What is a Good Tip (Gratuity) For Your Letter Carrier?
- Thread starter Beezer
- Start date
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Cash, check, or silver coin?
Naturally
Well-known Member
- Location
- Corner of Walk 'n Don't Walk
How very kind and thoughtful. You're better than I am. I've never tipped a letter carrier.
Try and give it personally, maybe enclosed in a card. We have fill in carriers for a few days from time to time.
Try and give it personally, maybe enclosed in a card. We have fill in carriers for a few days from time to time.
Beezer
Well-known Member
We'll exchange an envelope on a foggy bridge.
Nathan
SF VIP
- Location
- High Desert- Calif.
We never see a letter carrier, they are a mile away near the highway, where our cluster boxes are. We are lucky if the letter carrier can get the mail in the right box for a couple months in a row.
I tip our carrier, but only in a gift card of $20. It cannot be any more that that. They are not permitted to accept cash. They can also have goodies, like candy, cookies, etc. They work for the Federal Government.
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My husband was a mail carrier on a rural route. His customers loved him and there was so much stuff. He would get homemade goodies, christmas ornaments related to mail, gift cards for Starbucks and other fast food places. He was just stunned that first year because he did not expect anything. He was so mean, he would layout those candies and cookies, tell me and our son we could not have any. Of course, he did share!
palides2021
Well-known Member
- Location
- MidAtlantic, USA
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
For years I've had the same 2 postmen.Polar opposite of each other, but my mail is always delivered correctly..
Every Christmas I give them cards each with £10 in it.. ( my friend who is a postman told me they get an average of £1000 in tips during Christmas week)
This year they had a falling out, and one of them was moved to another route.. .. and now I rarely see the other one, who seems to just deliver packages and not Mail.. Instead we have 2 new young women.. very young.. who keep putting other people's mail into my letterbox...so for the first time in many years there will be no Christmas tip
Every Christmas I give them cards each with £10 in it.. ( my friend who is a postman told me they get an average of £1000 in tips during Christmas week)
This year they had a falling out, and one of them was moved to another route.. .. and now I rarely see the other one, who seems to just deliver packages and not Mail.. Instead we have 2 new young women.. very young.. who keep putting other people's mail into my letterbox...so for the first time in many years there will be no Christmas tip
Jules
SF VIP
Yikes.
No tip for the new letter carriers is sensible. It’s for good and friendly service.
CallMeKate
Well-known Member
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic US
I haven't tipped the mail carriers for a few reasons... first is that we have a number of them and I never know which one is going to be delivering at any given time. I mentioned here a few weeks ago that I had to personally track down a mis-delivered package, so some of the carriers constantly put mail and boxes at the wrong place.
But secondly, they're not allowed by law to accept cash... and gifts only $20 or under. Per USPS:
"All postal employees, including carriers, must comply with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Under these federal regulations, carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period."
But secondly, they're not allowed by law to accept cash... and gifts only $20 or under. Per USPS:
"All postal employees, including carriers, must comply with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Under these federal regulations, carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period."
After our regular mailman retired, our letter carriers change quite often so I don't know them any more and I wouldn't know who got the tip. The new guys try hard I guess, but they don't hold a candle to our retired mailman. We never got the wrong mail from him.
Pretty high
If they had 300 stops (in town), that's $9000 if everyone gave $30
We've got excellent service here in town
Our mail gal is getting cookies (again)
MountainRa
Senior Member
- Location
- Upstate SC, USA
Our experience with the USPS in the last two years is that it has deteriorated greatly. Never the same carrier, mail delivered to some other neighbor. We used to get mail delivered by early afternoon; now it’s after dark.
We are signed up for the email notification from the post office of what mail will be in that day’s delivery so we can see what should be in the box. Several times we’ve never received those items. When I went to the post office to report missing mail I just got the run around from the supervisor. He said just give it a couple more weeks. I’ve yet to see that mail. My neighbor had the same problem.
it feels like to me just another indication of the deterioration of the infrastructure of the United States along with our roads and bridges. And aging public water systems.
We are signed up for the email notification from the post office of what mail will be in that day’s delivery so we can see what should be in the box. Several times we’ve never received those items. When I went to the post office to report missing mail I just got the run around from the supervisor. He said just give it a couple more weeks. I’ve yet to see that mail. My neighbor had the same problem.
it feels like to me just another indication of the deterioration of the infrastructure of the United States along with our roads and bridges. And aging public water systems.
fuzzybuddy
SF VIP
- Location
- The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I'm not coming off good in here, lately. First, I won't give to charities, and now I won't give to postmen. I may be a Scrooge, but it's his job to deliver the mail. Nor do I run out and stuff cash into the pockets of the guy snow plowing the roads. I don't tip supermarket cashiers, either.
I don't like tipping. I don't think anyone should have to beg to earn a decent living.
I may be a Scrooge, but it's his job to deliver the mail. Nor do I run out and stuff cash into the pockets of the guy snow plowing the roads. I don't tip supermarket cashiers, either.I don't like tipping. I don't think anyone should have to beg to earn a decent living.