Should You Tip Your Pool Pro?

If you have a regular swimming pool service for your backyard pool, or if you’ve had a one-time swimming pool repair the question of tipping may have risen in your mind. And naturally so, many cultures use gratuity, or tipping, as appropriate means to show gratitude for a job well done. This is common to those providing services that they enjoy. This runs the gamut from restaurant servers to taxi and rideshare drivers.

Should you tip your swimming pool service pro? Tipping is not expected in most circles of swimming pool professionals. A tip is appropriate if your pool service professional went above and beyond to get a job done, or was exceptionally kind and considerate.

Tipping can be an awkward exchange for both the homeowner and the pool service professional, I’m going to offer a few scenarios that may be helpful in why and how a tip can be given to your swimming pool service provider.

A Tip Can Be Given As An End-Of-Year Bonus

Imagine yourself, working hard week in and week out to keep each and every swimming pool on your route as clean as could be. Keeping every customer as happy as possible. Fighting off rain, wind, and sunburn for the entirety of the year. Not much changes week to week, except the chlorine amounts and the amounts of leaves to be scooped out. But that pool stays crystal clear.

After all that…52 weeks of turmoil, you show up to a swimming pool and find a white envelope taped to the pool pump timer box. Inside is a note that reads;

“Tim, thank you for taking great care of our pool. Please accept this gift of our appreciation”

In all my years as a swimming pool service provider, this is the most common way I received tips. It was never expected, but always appreciated.

I always took the surprise white envelope as a nod to all the hard work. Of course, I received a regular payment for the services rendered, but there’s just something that happens to the psyche when you get a little something extra as recognition of your effort.

As you might sense, I am a big proponent of giving gratuity as an end-of-year bonus to your swimming pool service professional.

For a great many of the clients that I’ve had over the years, I was in their backyard every week for eight, nine, ten, or more years. I became friends with many of them. I became the person they would ask advice from for things beyond their swimming pool. I saw their kids grow up and graduate high school and college. So I take this as an actual gift and acknowledgment of the hard work I put forth each and every day I show up.

Tipping For One-Time Service, or Repair

Tipping the pool service pro that comes out to do a quick troubleshoot or repair is probably the more common scenario that brings rise to the question of gratuity. Naturally so. I mean, what’s more impressive? The ongoing job that has no real obvious wow-factor, or the last-minute one-time repair that gets things operational so you can carry on with your pool party plans?

Yes, the latter is much more impressive and likely will make us want to offer a tip for saving the day. In fact, of the two it’s likely more in line with the definition of what a tip is.

There is nothing wrong with giving a tip to a professional who has given you a quote, delivered on his promise, and has gotten your pool up and running quickly.

Why Consider Tipping Your Pool Repair Pro

Pool repair professionals (not necessarily synonymous with pool service pros by-the-way) who are at the top of their game are worthy of consideration for gratuity. Consider that what they do is on a higher level collectively than most tradesmen out there. Don’t get me wrong here, a journeyman in any trade can run circles around even the best pool repair pro, but the variety of skills that are needed to be a quality pool repair pro is amazing.

Are you considering whether or not to tip a pool repair professional? Yes, A high-quality swimming pool pro needs to know numerous trades to diagnose and repair swimming pool issues, which makes them deserving of gratuity. Although it’s not necessary.

Why? A quality pool repair person needs to know

• how every type of pool is built
• How to deal with PVC, copper, and cast-iron plumbing.
• electrical; one, two, and three-phase
• low-voltage
• programming controls from several manufacturers.
• how to safely work on gas heaters
• how to diagnose the mechanics of a pump and motor
• keeps the components watertight

A high-quality swimming pool repairman is worth every penny, and a tip. But again, in all my years of going out on repair calls and providing great service, even getting 5-star online reviews, I’ve only received tips a handful of times. Other pros that I know also have only received tips a handful of times. So, gratuity is not expected when you pool service pro shows up or completes a job. But if it happens, it’s much appreciated.

How To Offer A Tip To Your Pool Service Pro

It can be a little awkward when you want to give a tip when it’s typically not expected to be given. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be a big shot and know the secret handshake with the folded up bill like you’re trying to grease the wheels with a maître d’ in a high-end restaurant.

The Direct Tip Approach

Let’s start with just handing your pool pro a tip. For some, this is a little awkward. Especially in American society where everyone is a cynic. Many of us just don’t know how to give a genuine give of praise, and the rest of us have difficulty accepting a gift without wondering what the catch is. Then there’s the whole timing of it all. You don’t want to give it while he’s still working, because then he has to clean his hands to put the money away. You don’t want to chase after him as he’s getting in his truck, because that makes it seem like an afterthought. Oh, the insanity!

Too be honest, it really doesn’t matter. I’ve received tips when my hands are all full of grease, and I’ve received them as I was literally driving away. Either way it was very welcome and much appreciated. Often the homeowner will say something cliche’ like, “here’s a little something for yourself”, or, “this is for a job well done”. And I will say “awe, you shouldn’t have”, or, “that’s really not necessary”. We all know the dance, and if we all do our part it’s painless.

The Slick Tip Approach

You could always give a sneaky tip. As a self-employed pool service pro, all the invoices and payments come through me or my wife. So, when something doesn’t add up I’ll catch it. Some of my clients will occasionally add $20 to their invoice payment with a note in the memo that the extra amount is a tip. This isn’t my personal favorite way to receive a tip, because it means extra processing paperwork for me, but it’s still very much acceptable and appreciated.

I also use a POS credit card payment system, and built into the software is a tip option that some of my clients will take advantage of. So these are non-invasive, non-embarassing ways to give a tip.

Just one word of follow-up on these. Clearly indicate that the extra amount is a tip. Otherwise, it has to be retained as a credit or refunded to keep the books balanced.

The End-of-Year ‘Bonus’

Finally the end-of-year bonus idea. A white envelope of cash with or without a note of appreciation is an easy nonconfrontational way to say thanks without that weird interchange. This works best if you know your pool pro’s schedule. When I ran my pool route, I was usually in the same location from one week to the next within about 20 minutes of the previous week. This always made it easy for my clients to tape an envelope to the timer box and know I would be there to get it.

This would always be my favorite way to receive a tip. Some folks generosity for what seemed to me to be menial work always blew my mind.

How Much Should You Tip Your Pool Pro?

Since tipping your swimming pool service pro isn’t really a customary thing, this is of course vague at best. There is no rule like 18% if your at fine dining 15% if you’re at a family restaurant, 10% for take-out, etc…

Round numbers always make sense. A number that’s commensurate with the work involved as well. It always seemed that there was an additional loyalty factor involved too.

So, for a one-time repair that took 1 to 3 hours of work, $20 seems reasonable. If the job took a day or more, $50 wouldn’t be out of the question.

If you have a monthly or longer service contract, and your service pro does a great job year-round or throughout the season, $100 or more at the end of the year averages out to just a few bucks per visit.

Like I mentioned there’s no hard and fast rule here, just something to consider.

The Best Tip You Can Give Your Swimming Pool Service Professional

The best way to reward your swimming pool service pro is to let others know how much you appreciate them. Take to the internet or smartphone and write up a detailed review for your neighbors. This “word-of-mouth” referal does wonders for small businesses and saves us money on advertising dollars. So go to Yelp, Google, Bing, Nextdoor, FaceBook, AngiesList, and so on.

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