an answer. The gesture of a resident offering me a tip has more value then the dollar amount. That person recognized that we have gone above and beyond our duties and they are showing us their appreciation.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I guess it shows what a novice I am that I hadn't even thought that I'd be charged for the cost of repairing regular maintanence type issues.

My Super sent me an invoice for fixing something in my apartment and I was a bit surprised until I checked back at this thread.

How wonderful it was that this was all included in my previous rentals :)- I can imagine this will really add up!!

oh another question- where are things like this mentioned?

I would think you'd list things like this in a resident's manual or something so everyone is on the same page.

Should I ask my Super??

Any time we are asked to go into a residents apartment regarding private work, my guys always come to a agreement of cost before the job is even started or they just tell the resident what ever you think is fair. As a rule of thumb if my guys are in a resident apartment for a few minutes helping them change a light switch, replace toilet seat, replace light bulbs, move some furniture around. I advise my men to not charge any money, if they wanna tip that's up to them. But they are not to charge for these kind of services.

my super has agreed to install 2 Elfa systems for us - one large into drywall and one small into brick. What is a fair amount to offer him?

Its hard to say, what you need to take into consideration is how long did it take him? did he clean up (remove all throw aways), did he do this on his time or during regular work hours and most importantly did he do a good job? if so these are things to take into consideration. As you can see there are variables that you need to evaluate. If he did this on his time I would think 20-25 an hour would be fair, and extra if you think he deserves it. Some people might not agree with that. But think of it like this! #1 if you hired outside help we all know it would have cost much more, #2 if you are happy you may want him again to do some private work for you work down the road, #3 you know where to find him if things dont hold up and #4 you did not have to worry about doing it yourself or having a friend help you who might have made a simple process, difficult. Remember I do not do private work for my residents, sure I would love the $ but I do not want to own it!