When planning a local move, we are trying to think of every single detail that might affect our budget or our private life schedule. And that is how a good move is planned. After we find local movers that we would like to use for our upcoming move, we have numerous questions for them – from a moving price to services they can offer, and the most common question – are you supposed to tip the movers. This is so common question because there is no straight answer. No one should tell you whether you should tip your professional movers or now – you should do how you feel about this. In a word: yes. Moving is hard work, even if you do it every day. It’s also a service, and like most services, tips are highly appreciated, especially when the client is happy with the outcome. However, we can help you determine when should you tip the local movers and when not to do so, we will offer you a guide on how much to tip the furniture mo How to decide how much to tip them based on the service they provided you with. Hopefully, this article will help you. Let us know if you have some other tips that you can share with us.
When should you tip local movers?
The general rule is – you should tip your local movers when you feel satisfied with the service and when you want to tip them. You can think of it as tipping a waiter in the restaurant – when you are happy with the service, you are going to show your gratitude, but when you are not – you are not going to.
It’s as simple as that when you are hiring local movers. But we are going to name some of the situations when you should tip your local movers because these will show you are going to have a wonderful experience.
There were no damages during the local move
Local moving is a difficult job that requires heavy lifting and experience, so damages can happen. No matter how experienced and professional movers you have found, there is still a chance that some of your belongings won’t end up in the perfect condition in your new home. If your local movers manage to handle all of your furniture flawlessly, you should show your appreciation with a generous tip.
Your local movers were friendly, helpful, and professional
Finding reliable local movers is hard and it requires doing a lot of research. If the team of furniture movers that you have hired was helpful, friendly, experienced, professional, etc. – you should be happy about it. A team of local movers like this will make you feel comfortable and safe during the whole service, and that will lead to a stress-free move. Also, if your local movers go the extra mile and they do even more than what you have expected from them, that deserves a tip.
The service was done efficiently
Local movers are charging hourly rates, so you should appreciate it if they put the extra effort into performing your move efficiently – they deserved a tip. Also, moving is a task that takes a lot of time – for planning, organizing, packing, executing, etc.
When the moving day arrives, you will already be exhausted and tired, and you will be happy if the service is done most efficiently. This will leave you more time to unpack and settle down in your new home before going back to your daily responsibilities.
You were overall satisfied with the service
When you consider everything that you have experienced during your move, you should ask yourself if you are satisfied. If your answer is YES, you should tip your local movers because they are responsible for your happiness and satisfaction. Sometimes local movers will exceed your expectations, and if this happens, not only you should tip them, but you should save their contact information to hire them in the future again if you need to move. *
When not to tip furniture movers?
Whenever we are hiring local movers, you usually expect that everything will go by smoothly and safely. But the reality might be different. That is why you shouldn’t tip the local movers at every cost. Here are some of the situations when you shouldn’t tip your furniture movers.
When you don’t feel safe during the move
Hiring local movers means that you should let a bunch of strangers into your home. That is why we invest a lot of time into finding reliable furniture movers who can make us feel safe. Most local moving companies are doing background checks of their professional movers, so you will feel safe and sound.
However, if you come into a situation where you don’t feel safe due to any reason – not only you shouldn’t tip your local movers, but you should file a claim with the moving company. It doesn’t matter if your furniture movers are rude or they are having comments that are not appropriate, you shouldn’t tip them.
If your local movers damage something and act like nothing happened
Damages during the move might happen due to various reasons that might not be related to the lack of experience of your local movers. You should have understood if your local movers damage something, but if they are acting like it’s not their fault… It is immature and it shows you that they are not professional.
If you see that your local movers are trying to make the move lasts longer
Local movers usually charge hourly rates, and most of them are not going to try to make it longer to earn more because they have another project afterwards. However, if your furniture movers are trying to make your move lasts longer on purpose – tips shouldn’t be applied. Also, you should be realistic when it comes to the time that your local movers will need to finish your move, so don’t decide not to give them a tip if the relocation took longer than you expected, because maybe there was more job than you expected.
If your local movers were late and didn’t let you know about this
Professional movers will provide you with the arrival window for their team, and the reason for that is so they are not late. However, sometimes unexpected things can happen and your local movers might be late because of the traffic or maybe they might be experiencing some technical issues.
If they let you know in time, that is something you should understand. But if they don’t even let you know, and they are late for hours, that will affect your schedule and everything that you have planned. And it’s bad business.
If your local movers insist on giving them a tip
We’ve heard many different clients having different experience with local movers. From wonderful experiences to having local movers who tried to overcharge them. The worst thing that can happen is that your local movers are trying to make you give them a tip. You should tip the movers ONLY if you feel so. When they are pushy and maybe even rude, you shouldn’t give them a tip. If you don’t feel safe at that certain point, you might want to give them a tip and to call back the moving company to explain the situation and ask for reimbursement.
How much to tip the local movers?
Now, let’s talk about the amount of gratitude that you should provide your local movers with. Again, this is something that is completely up to you. There are various factors to consider that can help you determine what is the best amount for your situation. For example, $20 per mover is standard for a local move, but you can choose to tip your local movers more if the service exceeded your expectations. Likewise, you can tip your local movers less if you are not satisfied. Here are some things to consider.
How complicated your move was
There is a difference between simple move ground to ground level and the relocation where your local movers need to handle heavy items up and down many flights of stairs or to navigate tiny hallways, or if there are long carries they were not aware of. You can already guess that you should add a bit extra to your tip when the move is complicated. After all, your local movers deserved it.
The conditions your move took place in
Moving is a hard physical job that is complicated on its own. But, when it’s 95 degrees outside or it’s very cold – it is nice to tip your local movers because those conditions are not the smoothest and the easiest for anyone.
The quality of the service
If you thought that the service was exceptional, you may want to provide a bigger tip. Of course, the threshold for what constitutes exceptional service is entirely subjective, but if it was exceptional to you, increase your tip amount, even if it’s just by a couple of dollars a person.
The size of the moving crew
It is not the same when you have a crew of local movers that counts 2 team members and 5 of them. It might be rude if you tip each member with $2 only if you decide to offer a $10 tip for a crew of 5 local movers. When the team of professional movers is bigger, you should increase the amount of the tip. Think of the amount they will get when they split it between them.
The time your local movers have invested
When your local movers invest the whole day for moving you, you should tip them at least $40 per team member. When we say the whole day, that is any relocation that takes over 8 to 10 hours. It is okay to tip $20 per crew member if your move takes the minimum hours, that is between 3 and 4 hours.
Any relocation that takes more than 4 hours, but less than 8, you can tip them between $20 and $40 per local mover. Of course, you don’t have to take this as a rule. You can use it as an example. Based on other factors, the price might vary.
Your moving budget
Of course, you should always see what your moving budget is and how the tip amount will affect it. If it fits your moving budget to provide your local movers with a bigger tip – you should do it. But if it doesn’t fit it, your professional movers should understand that. Moving comes with many expenses, and when you put it all on paper, you might decide that you are not in a situation to tip them more than you originally planned.
Are you looking for the best local movers?
If you are planning a move in the future or you need help with some other moving project that includes heavy lifting, you should reach out to Oakland Movers Pros. We are one of the leading professional movers in the area and we can guarantee that your move will be done in the best possible way. What do we consider as a perfect local move? The one that is done in a way that will make you feel stress-free along the way. That is why we are investing a lot of time into finding the right local movers and we are always doing background checks of all of our team members – so we can be sure you are getting the best professional movers in the area. Our customer support department is at your service every day of the week, so feel free to reach out to us anytime. We are here to listen about all of your moving problems, and our team will make sure to create a moving plan that will meet all of your needs and wishes. Getting a quote is free and non-obligatory. So, give us a call and get your moving quote today!
We are looking forward to helping you with your upcoming relocation!
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