Do you tip the postie at Christmas?

I suspect we soemtimes have too much time on our hands! Or maybe they become addictive. However, I find there is a lot to be learned through these conversations. You also learn that your opinions may (rarely, of course) not always be shared by the whole community. As Chrisb1 pointed out in another conversation he could not understand why some facts were given the thumbs down by a number of (anonymous) contributors.

Yes I’m a subscriber and here because I learn more than from watching TV. I use thumbs-up to encourage new or infrequent contributors to take part, but don’t bother much with the regulars. Thumbs-down is mainly for commenters that are unpleasant to others and best avoided if there is a dispute. On another forum that I look at you can’t vote more than twice a day, there is no equivalent of thumbs-down and you can’t vote on your own contribution, which overall seem a better system.

Meanwhile back at tipping – although I don’t approve of it because the system is denying some people fair wages from their employer, I do tip in circumstances where it is commonly done to avoid my embarrassment and the recipient wondering what he/she did wrong if there was no tip. My postman does not get any form of Christmas gift but get thanked at least once every week.

I have been using many different forums for over a decade and I find Conversations a little bit limiting – however better than nothing : ) Forums can be very educational and yes compared to TV infinitely more satisfying as you can take time to consider what information is provided and ask questions of fellow contributors.

The question of tipping is interesting and normally we worry about it mostly when abroad. It is nice to see countries where tipping is regarded as an insult! [This was a subject for another Conversation]

Perhaps I can ask the views here – I was told that primary school children now take presents to teacher – seems exceedingly wrong to me. Is this just a rogue school in TW or is it widespread?

I am also concerned about school kids giving presents to teachers. Is it genuine thanks, possible bribery or tipping when items such as bottles of wine change hands? I think gifts should be restricted to cards.

A card can be a nice gesture. A charity I am involved with arranged a couple of outings for a group of disabled school kids and their teachers and we acted as impromptu teachers. Several months later, I have received a nice hand-made Christmas card, which I will put on display where my colleagues can see it, but at the moment it takes pride of place on the mantelpiece.

I am not a subscriber of Which?. I used to be, but stopped due to making cut-backs in money 🙁

I do learn so much from Which? conversation and I leave comments due to me not living a “normal” life and are interested on what others have to say.

While most of my comments do get thumbs down I have come to accept that as it goes hand-in-hand with not being normal.

Perhaps we could have a Christmas Conversation about what we value about the work that Which? does and what we are less keen on, or what topics would be good to debate in future. That’s my Christmas ‘tip’. 🙂

I’ll give you a ‘thumbs-up’ for being the most eccentric regular contributor, Lee. I hope you will switch from 0871 to a geographic number to thank all these companies and other organisations that are in process of making their phone numbers affordable to the public.

I’ve had a continuous Which? subscription for about five decades but I learn a lot from the Conversation topics and enjoy participating. I used to read the magazine from cover to cover but I am more selective these days as i find the Conversation topics give me better insights into the subjects that interest me. Plus I am not so keen as I once was to have [or at least to know about] the latest gadget/appliance/tool/car feature so studying the comparative data is not so rewarding as reading users’ experiences and their thoughts on other current issues.

As for tipping, I hardly ever give a tip these days for a variety of reasons. Staff turnover in restaurants and other service outlets is so high that I don’t feel I have any commitment to them nor they to me. There was a time when the dustman’s job was seriously back-breaking and life- threatening; not so nowadays with wheelie bins and modern protective clothing . . . it’s task-&-finish as-quick-as-you-can today, so no tips from me. We get post three days a week but rarely the same delivery operative. I recently tipped a driver who picked us up from the airport at some unearthly hour because he had had to go to bed at seven o’clock the night before and his company probably doesn’t compensate him adequately for the disturbance to his daily life. I do still tip taxi drivers and my hairdresser because the recession has brought so much competition that they are struggling to exist on their level of turnover [there are now so many taxis queuing up at Norwich station that some of them have to wait over an hour for another fare where they used to be able to do upto ten journeys per hour, and the local hairdressers have seen an influx of competitors from other lands who are quite content to keep the prices at low levels with no actual increases possible for the established barbers in over five years now – hence I top it up to something nearer the London rate].

There is no such thing as ‘normal’.

Perhaps those who you tip do receive a decent wage, but have you asked those who have a very low and sometimes illegal income whether they would prefer tips or to be paid a fair wage?

I’m currently a subscriber but I might have to stop in the new year.

If someone provides me with good service as opposed to just doing their job, I’ll write to the company thanking them, and let the company reward them at Christmas time. Although I can imagine many wont 🙁

FYI I’ve cancelled by subscription.