For Your Doormen: To Tip or Not to Tip - That is the Question
A reader writes:
Hi,
I would love to see a post about tipping etiquette for doormen in Chicago. I just moved to the South Loop from LA, where doormen are not a common sight.
Thanks!!
(Hat tip: JK!)
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The title of this post is BS. WE can discuss the amount that's customary, but not tipping your doorstaff is pretty sleazy.
Sleazy? You don't tip your doorman on a regular basis. You wait to contribute to the holiday fund and if you want to give someone extra hand it to them directly while no one else is looking.
My building just takes up a fund to spread out among doorstaff and maintenance. I would imagine that's because most people want to tip the doorstaff, but not the other guys. We give to the fund, and then tip a little extra to the guys that take care of us. Careful though, sometimes they're not supposed to accept. Anon @8:10 - Calm down, less anger on the 1st comment, huh? It's just someone new to town asking for local knowledge
Contact your building manager and ask. My building has a holiday money donation fund that gets split amongst the staff. I give to that, and also slip a thank you card with cash to the particular folks who are most helpful, friendly, etc.
Before you do anything you should check your condo association's rules. I am a board member for a South Loop condo association. Our association prohibits gifts and tips to staff members. The rational being that the staff is there to serve everyone equally and they should not give special favors to individuals who provide generous tips. Most condo buildings have a holiday fund that you can contribute to. The holiday fund is your chance to say thank you to the staff for their hard work. Most door people make modest salaries and they do appreciate the end of the year bonus.
8 comments:
The title of this post is BS. WE can discuss the amount that's customary, but not tipping your doorstaff is pretty sleazy.
Sleazy? You don't tip your doorman on a regular basis. You wait to contribute to the holiday fund and if you want to give someone extra hand it to them directly while no one else is looking.
My building just takes up a fund to spread out among doorstaff and maintenance. I would imagine that's because most people want to tip the doorstaff, but not the other guys. We give to the fund, and then tip a little extra to the guys that take care of us. Careful though, sometimes they're not supposed to accept. Anon @8:10 - Calm down, less anger on the 1st comment, huh? It's just someone new to town asking for local knowledge
Contact your building manager and ask. My building has a holiday money donation fund that gets split amongst the staff. I give to that, and also slip a thank you card with cash to the particular folks who are most helpful, friendly, etc.
Agreed that it would be weird to tip on a regular day-to-day basis.
Why would you tip on a day-to-day basis? You are already paying a premium for the doorman to begin with in your assessments...
Forget your building's POLICY. Just tip these people for the holidays. It's the right thing to do.
Before you do anything you should check your condo association's rules. I am a board member for a South Loop condo association. Our association prohibits gifts and tips to staff members. The rational being that the staff is there to serve everyone equally and they should not give special favors to individuals who provide generous tips. Most condo buildings have a holiday fund that you can contribute to. The holiday fund is your chance to say thank you to the staff for their hard work. Most door people make modest salaries and they do appreciate the end of the year bonus.
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