Should You Tip Your AC Installer?

 

 

 

Georgia is not a state where you want to live without air conditioning in your home. The summers can get brutally hot, and along with the humidity, it can feel even hotter than it actually is. For this reason, you’re probably going to get an air conditioner installed in your home. 

However, not every installer will do. Installers who aren’t qualified can end up costing you more in the long run. That’s why it’s critical to be careful whom to trust with your AC unit.

The first step to installing an air conditioner is a visit from a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) specialist. They will conduct an inspection to determine the type of air conditioner that will work best in your home. You can find local specialists by asking family and friends for recommendations. Alternatively, you can search online using keywords like ‘HVAC contractor Naples FL’ for experts. An experienced professional can recommend a suitable AC and install it.

But when it comes to AC installation Hinesville residents often wonder if they’re supposed to tip their AC installer. Well, the answer is, it depends. Let’s take a closer look.

 

AC Installers Generally Are Not Tipped

 

In most cases, people do not tip their AC installers because they are paid an hourly wage from their employer and don’t depend on tips for their income. This is true for most tradesmen and AC installers don’t expect to get tipped when they work on a homeowner’s AC unit. Often, a homeowner is already paying quite a bit to get their air conditioner installed and the unit itself probably wasn’t cheap. Adding a tip onto these costs isn’t something every homeowner can afford to do.

 

Plus, if there are two or more workers who are installing your air conditioner, you’ll want to tip them all because it wouldn’t be right to tip just one of them. This can add even more to your expenses, which is something you might be hesitant to do after spending a significant amount on the AC unit and its installation.

Incidentally, did you know that the practice of tipping is said to have started in the nineteenth century? Customers in English inns would drop modest amounts in a box labeled ‘To Insure Promptness.’ Over time, these words were abbreviated as ‘TIP’ and became associated with efficient service. However, some dispute this backstory, claiming that the term dates back to the 1700s to mean a monetary reward given to servants. 

 

Some AC Companies Won’t Accept Tips

 

Even if you do try to tip your installer, you might find that it’s against company policy to accept tips. This is because there are several people involved in the service call from the dispatcher to the scheduler to the actual installer. Some companies have decided that it isn’t fair to the rest of the employees involved in the service call for the installer to get a tip. So, while offering a tip is a nice gesture, there may be a company policy against accepting it. If this happens, don’t try to force them to take the tip because it may cause other issues for the installer.

There’s another way of appreciating your installer in this instance. You can write to the HVAC contractor about the installer’s exceptional work and attitude. This will give the company valuable feedback about the work performance of their team members. And who knows, the installer might even get recognition or some other incentive for a job well done!

 

Times When Tipping is Appropriate

 

Even though an AC installer probably won’t be expecting a tip, one will still be appreciated if they’re allowed to accept it. This is particularly true if the installer is working at an odd time of the day (after hours or on the weekend for example), is working in harsh conditions like extreme heat or cold, is able to complete the job in fewer hours than expected, thereby saving you money on hourly wages, or leaves the worksite even cleaner than it was before they got there. Again, you don’t have to tip under any of these circumstances, but if you want to show that they went above and beyond what you expected, a few extra dollars would be a nice bonus.

 

Conclusion

 

The long and the short of it is that you can tip your AC installer if you want to. Whether they can accept it or not is another matter, but if they can, your tip will be appreciated, particularly if the job was harder than most.