Tipping Question - Part 37 (1 Viewer)

[Mike Voigt]

I always tip when picking up, though less than what I would if eating at the restaurant. 10% or at most 15%.

The main reasons being that all of the personnel is usually in the "part of wages are tips" category - including those at the take-out window - and that they will remember me as a customer who tips. A few trips to a place, and I usually get excellent, *very* prompt service.

And sometimes - especially if it's in line with your business - it pays off nicely to have an existing, very good relationship with the restaurant staff. It also allows for some of the more fancy deals; case in point, a friend of mine was celebrating her birthday, and all 8 of us went to a very nice restaurant. We decided we wanted something special, so we asked, and ultimately did not have the food offered a la carte (which is excellent, by the way), but a 5 course meal that the chef created for her on the spot; they did not know beforehand that it was her birthday. All accompanied by a few bottles of something special kept for the owner or good customers.

How did this come about: well, she tried the restaurant, liked the atmosphere, food and service there, then took quite a few people to the place, made sure that the tips were very generous, especially around the holidays, asked to meet the chef a bit into the relationship, asked him a few questions, started building a relationship there, etc. By now they all know her, and greet her by name when she walks in.

It helps to build relationships. Wouldn't do this with your corner McD's, but certainly with a good restaurant, especially if you entertain visitors for a company on a regular basis.

 

[Kevin T]

in my experience....90% of the waitstaff are moderate to heavy drug users. i don't tip because tipping finances international terrorism.

kevin t

 

[Magnus_M]

Maybe it's just me but it seems like many people have double standards on things like this.

It's not uncommon for people to pay 10-30% in tips at a restaurant, at the same time most people haggle to get the best price att Best Buy, CC et al.

I can't help wondering how many low/no commission sales these people get just to get any sales at all?
Sure, salesmen may not have below minimum wage but no sales = no job (you get my point).

Any employer not paying at least minimum wage to their employes doesn't deserve any business at all.

Tipping is (and should always be) a way to show my appreciation for the good service I've been getting.

 

[David Williams]

(With all due respect to Magnus )

I care, why, exactly? It's business, not charity. I try to get the lowest possible price for my money, they try to get the highest possible price... compromise usually results and, bingo, you have a sale. If a salesperson doesn't make a good living on their wages + commission, then find another job. Period.

As for the tipping question. I will not tip on pickup orders (their subminimum wage should cover the minimal work involved in packaging it up), but for good service I will tip 15% and 20% for great service. And 0% tip for bad service, no exceptions.

I guess I've neved had a hot enough waiter to tip him extra. :frowning:

 

[TonyDale]

Worked a double on New Year's Eve, and my tip percentage (averaged out against my total sales) was 29.5%.
Not bad for a day before a holiday; my tip average on a normal day is anywhere between 23% and 26%.

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

Yeah, I used to work in the restaurant biz.

If you don't tip the delivery guy, he's not gonna spit in your food. However, delivery guys usually bring several pizzas per run and they always go to the big tippers first, lousy tippers last, so the real net effect is that you wait longer if you tip less.

As long as we're on the subject of delivery guys, always remember to tip more if the weather is lousy or if you live farther away from the restaurant.

1. That depends on whether you mean "to go" or "carry out." If you mean carry out, then I usually don't bother tipping for that.
   
   However, if you mean to go, then yes, tipping should happen, and at the same rate you would for any other meal.
   
   Maybe you've ordered a full meal from a waiter and want a "to go" order to bring home to someone. That is certainly going to mean at least two extra trips for the waiter, which impacts the level of service he can provide to others, which impacts the tips he makes.
   
   Maybe you're ordering a to go order from the bartender. Sure, the barkeep usually has a shorter run to the kitchen, but his order handling involves very short transactions, so that short trip actually affects more potential customers for the barkeeper than it would for the waiter. Again, this can affect the tips he makes for that evening.
   
   Either way, to go orders should be tipped.
2. What on Earth led you to believe the drink would be complimentary? Let me clue you in on something: restaurant owners will do everything they can to get you to buy drinks from their bars because they get huge markups on alcoholic beverages. They're not about to give away the golden goose, especially not in a circumstance where you only have time for one drink.[/list=1]

 

[AndyDL]

Oyyy, some of these responses are scary.

As a server, I get paid $2.13/hour. Tips are critical. As a bartender, I get $4.20/hour. A little better, but still, not minimum wage. At least not here in AZ.

I'll never understand the people who stiff me because:

- "I had to ask to get a refill and you still charged me for a drink."

Never forget that one.

- "You charged me for salad dressing but never told me there was a charge."

haha -- .65 cents... I'll buy you the damn dressing!


I wish I could wear a sticker at work that says:

"HOURLY WAGE $2.13/HOUR
PLEASE LEAVE SOMETHING"

Man I gotta get out of this restauraunt business.. what a joke..

Andy

 

[Kevin T]

i was a full time cook at a restaurant and now i continue to work in the same restaurant part time on the weekends. i've never understood this complaint from servers. the pay scale was laid out before you started. why bitch about it when you knew full well what you were going to make? tipping is standard and customary, but i need a certainty of income. i can't rely on someone else's generosity to pay my mortgage. that's why i became a cook. like i tell all the other server's who bitch and piss and moan about their wage....if you don't like it, quit. sorry for the rant, guys.

kevin t

 

[Scott Leopold]

Okay, that's something I'd complain about as well. What sort of a restaurant charges for dressing? That'd be like being charged $1.50 for a Double Cheeseburger at McDonalds because you wanted ketchup and mustard on it. If a restaurant charges hidden charges and my waiter doesn't make me aware of them, then I would blame him/her.

We were at one of the local chain restaurants once (might have been Cookers, can't remember), and after placing my order, the waiter asked what kind of dressing I wanted on my salad. He asked this of everyone, and thinking nothing of it, we all told him what we wanted. When I got my bill and saw that it was $18 more than I was expecting, I was a bit angry. Turns out salads were not included as part of the meal, but were $2.95 extra. The waiter didn't point this out, and it wasn't clearly stated on the menu (there was a separate section for salads, but the entrees didn't list salads or side items--the sides were included, but the salads weren't). When I said something about it, the waiter told me I should have read the menu more closely. I ended up calling the manager over. He apologized, took off the cost of the salads, the drinks and my meal (I just wanted the salads taken off). I also elected to not leave a tip.

I have no patience for servers who think they're being sly by not mentioning these charges, thinking they won't be questioned and that they'll get a bigger tip. Whether it's salad dressing, salads, or a case of a waitress offering to refill my half-empty glass without telling me she's going to charge me for a full drink, I personally won't pay for it. I'll also reflect my displeasure in the practice with the tip I leave.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Actually Paul I knew several drivers who did much worse, I know that I was intentionally rude to customers who didn't tip (it was not in my best interest to make them a repeating customer while I made minimum wage and put wear-n-tear on my vehicle, let them shop the competition imho as well as many of my co-workers opinion at the time) to dissuade them from ordering a pizza and when some of us drivers took orders we started putting on the computer under the notes that whether the customer tipped or not (this determined the order of delivery in some cases as well as the heads up to not be so friendly at the door for a repeated future experience). I'm in the camp of if you don't want to tip then you should simply go to restaurant, order to go, and walk/drive in and pick it up yourself but to expect to be treated with good service by someone who maybe making less than minimum wage follows the adage of "you get what you pay for".

 

[Darren Crouse]

Don't think so, actually. My co-workers get $6/hour, which is below minimum wage, and the tip that's it. No extra money for fuel and the delivery charge is given to the order processing department. My wife, who was also a waitress, worked for less than minimum wage at Swiss Chalet. Maybe it's different in Alberta but in Ontario it's not uncommon to receive less than minimum wage.

Later,
Darren.

 

[Jason L.]

Well, as the originator of this thread I was right about one thing:

Tipping Threads = Mucho Responses

To clarify what I mean about the drink while waiting:

I'll give my take-out order to whomever, and take a seat at the bar waiting for my order. The bartender will invariably ask "Do you want a drink while your waiting?"

I'll ask for a Diet Coke. Not a beer, mixed drink, lemonade, ice tea, milkshake, etc. As someone said earlier, it maybe costs 10 cents from the tap. The bartender knows I am not here to chitchat, flirt, watch TV, or sit down and waste time savoring a drink. I am here to get my food and take off. Most of the time, it will be for free. However, sometimes they will have the cajones to charge me for it.

Now I am stuck because if I say no, who knows what they will do to my food.

But the collective intelligence of the HTF has responded that I am naive to think that such a drink would implicitly be for free and I will accept that.

 

[Malcolm R]

Standard condiments are included in the price, but I know Burger King adds extra charges if you ask for extras on your burger. Cheese is something like 15 cents per slice, extra lettuce another 10 cents, extra tomato 15 cents, bacon 50 cents, etc., etc. I doubt there are many employees who clear the extra charges in advance with the customer.

Funny how they never deduct the same if you order a burger "without" something, though. I always order "no tomatoes," shouldn't I get 15 cents off?

 

[MikeH1]

Your worried about what they will do to your food if you don't agree with getting charged for the drink?

I think with that simple phrase you just answered your own tipping question

 

[LarryDavenport]

Extra cheese on a bean burrito at Taco Bell is 50 cents, more than half the 89 cent regular price.

 

[Gary Seven]

I do not tip on to go orders... no exception. This is a trend that recently started... what... about 8 or 9 years ago? Don't believe in it and never will. This is just another case of people wanting something for nothing.

However, when I get table service, I will tip 15 to 25 percent, depending on quality of service.

I never assume anything is complimentary.

 

[larry mac]

I use to work a lot of overtime, the company paid for overtime meals, and there was an El Chico Mexican Restaurant just across the way. So, I started getting a lot of to go meals there. I would call my order in but you had to pick it up at the bar.

My first impulse was to not tip, because I was getting it to-go and picking it up myself. There was no dining service involved. But as I sat there watching the bartender working his ass off it became immediately apparent that my order was causing him quite a bit of extra work. First off, I was hoping he would keep checking with the kitchen so I would get my order as soon as it was available. Also, the first couple of visits, when he gave me the order, I would ask him if it had this and that in it (chips, hot sauce, tortillas, butter, utinsels, etc.) so I wouldn't get back to work only to find something missing and ruin my meal.

The point is, he disserved a tip, and I wanted to ensure good future service, which I did receive. Now if they had a separate pickup area devoted for take-out then no, I wouldn't tip.

Pizza - I always pick up myself. I know it will always be as hot and fresh as it can possibly be, and there's no tipping. Sometimes when picking up at a pizza place, if it is a restaurant, they will ask me if I want a coke or something and I've never been charged. But at a bar, I would definitely ask if it's going to be free.

 

[Eric_L]

For Pizza and home delivery I tip generously. Some is from having once been a delevery person myself. Mostly though it is because I want every driver there to know that when they see a pizza waiting on the shelf for me there is a big tip waiting for them. My pizza is always hot and prompt.

For take out I usually leave a small tip also. Usually because it is a small mom-n-pop and it currys just a bit of favor on portion sizes in future visits.

Free drinks are only provided when an order is very late or erroneous. They are offered only by management and accompanied by the phrase "Would you like a complimentary soda while you wait?"

 

[MarkHastings]

Jason, you're absolutely killing me with the fact that you'd be upset by being charged for a soda. Why should the soda be free? You do realize you're at a place of business and not a friends house.

 

[larry mac]

I agree with Eric_L. It's usually something similar to that.