By not reporting tips to the IRS. Very common, which is one reason why a lot of waitstaff whining about tips falls on deaf ears. Common to only report half or just the CC tips.
:eek:
jcheckwood and VCO3, spittin’ in a tree…
My apologies if this has been answered somewhere in the above five pages, but one thing that often confuses me is the recommended tipping procedure for carry out.
I live near a Cheesecake Factory, and at least once every couple weeks I place an order that comes to around $30, drive over there, walk in, and pick it up at the counter.
What should I take into consideration when getting food in that manner? One doesn’t tip at McDonald’s, where I go up to the counter, order, and receive food. I understand this food takes more time to prepare…but with no waitstaff, should I just consider the level of service I get from the guy at the cheesecake/take-out register? Is 15% still standard, or should it be more like a few bucks, along the lines of a pizza delivery guy?
I run into this take-out dilemma a lot…help!
I’d like to bother Dudley for a moment of his time. 
If these have already been asked and answered, I apologize for somehow missing them and being repetitive.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. The first two places that I waitressed at (having never done so before and therefore didn’t know any better) often either sent you home during slow times or simply made it difficult to hassle with over a buck here or some change there. I only learned later on that this was illegal, but even then most would fore go the bother. It just wasn’t worth it to them to be seen as someone ‘who rocked the boat’ by management. You certainly wouldn’t pick up extra shifts or prime tables that way.
If I may, a couple of questions from the last part of this post. 1) How can you tell which category a stranger (albeit a pizza delivery one 
) falls into? As has been discussed here, there’s quite a bit as I’m sure you realized, that fell outside those perimeters. 2) I’m not quite clear on how that perception matters in this sort of transaction. Certainly you wouldn’t make an unfounded assumption that would color any outcome dependent upon said belief. You appear too erudite for that. So, can you explain its significance in the first place please?
Finally…
In post # 87 you talk about “everyone else having their hands out, wanting something extra for nothing.” Could you expand on this? I’m not sure that with all the anecdotal data supplied, that you really believe service people to expect “something extra for nothing.” I’ve read in this thread, several cases, where there’s much more (ok, a LOT) to the job than meets the eye. As a young person, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelash at employment requiring use of my own vehicle. As an old fogey, I know exactly how much wear and tear that can cost on a daily basis. And if you figure in low pay, down time and other possible considerations (like restaurant situations of tipping out your bartender, hostess and busboy), I’d never believe that those who choose this line of work, for whatever reason, do nothing to deserve their tips.
I’m a good tipper, but I don’t tip on a carryout. Nobody has done anything for you, you’re not tipping based on service (unless someone fucked up and your order never got made or something), so why tip?
Unless it’s a place that splits tips among the wait staff, cooks, bussers, and the like…there’s no reason to, IMO.
-Joe
Problem is, it is just not true. I lived in Sydney for 2 years and you don’t have to tip if you don’t want to in expensive restaurants.
Well, I just want to go in, grab my food, and leave…not analyze their business structure for where my money goes…is there any way to figure this out without invasive questioning?
No offense Sitnam, but no you won’t. I’m a little tired of hearing this rational brought up in every tip thread. It’s bullshit.
You walk into a restaurant and tell the waiter “I’m not going to tip you, just so you know,” he’s going to say something like, “well, up to you.” Then you’re going to get perfectly decent service because if you don’t, the waiter is going to get fired, nine times out of ten. Very few restaurant owners will back up their employees for refusing to wait on a known non-tipper, and they sure as heck won’t back up an employee who gives crappy service to a non-tipper. You might be able to get away with somewhat perfunctory service but even then you’re probably risking your job if you don’t provide the extra-placatory and accommodating service Americans are accustomed to.
Never been to Australia, couldn’t tell you what the service is like there. But I can tell you what the service is like in Europe where they don’t tip. Perfunctory, is the word I used earlier. They do their job. Of course. But no more than their job and their job doesn’t involve making you feel good or enjoy yourself.
The argument in these threads is the service is no worse in countries where they don’t tip. Well no, it’s not worse but it is different.
Tipping isn’t expected in Germany, where I’ve lived. German waiters don’t haul ass. Never. I’ve never, ever seen waiters in Germany move at anything but a calm, relaxed snail’s pace. They do their job, they get their pay, and that’s it.
But near every American military base I’ve ever been there are some restaurants popular with, and frequented by Americans. All the food servers know Americans tip and they know Americans have a different standard of service they expect. Different, not “better.” It’s amazing. German waiters hauling ass. Why? Because Americans tip, that’s why. It’s an even sweeter deal for waiters in Germany because they already are getting a decent wage before the Americans leave lots of extra tax-free doughage on them.
I’ve been to these restaurants which were popular with both the Americans and the Germans and you could still tell the difference. Germans sit at their tables quietly waiting for a server to eventually appear, while the Americans get served everything twice as fast, and with a smile. Germans don’t tip, or not much, Americans do, even though they know they don’t have to, and they get better service. Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to say “better.” I meant different.
Well I almost never get carry out (since I don’t have a car and don’t want to take hot food home on the bus), but I remember reading a previous thread about this, and several people recommended tipping for carryout. (Maybe a slightly lower than table service - say 10% instead of 15-20%).
IIRC, their reasoning was that at most restaurants (not a carrout-only place) preparing carryout orders is done by the waitresses. So they have to get your order from the kitchen, box it up, get cutlery/condiments/etc… and process your payment, and meanwhile they have “regular” table service customers they still need to work for. Time preparing carryout = time away from tipping customers.
I’ve never worked in a restaurant, so I can’t say if this is a common practice or not.
If you go there again, take $10 off the tip that you would have given, and explain why you are doing that as you do it.
not only that, but on the paystub, they figure ‘tips reported’ as a percentage of the total sales on that server. I found out about this when I was waiting for a carry out on Christmas day, and some one was picking up 15 prime rib dinners, big bucks for the tab, and no tip. The server was almost in tears.
I tip for carry-out for the exact same reason I tip for eating in: because I know their wages are shit and they rely on tips; and because I want them to be nice to me the next time I come in.
Also the bill is usually quite low (no drinks, etc) so it’s quite cheap to leave a generous percentage.
That would only be fair if it was the same waiter/waitress.
Even then, not necessarily. When I was a waitress (admittedly, it’s been 7 years) it was the managers who handled the tip portion of credit-card transactions. The servers only swiped the cards and presented the slip to the customer. Therefore, it’s much more likely to be the fault of the manager than that of the server.
All right, now that I’ve ponied up my $14.95US, I have just one thing to say:
DudleyGarrett, where you at?
Well, there is a counter where you can but take-out cheesecake? No tip there, unless there is a jar or the service is exceptional.
But for the hot food take out order, why not call and ask the manager? Different places do take out in different ways, sometimes it is completely kitchen help who are not considered “tipped” employees.
You don’t have to tip “if you don’t want to” in America either.
True, but if you don’t have a good reason, and you know what the deal is, you’re still an asshole.
But you are correct, sir. (Would you like some free breadsticks with that? 
)
I’m not saying he’ll spit in your food, just be more prompt with other customers and you won’t get fired for that.
Which is fine if the restaurant isn’t busy and you don’t have anything else to do for the rest of the day.
I’ve having trouble navigating your labyrinth of logic here. For the purpose of service, for me, Speed=good, slack=bad. But you have a different approach. You start with:
and end with:
So what the hell are you babbling about?