My wife and I will be moving from Georgia to Florida using a moving
company. Is it customary to tip the movers and if so, how much? 

Thanks!

Art

Hi Art,

I work part-time doing bookwork for Northwest Moving and Packing in
Seattle --they do in-state and interstate residential and small
business moves, so I called the owner (Erik Somerville) and asked him
your question.

Erik said it depends on several factors, much as service in a
restuarant does.  If your movers are on time, careful, attentive to
your requests, and don't damage floors or contents, then yes, tipping
is standard, although not all folks tip --even when it is standard to
do so. In all the tips he and his crews have received, the biggest tip
he received was for an interstate job, $1,300.00 !!  The lowest was
$5.00 for a difficult move with a promised tip for "doing a good job."
 $5.00 is considered an insult, and the $1,300 was extraordinary.

In general, for one man jobs tips of $20-$50 are customary.

For two-(or more)-man jobs, you can tip the lead person and ask him to
divvy it up, or you can tip each person as you see fit, following the
guidelines for one person moves.

I found this for you:

Tipping Movers
http://www.tipping.org/tips/TipsPageMovers.html

Also this:

Scroll down to:  Tipping Movers 
http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php
..."There are many things to consider in a move. A professional mover
is going to be careful to protect your floors, walls, doorways, and
belongings. That said, it is unlikely that your move will go
perfectly, whether you are moving yourself or paying someone else to
do it. Something will get broken. The question that matters is were
they being careless, or was it a genuine accident? Every time I have
moved furniture myself, I have caused more damage to my home than
movers ever had. I take this into consideration when I look at
accidents.

Tipping occurs at the completion of the job. Consider providing lunch
if the move extends over lunch, and always provide beverages for the
movers.

? One mover - limited move - 1-10 items and nothing over 20 pounds - $10-20 

? One mover - difficult move - The degree of difficulty changes based
upon stairs, narrow passages, small elevators, large or heavy items,
appliances, etc. - $20-50.

? Multiple movers - Basically tip each mover the same as above, but
lower it by $5-10 for each mover. Feel free to pool the tip and give
it to the supervisor for distribution, but don't lower the amount
because you combined it. The problem with combining the tip is that
you cannot reward people based upon their individual performances.

? Car Shipping - There is not much information available about tipping
the truck drivers. $20-25 is probably appropriate. ..."


If the LOADING lasts 4+ hours, I would tip $30-$40 for the hardest
working guy, $20-$30 for the next, $10-$20 for the least hardest
worker. Less than 4 hours I would lower that a bit, being careful not
to give $5.00 to anyone except a guy that you noticed was shrugging
off the work to the other guys.


Hope this helps!  If I can clarify anything for you, please don't hesitate to ask.


~~Cynthia


Search terms used at Google:
Tips "Moving Companies" OR Movers

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 09 Feb 2006 16:14 PST

Also, my collegue pinkfreud answered a similar question in Jan 2005:

Subject: How to Tip Long Distance Movers
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=451321

Use both answers as a guide, and when the event occurs, use common
sense to reward the hardest workers. Be sure to consider anything out
of the ordinary, pianos, safes, stairs, hardwood floors, breakables,
etc.

~~Cynthia

Exactly what I was looking for.

art_in_atlanta-ga ...

May you soon become ...

art_who_used_to_be_in_atlanta-ga

Good luck with the move!

I hate to sound overly cheap... but am I the only one who wishes
companies would simply charge what they want rather than expect tips? 
Honestly, if a mover isn't on time, doesn't do a good job, handles my
stuff carelessly... then he would be reported to the company and
possibly the better business bureau if the company still required me
to pay the full amount.

I don't see any of that as extraordinary service that deserves a tip,
but simply what I expect of any mover.  If the company/employees
expect tips for any of this then I take that as a sign that they don't
always provide these things... that these things are above and beyond
the call of duty for them, and that is sad in my eyes.

I may be looking at this all wrong and I'd appreciate comments either
way, I'm happy to learn the value of tipping taxi drivers, movers, dry
cleaners, the guy standing in the bathroom, photographers, my hair
stylist, chiropractor, news paper deliverer, trash man, personal
trainer, day care provider, my kid's music instructor, the pizza
delivery guy... in todays economy.

When I was in the British Army, the 10th Royal Hussars no less, it was
generally accepted that you had to tip the Regimental Barber BEFORE
you had a haircut.

Transgressors soon found out why and they never made that same mistake again.

Well... I'm in the UK and I believe that I've paid for the job and
that a tip is a thank you, NOT payment, so I tipped ours enough to buy
two beers each at the pub!

Found this website when I was looking for tipping information regarding my move:

http://www.movingatoz.com/MovingGuide/Chapters/cost-of-moving-p2.php#Tipping

They have a nice chart movers/hours that you can use to get an idea
what is common in the industry. Seems reasonable to me, although I
paid half of what I put aside, because it took 3 hours more than what
I got in the estimate and my glass desk was broken, which pissed me
off.

I guess its very much how you feel about your moving experience with those guys.

Sorry, here is the link:

<a href="http://www.movingatoz.com/MovingGuide/Chapters/cost-of-moving-p2.php#Tipping">link
to tipping the movers page</a>

if it doesnt wok just copy paste itinto your browser.
Good luck