A question about tipping

[fishwax]

I'm curious what DUers attitudes are towards leaving a tip when you order carryout from a restaurant. Suppose you order carryout from a restaurant where you would normally dine in. If you pay with a credit or debit card, the receipt for you to sign has a line for the tip, as it would if you dined in. How do you proceed?

An additional question: if you pay with cash for carryout, are you more likely, less likely, or equally likely to tip in the same way?

[petronius]

1. I fthere's a tip jar on the counter I might put in a dollar or two, the same as I

would at a mainly take-out place. Generally, we tip well when we dine in.

[Aristus]

2. I get "Curb-side To Go" a lot, and I always give the person who's running the order

out to my car a couple of bucks. Less than if they were waiting on my table inside, but still some recognition of the effort, especially if it is cold, raining or both.

I come from a middle-class family with a working-class belief: If they are working hard, always overtip. Chances are pretty good some asshole is undertipping them...

[fishwax]

7. unfortunately I'm sure that's true

"Chances are pretty good some asshole is undertipping them..." :grr:

[MrSlayer]

3. Picking up a take-out order is not a tipping situation.

No service is being provided.

[Quixote1818]

5. But the employer still might allocate them tips on all sales

If they make a sale and don't report any tips on that sale they may be allocated tips. If they didn't get any tips yet their employer allocates them 8% for that sale then they have to pay taxes on a tip they never got. These are the kinds of taxes Republicans have sneaked in. I believe it was Ronald Reagan who came up with this idiot idea.

[Quixote1818]

4. Check to see if they are allocated tips on those kinds of sales because they could lose money

And be taxed on tips they never received.

Allocated tips are tips that an employer assign to weight staff in addition to the tips they reported to their employer for the year. If the tips they reported to their employer were less than their share of 8% of food and drink sales they allocate tips because they assume you didn't report them.

So, if a person didn't get any tip and the employer allocates them based on his or her sales, then they have to pay taxes on money they never saw. In this instance the person ends up losing money.

I would give them a buck or two just to be safe.

[fishwax]

8. interesting point

That's a good question--I wonder who they would allocate the tip to if you only go to the front register, though ...

[Quixote1818]

10. The person at the front register might also weight tables or be allocated tips on sales

It's been years since I weighted on tables but I remember the people running register griping when getting allocated tips. The register was programed to allocate the tips to whoever made the sale, so if it was a carryout or a box lunch, the cashier got screwed. Someone would come in and buy $100 worth of box lunches for a tour and not tip on them. Not to mention, for the cashier to run back and forth getting 10 or 12 box lunches when there was a line, could take a lot of time and be stressful for them.

Also, as a waiter, often a table would order a bunch of stuff to go at the end of their meal and only tip on what they ate and not for what they took out to friends who perhaps couldn't go to lunch. At the place I worked at in a National Park people bought box lunches to have later in the day. They might get breakfast for six people and have a ticket of $75 then buy $70 worth of box lunches. I would get a sale of $145 get a 15% tip on $75 then be allocated 8% of the other $70. The state would think I made $5.60 more than I did and I had to pay taxes on that $5.60 as well as the $11.00 I actually did get. That tax was probably around 6% so of the $11 I made I had to pay taxes on $16. The tax would have been about $1. So, instead of making $11 in tips I only made $10 because the Gov. took another $1.

It's not a huge amount but I would at least give them a $1 or $2 to cover any taxes they might get nailed for on the sale. Especially if it's a big sale.

[smalll]

18. Back then ("It's been years") -- you weren't a "weighter." Think about it. /nt

[fishwax]

6. For me it depends on the restaurant

When I get takeout at my favorite places, I tip a couple of bucks, but not as much as I normally would for dining in and being waited on.

[pokerfan]

9. I tip

cows...

[Kali]

11. tip jars piss me off, and generally i don't tip for take out

but if somebody does something extra in that situation I may hand them a tip. I tip WELL for full service.

[Generic Brad]

12. I tip the same amount

It took a team effort to get me my food. The whole team deserves my thanks.

[jpgray]

13. Most heavy take-out places have a tip jar for the kitchen

If they do, I bring cash to put in there.

[mopinko]

14. if the same servers are waiting tables and packing to go orders, then i figure

that i am taking time away for those tables. that could impact their tips. so, i do tip in those cases. it's not as much time, and no clean up, so i usually give a few bucks. if it is strictly take out, i don't tip.

[Iggo]

15. Whoever carries my food to me gets a fin.

It's only proper.

[MrScorpio]

16. I tip at 20%

It's easy for me to figure it out that way

[MrScorpio]

22. I didn't read the question

Silly me

The answer is no

[smalll]

17. My considered opinion: stop doing so much "carryout" (and/or delivery) --

and you'll have a lot more money in your wallet, plus, be less of a lard-ass. It's a win-win. :shrug:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

19. I subscribe to the same philosophy as Steve Martin in "My Blue Heaven"

"I believe in tipping. Actually, I believe in OVER-tipping. That's my philosophy."

You don't tip on take-out? Ah! I see! Then it's just like the grocery store, where the meal is un-prepared and you have to do the work yourself: cleaning, cooking, washing up. What? The meal was brought to you, not on a plate, but hot and neatly packaged so it could be enjoyed at a remote location as though you'd sat down and had the meal right there? You mean it's actually a bigger pain in the ass to pack for "To Go" than for a table setting?

Well, shucks! I wouldn't tip on that kind of mail-it-in effort, either! After all, the chef didn't go to any real effort to prepare your meal and the server didn't have to do anything special to make sure it reached you in a pleasant manner and your order wasn't prepared and served with regard for YOUR precious time. After all, you just called ahead. It wasn't like the staff didn't have to treat you like a real customer, now, was it?

Tipping is just plain good manners and is a part of the price of dining out, whether YOU choose to eat it there or "Green Eggs And Ham" style (in a box, with a fox, in the rain, on a train).

Folks are earning a living in the restaurant world, and doing so at legally-sanctioned reduced rates that presuppose the customers' plain ol' good manners in tipping.

You don't tip on take-out? Stay home and cook it yourself, chef.

20% for reasonably expectable service under ANY circumstance, higher for the good ones. Let your conscience (and your pleasantly full belly) be your guide.

Remember: wherever you dine, Repiglickens are dining, too. And those are some miserable, low-life, stiffing, pussel-gutted skinflints. Considerate, enlightened diners have to carry their dead weight on their backs.

Walk the walk.

On Edit: Screwed up the Subject line.

[Orrex]

26. Do you tip at McDonalds?

:shrug:

[Awsi Dooger]

20. Not a penny

Virtually every variable that warrants a tip has been eliminated. You aren't occupying their space or employees for 45 minutes or an hour. There are no dishes or utensils to wash. Most likely your food has been stuffed in an inadequate container and will be cold or colder than ideal when you get home. Once you get home there's plenty of do it yourself. In short, you've already paid full menu price for their product. There's a reason pizza restaurants often allow lower prices for pickup. They are making an above average profit for this quick transaction and are more than happy to chalk it up.

I've lived in a tipping town for 20+ years, Las Vegas. One of my roommates was a waiter at a fancy restaurant. He discussed every facet of proper tipping and I never heard him mention this aspect. My sportsbook buddies and I have frequented sports bars where we generally eat in but occasionally pick up and go. In those situations we've never tipped and the employees who know us well have never expected it. They know damn well we take care of them when we eat in.

Save the tips for when they are warranted. I'm always amazed when legit tips are balked at yet tame situations like this have people thinking they should needlessly tip.

[JVS]

21. It's only there because there is one format for all cc transactions,

No need to tip when I'm buying their food and saving them a table, waiting, and the cleanup.

[tismyself]

23. I thought you meant cow tipping. n/t

[eauclaireliberal]

24. LOL nt

nt

[applegrove]

25. I look at the bill. And if I am already paying for delivery...say $3.00, then I tip

much less than 15%. If it isn't included then I tip more.

[Nikia]

27. We usually tip a couple of dollars

At most of the places with carry out and dine in, they use the waitresses to pack up the order. That takes time away from the tables. As someone else mentioned, they might also be taxed on their "assumed" earnings. I do find myself wondering what is appropriate but this is the compromise that my husband and I have decided on.