So I was at Home Depot today....

[waltermitty]

We are putting in a new fence around our pool....
I went to home depot today and bought 14 80lbs. bags of quikrete... The guy loaded 1120 pounds of powdered concrete into the bed of our truck...(After I watched him load 25 boards of sheetrock into another truck)...

I tried to give the guy 5 bucks for the effort and he said that he can't take it... I pushed and he said that he is not allowed and could lose his job..

This kind of upset me... If home depot is going to have complimentary loading service, at least let me, the consumer decide who I can give my $$$ to... Why should he lose his job if I wanna give him a few dollars? It is a free market, and he didn't sign any contract for his hurly Home Depot job.......

[Don Stugots]

thats bullshit. the guy should be able to take a tip or you could have put it in his pants.

[weekapaugjz]

thats bullshit. you could have put it in his pants.

you always have to make it gay, don't ya stugots?

[PapaBear]

I agree that it would be nice to be able to tip, but big corporate stores do that for several reasons. They don't want there to be any chance of employees showing favoritism over any of their customers. They also don't want customers to feel like they have to tip. The sad truth is, tipping had to be banned because of the rare cases of problems (such as jealous co-workers making up lies about the guy getting the tip). It's just easier for them to ban tipping altogether.

We had the same policy when I worked at Wal Mart. It was rare that anyone actually offered one, but there was one guy you just couldn't say no to. He's this old man who is a well known realtor (and drinker). He'd hand out mini bottles of Canadian Mist like candy. For some reason, management let us take those, as long as we first said "no", then took it discreetly.

[waltermitty]

thats bullshit. the guy should be able to take a tip or you could have put it in his pants.

Yeah.. In hindsight I should have been sly about it and just let the cash slip into that orange apron... But I'm not that cool or quick on my feet....

[El Mudo]

Its not really encouraged at my grocery store, but it's not really encouraged either...the only people that ever really get tipped are the parcel pickup guys, although I occasionally get someone who offers me money if I take a table or something big out to their car, although I always turn it down

[tele7]

When I buy A christmas tree at Home Depot, the guy that cuts the trunk and wraps it always accepts my tips. Maybe the relax the rules around the holidays. The guy at wal mart who fixed and cleaned my sunglasses for free wouldn't take a dime though. It sucks that the people that deserve tips can't accept them.

[Fat_Sunny]

Yeah, F_S Bought Some Wood At Home Depot About Three Weeks Ago. There Were About 10 Pieces That Needed To Be Cut Down To 8'. Fat Asked The Guy If He Would Do It On Their Saw And Save Fat The Time At Home, And The Guy Said "Sure" And Cut All The Pieces. It Saved Fat About 1/2 Hour Of Manual Labor At Home, So He Pulls Out A Hamilton And The Guy Says "Put That Away...They'll Fire Me If They See That!!!

He Absolutely Refused It.

Fat Thinks It Is A Good Policy, But Had He Known, He Would Have Thought Twice About Putting The Guy To The Extra Work; At Least He Would Have Cleared It With The Manager.

On The Way Out, Fat Did Go To Customer Service And Paid A Compliment To The Cutter With The Manager. Maybe WalterMitty Should Call In Tomorrow With A Compliment, As That Is Always Appreciated When A Tip Is Not Allowed.

[PapaBear]

You have a good point about the compliment. Some of those companies actually give incentives to employees that get kudos from the customer. At Wal Mart, a compliment or two could get you this special pin. If you got 3 pins, you could trade them in for a share of stock (worth around 50 bucks, at the time).

[waltermitty]

Maybe WalterMitty Should Call In Tomorrow With A Compliment, As That Is Always Appreciated When A Tip Is Not Allowed.

I will do that... I have worked shitty retail jobs and I know that customer compliments/complaints usually get immediate attention... I gotta get the dudes name tomorrow, then I'll call up and make him fuggin' employee of the month......

[FUNKMAN]

it's just a bad policy! i would be curious to know their reasons

[weezcase]

it's just a bad policy! i would be curious to know their reasons

it could have to do with taxes and not being able to report that income

[sailor]

it could have to do with taxes and not being able to report that income

not likely. it would be the employee's responsibility to inform the employer of the tip, and it would go right onto his w2. that would never happen here, but for service industry (think waiters, mostly) you'd have some minimum amount to report for your employees. reporting less than that could get the employer in trouble. like if a waiter's tables had sales of $1000 and he told you he had tips of $75 you'd basically have to say "bullshit" and report a higher number. that's why stiffing a waiter is such a big deal, it's already income that they're going to have to report. this is a fairly new thing (well, at least the government being serious about enforcing it) and it's pretty much eliminated the benefit of leaving a cash tip when paying your bill with a credit card.

btw, i don't know what their reasoning is at home depot. i just hope it's not some arbitrary rule. maybe they just feel they pay their people a decent wage and they should go all out whether or not they think you're going to tip them. it also protects the customer from feeling an obligation to tip. ok, so i guess i can see their rationale, but still don't know how i feel aboot it.

[PapaBear]

It has nothing to do with taxes or anything like that. It's vanilla corporate crap. If you ever worked for a "big box" store, you'd understand. It would be good to be able to tip them, but don't try. You're only putting them at risk, when you do. If you want to show appreciation for their efforts, then contact the company's website or store manager to give them a compliment. Trust me... it's the only thing that will help them.

It sucks, but that's the only thing you can do to "tip" them.

[weezcase]

i remember the conversation that ron and fez had about tipping back during the holidays and i generally agree with them, but in the case of a guy loading your truck with cement at home depot, isn't that his job anyways, it's not like he was going out of his way to provide extra service for you, the company itself is doing that by offering that benefit for shopping at their store and you pay for it in the price of the product you are buying.

if waltermitty had gone to a locally owned hardware store or building supplier, and one of the probably limited employees took time out of their day to help by loading the stuff, a tip would be totally appropriate

i am not saying that i agree with home depots policy, but if employees of home depot have some sort of noticeable expectation of gratuity, people might be less inclined to go to their stores if they feel they are expected to offer that on top of the price of their initial purchase so imo it does make sense from a business perspective

[BadGuyDavey]

weez, a waitress's job is to give you customer service, give you your food, and do it all with a smile without looking mad


what you want her to show some tits before you slip her 10% minimum...



and dont say its not the same thing... because they may be 2 different lines of service, but there both doing things you could do for yourself..

[weezcase]

weez, a waitress's job is to give you customer service, give you your food, and do it all with a smile without looking mad


what you want her to show some tits before you slip her 10% minimum...



and dont say its not the same thing... because they may be 2 different lines of service, but there both doing things you could do for yourself..

your right badguy they aren't the same thing, everyone knows that we should tip a waitress at least 15% or whatever, it is a cultural norm, tipping a guy loading your truck is much less so

[King Hippos Bandaid]

I give the Tip Handshake, usually the Guys Accepts it

:king:

[BadGuyDavey]

how could you say its much less?

just pretend hes a really hot chick whos a hooker... and slip 1's in his shirt for every heavy thing he lifts lol

[Ritalin]

Wait. You're putting up your own fence?

I'm impressed.

[Don Stugots]

your right badguy they aren't the same thing, everyone knows that we should tip a waitress at least 15% or whatever, it is a cultural norm, tipping a guy loading your truck is much less so

not where i'm from. i used to tip my garbage man back when i lived with my parents. they made my life easier.

[lleeder]

The Christmas tree guy at Home Depot this December refused a tip from me this year. It must be a new policy cause a couple of years ago they would take tips.

[zathrus]

if you remember the guys name call the home depot and tell them how his service was and maybe he'll get a acentive (shit can't spell today) award.

[ChoppedLiver]

I work for Home Depot.

Tips are strictly forbidden. It makes OTHER customers think that they're getting less treatment IF they see you getting a tip....., that's what the 'Associate Code & Conduct Guide' says.

[waltermitty]

I work for Home Depot.

Tips are strictly forbidden. It makes OTHER customers think that they're getting less treatment IF they see you getting a tip....., that's what the 'Associate Code & Conduct Guide' says.


Dammit... the "other customers" wouldn't feel shitty if they had some class... The guy is doing something that i really don't wanna do (shit, I had to unload the bags when i got home), and i'm willing to show my appreciation... The other customers should show their appreciation too. In a perfect world nobody would feel slighted because everyone would be on the same level of good karma...


By the way, I called Home Depot today and raved to the GM how polite and helpful the dude was... I hope he gets something out of it...

[Fat_Sunny]

By the way, I called Home Depot today and raved to the GM how polite and helpful the dude was... I hope he gets something out of it...

He Will! Good For You.

F_S Bought Some Paint (To Spray The Lattice Fence/Screen That HE Built A Couple Of Weeks Ago Plus Two Other Colors To Touch Up Some Other Stuff). He Went To The Local Benjamin Moore Dealer And They Had A Young Fellow Who Spent About Half An Hour Helping Fat Match The Colors. He Was Unbelievably Helpful.

As He Checked Out, Fat Asked To See The Manager And Said To Him In A Loud Voice So That Everyone In The Store Could Hear, How Exceptional The Guy's Service Had Been And How Proud The Manager Should Be Of His Staff. The Manager Blushed And Beamed Because He Was So Happy And The Kid Turned Bright Red, But Fat Can Guarantee You That It Made That Kid's Day. Money Isn't Everything!

[BMoses]

I am a manager for Lowe's and the idea behind it is that as a company we offer the customer loading assistance or any other service as part of the home improvement experience. Having worked my way up from a customer service associate to manager I have both accepted and refused tips.

Secondly, we do not fire an employee for taking a tip. If the employee politely refuses and the customer insists then a tip may be taken. This is not a policy so much as general rule of thumb. We always like to hear when a customer feels and employee went out of his/her way. At my store it gives the employee a chance to earn a day off with pay.

[sailor]

Dammit... the "other customers" wouldn't feel shitty if they had some class... The guy is doing something that i really don't wanna do (shit, I had to unload the bags when i got home), and i'm willing to show my appreciation... The other customers should show their appreciation too. In a perfect world nobody would feel slighted because everyone would be on the same level of good karma...


By the way, I called Home Depot today and raved to the GM how polite and helpful the dude was... I hope he gets something out of it...

but, if tipping became the norm there, it would suppress their rate of pay over the long haul (again think waitresses who make $3-4 and hour because you're expected to tip). and where does it end? i agree you should be able to tip if you want to, but when you say "the other customers should show their appreciation too" that forced tipping is going too far.

[ChoppedLiver]

I am a manager for Lowe's and the idea behind it is that as a company we offer the customer loading assistance or any other service as part of the home improvement experience. Having worked my way up from a customer service associate to manager I have both accepted and refused tips.

Secondly, we do not fire an employee for taking a tip. If the employee politely refuses and the customer insists then a tip may be taken. This is not a policy so much as general rule of thumb. We always like to hear when a customer feels and employee went out of his/her way. At my store it gives the employee a chance to earn a day off with pay.


Same sort of idea with us.
Credit builds for a 'Float Day' [shift off with pay] and 'Customer Service Pins' can be earned [eventually] for great customer feedback.
IF the customer insists to tip, obviously it is to be accepted, but.

The customer is always right. :ohmy:

[DoubleJ]

So I was at Home Depot today....

I hope Fez reads this thread before Ron so he can "protect" him from it.

[LordJezo]

Good.

Home Depot has always had this rule and it's wonderful. The tipping culture in this country has gone out of control and everyone expects money to be thrown at them for doing what they were hired to do.

Screw that. Do your job and be happy you are not unemployed.