I called the piano tuner who installed my dampp chaser to ask about removing the tank for transit. He said he would be in town and could come by and do it for me. We were planning to have Mr. SK do it, but I said ok.

I asked if there would be a charge for this visit and he said, just give him a tip for gas...

So, he lives in a town about 65 miles away from here. He said he would be in my town already...

What is the appropriate amount to tip "for gas" in this situation?? I don't want to be stingy, but on the other hand, this could have been a task for Mr. SK...

At this point it would be awkward to say "in that case nevermind" 😅

So, what's an appropriate amount to tip for gas, and how should I be thinking about the distance here??

TIA!!

    In the UK the cost of tuning might be £70to £100, I pay £90. A usual tip for a service of this type would be 10%, a good tip 20%. If my tuner popped in to adjust something and asked for a tipi n payment I imagine I would offer £20.

    He says he's already going to be in town so the distance he travelled to get there is irrelevant.

    And this removal thing is probably going to take five minutes or less after he walks in your door.

    Ultimately, I think it depends on how much you usually pay him for his time prior to this point. If you've been paying him $100 per hour then I would give him $40 or so. If you've been paying him $50 per hour give him $20.

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!

    Thank you both. Ugh. I hate to sound stingy, but I'm going to be tipping the moving crew already, and some how, moving is super expensive.

    Hmm. What to do here.

    I should have said no before we got to the tip part! 😅

    I've lived in the US all my life, and I have NO idea what to tip for anything other than a meal. I just hate tipping culture, it makes me feel super-awkward all the time 🙂

    My guess is $20 is fine. He's already in the area, it's not a super-complicated job...and hopefully he's not offended by the amount!

    For the record bill I’ll prep a $20 bill and tip him in cash.

    I have nothing but respect for tuners (even if I’m a little snarky sometimes about this one particular gentleman) and I suspect we just have a communication problem.

    How much is currently paid for a US gallon of gas, if you don't mind me asking? The UK price would currently be £5.70 ($7.30??) for a US gallon. A UK gallon holds a slightly larger volume (4.5 litres) so it is £6.75 here, per gallon ($8.65).

      keff it varies from region to region, but around here it’s about $3:25/gallon I think.

          Josephine Maybe you can give him that beautiful bag 😃

          I'm a purseholic. I would tune 88 pianos for that 😍

            ShiroKuro
            California is "special."
            Regular is $6.00 around the corner from my apartment. Maybe as low as $5.40 at other stations in the area.

            Make a joyful noise...
            Jane - expert on nothing with opinions on everything.

              @Jane California is special indeed!! 😳

              Yes, that’s kind of an awkward situation. Before I read any of the replies, I came up with a $20 tip also. I don’t think that’s stingy since he’s already close by and it should’t take long to do.

              I think $20 is good! And maybe a sweet treat if you have one available 🙂

              Wow, the US tipping culture is simply beyond me … Do people actually tip even for a regular tuning I wonder … Would it usually be « expected », even in the case this person already has had your business for a while?

                kanadajin in this case it isn't for a tuning, it's just a way of saying "give whatever you feel like to compensate a little for my time and gas".

                I do not tip my piano tech, but I did tip the guys who delivered my piano.

                  Interesting - Thanks for this info twocats, but I still say wow from my perspective. (Just to be clear, I do not mean this in a derogatory way by any means, this sort of thing is unheard of over here and it just seems so strange to me, hence my surprise - sorry!)

                  kanadajin Yes, US tipping culture is a mess! I lived in Japan for many years, and it's so much simpler!!

                  So, I don't tip piano tuners (they're a business owner and set their own rates). But I tip servers at restaurants... I will tip the movers when we move etc.

                  For this particular visit, it's going to take him probably 5 minutes, so no charge but he asked for a tip. Which I think is a little pushy. But OTOH, you don't get what you don't ask for.

                  And no one should be expected to work for free. So...
                  Capitalism?