Tipping the Builders
Discussion
dickymint said:
jas xjr said:
i would just have a quality bbq , to me that is more personal than giving money
To me that is self gratification - this should be about thanking the workers not "look at me i'm giving out a freebie" Mathew 6:3 go Google and amen
For me to invite the builders into my home and cook for them is a lot more personal rather than just giving them money . That for me would be too easy and impersonal .
A gift of value £50 will carry far more value in the recipients mind than £50 cash.
Cash gifts have a definite and absolute value which could be taken the wrong way "is that all we're worth?"
4 x lots of a case of beer and a couple of bottles of wine ("for the wives") should do the trick. Even if they don't drink beer, 'it's the thought that counts' and all that. And the promise of good review/recommendation is good too.
Cash gifts have a definite and absolute value which could be taken the wrong way "is that all we're worth?"
4 x lots of a case of beer and a couple of bottles of wine ("for the wives") should do the trick. Even if they don't drink beer, 'it's the thought that counts' and all that. And the promise of good review/recommendation is good too.
My step dad is a builder, and just spent 6 months renovating our house. We paid him his normal rate, but he did a lot of extra stuff at weekends for free. As a thank you we're taking him and my mum (who also helped a lot) out for dinner to a Michelin star restaurant tomorrow evening. We're expecting it to cost us about £300-£350 for their food & drink. The least we can do for 6 months of help!
nick s said:
My step dad is a builder, and just spent 6 months renovating our house. We paid him his normal rate, but he did a lot of extra stuff at weekends for free. As a thank you we're taking him and my mum (who also helped a lot) out for dinner to a Michelin star restaurant tomorrow evening. We're expecting it to cost us about £300-£350 for their food & drink. The least we can do for 6 months of help!
Good for you, i'm sure they will appreciate that. Though slightly different circumstance to the OP.
nick s said:
My step dad is a builder, and just spent 6 months renovating our house. We paid him his normal rate, but he did a lot of extra stuff at weekends for free. As a thank you we're taking him and my mum (who also helped a lot) out for dinner to a Michelin star restaurant tomorrow evening. We're expecting it to cost us about £300-£350 for their food & drink. The least we can do for 6 months of help!
Not really applicable though is it, since its your family, it's a little different to doing that with strangers!Not an awful idea though - I had an estate agent who lined up a stonking deal for me about 18 months ago. I bought him a voucher for the Hinds Head in Bray, a three course meal for 2 (him and his wife) with a couple of drinks etc which cost me about £80 I think. He still talks about it when we bump into each other now!
Dom
Dom
Zeemax_Mini said:
Not an awful idea though - I had an estate agent who lined up a stonking deal for me about 18 months ago. I bought him a voucher for the Hinds Head in Bray, a three course meal for 2 (him and his wife) with a couple of drinks etc which cost me about £80 I think. He still talks about it when we bump into each other now!
Dom
That was a nice gesture. Dom
That's kind of the point I was trying to make above; had you handed him £80 cash it wouldn't have had anywhere near the same impact.
I remember I had a CAD contractor working for me and I had some CAD work which I needed done urgently. This chap usually worked until about 5pm. On this particular night, he was also due to pick up his kids from football or whatever. He appreciated my predicament and my need to hit the deadline, and so instead of just clocking off and saying "sorry, not my problem" as many would have done, he made alternative arrangements for his kids to be collected and then worked late to get the job done.
I bought him a couple of bottles of wine, and some sweets for him to give to his kids, probably only cost me £30, but he was so appreciative and later told me that he saved the wine to have with his Christmas dinner, and his wife and kids were very grateful too.
Had I handed him £30 cash, I think it probably would have been insulting.
Was very pleased with my builders too. I did a barbeque and told them they could invite their partners and kids. Was probably about 30-40 people in all. It was nice seeing the partners, some of whom had probably never met before, see who their husbands worked with and show the kids what they had built. I know what you mean about perhaps they don't want to socialise with each other but in my case I think they had a good time.
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