Tipping the Yard Crew ?

[SaltyMonkey]

CalebD is right!

[Mark Zarley]

I find if I offer to buy the "men lunch" when I point out something that needs a little more pressure washing or a little more sanding before bottom paint, it is usually done with a smile as they know that #1 I am interested in how they do their work, and #2 the quality of their work. All men like to be appreciated for a job well done.

[JiffyLube]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Think I'd rather have a BBQ and feed them. Then they'd really remember.

That's a good idea.

[JiffyLube]

Originally Posted by CalebD

Pizza?
Why not a roll of some nice French Brie, a few Baguettes, a bottle of Chateauneuf-de-Pape with some cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off? Some crystal wine glasses and a table cloth would be nice as well!

So when are invited for lunch?

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Mark Zarley

I find if I offer to buy the "men lunch" when I point out something that needs a little more pressure washing or a little more sanding before bottom paint, it is usually done with a smile as they know that #1 I am interested in how they do their work, and #2 the quality of their work. All men like to be appreciated for a job well done.

WTF

If something needs more pressure washing, then they have not done their job correctly

If something needs more sanding before painting then again, they have not done their job correctly.

And you reward them for this by buying them lunch?

My mother does a similar thing with her dog "Bad dog-Have a chewy stick"
Guess what, the dog keeps being bad and keeps getting chewy sticks.

I suspect your workers will always "not quite" do the job correctly knowing you will reward them with a free lunch as well as their wages..

Any jobs available?

[SaltyMonkey]

Im hungry now...

[sailingaway221]

Wow...I'm surprised by the number of non tippers......I think it must be a location thing.....try not tipping in the US or some of Caribbean Islands .... you could loose everything thats not bolted down...I have seen it dozens of times...my boat in the yard..not locked, no one there for hurricane season and a dozen beer and 60 dollars later i'm golden.......the Bash or Factor....try leaving your boat on the hard without tipping the yard workers for a second year in the islands......Not at all unusual to see all the electronics...dingy..outboard...sails etc gone wether you're there or not......Obviously you don't have to haul out for hurricane season...because the guys guarding your boat remember the cold drinks and the measly 20 bucks each when the shi+ hits the fan.

Secondly a lot of people ( specifically waitresses ) rely on their tips as they are paid minimum wage as in some parts of the world tipping is customary...Ie polite and proper and NOT optional. Not tipping makes you look ignorant and the waitress / yard guys will for sure let you know, each in their own way of course. 15% is customary...... 20 % if it was great service and no less than 10% if it was shitty....They pay taxes on their total sales @ 15% as the normal tip...so if you don't tip them it actually costs them money to serve you!

Again I believe that if they do a good job....a few beers and a few bucks is cheap insurance for your boat! Sorry if I sound harsh but I see it all the time...... Not tipping somone in the US and some of the CAribbean for service is like you working and your boss not paying you. Thats honestly how they look at it.

Catmandoo...... It's actually the opposite..... no chewy stick no job....you will get shitty service...stuff will disappear ..... sorry! If you stay in Aus you're golden, but go to the US and try not tipping and you will for certain, without a doubt, eventually experience exactly what you are talking about. Tipping is 100% normal and expected....if you don't tip they will tip themselves at some point.

Heres a good guide for non experienced tippers
http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by sailingaway221

Catmandoo...... It's actually the opposite..... no chewy stick no job....you will get shitty service...stuff will disappear ..... sorry! If you stay in Aus you're golden, but go to the US and try not tipping and you will for certain, without a doubt, eventually experience exactly what you are talking about. Tipping is 100% normal and expected....if you don't tip they will tip themselves at some point.

Just as well I have no intention of going to the US

What sort of fcked up place is it that you have to pay people NOT to steal your stuff
And have to bribe others ( over and above their pay) to do a job

IF, they want to charge me a higher price by all means be up front about it, but to basically demand tips? Extort monies? Steal?

All sounds very dishonest
All smacks of graft and corruption.

[donradcliffe]

Catmando--don't get too high and mighty about where YOU live--someone showed me a Beneteau in Sydney that the wharfies had driven a fork lift into when they didn't get their 'tip' for unloading it.

OTOH, this is another example of what tipping leads to--the people you tip expect to get a 'present' for doing their job from the next guy, and pretty soon payment for doing a good job has turned into extortion- 'give me a tip or I won't do my job' and protection 'give me a tip or I will rip you off'.

In Trinidad, the travelift crew was disappearing the minute the boat hit the water unless they got tipped--no one left to help you out of the slip. The fuel dock lady wanted ME to put the hoses away. In Newport I had to press the fuel dock attendant repeately for my change. Sorry, but these bad attitudes have been caused by the big tippers.

[PAR]

I've found that you get what you ask for and some folks, get what's coming and don't understand why. Occasionally bad things happen intentionally, but it's not common and would be considered quite rare by any expectation. This said, some people seem to invite problems with their attitude, manor and the way they conduct themselves around others. It doesn't matter what country you're in or from or if you tip, some folks have a cloud of rain following them from where ever and naturally blame this on everyone else. These same folks get bitten by dogs and blame the dog, seem to get short changed at the fuel dock and blame the intentionally rigged machine or attendant, etc.

I've worked both ends of the dock, being the fellow in the 63' yacht looking for a haul out and the guy that will be fueling you up. Some just like to step in their own crap and find blame in everyone else. They generally get what they deserve and usually are elected to public office eventually, where their real social vengeance begins.

[sailingaway221]

Catmando, it is actually the way it is structured. The yard barely pays most the guys anything...maybe 8 or 10 bucks an hour...they get by on sanding the bottom / painting etc, or digging up jobs on the weekend. They work hard and do a good job for you because they know if they do, there is a reward, ie a " tip." Also there is a lot of crime in the boatyards, at least where i live, the guys I tip, know me, remember me and make sure that if they see someone on my boat or near it they go find out whats happening.....

Unfortunately the rest of the world isn't like Australia, at least how I remember it. They are not demanding tips...unless you go to some of the dinners in the midwest........not extorting....not stealing money.....there is no corruption and there is a lot of smacking...at least where i live ......Thats how you pay them for doing their job well..... Thats is NORMAL. You tip...everything is fine..... if they do a shitty job, you don't have to tip them.... but if they are out there sweating their asses off while you sit on the back of your boat, sipping cold Pina Coladas while these guys haul your boat out and then not tip them for doing a great job, you will have issues in almost any place in the world ...except maybe Australia. It is even more important to tip well outside the US.... and I'm not saying I like it...I'm just saying thats the way it is. Get under the boat for them and put the straps on, give them a cold drink in the middle of the day randomly without asking them.... tip them for doing a good job... You'll get the prime spot in the yard, security and all sorts of other benefits.Thats how it works.

[Kettlewell]

Tipping in New England boatyards is pretty uncommon. I have never done it, and I've never heard of it being done. But I have been known to share a beer or two with some of the crew, or to have hot coffee for them on a cold morning. I also worked in a yard for awhile in Rhode Island, and I can tell you at the rates we were charging people were not likely to tip. I think tipping may be more common in places where the yard crew are basically working under the table for slave wages. They are not exactly professionals, so anything you can do to keep them from looking for other ways to supplement their income might be worthwhile. In Colombia I tipped the crew and bought them cold beers, but they were only getting $20 per day from me.

[muskoka]

Never heard of tipping the boatyard crew in Asia. Though from time to time I've bought the boatyard crew some beer which seems to go down well.

With the exception of a few specific things like fine dining, tipping is pretty much non-existent in this part of the world.

[Joli]

We tip, ussualy beer for the crew and a bottle for the marina owner. Never felt it was required but I appreciate the good work the guys do and it's our way of saying thanks. Shitty work, no tip, just a whole lotta complaining.

[off-the-grid]

I didn't get a chance read through all of this yet, but I'm kind of with cat man do. So being the newbie who just took over ownership, when the boat was hauled and put in storage in a yard in Florida, by the previous owners, were my 4 brand new dock lines stolen because I didn't tip?