question about tipping food delivery people

[JI7]

some places have a delivery fee on the food you order. i always assumed that was a required "tip" for the delivery person. but i was told this was not true. that it's still necessary (though not required) to give an additional tip to the delivery person.

there is also this website from a pizza delivery guy about tipping and delivery people.

http://www.tipthepizzaguy.com/

i learned a lot i never thought of. that food delivery people usually use their own car and pay for their own gas. that they make under minimum wage and depend on tips to make at least minimum wage or better.

has anyone here worked as a delivery person or knows anything about this ?

i feel bad for not tipping the few times i assumed the "delivery fee" went to the delivery person.

[Jim Sagle]

1. Just don't tip them so hard that they fall over.

[henslee]

2. I try to tip well if I expect to order from a place regularly. Good Karma

[Extend a Hand]

3. I tip about 15% for pizza delivery.

According to the manager at the pizza place we frequent, That is a 'good tip'.

[sandnsea]

4. My son delivered pizza for a while

I didn't know tipping was so common, but yeah, it is. He made most of his money from tips. The delivery fee was $1.50 and he only got $1.00 of it, doesn't know where the rest went. Oregon requires minimum wage for restaurant workers too. So don't let any restaurant owner tell you it can't be done, it can. And most of our restaurants can't even sell hard liquor.

So yeah, I toss the pizz guy an extra couple bucks now, I didn't used to. I just didn't know.

[JI7]

16. "I just didn't know".

i think that's the case with most people. most assume the delivery person gets paid for whatever they do.that they will get at least minimum wage or more no matter what. they view the tip as just something you do to be nice. they don't see how much people really depend on it for income and to reach minimum wage.

someone made a comparison to those who deliver the mail and how we don't tip them. but those people DO get minimum wage, plus the company provides the vehicle plus gas and maintenance cost. this is not true with most small food delivery persons.

the food places themselves are partly to blame since they don't inform the people ordering the food about these things. most likely because less people might order delivery if they add in the tip cost to the pizza or whatever other food they order.

[sandnsea]

20. Mail delivery jobs pay okay

Much better than minimum wage, plus benefits; at least they used to. And the vehicle is usually provided like you say, although some of our mail carriers are using their own, even in town. I figured meal delivery drivers made more money than wait staff, drivers in other industries do. But no, just another crappy job in America.

[ObaMania]

36. The delivery charge is a new thing for most pizza places now..

.. at least where I live. I suspect it is a gas surcharge.

[Hissyspit]

5. I tip everyone 20%

25% if I think they're great.

I can't really afford to, but I do it anyway. Life is short and full of shit enough to not spit on poor working folks. I remember when getting that extra 5% sometimes meant the difference between eating that night or not.

[GoneOffShore]

6. I tip but would prefer not to

Because I don't think that ANY service person should rely on "tips".

Thomas Keller at French Laundry in the Napa Valley pays servers a living wage and he does the same at Per Se in NYC. Having to 'rely on the kindness of strangers' is demeaning. Tipping is a relatively new and American practice. He's gotten a lot of flack for it from people in the service industry. Having worked in restaurants, I must say I liked the cash, but hated not having any benefits or protection.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. I don't think people should have to rely on employers for health insurance

unfortunately, that's the reality. And the reality is, if you want something delivered to your house, the individual delivering it is probably relying on tips for a good part of their income, whether or not they 'should'. Same with waiters in most normal restaurants.

And I live in Sonoma. I've never eaten at the French Laundry, but I'm pretty sure that's the kind of place where you can fairly easily spend $300 on dinner. So, I'm not sure what kind of a sacrifice Mr. Thomas Keller is making by paying his servers a living wage, versus your average mom and pop restaurant...

That said, I think the minimum wage should be a living wage. (and we should have a Single Payer Health Care System, to boot) Period.

At which point you might be able to make a case for not tipping.

[Dorian Gray]

17. You are right about French Laundry....

I've never eaten there, but I know that Per Se (The NYC restaurant owned by the same people) has a flat rate of $250 per person, without booze. It's not exactly a sacrifice paying people a living wage at those rates.

No, I've never eaten there. Just read Zagats for the newest restaurants in town.

As for tipping, I tip 20% to almost everyone. Unless they really stink at the service. Then it's less. But, I rarely tip less than ten percent.

[troubleinwinter]

30. Hahahahaha!!!!! I guess he can pay his servers a living wage....

Dinner is $175 per person!

[mondo joe]

45. The income is only half the equation. The expense to the restaurant is

the other half. No restaurant gets by charging $175 per person for crap food. Restaurant margins are not typically that great (except at crap mass marketers like Outback, which I only reluctantly call a restaurant).

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. I usually just tip $2

to pizza or Chinese delivery. :shrug:

If the delivery driver is wise, s/he keeps track of mileage and takes a tax deduction. I think they get to include some part of car maintenance, too.

Page 28 IRS document here:
http://tinyurl.com/kgo6u

[chaz4jazz]

9. Assuming the pay taxes on the tip /eom

[chaz4jazz]

10. Just figure - they're food service delivery persons

Not unlike the dude in the restautant who delivers your dinner. He's not burning his own gas, yet, they usually are tipped higher (15-20% of a $30 meal). My son delivers for a restaurant, pizzas and sometimes dinners, sometimes, $60 total (includes $2.00 delivery fee) and he gets a $4 tip? Can you imagine giving six bucks to a waiter for $60 tab? Here you are at home, could be raining out, cold, in any case, you're comfortable in your own house and someone "takes care of you" by delivering your dinner and you give him a 10% tip? He's actually done you more service than delivering your meal to your table.

[FearofFutility]

38. That's how I look at it

I always tip at least 20%. Not only are they brining my dinner to my door, they run the risk of being robbed while doing it.

[mondo joe]

43. A delivery person doesn't provide the same service as a waiter.

Not that I'm against tipping, or tipping generously -- but a waiter has to tend to a table for an hour or more, with many repeat visits, and a limited number of tables he or she can care for in that time.

Whether you order one pizza or 5, the investment of resource to the waiter is the same, one trip and done.

Again, I'm not urging anyone to not tip generously, but I don't think pizza delivery is ever going to be anything more profitable than it is now.

[Orangepeel]

19. they are taxed as if they are tipped

When I was a server 15 years ago, we were taxed on the tips we were assumed to have received. They kept track of credit card tips and assumed 8% otherwise. A couple of the professional servers were trying to dig their way out of bankruptcy, and not the least of the reasons why were large IRS judgments against them after they were audited.

[Cronus Protagonist]

24. I tip $5 regardless of the size of the order

I used to deliver pizza, and if I got $5 from everyone, I would do well. It costs a lot to maintain a car and my car took a thrashing at the time and none of the owners gave a shit about it.

$5 is a very good tip per delivery.

[Lady Effingbroke]

25. I agree. I used to drive pizza, and I usually tip $10. An outrageous

amount, it seems, but gas is much more expensive per gallon now, and I know that every little bit extra surely helps!

The way it worked with the company I drove for was: I was initially given $20 of money from the store's cash till and then "worked it off" at 50¢ a delivery; so if I made 40 deliveries I was "free and clear" and didn't have to give any money back when I cashed out at the end of my shift. But it was the store's money provided as a convenience for making change for customers; I didn't get to keep any of it, and whatever I didn't "work off" I had to give back.

[Finder]

47. Same here, always 5...

and sometimes a bit more if snowing or storming.

Some places even have a rating according to your tipping history in their system.

[DanCa]

8. I usually tip based on the serivice.

Usually between a dollar or two. Maybe a dollar more in inclement weather.

[norml]

11. The place I work has a delivery fee, of which I get part on pay day.

The restaurant keeps the other part.

This is supposed to pay for my gas, which it doesn't.

In the past, before delivery fees, we'd get paid for our mileage.

Now with delivery fees, people tip less, and the restaurant keeps more.

I hate delivery fees.

[CrazyForKucinich]

34. Exactly. You should go find a better job.

What I really hate the most is people saying FREE DELIVERY but then on the bill there's an amount for "gas". Ridiculous.

[Digit]

12. Back in the day when going through my divorce

and delivering pizzas was all I could do to handle working around my ex using the courts to harass me...

There were NO delivery fees and yes, I had to use my own gas and vehicle.
I would call the company to ask just what the fee is covering for one thing.
Who gets that money?
Otherwise, you realize the IRS figures waitresses and people who get tips get a certain amount, whether they do or not. At least, that is how it USED to be. Unfortunately for women, studies have shown that women are typically tipped LESS than men, yet, we were assessed the same tax.

[JI7]

31. i don't think i ever had a woman delivery person

although i'm sure there are some. the job is already not a very safe one, especially when it gets dark. but i imagine it would be tougher for women.

i didn't know about the IRS counting a certain amount for tips no matter what.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. I've had several jobs like that in my life.

Due to that, I ALWAYS tip the pizza guy, the waiter, whoever- at least a little bit above what is 'normal' or 'expected'. Unless there's a serious screwup, say, or the waiter is a jerk. At restaurants I try to do 20% as a rule. Now, with the pizza guy- I pretty much stopped eating pizza years ago, so it doesn't come up.. it's pretty rare these days that we get anything delivered, but whenever I used to, I tried to tip the guy at least three bucks, sometimes four or even five. Of course, this is California, so things are probably more expensive in general- but I do remember that, back in the day, one really good tip could totally make my night.

I'm kind of the opinion that the people whose jobs depend in part on tips usually have such a tough time of it, if I can, then why not go a buck or two above and beyond? It strikes me as a fairly good cause.

It's interesting, now, too, because of the internet... People, particularly well-known people, are much more liable to have shitty, obnoxious behavior -including bad tipping- exposed more widely. I remember reading somewhere about a site that ranked the tipping behavior of big current and former DC Politicians. Republicans were almost always far worse tippers (surprise!) than Democrats. I think Dan Quayle was the absolute worst, if I remember right!

Figures.

[Digit]

15. Yep, I can vouch for that one

In the wealthy area which was very wooded and dark, the people would turn off their lights so I could not see the address. Even if I was ontime, they would claim I was late, so they could get the discount. In particular, I recall a Christmas Eve and I delivered 3 large pizzas and they gave me NO TIP at all! It was during a torrential rain on top of it all. I quit the next day...all of Christmas Eve and I made $1.50 in tips working 4 hours.

When I delivered pizzas to the working class who lived in the apartments, they tipped fairly well.

[Ciggies and coffee]

18. Plenty of people are unaware, I delivered many years back

I am extra generous with the pizza delivery folks since they pick upo the tab for their expenses, as opposed to sit-down , though I still give about 20 percent there.

The food tastes much better afterwards, I feel

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. I tip 20% or more for delivery people or my hairdresser or wait person

No matter the service, I just do. I will not tip less than 20%. Often I will tip more. For instance, Sonic has curb side delivery and not required tipping yet I tip 20% always.

[VolcanoJen]

27. You are a kind human being...

... and I want to be your friend. :-)

http://www.tavernwench.blogspot.com

[Katherine Brengle]

22. I usually tip as well or better than I would in a restaurant--esp if the

weather is bad. If the food is really late, I usually call and find out when it was sent out, because often it is not the fault of the delivery person when things are late--just like it is often not the fault of the server in a restaurant if food takes awhile to get out of the kitchen...

[OneBlueSky]

23. interesting that pizza delivery has become such a large "industry" . . .

that it warrants this kind of discussion . . . I understand that the issue is really important to the people who do this work (and I always tip), but these kinds of discussions used to involve well paid auto workers and the like . . .

seems that more and more Americans are relying on minimum wage and tip-based employment just to survive . . . that doesn't make for a stong economy . . .

[GoneOffShore]

29. It's one of the things Americans are best at

or will be soon. Have you ever read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson?

His take is that the main American industries will soon be music, software and pizza delivery.

[VolcanoJen]

26. Pizza Delivery is not a bad gig

I've never delivered them myself, but I know plenty of people who live on/supplement their slave wages with a pizza delivery gig. If you can hustle and you really know your beat, you can make a killing.

As a service worker, I always over-tip. It's part of the karma. I realize most of us make $2.15 an hour, and I tend to overcompensate. It's common among service workers; some kind of "what goes around" ethic.

If the pizza guy brings a hot pie to my house in under 45 minutes, he's getting an extra $5 for me for his trouble.

If he brings it in under a half-hour, I give him $5 plus $2 extra on principle.

I mean, the guy brought hot food to my house. I'm lovin' him. I'm paying him for his trouble.

edit:I'm a graduate of the Dan Quayle Spelling Acaddamey.

[radfringe]

28. I delivered pizza for a short time

between graduating from school and finding a job in my field of study - work hours in late afternoon/evenings left me free to look for a full-time job and flexible enough to set up interviews

ennywhooo- had to use my own car, pay for my own gas. Granted, this was years ago when gas was less expensive, but it still took a chunk out of my minimum wage paycheck and then there's the wear/tear on my car.

on a "good night" of tips - I had a few bucks left over after filling my gas tank.

those that did tip - gave me $1.00, cost of the delivered order was not taken into consideration - nor the distance traveled from the pizza place to the home

delivery fee doesn't go to the delivery person - although some pizza places do give delivery person a "commission" on each ordere delivered - at the time I was doing it the commission was .50 cents per delivery and it was included in your paycheck so it was subjected to taxes -- and yes we also had to report tips for tax purposes

fortunately for me, I only had to do this for a couple of weeks before finding a job in my field. but it was tough making ends meet in the meantime

[CrazyForKucinich]

32. Screw tipping.

I used to tip until every damn place started charging $2 for a delivery when the place is like 3 blocks away from my residence. That's ridiculous.

[theHandpuppet]

40. Well then if the delivery place is so close to your house...

... the easiest way to avoid tipping is to walk or drive there yourself and pick it up. Otherwise, you're just admitting you're too lazy to get it yourself but you don't want to pay for the service of having hot prepared food delivered to your door. Can't have it both ways unless you're a hopeless cheapskate.

[Bridget Burke]

42. Yes, the walk will make you much healthier!

You DO know the "delivery" charge does not usually go to the delivery guy (or gal).

[Finder]

48. I bet they put "extras" in your food...

or should.lol

[anitar1]

33. I pick mine up as I cannot afford to tip a hefty amount.

It works out fine. Favorite place is only a couple of blocks from my house.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

35. I always, always, always tip

These days I can't afford delivery the way I could in the past, but when I do order out I don't stiff the guy who brings it. I don't care if there's a delivery charge on the bill, the guy gets $4 or $5 no matter what.

Tipping is a talisman against ever having to do that kind of work myself (not that I could anymore). Tipping is thanks for lugging my food up three flights of stairs.

I grocery shop every other week and get that delivered too. There is a hefty delivery charge but I tip $10 on top of that. I don't have a car, and anyway no one here can haul that much stuff to the 3rd floor. Extravagant? Not when I can stock up during sales and save on impulse buying by staying out of the store.

And once the food is here, I gotta use it. Keeps me from ordering out. :)

[W_HAMILTON]

37. I usually tip $5

Usually delivery orders range from $20-$30, so $5 seems appropriate. I always assumed the "delivery fee" was just another way for the company to make money, or as I was once told, it was put in place to help make up for the cost of higher gas. But I never assumed it was like giving the delivery guy a tip. So I would always at least tip something, unless it says something like "tip is included in the price." But then again, some people tip a couple of bucks on top of that.......

I wonder what delivery guys consider as a good tip?

[Joe Fields]

39. I used to run a pizza resataurant.

The delivery charge added to the bill is to insure that the driver will be able to cover the cost of gasoline and maintainence for their personal vehicle. It is only a charge, and is not supposed to be treated as a tip. Without this surcharge, I guarantee you, there would be no delivery drivers. As you mentioned, most places pay the drivers less than minimum wage, and they count on tips, which are not related to the surcharge to make a living.

I hope this clears this matter up for some people. I can appreciate the misperception, but anyone who orders pizza, or any food to be delivered should, in good conscience and good faith tip the delivery driver.

[dysfunctional press]

41. Does anybody else "tip" the mailman at christmas or otherwise?

i usually give him $75...his name is Mike, andhe's a really great guy, who does a great job. when he's off or out for vacation, our mail delivery turns to complete shite.

[Finder]

49. yes..and the paper delivery person.

Of course they get tipped weekly but a big bonus on holidays.

[dysfunctional press]

51. we don't get paper delivery anymore-

the delivery people broke our screen door three times by throwing the paper against it from the street...that's not the best way to earn tips and the goodwill of your customers.

[AllegroRondo]

53. I usually just leave him a bottle of Jack in the mailbox.

with a nice ribbon on it.

[Bridget Burke]

44. Usually a few bucks. My orders aren't generally that big.

Definitely more if the weather is bad.

[cbear70]

46. my husband delivers

He made great tips in PA but now in Iowa hardly anyone tips. I find it so rude that people want someone to brave the cold, ice, wind, rain to bring them their meal hot and fresh and yet have the guts not to tip. Here he is, a 36 year old with two jobs, for physical reasons I can only work part time..and people don't tip. He relies on the tips and the asses that give him 40.00 on a 39.98 bill and tell him to keep the change should be smacked. I have always tipped knowing that delivery drivers and wait staff take care of me and should be rewarded for doing so. If I don't want to go out in the snow for a pizza, then they have to bring it to me with their car and gas money and the way gas is now.. pizza drivers aren't making squat.

We even have huge businesses in town who order over 100.00 in pizza and no tip.

Smacked.. everyone of them.

[KansDem]

50. I know this might sound like age discrimination...

I usually tip a few dollars, but have noticed that the average age of the delivery drivers has gotten older. No longer are the delivery drivers young (college-aged) but now tend to be middle-aged. I tip each driver regardless of age, but find I'm thinking "There for the grace of God go I" when the driver looks to be 40-something or older, and that I'm not just giving a tip but helping the poor guy pay his mortgage this month.

Bush's economy.

[ryan_cats]

52. If you patronize the place regularly, tip well.

If you patronize the place regularly, tip well even if they include it as part of the bill. Good Karma and all that.

I always check the receipt because a lot of places don't tell you they're charging for the gratuity. Even if they are, most places don't cover the driver's expenses and the built in tip a lot of times is divided among the entire staff.