When you do a Curbside Pickup shop for dinner. How much of a tip do you give the runner?

I give 10%

15%

It depends on how the employee behaved.

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

@Tarantado wrote:

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

You have admitted to being cheap here already ....

I seem to recall guidelines on a recent curbside shop that advised $2.00. While I would normally tip more, the idea is not to stand out or to be remembered which can happen when the amount is too much or too little.

From what I've read in various places, the standard tip would be 10%, depending on the service the individual provides. I've never done a curbside shop, but with some other types of takeout shops, the server does a whole lot more than just stick your order in a bag and hand it to you. They deserve a tip, but not as much as the standard 15 to 20% for dine-in meals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2018 12:26PM by BirdyC.

Seriously, no curbside tip? Even in bad weather? Do you tip your valet? Its their job to park your car. How about haircuts?

@Tarantado wrote:

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Seriously, no curbside tip? Even in bad weather? Do you tip your valet? Its their job to park your car. How about haircuts?

@Tarantado wrote:

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

Sure, I tip valet and my barber.

Where do you draw the line? If you don’t tip your fast casual restaurants when you order for takeout, why would you do the same for a restaurant?

Let me guess, you also tip your curbside pickups at Walmart and Bestbuy? Same with Chick-Fil-A?

I love people that call me cheap for not tipping the doorman at the hotel, yet you wouldn’t tip the doorman at a luxury retailer?

Maybe this thread could convince me to tip the laborers outside working all day in a blazing heat painting my house too while they’re still here.

As a bartender at a small restaurant my hourly was higher than the servers, but still lower than minimum wage because I was tipped. Carryout orders took me away from my customers at the bar. Nobody was putting together everything and bringing it to me. If you ordered a salad, I made the salad the same as the server who brought one to your table. So yeah, you are making a lot of assumptions there and using them as excuses to be cheap. Comparing pick up at a restaurant to Walmart is just an attempt to obfuscate.

I guess you must live somewhere that it doesn't snow or rain? Funny, I thought you lived in Colorado or somewhere near.

If a server has a great attitude and comes out to my car to bring my food, I give them a buck or two, and if it's inclement weather, I give them more. I used to be a server, that's how I paid my way through college many years ago. Servers do not make the same wages that people at retailers do, even when they are working the curbside service they are not making as much as someone who works at Best Buy does. If you are going inside and don't tip, that's one thing, but not tipping someone who delivers your food is..cheap. I wouldn't expect anyone to give 15-20% for curbside service but you could at least give $1 or $2 if you get your food in a timely manner and they are friendly.

I don't do curbside pickup anywhere else other than on shops. I also only eat at Chick Fil-A when I am visiting my cousin in Texas (she and her husband own one) and obviously, it's free and I am not getting curbside service there...didn't know they even offered it.

@Tarantado wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Seriously, no curbside tip? Even in bad weather? Do you tip your valet? Its their job to park your car. How about haircuts?

@Tarantado wrote:

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

Sure, I tip valet and my barber.

Where do you draw the line? If you don’t tip your fast casual restaurants when you order for takeout, why would you do the same for a restaurant?

Let me guess, you also tip your curbside pickups at Walmart and Bestbuy? Same with Chick-Fil-A?

I love people that call me cheap for not tipping the doorman at the hotel, yet you wouldn’t tip the doorman at a luxury retailer?

Lol i'll just end it here because this conversation never ends well.... Never.

For what it's worth, people at Best Buy are just as underpaid as the majority of servers. Hell, some servers I know that work at high-end steakhouses or a good example which was my ex girlfriend who was a bartender at a local sushi joint in Phoenix made upwards of $60k+.... Cash, which is decent money in Denver and EXCELLENT money in Phoenix, consider the amount of hours she worked too.

Meanwhile, the associates at Wal-Mart at Best Buy are making no more than $10-12 an hour.... But not tipping a curbside pickup for Wal-Mart or Best Buy pickups aren't comparable? It's not my responsibility to judge an associate's work responsibilities and whether they're underpaid for it or not. If they raise prices considerably to justify banning tipping from restaurant, I'd rather go for that.

But yes! Curbside pickup at Chick-Fil-A helps save some time whenever you're doing an online order for pickup.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2018 04:32PM by Tarantado.

Yeah, people who are servers and bartenders are generally making good tips to compensate for their low hourly wage. When they are working the curbside counter service, they are making slightly more per hour in wages paid by the restaurant than their fellow servers are, but they are making MUCH less in tips because of people like you. And their hourly wage paid by the establishment is not the same as what someone at Best Buy is being paid per hour. I think you knew I meant wages paid by the establishment and not what they were/are making in tips.

Lol because of people like me. Then ban takeout orders and stop curbside!

Come to think of it, the many restaurants throughout the airport also have 'Grab & Go' registers worked by the same servers. I wonder if they get paid server wages because 100% of the time, there was no tipping observed from any customers or tip jars anywhere to be seen. If so, they gotta do something about that.

This is one of the areas we are always going to have a huge range of opinions, since as it is clear from this thread, tipping is not mandatory. If it were, it would be on the bill. I personally tip on service. A person serving me a full meal is getting 20% or more if they meet their job expectations. A person walking a bag 10 feet to my car is getting 1-2 dollars, unless the weather is terrible. Again, that is just me, others can do it differently since it is not required to tip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2018 05:26PM by oteixeira.

Why are we policing others spending habits? Tipping is optional not mandatory. Is isn't the customer's responsibility to make sure an employee is making whatever is considered a "fair trade". I've worked in the service industry before as well and it doesn't make me feel indebted to those that choose that career path. I'm not going to tip someone for simply doing their job or being nice/courteous to me. My tips are based solely on my discretion.

I don't think that many people are choosing serving as a "career" path. In my experience, it's often young people starting out in life and sometimes it's single, struggling parents trying to put food on the table. I am more than willing to help out both. And I suppose some people might make a career out of it, and if they are really good at it, I am generous with them as well. I don't feel indebted or obligated, but I am not stingy or a cheapskate, either.

At any rate, if someone is standing (sometimes in the pouring down rain or freezing cold and snow) with a smile on their face to bring me food and save me the trouble of having to go inside and get it myself, you had better believe I am going to tip them.

So, eyelove2shop, if you know that someone is making less than minimum wage (like servers and bartenders), you don't feel like giving them a little extra if they are super nice and good at their job? Do you often stiff your server or bartender or give them a meager tip of 10% when inside of an establishment regardless of their attitude and quality of service just because they are "simply doing their job" and you base it "solely on your discretion"?

I obviously am not "policing" anyone or I would fine the cheap people, LOL. But, this is a forum where I am free to speak my opinion.

Being called cheap obviously has a negative connotation express by many of you in this thread which is why I'm even responding, such as being described as 'stingy' and a 'cheapskate.' I find it offensive when I know how to manage my finances and present myself (IMO) above average compared to others my age.

As for the minimum wage topic, that should be raise to aim closer to the cost of living.... which the majority of the time, it isn't. If tipping is supposed to be because we're assisting a worker's income due to being underpaid, we should be tipping the majority of the workforce we interact with when the majority of them are living in paycheck to paycheck, not just the 'tipped' employees in the world.

Whether anyone believes tipping should even be a thing is not germane. Until the system is changed we will have people being paid less because tips are supposed to subsidize their wages. I'm all for the system being changed. Until it is, I'm not going to take it out on the servers who have little to no control.

Tipping threads are always full of disagreement. It would really help if the establishments had a sign on the window telling us the minimum wage in their establishment. That will probably never happen. I know in my state the minimum wage will be $15 an hour for everyone including food service in a few years. And the people in non tip jobs in food service get a few dollars more. I am not saying that it is a living wage for a decent life in this city but in comparison many, many people here who have college degrees work in jobs requiring specific knowledge and skills at the college level and are earning that same minimum wage. I feel differently about a tip to someone in a state where the restaurant wage is a little over $2 an hour than here in this state where it is closing in on $15 per hour with health care, vac/ holiday pay, sick leave etc if they are full time.
Here is a state by state guide so you can see what workers earn in your state. [www.dol.gov]

That was very helpful Sandy, thank you.

tipping has gotten so out of control.

Well, my state is one of the cheapest in the U.S. and hasn't raised its minimum wage in years. So, I try to tip well for good service. If the person at the counter prepares my take-out meal (not cooking the entree, of course, but adding the sides), checks to be sure that the order is right, makes sure to include plastic ware, napkins, wet wipes, condiments, etc., opens the boxes when I arrive to pick up so that I can see everything is correct, then re-packs my order in the bag, as far as I'm concerned, they've done a whole lot more than just hand me my meal. They get a tip of at least 10% IF they're polite, friendly, and give me a smile. If they're surly, they still get one, but not as much.

I give 20% because to me, they're just like a server.

I did the shop and the bill for the Curbside was $31.15 and gave the food runner the difference between the bill and the $35 ( just about 18%)

@Tarantado wrote:

I gave whatever’s specified in the guidelines. If not specified, I give $0 for curbside pickup. That’s their job and I’m not dining in. I also don’t tip for takeout orders unless specified in the guidelines.

I have worked in the restaurant business for many years. It is hard to do carry out and to be a waiter. You normally have to answer the phone, bag your own orders carry them wherever they need to go etc. at least give them a few bucks.

CI only reimburse us for $1-2. When they go back in to get me a drink, I would really love to tip them more.