To tip or not to tip painters, plumbers and other home-service providers?

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Social-Progressive

http://www.omaha.com/article/20140426/MONEY/140429177/1685#to-tip-or-not-to-tip-painters-plumbers-and-other-home-service-providers

By Paige Yowell

It's home improvement season, so more of us are likely to be hiring help. But have you ever wondered whether you should tip the repairman, painter or plumber who does an exceptionally good job?

A recent survey by a Nashville, Tenn.-based startup, Your Green Pal, an online tool that connects homeowners with lawn care service providers, shows that tipping home service providers is not the norm in the largest metro areas.

Your Green Pal co-founder Bryan Clayton said the survey was conducted using Google searches, Craigslist and Angie's List in the top 15 metro areas. Employees surveyed 1,000 different businesses in 10 different categories, from painters to landscape artists, and asked them, “Do your customers ever tip you?” and asked for the smallest tip, largest tip and average tip each business had received.

Clayton said the survey focused on smaller businesses to get the most accurate feedback. “We wanted to make sure we were (talking to) the guy who was going to show up” on the job, he said.

FULL story at link.

[Nite Owl]

1. I've never tipped a painter or plumber

but the moving guys get a tip as well as delivery people (appliances, furniture ).