A cross-country movers group provides invaluable assistance when it comes to moving across country, and since their work involves manual labor, one could say that tipping is automatically implied. However, are you supposed to tip movers if you are not satisfied with their performance? As with every business, the quality of moving companies varies, and it’s good to know how to recognize both good and bad services.
Do you tip moving companies without evaluating their performance? The answer is definitely no. Giving gratuities is, indeed, common courtesy. However, the workers have to earn their bonuses, and the most important thing will be the quality of their work. Therefore, evaluation is the key when it comes to mover tipping.
Is It Ok Not to Tip Movers? Not Giving Tips Is Fine as There Aren’t Any Gratuity Laws
Let us start with whether tipping a moving company is obligatory or not, as it is useful to know, especially if you are relocating for the first time. The US legal system has no laws concerning gratuities. Furthermore, whatever cross-country moving company you choose, they will not have any policies that force you to distribute gratuities. Some even have policies that ban their workers from taking bonuses, so it’s not a bad thing to check about this when choosing a relocating crew.
How Much Do You Tip a Crew When Moving Long-Distance? There Are Some Commonly Accepted Rates
Is $20 enough to tip movers? Is $100 a good tip for movers? These questions will certainly pop up when you are relocating to a new state. Truth be told, there is no standard tip for movers. However, after gathering information from various companies across the country, it could be stated that there are figures for an average tip for movers. Here are the numbers:
- Each mover should receive approximately 20$ if the team has been working for four or fewer hours or half a day.
- Each mover should receive approximately 40$ if the team has been working for eight hours or a full day.
- Each mover should receive approximately 60$ if the team has been working more than eight hours which is considered overtime.
Is 10% a good tip for movers? You are probably acquainted with the unwritten rule of 15%. However, this rule shouldn’t be applied in this situation, especially if you want to save on relocation costs. You should distribute gratuities according to your relocation budget.
Adequate Help From Long-Distance Moving Crews Should Be Recognized and Awarded
When do you tip movers? We have now come to the most important part of this article. You have to know how to recognize a job well done, and the following practices should definitely be rewarded with tips.
Politeness and Understanding
If the experience of moving cross country is new to you, there will be a lot of questions concerning relocation to ask. A good moving crew will show patience and understanding, and they will give you all the necessary relocation tips. For instance, you have booked the auto transport service but don’t know how to prepare your car for state-to-state transport, or you don’t know how to pack books in a proper way. The best thing to do is to nicely ask a mover for advice.
Heavy Lifting
When organizing for a move, you will have a lot of bulky home objects on your relocating-out list. Lifting and then carrying such items to the truck is an incredibly difficult and dangerous task, especially if stairs have to be crossed along the path. Therefore, if you see that a relocating crew is careful when performing the task of furniture relocation (not only could you hurt yourself, but you could also damage everything along the path,) you should consider adding gratuities to your relocation expenses checklist.
Adequate Packing Service
Packing service is necessary when relocating. A lot of fragile items have to be packed, like dishes and glasses or household electronics. Furthermore, there are special situations where a relocating crew has to pack unique home items like an old grandfather clock. This requires a lot of patience and a steady hand. Hence, it’s worth tipping movers and packers if the packing has been performed well.
Punctuality and Efficiency
A relocating to-do list is often a long one, and things get even trickier with last-minute relocations. Therefore, it’s crucial to follow a schedule. If a relocating crew has said that they will finish the job by a certain time, and they honor the agreement, this is definitely a practice that has to be appreciated. Relocation efficiency is also important when relocating with pets or kids. They generally experience a lot of relocation anxiety, and the relocation stress can be further aggravated if it takes too much time to prepare and pack everything for transport.
Adequate Help With Unpacking
Once you have arrived at your new home, unpacking, heavy lifting, and furnishing will have to be performed. These are all equally difficult tasks that require a lot of effort. If you see that a relocating team displays patience and attention again, this is always a sign of a good relocation company.
Storage
When it comes to our moving services, our storage service is just as important as the rest. Whether you need longtime or short-term arrangements, our team of professional movers is more than qualified to handle your items. When storing your belongings, we store them in a secure facility with guards and video surveillance.
Read MorePacking
Cross Country Movers have professionally trained personnel that will be happy to assist you with packing even the most fragile dishes or antiques. You can choose to oversee as we do the packing for you. We’ll carefully pack it all into moving boxes, regardless of the size.
Read MoreAuto Moving
Whether you need to transport your family van or SUV or deliver a collectible rare car from an auction, Cross Country Movers is happy to help. Our trained professionals know how exactly to handle your car to make sure it arrives to its destination safe and sound.
Read MoreAre You Supposed to Tip Movers When Unsatisfied With Their Work? Unprofessionalism Doesn’t Deserve Tipping
Unfortunately, there have been many relocation experiences where people weren’t satisfied with a certain company. According to many reviews and reports, these are the most frequent inadequate behavior and practices of relocation companies, and they definitely don’t deserve appreciation.
Inefficiency and Tardiness
As mentioned, meeting the deadlines and performing tasks on time are crucial when relocating. If a moving team shows up late or doesn’t honor the deadlines, this is always a sign of unprofessional behavior that doesn’t deserve gratuities.
Negligence
Every relocating company will ask you to give them a list of belongings that you want to be relocated. According to this list, they will determine what size of the trailer is needed and what packing materials are needed. If the crew shows up at your house and then announces that they have to return because they lack some equipment, then you are absolutely right to think about not giving any gratuities. This is a sign that they probably did not even read the inventory list before arriving.
Carelessness
Mistakes and accidents happen. After all, we are all human beings. But, with professional crews, they are not a frequent occurrence. If they do happen, the company will look immediately at how to compensate for damages. However, if you see and hear that a relocating team is constantly dropping and hitting your belongings while working with them, that is a clear sign of unprofessional behavior.
Impoliteness
If you are showing politeness, there is no reason why workers should act impolitely. If they are ignoring you and refusing to answer your question, then you should definitely think about whether or not to distribute gratuities.
Dishonesty
Unfortunately, relocating scams happen as well. If you suddenly see some additional fees after the relocation, or workers are hesitant to straightforwardly answer your questions concerning costs, know that these are terrible practices that deserve to be reported to authorities, and tips are completely out of the question in these situations.
Aggressiveness When Asking for Tips
Unless there is a policy implemented by an enterprise, nothing stops a mover from coming to you and asking for a bonus after the job has been completed. However, this has to be done politely.
Check Reviews and Comments When Hiring a Relocation Company
In order to avoid unprofessionalism, you should check the internet reviews before hiring a relocation enterprise. Luckily, leaving reviews has pretty much become part of our culture these days, and people gladly leave negative reviews if some unprofessional behavior is shown. Furthermore, you could visit the official website of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This institution is dedicated to cultivating and maintaining trust in the marketplace, and they publicly post complaints against unprofessional companies. Here is a useful video on how to find a reputable relocation enterprise.
Here Are Some Frequent Relocation Situations Concerning Tipping and the Best Ways to Deal With Them
Relocations are complex procedures, and there are countless positive and negative experiences. However, there are always some common practices that you can follow when relocating, and here is some useful advice on how to handle different but likely situations.
How Do I Distribute Gratuities?
When the job has been completed, you should always come to each mover individually and give them a bonus. People often think that the most efficient way of distributing is to shake hands with the foreman and give him the entire sum to distribute. However, this method should be avoided as there are a lot of dishonest people out there, and it’s not strange for foremen to keep everything for themselves.
Do You Tip Movers When They Load or Unload?
The best thing to do is to distribute gratuities on the day when the job has been completed. In this way, you will be able to determine most accurately whether you are satisfied with the service and decide on gratuities accordingly. This is not a usual practice, but some people like to give five or ten dollar bills to each mover before the work starts in order to boost their morale and efficiency. However, this is not at all necessary.
Do You Tip Movers on Both Ends?
Although not frequently, sometimes it can occur that a new relocating team is performing unpacking and furnishing. In theory, if both teams have displayed professionalism, the new workers deserve gratuities as well. However, this could increase your relocation expenses by a significant amount of money, and if you are not in a financial position to do this, you simply shouldn’t.
Is There a Money Limit to Gratuities?
In theory, no. You could give as much as you like, but a relocation enterprise most likely doesn’t expect gratuities in the first place. Showing politeness and gratitude toward workers is enough, and there is no shame if your relocation budget can’t support gratuities.
Can I Show Gratitude in Some Other Way?
Yes, you most definitely can. The best way to show gratitude besides gratuities is to provide workers with snacks and refreshments (however, don’t offer alcoholic beverages since they are strictly forbidden by all relocation enterprises). Also, since we are relocating in times of the coronavirus, providing basic toiletry is also a lovely gesture. In the end, a sincere and firm handshake is always appreciated.
Monitor Everything Carefully and Then Decide on Gratuities
There is no better way to determine whether a job has been performed well other than to be present when the relocation procedure starts. All in all, hiring relocation enterprises can make a world of difference when relocating. Their work is not easy at all, considering that an hour or more is spent by a mover on heavy lifting, and honest and hardworking businesses deserve praise and recognition.