Big building tipping

Submitted by jlmends t3_zg7fcq in jerseycity

How do you guys break up tips for the holidays ? If your building hands out a list do you give to everyone? Or just the staff you interact with?

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WhichSea15 t1_izfh9q2 wrote

Mine usually provides a list and has a box in the lobby for cards. I tip everyone, but more for the people I interact with regularly.

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jlmends OP t1_izfhybe wrote

Yeah last year at my old building we did the same for everyone but it feels like it would be nicer to tip a little more for people we interact with daily ! Thanks for your input !

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_izfr3ox wrote

Their employer should be giving them a holiday bonus, not asking the residents to cover those normal costs of doing business.

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halocene_epic t1_izisdmy wrote

Do you apply this same logic to restaurant wait staff or other service based jobs?

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_izjrumr wrote

Hello, troll. Nice day today.

I generously tip restaurant wait staff (IF they give me full table-service and clean up the dirty non-disposable silverware & dishes), but other companies involved in tip-flation, I avoid doing business with them. I'm not tipping someone that hands me a bag or a drink at a restaurant.

EMPLOYERS NEED TO PAY THEIR STAFF. If they can't afford to, they can close. Period. End of story.

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halocene_epic t1_izmtgry wrote

Per your logic, shouldn’t the restaurant cover “those normal costs of doing business”? Why tip wait staff but not your building concierge and stewards?

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_izno1cy wrote

Hi, troll. Nice day today.

I don't agree with it, but I do it because it's customary.

I'm not going to start adding new tipped industries everywhere. I don't tip anyone else. Their employer can pay them a living wage, or they can just go out of business.

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nycdevil t1_izlgqd2 wrote

Your apartment building doesn't need to have service staff, and that service staff doesn't need to go above and beyond to help you with your bags, open the door, etc. When you buy or rent in a full-service building, you agree to that relationship. Period.

You can just rent in a walkup if you don't like it.

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_izmjqze wrote

False. The landlord can pay for the staff, or they can just not be present.

If paying for the staff gets higher rent prices, they will do it.

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Dependent_Map_3940 t1_izfsnoj wrote

I’ve lived at the same building for five years. I give the concierges $40-50. There’s three of them.

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nycdevil t1_izj8h40 wrote

Wow, making sure they really, really hate you, lol.

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Dependent_Map_3940 t1_izkmgvf wrote

I live in a building with over 400 apartments; filled to the brim. If everyone does their part, 400x$40=$16,000 per concierge. We are stronger as a community.

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nycdevil t1_izlgaw9 wrote

Understaffing the desk isn't really your concern, unless that means they give poor service. Your total holiday tipping is the concern. If they are able to diligently serve 400 apartments with only 3 people, they are fucking unicorn rockstars and deserve a whole lot more money.

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flapjack212 t1_izhfu1s wrote

i try to give everyone something, it is indeed sometimes a very large list, i'm usually doing between 10-15

however the full building staff on the "holiday list" is probably 20-25. there were years where i prepared gifts for everyone but it's almost impossible to even find them all so i subsequently stopped doing it like that

so it's more than just the people i interact with, for about 1-2 weeks i actively walk around looking for people. that said despite this if i can't find you over the course of 14 days i'm calling it quits haha

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halocene_epic t1_izisrxm wrote

My building pools money from residents and distributes to the staff according to position and hours. I give $250. Unsure if that’s enough though. I was hoping for more feedback on this thread.

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nycdevil t1_izj9127 wrote

It is extraordinarily low. The general rule for owners is one month's maintenance for a condo/coop as your total tip for building staff in a full-service building. Of course, as a renter, you're not going to give a full month's rent, but that one-month maintenance of $600-1000 depending is about right, depending on quality of service, size of your unit, etc.

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halocene_epic t1_izjbzc5 wrote

Thanks for the feedback! As a renter I don’t know the exact maintenance fees. I’ve seen from listings that a comparable apartment in my building has an HOA fee of ~$500/mo. Should I tip $500?

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nycdevil t1_izjf3w0 wrote

Right, that seems to be a good starting point, one that you can adjust if you have particularly good/bad service.

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Wildwilly54 t1_izfgzqt wrote

So I usually give management money for the maintenance guys (they used to do a pool) and then I would tip the doormen I liked individually.

I used to give them all money, and by mid January half of them would quit. Curious if this happens in other places, but the turnover in the buildings I’ve lived in was outrageous.

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jlmends OP t1_izfi1up wrote

Interesting! Thanks for sharing. Lots of turnover in my last building (70 greene) but seems much more steady at my new one !

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1990jeje t1_izfvsj6 wrote

My building used to distribute a list of all the staff during the holidays to encourage tipping but they’ve stopped during the last couple of years. I still request a list of the names and prioritize tipping the concierges, maintenance team and cleaning crews. I’ll only tip the property managers / supervisors if I’m feeling extra generous because I’ve never interacted with any of them and I’ve noticed a steep decline in the building activities they arrange throughout the year.

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nycdevil t1_izj9r9z wrote

Property managers are generally not expecting a tip, they are professionals who are likely getting a bonus from the management company, not service staff.

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nycdevil t1_izj9mmw wrote

If you have under 10-ish staff, write a card to each, include the tip in those cards, and you can give the cards to the staff you may not interact with to their colleagues to pass out or drop them in a box if your building provides one.

If you have much more than ten staff, chances are your building does some sort of tip pooling, so participate in that, and maybe slip anyone who has gone above and beyond a little extra.

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jlmends OP t1_izjcvem wrote

We have more than 10 and were given a list with everyone’s names

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