tipping when there is a delivery charge.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am posting this in GD because its about tipping.

I recently had some plants and bushes delivered. The delivery fee was $100. After the guys unloaded the truck, they stood around waiting for a tip so I gave them one and they left.

How far does this tipping go? I understand tipping at restaurants because the wait staff get paid tips minimum because they expect to get tips but if the restaurant charged a service fee, would you STILL be expected to tip?

My local pizza delivery place charges a delivery fee of $3. This is noramally how much I would tip. Am I expected to pay a delivery fee and pay a tip for delivery on top of that? I do it because its still not a lot of money but it seems like i am expected to tip for service that I am separately paying for.

I pay for garbage removal and every month when i get my bill, there is a line on the payment coupon for a tip… wtf?

2

This thread in the pit actually has quite a bit of discussion about delivery charges and fees (few or none of which typically go to the driver).

3

How much of the delivery fee do the people who do the work get? I never know what to do, either. I feel bad if the company gets it all and the worker gets nothing, but if the worker is getting a percent of the delivery fee then that should be the tip.

4

Turns out it depends. Apparently, Dominoes pays out about half the delivery charge to the driver.

5

when i was driving for pizza hut i was payed 90 cents each delivery. last i heard it has gone up to a dollar twenty per delivery. wich is ok, but its not that great. on my busiest night i think i might have done 20 deliveries, wich was a full night for me. but i only made about 18 bucks off the deliveries (not counting tips). now days 18 dollars is enough to fill your tank if you drive a small car with a 10-13 gallon gas tank. and a full night like that uses up a tank of gas. because of working as a delivery boy i have made it a thing to always tip atleast 5 bucks to the person who brings me my pizza. or any other food i ordered.

BUT! if someone delivers something to me and then stands around waiting for a tip i tell them to get lost. a tip is something willingly given, not a required thing. im a firm believer of not tipping anyone who expects to be tipped.

6

When I delivered pianos we just got an hourly wage. No tips (generally. we got a couple) or percentages.

7

I don’t think this is really going to develop into a debate over tipping, so I am sending it to IMHO.

8

Maybe I am an asshole here, but it wouldn’t even occur to me to tip those guys. I mean, now looking at it, I can see why I would---- but if I had been in the situation in the OP, it wouldn’t have ever crossed my mind.

9

I don’t generally tip non-food service delivery people, unless they’re delivering really heavy things (like a refrigerator).

I don’t know what gas costs where you live, but my car has a 12.5 gallon tank and it costs more than $30 to fill it. In fact, it would cost more than $30 anywhere in the US right now.

Your local pizza place is taking advantage of its drivers. The lion’s share of the delivery charge goes to them; the big chains introduced the delivery charges a few years ago because the price of their ingredients jumped.

10

You have to ask over the phone when you order. Is there a delivery charge? How much of that goes to the driver? Then tip, don’t, or adjust accordingly.

If the food from two different places is pretty equal in tastiness, I almost always go with the establishments that have free delivery anyhow. Delivery fees, even if it’s only a buck, are lame - no matter who gets the money.

11

Under current law, your employer has to make up the difference between the minimum wage and what you make on tips plus your tips minimum wage.

12

I recently hasd some furniture delivered (paid $100 to have ti delivered) and it was obvious taht a tip was expected, I didn’t give them one.

I recently had some plants delivered (paid $75 for the delivery ($100 above in OP was incorrect)) and didn’t give a tip.

I recently ordered some pizza from jerry’s subs and there is a $2 delivery charge, I cut my usual tip by a dollar.

13

I have no problem whatsoever with tipping for good, beyond the norm service. Did they dig the holes or put the plants in the ground? Did they at least place them around the yard where you wanted them? If so, yes, I’d think a tip may well have been just. But if all they did was pull them off a truck then you might be justifiably hard pressed to find much of a monetary incentive associated with that extending beyond the $100 you’ve already provided for the service.

14

They brought them into my foyer or left them in my driveway depending on whether they were indoor or outdoor plants.

I would have tipped them for digging holes in my yard, I would not have tipped them for putting the plants near where I was going to dig a hole.

15

Now I feel bad. I order pizza online and a while ago noticed the delivery charge. I seriously assumed that it would go straight to the drivers and was meant to get around customers who don’t tip at all. I haven’t been tipping because I thought that was my tip. :3

16

It could have gone to the driver. I finally got around to asking my local pizza delivery place if the delivery charge ($1.75) went to the driver or not, and they said it did. I still throw another couple bucks on top of that.

17

I expect to pay something reasonable for delivery. In the case of food delivery, I go by the standard of 15%. If the company wants to call some of that 15% a delivery charge, that doesn’t change what I’m willing to pay. If the required delivery charge were more than I’d otherwise tip, I’ll just pay that.

For any kind of heavy lifting delivery, I’d expect to tip $10-20 per person for a “free” delivery. If the delivery charge is $100, then I’d not tip any extra.

18

The couple of times I’ve had something large delivered (furniture or garden supplies) that I tried to tip the delivery guy, they’ve refused. One guy refused, but said he’d take a cold soda if I had one, and I was happy to oblige. I’ve given up trying to tip anyone but food delivery people.

19

My latest “deliveries” were my window air conditioners, for which I paid $95 and $119 each to get installed. The installations took maybe 20-25 minutes, including them measuring the windows, going out to the truck and cutting custom wood, and coming back up to the 3rd floor. That was a lot of cash, to me, to have the units installed but worth it for me since I wouldn’t even have been able to carry them all the way up the stairs, much less install them myself so beautifully. But a tip? On top of that kind of fee for 25 minutes work? I assumed they make more money than I do!

I did tip the moving guys - probably paltry to them, but all I could afford which was $20 each for 3 guys after a 4.5 hour move.

Food delivery I usually tip around $5 for a range of totals from $20 to $40. If there’s a separate delivery fee, I’ll tip 10%.

20

I always tip delivery men if heavy lifting is involved. I usually give them $5 pp. Flower delivery people normally don’t get a tip because it’s a surprise and I feel stupid telling them to wait because often the only thing I’ll have is a $20 bill and then I have to scrounge around for change and that looks cheap.