Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications operators in the USA with approximately 120 million customers across the country.
Verizon offers a wide range of services including broadband, wireless, and more traditional phone services.
With a humongous turnover of $31 billion in 2020, Verizon is at the cutting edge of telecommunications in North America.
If you’re familiar with their services, then you will be aware that Verizon often sends out technicians to an address to install or maintain their services.
If you’ve got a Verizon Technician attending your property, then you might be wondering whether you need to tip them and how much.
To help you decide, we’ve crunched the numbers and have researched this exact question by looking into what is customary in this industry, what Verizon technicians earn, when you might want to tip and how much, and when you might decide to withhold a tip.
Let’s take a look…
Do You Tip Verizon Technicians? The Short Answer
It is not customary to tip a Verizon technician, or telephone/broadband technicians generally, and Verizon’s company policy actually doesn’t allow them to accept one. If you insist on providing a tip then we suggest $5 – $20 would be appropriate.
Tipping Cable Repair/Broadband/Telephone Technicians at Verizon
As above, Verizon technicians aren’t generally allowed to accept tips.
It’s against their company policy.
This is likely because of the tax implications of their employees accepting tips or due to other ethical dilemmas that tips can present such as some employees receiving more tips than others or the ambiguity of whether a customer should tip them.
We’ve looked into the customary practice of tipping broadband/telephone or other telecommunications technicians and our research indicates that it’s not customary to tip this sort of technician.
If you do insist on tipping then you shouldn’t be offended or over-insistent should a Verizon tech refuse your offer.
It’s important to remember that if they are caught accepting a tip, this could land them in hot water and result in termination of their employment or disciplinary action.
How Much Do Verizon Technicians Earn?
If you’re wondering whether to tip a Verizon technician then you might want to know what their average hourly rate and salary is.
We’ve looked into this for you:
| Verizon Role | Average Salary |
| Installer | $66,074pa |
| Field Engineer | $74,752pa |
| Installation Technician | $77,582pa |
| Fiber Technician | $79,102pa |
According to the above data provided by Indeed, Verizon’s annual salaries are in fact very respectable and are well above the US median yearly income which currently stands at $41,535 according to the US census.
The average salary for a broadband technician is only $45,500 according to Intuit so Verizon techs are seemingly extremely well paid.
Tips are usually customary in service-based professions with a low base income.
For example, we looked into whether you should tip carpet cleaners at Stanley Steemer and found you probably should because of their low base income.
We’ve also previously looked at whether you should be tipping at cafes and at diners like Denny’s and concluded something similar.
However, on the basis of the above statistics, Verizon techs do not fit into that category.
On that basis, you may consider that a tip isn’t justified in any event.
Indeed, this is the conclusion we reached when we looked at whether to tip Xfinity techs, Verizon’s main competitor.
We reached a similar conclusion when looking at whether to tip Spectrum, Optimum, and Dish Network techs.
How Much Should I Tip If I Want To?
If you are insistent on providing a tip, then normally this is 10-20% of the cost of the service provided.
However, this is fairly hard to quantify when it comes to telecommunications as you’re generally paying a monthly fee for the service and the technician comes out usually at no additional charge.
As such, we suggest that a flat rate is probably more appropriate and $5 – $20 is about right if you insist on offering a tip.
However, you should not feel obliged to offer a tip and the Verizon technician probably won’t accept it anyway given company policy.
Related Article:
Do You Tip for TV deliver, Repair and Installation?
When You Shouldn’t Offer a Tip
There will be certain circumstances when you will definitely not want to offer a tip to a Verizon technician or any other cable technician:
- If the service is poor. If your phone/broadband etc… is still not working after the repairs have been done, then you might think twice about opening your wallet;
- If the service is slow or inefficient. Inefficiency will probably make you think twice about reaching into your pocket to offer a tip so bear that in mind if the service is slow;
- If your property is damaged or the work is untidy. We have experienced firsthand shoddy workmanship where the tech’s work area is left in a mess or, worse still, they’ve damaged the wall or other parts of the premises;
- If the technician is rude or unprofessional. Manners cost nothing so think twice about tipping if you’ve received a less than courteous service.
On the other side of that argument, you may wish to offer a tip if the service has been exemplary or if the tech has been professional and gone beyond the call of duty. We also recommend tipping at Christmas and other holidays unless the service is poor.
Final Thoughts
Verizon technicians are not allowed to accept tips but that doesn’t mean some won’t do so.
We suspect many will but don’t be offended if they don’t accept your money even when you insist – they are simply doing their job and could be disciplined if they accept.
Tipping a broadband/cable/telephone technician is not generally expected or customary so it’s unlikely you will be looked on unfavorably if you don’t open up your wallet.
Moreover, given Verizon technicians’ above-average salaries, it would seem that the company already rewards its employees with adequate remuneration and this could be another reason why they don’t allow tips to be accepted.
If you insist on tipping then we recommend only doing so if the job has been done to a high standard, the technician has been professional, or if it’s around the holidays.
However, offering a tip is always a personal choice and this is certainly one example where a tip really isn’t necessary for all the reasons we have set out.
