Verizon guy gave me his number...(not a pick-up)

Has anyone ever tipped a Verizon/TWC/DirecTV/etc. installer and had him give you his personal number? If so - have you ever used it later on?

I had a Verizon repairman here a few days ago who was amazing - guy was jumping fences and scaling porch roofs of closed businesses to get my service hooked up again. He also got bonus points for having the safari-style hard hat. Anyhow, I gave him a tip which led him to say that if I had troubles I could call him directly. Well - I'm having a (maybe different, not sure) problem again.

My question is - if I call him to come out again, what is the deal with such an arrangement? Like - are these guys still on the clock and getting paid by their employers but somehow finesse the system to get the job at my place assigned to him? Or will I be expected to send a massive tip his way to essentially cover some off-the-clock work?

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Sounds like you made a sweet connection. Call him and tip like you did before, no need to fret about it. If he's on or off the job is his business. You just play your part like usual.

He may be the proactive type. That is, he'd rather people call him than his boss (aka the service department number).

Why would you have to "tip" or pay anything out of pocket if its something thats already supposed to be covered in your service agreement? We pay ridiculous rates as it is for cable/internet in nyc, and those rates are supposed to cover installation and repair.
If you feel your installer did a great job, you can call or write the company and say so. Maybe he'll get a raise or promotion out of it.

Beware of this guy. Didn't you ever see "The Cable Guy"?