How much do you tip for carry-out/take-out?

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Replies

  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    20% I cant believe everyone who is saying they give zero. They still have to do everything just as if you were sitting down at a table they just dont have to spend as much time with you.

    They have to do everything except... everything. No one is taking my order, pouring me drinks, delivering my food, taking away my empty glasses, asking me if I need anything, bringing extra honey mustard, telling me what desserts they have........
  • rieann84
    rieann84 Posts: 511 Member
    No one is taking my order

    Right..so it just goes through the computer system and prints out on the kitchen like magic?
    pouring me drinks

    I have poured drinks for a to go. Even more work than a table because you gotta get that to go cup with the lid.
    delivering my food

    Again..I guess it just floats from the kitchen to your hands?
    bringing extra honey mustard, telling me what desserts they have........

    Ask and you shall receive. ****..is there anything else they can do for you? Wipe your *kitten* maybe? Carry you to your car?
  • OmniBlade
    OmniBlade Posts: 5

    I disagree for the following reasons.

    It allows the restaurant owner to enjoy larger profits as they don't have to foot the bill properly for having real employees as far as payroll management is concerned. They won't put cash into food or capital improvements unless it benefits their profit margin anyway and if it did, they would do it even if they had to pay the wating staff like proper employees.

    For patrons the difference between the theory you espouse and the actual practice in countries with a strong tiping culture are markedly different. For a start, a waiter has no idea if you will tip or not and so has no way to know if they should go above and beyond or just grind out a basic level of service. Additionally, in practice a strong tipping culture makes it socially unacceptable to not leave a tip ensuring all but the most woeful performance will be equally compensated. Tips are awarded less on the merit of the server and more on the socially acceptable %age of total bill. At to that the fact that it is socially akward if a goup disagrees on the level of tip to leave.

    For waiters depending on the laws of the country it screws them out of some or all of the benefits employees are normally entitled to, makes their income uncertain which has the knock on effect of it being difficult to buget or secure credit and as described above gives them no more incentive to go the extra mile in practice than if they had a secure wage.

    I think that about covers my interpretation of tipping culture :)

    - You are assuming that restaurateurs have sufficient cash flow to reinvest or that they are taking out a significant amount from the business. Most restaurants are either unprofitable or running on razor thin margins. In many instances, with higher wages, they would actually have no money left to maintain the business without raising prices.

    - I have lived in countries where tips were not given and the service, in comparison to the US, has always been mediocre. This is often because the servers stick around because these are "livable" wages but they have no incentive to do anything beyond "not getting fired."

    - In the US, there are few (if any benefits) that are foregone because of the tip-based structure of their income. Furthermore, most variable compensation and incentive based jobs face the same problem... yet I don't think it makes sense to remove sales commissions or performance bonuses because "budgeting is hard"

    If most restaurants are unprofitable then why is anyone getting into the restaurant owning business? If the market won't bear you raising prices to cover the cost of doing business, doesn't that defeat the point of doing that business? Not an excuse for not having to pay your employees a proper wage for what they do IMO, but I will conceed its a complicated economic issue. At any rate, if they had to pay some minimum wage, they would just charge what they needed to to make money, the staff are getting paid one way or another, why make it optional and subject to the whims and generosity of the customers?

    I've been to many countries with varying levels of tipping traditions and about all I can say is that service is highly variable within a country and in no way related to how strong the tipping culture is. In general if I'm eating out I want my order taking

    I'm not familiar enough with US employment laws, but in general I would say you are comparing apples to oranges, performance related pay tends to be written into job contracts, is a bonus on top of an already acceptable guarenteed amount and is paid directly by the employer. Or do you give a tip to the car salesman for friendly service?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    No one is taking my order

    Right..so it just goes through the computer system and prints out on the kitchen like magic?
    pouring me drinks

    I have poured drinks for a to go. Even more work than a table because you gotta get that to go cup with the lid.
    delivering my food

    Again..I guess it just floats from the kitchen to your hands?
    bringing extra honey mustard, telling me what desserts they have........

    Ask and you shall receive. ****..is there anything else they can do for you? Wipe your *kitten* maybe? Carry you to your car?

    I don't think I consider placing things into a bag the same thing as waiting on me at a table. I don't tip the kid bagging my groceries 20% either.

    Or, for that matter, the cashier at Taco Bell.
  • rieann84
    rieann84 Posts: 511 Member

    I don't think I consider placing things into a bag the same thing as waiting on me at a table.
    It's not the same thing. But its kinda the closest thing to it. We still input your order including any special requests and modifications. Make sure all your items are correct and accounted for. Set you up with plastic ware, napkins, ketchup, salt, etc and process your payment. All while trying to carry on with people in the restaurant we are helping.
    I don't tip the kid bagging my groceries 20% either.

    Or, for that matter, the cashier at Taco Bell.

    And that's totally fine. These people earn minimum wage or more already. Whats more..they don't have to share their paycheck with any of their fellow employees.
  • Pirate_chick
    Pirate_chick Posts: 1,216 Member
    I don't tip for carry-out.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    I don't like tipping period.

    These people are paid to do this job, I don't get tips in my job!

    You do understand that wages for those jobs are different than your job, correct? Often, servers get paid next to nothing in actual hourly wages and depend almost solely on tips.

    Where I live they get minimum wage,or better and tips are an added bonus!
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Tip 10%.

    Anyone who says "Those people" aren't tip dependent is wrong. It may vary state to state...but I remember reading that anyone who receives atleast $30 in tips per month can be considered a tipped employee, and thus qualify to be paid the tipped employee wage. ($2.13/hr where I live)

    Not to mention, many restaurants will just assume you are making a certain percentage in tips based on your sales and adjust your wage accordingly. So, in some instances, your waiter/waitress/to go person may be paying taxes on wages they aren't even receiving because it is ASSUMED that they have made a tip.

    As far as tipping in general... if you can go out and spend $40 or more on a meal for two, then you can fork over an extra $8 for a tip. Do not give me this bull**** that they "get paid for doing their job". No they don't. They get (in general) less than $3 an hour from their employer. They, and the federal government, are assuming you will be leaving a tip. Don't give me the bull**** that their employer has to and will make up their hourly wage for tips not received. I have never, ever received any kind of this compensation and if I had the balls to ask for it, I would be laughed at and let go from my job. It might be a law, but its not practiced believe that. Don't give me this bull**** that you don't agree with the way the current system is handled. By stiffing your server you aren't making any kind of rebellious statement... You are only making a hardship for that person who is working very hard for their money. You are only taking food out of the mouth of that single mother's child. You are only making it harder for that person to afford rent. You are only making it more difficult for that student to afford their books that semester.


    ^This times a million! :drinker:
  • Go_Mizzou99
    Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
    Tip 10%.

    Anyone who says "Those people" aren't tip dependent is wrong. It may vary state to state...but I remember reading that anyone who receives atleast $30 in tips per month can be considered a tipped employee, and thus qualify to be paid the tipped employee wage. ($2.13/hr where I live)

    Not to mention, many restaurants will just assume you are making a certain percentage in tips based on your sales and adjust your wage accordingly. So, in some instances, your waiter/waitress/to go person may be paying taxes on wages they aren't even receiving because it is ASSUMED that they have made a tip.

    As far as tipping in general... if you can go out and spend $40 or more on a meal for two, then you can fork over an extra $8 for a tip. Do not give me this bull**** that they "get paid for doing their job". No they don't. They get (in general) less than $3 an hour from their employer. They, and the federal government, are assuming you will be leaving a tip. Don't give me the bull**** that their employer has to and will make up their hourly wage for tips not received. I have never, ever received any kind of this compensation and if I had the balls to ask for it, I would be laughed at and let go from my job. It might be a law, but its not practiced believe that. Don't give me this bull**** that you don't agree with the way the current system is handled. By stiffing your server you aren't making any kind of rebellious statement... You are only making a hardship for that person who is working very hard for their money. You are only taking food out of the mouth of that single mother's child. You are only making it harder for that person to afford rent. You are only making it more difficult for that student to afford their books that semester.


    ^This times a million! :drinker:

    Mathematically speaking, that would mean a $10 take out order with a 10% tip times 1,000,000...carry the 2...the tip would be $1,000,000.
    :wink: :wink: :wink:
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    10% or a couple bucks, whichever is more.

    When I do take-out it's from the same places. They remember who tips. Faster orders, larger portions, more extras.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Tip 10%.

    Anyone who says "Those people" aren't tip dependent is wrong. It may vary state to state...but I remember reading that anyone who receives atleast $30 in tips per month can be considered a tipped employee, and thus qualify to be paid the tipped employee wage. ($2.13/hr where I live)

    Not to mention, many restaurants will just assume you are making a certain percentage in tips based on your sales and adjust your wage accordingly. So, in some instances, your waiter/waitress/to go person may be paying taxes on wages they aren't even receiving because it is ASSUMED that they have made a tip.

    As far as tipping in general... if you can go out and spend $40 or more on a meal for two, then you can fork over an extra $8 for a tip. Do not give me this bull**** that they "get paid for doing their job". No they don't. They get (in general) less than $3 an hour from their employer. They, and the federal government, are assuming you will be leaving a tip. Don't give me the bull**** that their employer has to and will make up their hourly wage for tips not received. I have never, ever received any kind of this compensation and if I had the balls to ask for it, I would be laughed at and let go from my job. It might be a law, but its not practiced believe that. Don't give me this bull**** that you don't agree with the way the current system is handled. By stiffing your server you aren't making any kind of rebellious statement... You are only making a hardship for that person who is working very hard for their money. You are only taking food out of the mouth of that single mother's child. You are only making it harder for that person to afford rent. You are only making it more difficult for that student to afford their books that semester.


    ^This times a million! :drinker:

    Mathematically speaking, that would mean a $10 take out order with a 10% tip times 1,000,000...carry the 2...the tip would be $1,000,000.
    :wink: :wink: :wink:

    :laugh:

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