# Do you tip when you go to Sonic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654 "2012-03-03T17:52:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/1 "2012-03-03T17:52:59Z")
Even though the workers actually come out to you, I’ve always treated Sonic like any other fast food restaurant, in that I pay for my order, but don’t give anything extra to the person giving me my food. But the other day after I got a sundae there, I looked at the receipt and noticed at the bottom it had a suggested gratuity, in this case 32 cents or 15 percent of the total. So have I been a cheap bastard all this time by not tipping the Sonic carhops, or have they only recently started asking for tips? ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/2 "2012-03-03T17:57:19Z")
A bunch of my students work there. They get paid as tip-based workers, like waiters. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/3 "2012-03-03T18:01:54Z")
The Sonic restaurants in my town have drive-through windows, and I always use those to save money because if they come out to my car I feel obligated to give them a buck. The one in my mom’s town only has the bays (or whatever you call them) so I resign myself to tipping when I go to that one. I have also been to a Sonic that had a drive-through speaker but no window, so they still came out to your car when you pulled up. I didn’t tip then, because I wasn’t prepared for that nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/4 "2012-03-03T18:19:45Z")
I pay-at-the-pump at Sonic and there is no option to add a tip to my charge. People I knew who worked at Sonic said tips were not an expected part of their compensation, where always welcome, and came from 20% or fewer of the customers ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/5 "2012-03-03T18:23:05Z")
Yeah, if there’s no option to add a tip to the credit card, generally speaking tips aren’t expected. It’s possible there’s exceptions to this rule, but I haven’t encountered them yet. That said, they do a fair bit more work than most fast food workers, so I try not to eat there unless I have a buck or two in my wallet for a tip, or if I’m paying in cash I’ll have them keep the change. > [@Susie\_Derkins](#): > > I have also been to a Sonic that had a drive-through speaker but no window, so they still came out to your car when you pulled up. I didn’t tip then, because I wasn’t prepared for that nonsense. Yeah, most Sonic stores aren’t well set up for drive-through, but it’s so expected of fast food restaurants these days that they had to work it in somehow to the older buildings they couldn’t remodel. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/6 "2012-03-03T18:41:26Z")
I tip them if they’re on skates, they have to go through the rain to get me, or I don’t want to deal with change. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-tip-when-you-go-to-sonic/614654/7 "2012-03-03T19:12:22Z")
I tip generously at Sonic, because of the skates. Anyone willing to break an ankle to bring me a double cheeseburger deserves a little something extra.