Holiday Tipping 2011

What difference would that make?

I mean, it's not like they're going to give tippers better service, right?

RIGHT??

I think the estimate of $5,000 is low - there are over 400 units in the building...

that is so unfair to the people who tipped and are expecting extra favors. I wonder if they will give more tips just to ensure that they continue to receive preferential treatment by the staff?

"I think the estimate of $5,000 is low - there are over 400 units in the building... "

But half of them are rentals.

they probably empty it out periodically i'd imagine..or don't want to get busted on a tax issue if they haven't been reporting it

Oh, this is the time of the year again. Tipping!!!! Interesting to look at the old threads to see what was given two years ago.

Wow:

kylewest
about 23 months ago
Posts: 4395
Member since: Aug 2007
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To NYC SUPER: I am a believer in tipping. I enjoy doing it for the great staff in my building, my garage guys, etc. I advocate on this forum in favor of tipping generously. But I must say, if I ever caught whiff of an air of entitlement from the people whom I tip, or a suggestion that it were somehow required for me to tip or they would work less hard, then I would be offended. Your tone has that kind of ring of entitlement and is very off-putting. What makes you or your work so special? I too completely rearranged my plans for Irene. In any number of other disasters, including 9/11, I put my own plans completely aside to serve others because I had skills which were needed even though I wasn't getting any extra payment. Such is the nature of my job. I am not paid extra to field calls at night and on weekends (which I regularly do), to report to emergencies when needed, or to just offer some advice or comfort at times when I am not obliged to be at work. But I do not get tips. They are not offered and I cannot accept them. I am also not especially well compensated despite the rather serious substance of the work I do. So maybe you can lose the attitude and tone down the indignation a little and sound a little more grateful and less indignant and haughty. Be happy you are employed, have a relatively well-paying job, that you are appreciated and make a difference in people's lives, and that sometimes--unlike most of us--you will recieve a tip as an extra thank you for going above and beyond the typical job requirements (which is, frankly, what any good employee does regardless of tips which most of us do not receive).

wow:

hfscom1
Comment removed.

Hi C0C0! This year will you be a tip giver or tip receiver?

I'm tipping 2 to 4 people in my big full service building. That's all. $80-$100 each. These are people who did a little extra work for me personally in the last year. The card says exactly what they did that I am gifting them for. (I tried to pay a handyman for a little job and he declined to accept at the time.)

I learned my lesson about tipping while selling our Upper East Side co-op pied a terre. I tipped everything that moved, and since we were rarely there, I had to run around finding all the porters and night staff. I did this for years. The staff treated me super nicely, it's true, but When it came time to sell, the super treated me very badly over a tiny, tiny infraction of house rules.

It's a waste of money, it doesn't get you any better service. If they don't want to smile at me, I really don't care. If I need a special favor during the year, I'll offer to pay for it on the spot.

I moved into an apartment at the end of September and just received the employee Christmas card. I was shocked to find 16 names on the list for a building with 189 units. Besides the super, there are 3 handymen, 2 porters, 5 doormen, and 2 concierges, 1 painter, and 1 security person.

I don't know what to do about tips since the last place I was at had the same number of staff for 1,200 apartments. The managing agent sent out a letter each year with a guideline for lump sum tip based upon the size of the apartment; they distributed the monies according to a rubric for various types of jobs. For a 2 BR, $500 was recommended.

I don't like to be cheap, but I haven't even met half of these people and have been here only 3 months. I don't know what a normal Christmas tip is and whether I should divide it by 4 since I've been here for 1/4 of the year.

I did tip the super $100 and some of the staff that helped us $20 each when I moved in. Also, when I thanked a neighbor for holding the elevator for me she told me tipping her was not necessary. She indicated that all the staff had they're hands out for a tip for any little thing they did. I gather there are some grumblings about this in the building.

Send the employee Christmas card back with a nice box of homemade cookies.

>I don't like to be cheap, but I haven't even met half of these people and have been here only 3 months. I don't know what a normal Christmas tip is and whether I should divide it by 4 since I've been here for 1/4 of the year.

Will you be there for the next 12 months?

"Will you be there for the next 12 months?"

If she hasn't met them in 3 months she's not likely to meet them ever, so what difference would it make?

I still cannot understand the logic behind tipping people whom you don't know, whom you've never met, and who clearly have done nothing for *you* personally.

Have any of these "building employees" even bothered to introduce themselves to you?

fieldchester: I plan to be in my apartment for many years.

I just checked brickunderground's 2013 tip guide. The article says it is appropriate to pro-rate the tip if you've been there a short while -- only if you gave the staff tips for services when you moved in. They also said that a building with a large staff usually sees lower tips.

Brick Underground? What is their audience? Post college renters looking for 1-2 year accommodations?

You are being foolish if you pro rate. You should be tipping forward not backward. Tip how you want to be treated. Or don't bother, there's no point like NYCMatt.

"Tip how you want to be treated".

So these people need to be bribed just to do the jobs they're already paid to do?

Sounds like they need to be replaced.

I'm with NYCMatt.

I always tip at Starbucks and similar, I always tip at least 20% in a restaurant, I always tip cabs 20% plus an extra $10 minimum whenever they pick up me with my 2 dogs (a pit bull and Golden Retriever, not kidding), I tip at spas, parking garage, etc etc. All the low paid struggling service workers I tip.

But tipping unionized building staff, whose names you don't even know and/or who are just doing their regular jobs, nothing special whatsoever? I haul all my own packages and hail my own cabs, if I didn't, I might tip those employees at the holidays, but the others??

I think it's time to put an end to the annual holiday shakedown.

In any building the tippers run the gamut, from cheapskate to generous to "I want you to love me." The staff takes them all in stride.

What gets me is why people who don't want to follow the tipping norm go and live in full-service buildings. If they don't value that, why cough up the hundreds per month in extra maintenance and CCs to pay their base salaries? They should do what NYCMatt does: live in a building where there's only the super to worry about.

"What gets me is why people who don't want to follow the tipping norm go and live in full-service buildings."

That's like saying "What gets me is why people who don't want to be shaken down by the mob open up a business in New Jersey."

Coughing up the hundreds per month in extra maintenance and CCs is part of the deal. Getting shaken down by staff is not.

"Coughing up the hundreds per month in extra maintenance and CCs is part of the deal. Getting shaken down by staff is not." --NYCMatt

Exactly.

Also I played by the rules, followed the tipping norm, in fact since we only spent about 30 days a year in the apartment I surely exceeded the norm on a per diem basis, for quite a few years, and then when I really needed the tiniest bit of slack, I got rebuffed.

Specifically, the door men were prohibited by the super and AKAM management from announcing visitors who were potential buyers, so I, a shareholder, had to sit in the drafty lobby waiting for them. AKAM said door men were not allowed to participate in any way in the "commercial transaction" of my apartment sale.

Forgettahboutit. My wallet is closed.

The holidays aren't for bitter, aggrieved people anyway.

fieldchester: Thank you for your feedback on Brick Underground. I'm trying to figure out what is appropriate since I plan to live in my new place long term. I haven't lived in a place that didn't "pool" the tips in 10 years.

Before that, I lived in a place with only 8 on staff. I tipped the super $100, the doormen $75 each, and the porters/handymen $50 each. They all seemed very happy and sent me thank you cards, so I gathered the amounts were appropriate. HOWEVER, they would not take tips during the year.

I have reasons for wanting to live in a full service building. So I consider the Christmas tips to be part of the cost of living here. I just wish the managing agent would give some guidelines as to what are appropriate amounts.

Jelj, just tip who you want and forget about the stupid memo if you don't like it. Why would you tip the painter? Tip people you interact with that otherwise in life you might give a small tip to but in this context you provide through one lump sum at end of year. So tip who you like. And some you give more. And others maybe it is more a smaller token, but they will appreciate that too. If it is really causing you guilt/anxiety, then just do the pooling thing and write a nice card to those you like saying you gave some cash to pool but wanted to say a special thank you. Throw in an extra $20 if you want too.

jelj, take advice from a person who doesn't see the joy in ice skating.

I live in a fully serviced bldg. there are at least ten doormen; there are two entrances. We have the option of putting money in the holiday box or tipping individually. I find that if I put money in the box, the doormen give me funny looks. It's a shake down.

>It's a shake down.

Right, because if your boss didn't give you a year-end bonus, or NYCMatt's union didn't negotiate for triple and a half bonus overtime wages, you and NYCMatt wouldn't look askew at your bosses.

hfscomm1

C0C0, are you the tipper or the tipee?

hfscomm1

you are the tipee?

hfscomm1

ooohh, that's really not nice of the cows to tip you over

hfscomm1

sounds like it's hard on you

hfscomm1

hfscomm1

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101242090

It's illegal to tip sanitation workers in New York City. So much for that irrelevant article.

This is my first year living in a high-rise condo. I am a retired widow in a building that has 1 resident manager, 1 asst super, 4 handymen, 6 concierges, 4 doormen, and 9 porters. Sometimes the jobs overlap. If I agreed that $1000-1500 was the right total amount to tip, how do I divide that? I want to do the right thing, but find this so confusing. I wish we were given some guidelines other than a list of staff on a Christmas card. Any advice from others in full service large buildings?

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/37193-holiday-tipping-2013