Tipping - how much?

[paynomind]

I don't wanna be a jerk to the service industry, but there are certain things I'm more familiar with than others.

How much should I tip the pizza guy? I order a $15 set of pizzas, i drop him two bucks. That sound about right?

Anyone here ever deliver pizzas? Do you spit in my next pizza if I only tip 2 bucks?

[Lee.]

I don't wanna be a jerk to the service industry, but there are certain thinks I'm more familiar with than others.

How much should I tip the pizza guy? I order a $15 set of pizzas, i drop him two bucks. That sound about right?

Anyone here ever deliver pizzas? Do you spit in my next pizza if I only tip 2 bucks?

2 bucks is plenty.  This guy already gets a buck or two from the pizza joint just for making the delivery,so another coupla bucks from you is more than enough.

If he drops off 4 pizzas an hour, on average, at say $1.50 per delivery from the store, plus an average of another 1.25 in tips, then he's sitting at an easy $11 an hour.  Not bad for under-the-table earnings that he'll never declare come tax time.

This is assuming a cheap fake-cheese pizza joint.  The higher-end parlors of course, who aren't charging $15 for 2-3 pies, would probably make a little more on each end...I know when we order from the local pizzeria (none of this pizza hut/dominoes crap), two big pies comes out to $38.54, I give him $42 every time.  Just because they know us, I don't even have to give my full order (they already know what we're gonna have), and the driver always makes sure we get our pies delivered first.

[IronChefShark]

two bucks is just fine. thats what I usually tip.

unless of course, my server is a hot girl then I tip three bucks  :cool:

[Stampman]

Yeah it depends on the cost & amount of pizza--for a $15 pizza--$2 is fine--we order from the same place all the time and always have different people delivering--so either they have a lot of drivers--or a lot of turnover--I usually tip about $4. The pizza place pays them $2.

[dmr]

paynomind, sorry if you think this is OT or I am taking this topic in the wrong/opposite direction, but I am just curious.

When any of you go ou to eat at a dine-in resteraunt do you tend to stick with the traditional tip of 15%? do you tend to go higher? or lower?

Also what would make you tip higher then 15%? (okay, what would make you tip higher then 15% aside from a hot server)

The reason I am curious is I have worked at Texas Roadhouse for 3 years, the last 13 months as a server. In talking to people outside of work most people that tip below 15% are under the impression that we make minimum wage. As a I server make $2.13 an hour, which is not enough to put up with stupid/dumb remarks ranging from "what is the difference between white and brown gravy?" and the one from two nights ago "I don't want a soda I just want a Dr. Pepper." There are oh so many more.

                                            dmr

[Lee.]

paynomind, sorry if you think this is OT or I am taking this topic in the wrong/opposite direction, but I am just curious.

When any of you go ou to eat at a dine-in resteraunt do you tend to stick with the traditional tip of 15%? do you tend to go higher? or lower?

Also what would make you tip higher then 15%? (okay, what would make you tip higher then 15% aside from a hot server)

The reason I am curious is I have worked at Texas Roadhouse for 3 years, the last 13 months as a server. In talking to people outside of work most people that tip below 15% are under the impression that we make minimum wage. As a I server make $2.13 an hour, which is not enough to put up with stupid/dumb remarks ranging from "what is the difference between white and brown gravy?" and the one from two nights ago "I don't want a soda I just want a Dr. Pepper." There are oh so many more.

dmr

When dining out, I tip based on the service received. I refuse to tip the arbitrary 15% just because somebody somewhere decided I should.

Is my server polite? Does s/he have a personality? Do they make us feel comfrotable? Do they pay special attention to the kids, if they're with us?  Are they on the ball with coffee/soda/whatever refills?  Do they come back right after I shove a whopping load of beef in my mouth to ask how everything is?  If they're doing their job properly, and if I feel that they've treated us well, I reward them justly.

If they're going thru the motions, talking with their friends, picking up on the groovy guy and/or gal at the other table, sleepwalking, whatever, then I tip well below or not at all.  Unfortunately in this day and age, I've been leaning toward the 'not at all' side because quite frankly, I haven't exactly been overwhelmed by positive service lately at any of the restaurants we've been to.

$2.13 an hour? Are you on commission? What's the proper minimum wage in your area? God knows I'm not much of a liberal, but that sounds a lot like Kathie Lee Gifford wages, my friend...

[Stampman]

You hit it on the head Silverback--

There's a restaurant near where I live that closed down because of poor service--people stopped going there--and I know lots of people who complained--it's a shame too--it was decent food at a decent price too--but they kept employing servers who spent time with their friends, in the back, or doing who knows what instead of working--I had them walk right past me & ignore me--we just stopped going--so did most of the people who went there--and I didn't tip them at all after that--I di at first--but as service deterioarated--I didn't they didn't deserve it.

[smzimbabwe]

I use 15% as the benchmark. If a server did more than what I expect, they get more, my friend and I tipped a girl a couple of weeks ago 40% because she was outstanding. However, if you don't live up to my expectations, you get less. Major screwups get you nothing...

[STL FANATIC]

When I go out and I'm paying for something (means I'm with friends probably) I figure out what is about 15%, and make sure I tip at least that much but try to round it to the nearest dollar. Usually don't go over 20%.

[paynomind]

(no problem with the subject shift, we answered the first Q, thats why the title was not specific)

I give around 20% for good service. But, my scale is very steep downward if the service is poor. Be attentive, polite, friendly, but dont talk to me about your kids, your surgery, or how much you hate your boss. Comemnt on my cool jersey, how cute my kids are, that you really like the fudge brownie also. But leave ti at that. If you dont talk to me at att, let me go any amoutn of time without a full glass of sweet tea, or obviously forgot to input my food order, expect the tip to fall fast. A tip is a reward, not a fee due you just for showing up.

On anothe tip topic... who else do you tip? the guy at Subway? Your postman? Your garbage man? Your usher?

[IronChefShark]

I tip all the time unless the service is clearly screwed up. then again, I usually go to the same places to eat on a regular basis. Therefore me and the workers are ususally on a first name basis. Also its because in my line of work Ive gotten tips before. In December I made $200 worth of tips and one of my customers even gave me a bottle of merlot  

there is love for the bugman :cool:

[See Red]

I'm pretty much the same as SHB in terms of pizza delivery.  I'll give the guy $2... but if it's a hot female...i'm scrappin through my pockets to find an extra dollar to include.

And I also agree that at a restaurant, 15% is usually my benchmark.  I'll generally go up to %20, or down to 10% unless the service is REALLY awful.

and also, I tip my hair cutter.

[JQK]

If you want to get my feelings on tips, listen to Mr. Pink at the beginning of "Resevoir Dogs"

[Saintsfan]

My rules of tipping-

1- have I received acceptable service- if no - no tip, if yes proceed

2- Did I like the waiter/waitress as a person, were they friendly etc. if no- small tip- no more than £1 sterling, if yes proceed

3- Would I sleep with them if they offered- if no- 10% if yes 15% or all the change in my pocket, whichever is the largest!

So no male waiter is gonna receive more than 10% from me!! And I am quite happy not tipping, if the service is not good enough to make me feel like a valued customer.

[Lee.]

I'd just like to remind the board that no hot female delivery person has ever slept with a customer for an extra dollar.

The extra buck or however many cents you throw in?  She expects you to, simply because she's hot and you're surprised that she showed up instead of the fat guy or the new-to-the-country-guy.  A quick smile means an extra buck for her, but if  you think that buck is gonna get you anywhere, Hoooooooooooooooooboy are you pathetic.

Just helping you guys out.

[aengre]

I just have the $5 mark set in my head.  This is usually dropped on a $20 or so dollar order, when eating out.  I been lucky to have good to great service everytime, and the tip will go up depending on alchohol intake and waitress attractive factors, but a fiver is my usual tip.

[Stampman]

the attractivness/unattractiveness of a waitress/delivery person has never affected my tip.  I tip based on service--flirting is not service.  And some of the worst service I've had has been from attractive servers, and best from unattractive ones--but I'm probably not paying as much attention to their appearance as some of the guys here.

[IronChefShark]

well I actually got a date out of one tipping incident.

and like I said, I ususally patron the same establishments, so my service gets better and better every time I return

[dmr]

Hey, thanks guys for your responses I was just curious about it, since someone kinda sorta brought it up.  I live/work in a military town (Ft. Hood), we have 57 servers on our staff, 50 of those are female, thus only 7 of us are guys. So most of the people we server are single GI's or GI's with their familes. Which has created an interesting situation with service, because the females are hired by our managers for their looks, while the guys have started as busboys and worked are way up to serving by doing a good job. So when the 4th ID was deployed and GI's were not there to come in all the guys started making more money then females, because we provided better service.

I digress to the points made by OSilverback, minimum wage in our area is roughly around $6 per hour, dishwashers start at $6 hour (been there done that). Even thought I only make $2.13 an hour, I still don't get to keep all of my tips. At the end of every shift I pay the resteraunt 3% of my total sales (but not to exceed $20 per shift), which is then divide up between the hostesses and busboys, who make $3 an hour. The whole idea of "tip share" as it is called seems to bored upon illegal, but is has never been challenged, so I wouldn't know. Tipshare for a servers perspective is merely an incovenice, since we almost always make at least $10 an hour in tips. While from the point of view as a busboy is seems unfair cause your doing all the hard backbreaking labor and your cash depends upon someone else making sales.  

                       

                                          dmr

[Lee.]

I digress to the points made by OSilverback, minimum wage in our area is roughly around $6 per hour, dishwashers start at $6 hour (been there done that). Even thought I only make $2.13 an hour, I still don't get to keep all of my tips. At the end of every shift I pay the resteraunt 3% of my total sales (but not to exceed $20 per shift), which is then divide up between the hostesses and busboys, who make $3 an hour. The whole idea of "tip share" as it is called seems to bored upon illegal, but is has never been challenged, so I wouldn't know. Tipshare for a servers perspective is merely an incovenice, since we almost always make at least $10 an hour in tips. While from the point of view as a busboy is seems unfair cause your doing all the hard backbreaking labor and your cash depends upon someone else making sales.

But if minimum wage in your area is $6, and you only make $2.13, then that's illegal (I'm a payroll supervisor for a living, I know these things).  Generally, the only way around minimum wage for an employer is to pay their employees on a piece-work basis, but that's pretty much impossible in a resturant situation.  Did you sign something that states you're willing to work for just over a third of the regulated minimum wage?

I know you get tips, that's not my point.  But the reason it's called minimum wage is generally because that's the MINIMUM that a person can be paid, per hour, by law.

Unless I'm missing something, that's illegal as all hell.