Two tipping questions

[Cyros]

@BoBettie

May I add in a question about tipping at Sonic? We recently got one of these in my little town and I love it- carhops on rollerskates. So cool! If I get a slushie and nothing else and it’s $1.30, I give 'em $2 and have them keep the change. If it’s a $5 meal, I usually add in an extra dollar or 2, depending on if they have to do any extra running about. Thoughts? Is this good/bad/appropriate?

Oooooh! I want a Sonic! We don’t have such a thing here, but I would be willing to tip for that.

[Geobabe]

@Audrey Levins

As for tipping on takeout…depends on the place. My rule of thumb is that if it’s a counter-only place whether you eat in or not (you get your own food, your own refills, etc.) it isn’t expected or required. The people behind the counter are getting paid as if they aren’t getting tipped and there is really no difference between wrapping a sandwich in paper or putting it on a plate. It’s like Starbucks; if they were particularly pleasant or helpful you can throw a buck in their jar, but it’s not part of their “wage.”

If it’s a restaurant with service, I tip between 10% and 15%. (If I eat in, I tip between 20% and 25%.) At Chili’s, for instance, their to-go person is just a waiter; he has two other tables and all the to-go orders, and honestly packaging an order to-go is more trouble in a “service restaurant” than if you ate there. I think it’s a very shoddy system from a corporate perspective, but most restaurants pay their service staff as little as humanly possible (it’s $2.13 in Texas and yes, that’s what the to-go guy at Chili’s is getting paid) so I always tip on to-go in service restaurants. Same thing if it’s the bartender doing the take-out, which is also common.

This is exactly what I do, too. I’ve heard from friends who are waitstaff that in some restaurants, if somebody is working take-out exclusively, they may get paid more than server minimum for that shift, but I don’t count on that–and besides, even if they are getting a higher hourly wage, they’re probably still not making as much as if they were waiting tables and getting tips, since so many people don’t tip for takeout.

A couple of bucks doesn’t make a big difference to me, but it does to the tippee.

[Grrr]

For $35 the lady giving me the hair cut better be toppless. (Jeesh)

[sewalk]

@Cyros

Oooooh! I want a Sonic! We don’t have such a thing here, but I would be willing to tip for that.

We have the corporate headquarters here in OKC. Sonic is an Oklahoma institution. The carhops are paid full wages, as opposed to tip-compensated wages, everywhere I know of so tipping isn’t mandatory. I never tip more than $1 and I always get a sincere smile and thanks. I hate the fact that they’ve installed credit card readers at the stalls. I don’t see how that won’t result in reduced tips for the carhops (who really hustle, in the outdoors, in all kinds of weather, unlike most other waitstaff).

[Audrey_Levins]

How so? Once they box up your food and you leave they don’t have to deal with you anymore. The entire transaction takes ten minutes at the most. If you eat in, they have to refill drinks, fetch silverware, bring napkins… I don’t see how to-go can possibly be harder.

As an ex-waitress and current bartender, I hope you don’t discount my take on it.

Boxing up food takes me out of my bar.

We are also (because of my boss, but that’s a whole other story) not set up to make to-go orders a speedy and painless transaction. You want a filet; that filet comes with a salad, dressing, bread, butter, vegetable, plus fries or a baked potato.

All of that has to be packaged individually. You want your baked potato toppings on the side? That’s five different containers. You want your dressing on the side? That’s another container. You want fries? That calls for ketchup. You order shrimp? That’s tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. You want drawn butter? That’s two containers. Plus the bag, the silverware, the napkins, etc., etc…

All of that takes me away from my bar. Where I’m making money. If I were a waitress, it would take me out of my section. Where I’m making money. It takes me away for longer than you think, and it isn’t just my restaurant. That’s any restaurant I’ve ever worked at, in nine years in the industry.

That’s time I lose, and time is money. Particularly in the service industry.

Now, I understand those who think that that isn’t their problem. I really do.

But for me, working in the industry, it is very much my problem and I have the respect to tip for that effort. You don’t have to, you won’t be alone if you don’t, but that’s where it is. Ask anybody who’s ever worked in the industry and they will tell you it’s far more trouble to make a to-go order than it is if you just ate it on-premise.

[rbroome]

@Audrey Levins

As an ex-waitress and current bartender, I hope you don’t discount my take on it.

But for me, working in the industry, it is very much my problem and I have the respect to tip for that effort. You don’t have to, you won’t be alone if you don’t, but that’s where it is. Ask anybody who’s ever worked in the industry and they will tell you it’s far more trouble to make a to-go order than it is if you just ate it on-premise.

Thanks! I hadn’t thought this through. This information will help next time.

[mhendo]

I agree with Audrey Levins about when to tip for take-out food.

The place where i get my hair cut charges $25 for a men’s cut. Because i’m a student, i get a discount, and pay $21 for the cut. I give the guy who cuts my hair $5, and the person who washes it gets $1-2. So, total cost usually $28.

[panache45]

@Mehitabel

Forget it, cows have better hearing than you think they do and they wake right up.

What?

That’s why you have to be vewwy vewwy quiet. And it helps if they’re on a hill.