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Tipping on Takeout

Do you tip on carryout


  • Total voters
    61
  • Poll closed .
If its a full-service restaurant I find that highly unlikely. Most customers do not have access to the back of the house where most of the prep work is done. Now, if you are talking about a place that is designed for take-out primarily that is a different story.

It was a chain restaurant that had just started doing takeout at the time. The cook made the food, the servers put the food in the boxes, bagged them up, and hand the order off. Not worth a tip.
 
When you order food to go from a restaurant and don't use table service do you leave a tip anyway? I mean, I don't tip at any fast food places or other places where you order at the counter so it's never occurred to me to tip at a regular restaurant if I order out. I figure that I'm not taking up any of the servers time as it's usually a hostess or the manager who handles things and they are usually getting a full wage instead of server rate.

I really don't like to tip anyway, not that I'm cheap but I'd rather not have to pay two bills. The main reason I'm sort of okay with it is I know if wait staff salaries were incorporated into the cost of the meal, the management would probably pay them less than 15%.

I don't like to pay tips for carry out but usually do, typically just a dollar. You can avoid the awkwardness by planning for and using cash as there's no tip line to fill in unless use pay by credit/debit card.
 
Time is money

Baggers are paid at least minimum wage, and the IRS does not assume they earned 8% of the food they bag in tips.

Then why should I pay a bagger?
 
It entails a lot more than putting food in a bag. It involves much of the same labor that is provided when dining in a restaurant.

And this requires payment above and beyond what they're already making why?
 
Back in the day we tipped everybody. We tipped the kid who bagged our groceries and carried them to our car. We tipped the guy who pumped our gas and checked the oil and washer fluid. We tipped the doorman and the elevator operator. We tipped the girl who boxed and wrapped our shirts. We tipped our paper boy and our milk man. Do you know why we stopped doing that? We stopped because one day some idiot decided that all these people needed to be making a "living wage" instead of tips so all those jobs went away. If you're a 12 year old kid you have to be careful about not running afoul of the law because you're raking leaves or shoveling snow for money.

Of course, now, nobody does any of those things, you take your own groceries to your car, you run your own elevator, pump your own gas, etc. I wouldn't tip for any of those jobs either because they're things I'm capable of doing myself. That's why I hate going through states like Oregon, where they require someone to pump your gas. Sorry, get the hell out of my way, I'll do it myself.
 
I don't tip what I would for full table service, but I do tip something. Usually like 10%.

I go to a pizza place near my office that has a lunch buffet sometimes. You get your food and drinks yourself, but they come and clean your table off, so I usually give them an extra buck.

They clean the table off because that's what they're being paid to do. They don't deserve to be paid extra for doing their job.
 
When you order food to go from a restaurant and don't use table service do you leave a tip anyway? I mean, I don't tip at any fast food places or other places where you order at the counter so it's never occurred to me to tip at a regular restaurant if I order out. I figure that I'm not taking up any of the servers time as it's usually a hostess or the manager who handles things and they are usually getting a full wage instead of server rate.

If I'm running into a full-service restaurant for a carry-out, I give a few dollars to the hostess -- if she's the one packaging up the food. Usually it is. Carry-outs probably more of a pain for staff than dine-in.
 
Of course, now, nobody does any of those things, you take your own groceries to your car, you run your own elevator, pump your own gas, etc. I wouldn't tip for any of those jobs either because they're things I'm capable of doing myself. That's why I hate going through states like Oregon, where they require someone to pump your gas. Sorry, get the hell out of my way, I'll do it myself.

I kind of like that in Oregon. It's like a little history revisited.
 
I kind of like that in Oregon. It's like a little history revisited.

I guess it's not bad if it's raining (which it almost always is), you can stay in the car, but something about it bugs me, I want to do it myself and you're legally not allowed to.
 
If I'm running into a full-service restaurant for a carry-out, I give a few dollars to the hostess -- if she's the one packaging up the food. Usually it is. Carry-outs probably more of a pain for staff than dine-in.

Maybe it is. When I worked restaurants in college it was almost always the hostess that took the order but the guys in the kitchen were usually the ones who boxed everything up. Usually all she had to do was throw some napkins in the bag or maybe box up a salad.
 
You tip the bagger?

Nope, nor should I tip any bagger, regardless of where I am. Won't do it in a restaurant either.
 
And this requires payment above and beyond what they're already making why?

Because servers are generally not paid a wage consistent with the work. Their tips are factored into the amount that they are paid. Really what it comes down to is that people who have problem tipping shouldn't patronize full-service restaurants. There are plenty of fast food and more upscale counter restaurants available. Full service restaurant servers are not paid the same wages...and they have to claim 8% tip on sales whether they receive 15% or nothing. When you don't tip.....the money comes out of their pocket. So you aren't only being cheap...you are kinda being rude.
 
Because servers are generally not paid a wage consistent with the work. Their tips are factored into the amount that they are paid. Really what it comes down to is that people who have problem tipping shouldn't patronize full-service restaurants. There are plenty of fast food and more upscale counter restaurants available. Full service restaurant servers are not paid the same wages...and they have to claim 8% tip on sales whether they receive 15% or nothing. When you don't tip.....the money comes out of their pocket. So you aren't only being cheap...you are kinda being rude.

To paraphrase an old saying "Reason can't talk someone out of a belief that cheapness talked them into"

The difference has already been explained several times in this thread.
 
I posted earlier, but seeing where much of the debate has headed, I will add that I believe in rewarding people for good work. Whether it is a job one traditionally gets tipped for or not, I, at the very least, recognize them for their work. For me, it does not matter what their wage is, I just want to see good work acknowledged and respected.
 
Yes i tip all the time. The same rate of 20% everytime.
 
Because servers are generally not paid a wage consistent with the work. Their tips are factored into the amount that they are paid. Really what it comes down to is that people who have problem tipping shouldn't patronize full-service restaurants. There are plenty of fast food and more upscale counter restaurants available. Full service restaurant servers are not paid the same wages...and they have to claim 8% tip on sales whether they receive 15% or nothing. When you don't tip.....the money comes out of their pocket. So you aren't only being cheap...you are kinda being rude.
In the interest of full disclosure, let's point out that...

  1. Most servers, if they're any good at all, average well over 15% over the course of a week, and
  2. Most servers don't declare everything they technically should, especially with cash tips, so
  3. It's not really fair to micromanage to that degree because, if anyone does stiff them, it's unlikely they're actually paying taxes out of pocket.
Serving and earning tips is akin to a marathon. You will have good nights and you will have bad nights. If you try to micromanage each table you will only drive yourself crazy. Cumulatively over time is the only rational way to look at tips earned.
 
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In the interest of full disclosure, let's point out that...

  1. Most servers, if they're any good at all, average well over 15% over the course of a week, and
  2. Most servers don't declare everything they technically should, especially with cash tips, so
  3. It's not really fair to micromanage to that degree because, if anyone does stiff them, it's unlikely they're actually paying taxes out of pocket.
Serving and earning tips is akin to a marathon. You will have good nights and you will have bad nights. If you try to micromanage each table you will only drive yourself crazy. Cumulatively over time is the only rational way to look at tips earned.

That is true to a certain extent. Servers, by law, are supposed to claim ALL of their tips, however, the Government generally will not allocate if the server claims about 8% of sales. However, you cannot rationalize your failure to tip on the notion that another patron gave the server 20%. Your failure to tip is still requiring the server to pay taxes on what the government assumes that you tipped out of their other tips. That's just the bottom line fact.
 
That is true to a certain extent. Servers, by law, are supposed to claim ALL of their tips, however, the Government generally will not allocate if the server claims about 8% of sales. However, you cannot rationalize your failure to tip on the notion that another patron gave the server 20%. Your failure to tip is still requiring the server to pay taxes on what the government assumes that you tipped out of their other tips. That's just the bottom line fact.

I have a problem with someone expecting me to pay a gratuity for poor service because the government decided to tax it as income. If you have a problem with leaving the matter of tipping up to each customer, work for a business that pays minimum wage. That way you are guaranteed an amount for each hour worked and can be fairly taxed on it like everyone else.

I'm fairly sick and tired of a-hole servers acting like they are doing me a great favor by bringing my food from the kitchen to my table. If restaurants didn't do that they would lose customers to competitors who do, or to take out and delivery places. If you want a tip, show me a good reason to give you more of my hard-earned wages beyond the already expensive part of paying for the food.

P.S. I've worked as a waiter in my youth, and I made sure my customers were pleased by my service. I rarely got stiffed on a tip.
 
No one has suggested that you should leave a tip if you receive poor service

Actually the person I was replying to seemed to be implying it. Anyone who argues that it is "wages" for work performed is essentially arguing a failure to tip is denying due wages.

I don't consider it that way; I consider it a service offered in hopes of a reward. Therefore it is not the server's due unless the person feels the service has earned the reward. I either leave a tip of 1/3 of the bill, or I leave nothing. It depends on the service.
 
Actually the person I was replying to seemed to be implying it. Anyone who argues that it is "wages" for work performed is essentially arguing a failure to tip is denying due wages.

I don't consider it that way; I consider it a service offered in hopes of a reward. Therefore it is not the server's due unless the person feels the service has earned the reward. I either leave a tip of 1/3 of the bill, or I leave nothing. It depends on the service.

I didn't think that was implied. :shrug:
 
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