$$$ Tips

[Vibe Ray]

How many of you guys recieve tips often after you finish a job?

[mowerman90]

Mostly just at Christmas time. Although I do have a few customers that wil tip for anything other than normal scheduled maintenance. I treat them like GODS!!!

[Nathan]

This is something I have been wondering about. Running my own operation I get some tips around christmas but not as many as I would have thought. When I was working for a larger outfit the owner used to send a letter with the december invoices stating that if the customer wanted to tip the crew for their property they could send a seperate check and it would be forwarded to the right crew men. This way they didn't have to remember or try to catch us when we were there. It was insane! We usually got almost $1000 total tip per employee.

Now that I am running the show I wanted to know if anyone sends a letter asking customers if they would like to tip that they could send it with the invoice. I didn't know if this seems too much like a solicitation, or just an easier way for them to tip?

[jay]

I get a tip from one of my customers each time I go out and get tips from some of my other customers when I do special work for them. A tip shouldn't be something you ask for its a way your customers tell you thier happy with thier work. If you feel they need to billed more than do that, but you shouldn't have to ask for a tip. If a waitress came to me and ask for a tip i would probaly give them less because it just seems rude.

[1MajorTom]

When we send out our Christmas cards the first of December, we find that we have the majority of people sending us back a card and some of them are including a check which is really nice.

Then we have one lady who every other cut she gives us a few dollars extra because she says she understands how expensive the gas prices have become. She's a nice elderly lady.

[Nathan]

When I asked about sending a note with the invoices it is not meant as a solicitation, even though it may seem like it. I just think that a lot of people might think about tipping but don't because it is so hard to catch us, especially around christmas. I haven't done this myself, and probably won't unless I hear that others have had success. My past boss had success with it, but I beleive it was because he was asking truly for convenience. Plus, all of the customers knew that he didn't do the work, so all of the tips were going to us, the employees.

[lawnboy82]

i have one guy who i worked for this past year who gave some nice tips. older guy, like 74? he and his wife own a house up here for weekends only. place is worth a good 20 million. this spring i was dumping yard refuse on the woods on his property. one day while doing spring clean-up (2 day job) he gave me a 100 dollar cash tip and offered to buy me a tow behind power thatcher for a tractor, they go for like 1,200 right? then i bought my trailer, i keep that there still, then before i went off to college he says to me matthew i would like to give you something for school, guy goes gets his checkbook and wrote a check to my name for 1,000 dollars. (gift for college expenses) then i got my regular paycheck the following week ($850) ? so that is nice... too bad i lost the place to the tree guy. :(

[Fantasy Lawns]

x-mas time from many long time resi & few commercial

[GreenQuest Lawn]

I have a nice older lady that gives me $2.00 every time i mow GOTTA LOVE IT!

[motor86]

I sometimes get a tip from people. Like said above, most say because of the high gas prices. Little do they know that total cost for me for gas and oil for a yard is about $.20 Oh well, they don't need to know!

Many will ask me to do something extra, like edge a 10 foot sidewalk for an extra $3.00. I do that. Some will give me an extra $5.00 for cutting down some brush next to their driveway. Some will give me a couple of dollars for coming and mowing their lawn and having it done in the next 2 hours so it is done before guests.

It is a good idea to turn down tips every once in a while. Then they think you are there for more than just their money.

[Acute Cut]

OK, time for me to get flamed i know. I am the ANTI tip guy. Every coffee shop here started the trend. They put out tip buckets and get like .85 cents or a doller from each customer. Coffee takes 3 minutes to make? You do the math for a busy day.

This "Wonderful" trend started to spread. Book stores started to have them. Ski lift tickt lines and cafateria ppl had buckets. Gas stations got buckets. Some grocery stores got buckets. Some places made so much in tips that they got BIGGER buckets. Corner mom and pop stores got buckets.

Now i have to pay almost 5$ for my coffee. It is so expected now that if you dont leave one then you are treated poorly next time or thought worse for not leaving one. I get a coffee made for 3 minutes and they deserve a tip? A restaraunt is fine. Continued service on demand for half hour to an hour. I am TIRED of forking over my money to 16 year olds in crappy jobs that think because they got my big mac for me that they deserve a dollar tip! (McDonalds does NOT have tip buckets thank god! Their astronimical price increases make up for that.)

In short, i ask my customers NOT to give me a tip. My moto is "Honest work for honest pay". I charge a fair price for the work i do. I do the best job i am able to do on every lawn. Sometimes i accept pops, cookies, or an occasional bread. I consider these ppl more my friends than customers. They get the same service though.

NO TIPS for me thank you. I charge what i am worth and dont ask for handouts from anybody. My hands are calloused from the work i do, not from the "Tips" i recieve.

If they wanna tip me that bad, i tell them they can help me. Tell thier boss's and friends about me. Tell them what a great guy i am and how nice of a job i do. Ask thier friends if they have any cute available daughters! (LOL)

Sorry for the rant, i am somewhat fanatical about this. I hope evereyone continues to enjoy their pre-spring jitters!

Acute Cut

[Jason Pallas]

I've got three good tip stories - all are true. We do a lot of pro sports stars and some nationally known celebrities. There's a very affluent part of our route where houses start at about $7-9 Million. This one pro football player (for the Detroit Lions) tipped each guy on our 4 man crew $200 for cutting his lawn on a Friday instead of a Thursday. His sister was getting married at the place and he wanted it to look freshly cut. He's a super nice guy (sorry - can't name him here - for privacy reasons).
Another time my brother was running one of my other crews. He struck up a conversation with one of our customers who happens to be a world famous heart surgeon ($$$$$). My brother was always really nice to the guy (he too is a great customer). Once my brother saw him at the local supermarket with a dead battery (in the parking lot). My brother jumped his car and made sure he got home (the doc was with his 2 grandchildren). Long story short - my brother mentioned he was saving for a car by working the job part-time during the summer. The doc GAVE him a 2 year old Acura Legend (leather seats, CD player - all the options!). The doc said it was his daughter's car and he was going to just trade it into the dealer to get her a new one - but he said he rather give it to my brother because he always like his attitude and appreciated his work ethic. When me brother sold the car 2 years later, he got $17,000 for it! He took the money and tried to give it back to the Doc - and thanked him for the car again. The Doc absolutely refused to accept the money and told me brother that it was a gift to begin with and that he should take the money from the proceeds of the car and use it at his discretion. My brother used it to help put a downpayment on his first home.
Later that year, I saw the Doc when I was subbing in for a crew chief that called in sick. We had a brief conversation and I mentioned that my brother had bought a house and was getting married (to another caridologist) in a few weeks. I jokingly told my brother he should send the good Doc an invite. He did. Although the Doc sent his regrets about not being able to attend - he did send a wedding gift - a check for $10,000!!! All in all my brother gained nearly $30,000 from this guy. This is no B.S, I swear this happened. It just goes to show you that sometimes a little kindness and caring goes a long way. Most of the time it's easy to believe that your efforts go largely un-noticed and unappreciated. But every once in a while.......
I'll save the last tip story for another post.

[motor86]

There are times when you can't refuse (like above). I get pop's or something from them if it is hot out, but I try not to take any more.

I have been working for this retired (young) doctor for 3 years. He has written one or two books on something medical. He always talks about what college I will be going to. If I am lucky, I can get a scholarship plus a little from this guy to cover my college expenses. That would be nice!

[Mowman]

I only have one customer that TIP'S me. I picked him up last year. I cut his lawn for $20.00. It takes me about 20-25 minutes. I always leave with $22-25 dollars. He says the lawn looks great, here is something extra. Wish all my customers were like him.
Mowman

[turfcat75]

hahahaha tips!
they give me enough grief about the prices let alone a tip!

[HOMER]

I have one lady that you would swear is a nut! She never tips with money and neither do any of the others (you dang right I would take it, my wallet ain't got no conscience)but she never fails to bring out a couple of cokes (pops) and a candy bar or Nutrigrain bar. She cusses like a sailor and talks loud but she is really a funny woman!

[Jason Pallas]

We also got one crazy old guy who calls about 4 times a year to get his lawn cut "on request" (likes to see his grass get real long and go to seed). Each time we cut it, we charge him $25 and he usually tips the 4 man crew about $125-150! I've talked to waitresses in the area and they say he tips that way when he eats out.
There's another customer whose neighbor tips us. Seems that the crews that used to to the account before us used to leave grass clippings on the neighbor's adjoining drive (wet grass, tire marks, etc.. the stuff that's sometimes hard to avoid). At any rate, the neighbor has two collector Corvettes in his garage and is a FREAK (anal retentive) about keeping his drive clean (he even has an Echo Backpack that I've seen him use to blow the drive and street on days we're not there). The neighbor tips us $40 a week to make sure that there's no grass on his drive after we cut the customer nect door! That's pretty good - considering the customer pays only $35 to get the lawn cut!

[lawman]

The only tips that I have gotten are around X-mas time. The rest of the year all I hear is "I got a tip for you that will make my yard look better" These come for the fouls who do not know what they are talking about.

[thelawnguy]

Whats the difference between my lawn customers and a canoe?





















A canoe tips.


(ha ha)

[double e]

Tips for employees

Any tip I recieve on a job I give it to my employees. Or buy them lunch with it that day. If it wasn't for their hard work I might not of got it. It also makes them feel appreciated, and they know the reward for hard work.

I have recieved large tips from landscaping- like $500 or so included in the check. I'll usally give my 2 employees 50 or 100 dollars for something like that.

[KindGardener]

Last week, one of our clients gave my guys bottled samples of their new "Inca Gold - Smoked aji chile salsa". they loved it!

double e - great point - about passingalong tips to the guys - a couple extra bucks means a LOT more in their pockets than mine.

[bob]

Usually around Christmas I get tips. One fellow gave me $150 last year. I have an occasional customer who usually gives me between $20- $40 in tips.