Safelite is one of the biggest auto-glass companies in the USA, operating at over 720 locations in all 50 US states.
They provide all manner of auto-glass services including repair, replacement, and calibration for private and commercial customers, as well as insurance providers.
If you’re in need of a vehicle window repair or replacement, whether that be through your insurance company or as a private customer, you might want to know whether you should be tipping your Safelite technician and how much of your hard-earned cash to give away.
With that in mind, we’ve had a look at the industry practice and have examined the salary/hourly rate of Safelite technicians so you can make your mind up on how much you tip or whether you tip at all.
Let’s take a look…
Should You Tip a Safelite Worker? Short Answer
There is no obligation to tip a Safelite worker, nor is it even customary to do so. However, Safelite installers receive a fairly modest salary so you may feel it is in good conscience to do so, especially if they have come out to you for a mobile appointment.
SafeliteTechnician Salary/Hourly Rate
One thing that usually sways people either way when it comes to deciding whether to tip, is knowing how much the intended recipient earns.
We’ve looked into this and have discovered the following:
According to Indeed the average US hourly rate is $29.81, so Safelite’s rates are well below the US average on the basis of the earnings data provided by Indeed.
Therefore, you may find that it is in good conscience to offer a Safelite technician a tip to make up for that rather modest hourly rate.
How Much to Tip Safelite Technicians
Knowing what to tip a Safelite technician can be tricky.
It is common for tips to be based on the percentage of the goods purchased.
A tip somewhere in the region of 10-20% is usually offered in most service-based industries as we discovered when we looked at whether you should tip carpet cleaners.
The problem is that in most cases, Safelite’s bill will be settled by your motor insurance company so you may not even know the full cost.
However, we’ve done some digging and have found the average cost of services to be as follows:
| Item | Cost |
| 1-3 chips in windshield | $130 – $185 |
| Replacement windshield | $400 – $500 |
| Replacement back windshield | $390 – $550 |
| Replace driver front window | $380 – $610 |
If you stick to a 10-20% figure for any tip, then you’ll be looking at $10 – $40 for the lower-priced items and up to $120 for the higher-priced ones.
You might be thinking this is quite steep for what is generally a fairly fast job, so you may think a fixed monetary tip in the region of $10 – $20 is more appropriate rather than a percentage.
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Should You Tip More at Christmas?
If you are going to tip, it is generally good etiquette to offer more at Christmas, especially if the service is being provided on a bank holiday like Christmas or New Years day.
We suggest offering 5% more, or if you’d rather pay a fixed sum, then probably $5 on top of what you’d normally tip.
How To Tip (Cash or Card)?
We recommend tipping with cash where possible. Some employers are unscrupulous and withhold tips if you pay by card.
Paying with cash is the safest way to ensure it ends up in the technician’s hand.
Moreover, it may create difficulties for the technician if the tip is paid via card as it will mean him/her having to inform HR or payroll that part of the fee the customer has paid is a tip.
When Not To Tip
It should be noted that Safelite technicians probably won’t be expecting a tip.
On the basis of our research, it’s not common practice to tip a Safelite technician so it’s unlikely you’ll disappoint the technician if no tip is provided.
We looked at whether you should tip mechanics previously and found it isn’t customary to do so.
You might also think twice about offering a tip in these circumstances:
- If the job has been done poorly
- If the technician has been rude or unprofessional
- If the technician is late
- If the technician takes an undue length of time to complete the job
- If the technician damages your vehicle
Final Thoughts
Whilst there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to tipping, we think it’s still good etiquette to offer a tip, especially if you know that a person’s salary is likely to be on the low side (as in this case).
It isn’t standard practice to tip Safelite technicians (or any auto-glass technicians) but given their fairly modest hourly rate, we would recommend doing so.
Whether you base your tip on a percentage or fixed sum is up to you but we are normally fairly generous if the person has done a good job or has attended to us during unsociable hours.
We tend to tip less if we take our business to the company’s premises rather than if we get a call out – perhaps that’s just us.
However, you should certainly not tip if you find the technician to be rude, his workmanship poor or if the job is done in an untimely fashion.
