I was just diving home in the 52 when I saw my mom on the side of the road. She ran out of gas and had called AAA. When they pulled up I gave my mom a 5 and told her to tip the guy. She looked at my funny then said ok. Is this not common practice? Or do I feel bad cuz anytime I need a tow my car is usually too low or long to make it up the flat bed without some work...
I think so, but I tip a lot of people that some folks don't, like the guy who did the actual mounting of my tires, a mechanic who worked on my car, stuff like that. I know they are paid a wage, but it never hurts to show you appreciated the good service you got. Don
Yep, I don't much go for a compulsory tip but at times good service or going an extra mile deserves a tip expected or not.
I always tip tow truck drivers. It's a hard job that I wouldn't want to do. I live in a small town and for a while I had three teenage boys with cars. You get to know the local tow truck drivers..... The same AAA driver has shown up for 4 out of 5 service calls. He knows me now and remembers that there's always a decent tip. I also tip waiters/waitresses and my barber.
When I worked at a marina our techs always appreciated a tip and went out of their way to earn it. One time a very old lady brought her boat in and we repaired it, and when we were done she asked me who had worked on her boat. I pointed out the tech and she went out and talked with him. A little while later he came to my office laughing and said "That old lady tipped me a silver dollar ! " He thought it was funny because it was only a buck, but we looked it up on the computer and it was worth about $ 50 bucks ! Here he was thinking she was cheap and the whole time she was taking good care of him. Don
Most tow truck drivers around here are owner operators,so If they dont overcharge me to begin with, I dont care to give a few bucks extra, however if its going to be a couple hundred dollar tow bill, five bucks unfortunately might be more of an insult than a nice gesture to some.
I drove a tow truck for seven years for a AAA affiliated company. If that guy works for a guy like I did he undoubtedly appreciates the extra cash.
We dont really practice tipping down here, but theres a little goes on. Remember, very important to tip your tattoo guy as well.
I tipped one once when he towed my OT vehicle to his own home overnight rather than to the yard b/c I had the T tops off and there were wild cats at the yard. He then picked me up in town the nexr day and took me to his place to get the car. That was worth a twenty.
I towed for AAA all summer a couple years back. Many, many times people went over the mileage by a couple miles (they were told by the dispatcher they needed $3.75 a mile extra and told the dispatcher they had the cash). They waited til their car was off the flatbed before they "discovered" they didn't have the money. Since our trucks had GPS I was forced to eat the extra mileage. I got smart and started demanding the money before unloading the car. Not only did people not tip but they demanded the $0.37 change from their mileage. I towed lots of high-dollar cars that had all 4 wheels stolen, never scratched a single one. Changed tires for idiots that insisted on stopping on the freeway instead of going 300 yards to the exit. It's a tough job and rewarding, but not financially. Only tip I ever got was a 10-spot for towing an early Monte Carlo that was immaculate.
i drove tow trucks for years . AAA calls suck for pay anyway. usually only $25 and we got 25% of that so a tip was Definately appreciated . I showed respect to every vehicle even if it was a rice burner .
When I worked in Law Enforcement, I always used the tow company that towed for the station. They never charged so I would always tip. Depending on the difficulty, the tip was $25-$50. Even though I'm retired, if I call the station and they call the tow company for me, it's free.
I am like Don, I don't know that it is traditional but I tip people who render services to me. My Dad did as well as my grandad. I don't normally tip business owners but employees yes indeed.
I tip everyone. Just a hint if you are going to tip somebody for doing a particular job, it's better to tip them before or during the job. This way they' ll give the job a little more attention. My2sense
Yes...last time I used AAA was almost 3am on a Sunday morning at work, called them & they said....30-40 mins, I told them to bring a flatbed as it wasn't going to start & is lowered. Guy turned up 12 min's later, looked at the Pontiac, and asked me, "I guess you already checked out why it won't go? As its not a regular tin can car" I told him yes, and 5 mins later we were loaded & rolling home. Got home, unloaded into my parking space & he was ready to leave less than 45 min's after the initial call. He got a $20.00
I drove a tow truck for nearly a decade and tips were RARE, and not because I wasn't doing a good job either. I remember dropping cars off at the yard and giving a ride across town so they could get rentals or giving a them ride home that was oppisite direction from me. It also seemed the ones that did tip looked like the ones that could least afford to tip.
I was recently involved in a wreck. My car was a total. I was taken to the ER by ambulance. My car was towed by wrecker to his lot about 2 miles up the road. My wrecker bill was 450.00...and BTW it was a roll back wrecker just a matter of slapping a cable/chain on it and dragging it on the back of the wrecker. My ambulance ride was 1400.00 but it was a long trip....3 miles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm in love with a bitch I can't stand.
First time I used AAA after moving to the states I was amazed when the lady on he phone told me a driver would be with me in ten minutes! In thirty minutes there was a twenty three foot hearse squeezed onto the back of a flatbed without any complaints or sucking of teeth from the driver. With that kinda service a ten or a twenty is cheep insurance to make sure my car gets where it's going with a little bit of care and attention. Most of the time these guys are thrilled to put a rad old car on their trailer, I always tip, like I said, cheep insurance.
Usually for a wreck with insurance it was $275 to load, $75/hour labor including drive time, $4/mile or so and $40 "clean up" for sweeping the scene. I saw a few $450 bills. Usually handed the bill to the body shop to include in the claim.
I ran a tow truck for about 10 years, 90% of my calls were AAA. Tips weren't expected but got them often, enough to plan on them for pocket cash every week. Best tippers were the guy in the business suit with a flat tire, they would feel bad about not changing their own tire, they could but didn't want to get dirty, mess up their suit. Seemed always good for a 10 to 20 spot. Funny, if it was a AAA call where AAA footed the whole bill I got a tip quite often. Non AAA calls where I had to charge the customer cash rarely got a tip unless it was "keep the change", maybe a buck or two.
Two things I can tell you about wrecking and wreckers. 1. We don't make shit. 25% of $25 for a AAA call ain't much. A five-spot is appreciated. A $20 will make my day. $100 tip will make my month. 2. Don't think for one second that you're helping by leaving the car in neutral. Most likely I gotta crawl my ass under there to hook it up. I got every other car on the road trying to run me down, last thing I need is to be crushed by the car I'm towing.
It's funny because the tow truck business we use alway gives me $10 buck for using them, maybe the customer tipped them already.
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