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levite · 06-08-2008, 07:15 AM

Yeah, standard rule should always be to tip anyone in service. And with delivery (pizza, or any other kind of order-in) you should tip at least $3 or $4 if you live in a small city or large town, or at least $5 if you live in a big city. More if possible, since gas costs have shot through the roof. Obviously, if it was really crappy service, that's different, or if your delivery person was rude or something.... But other than that, tip and tip well.

I worked delivering pizza, delivering cafe food, waitering, and a whole bunch of other crap service gigs like that when I was trying to work as an actor. Tips are indispensable: restaurants generally pay minimum wage, or not much above it. Delivery work is highly irregular, and conditions aren't great: you end up having to do a lot of scut work at the restaurant that isn't covered by tipping or extra wages, and you pay for your own gas, insurance and so forth. Plus, drivers usually have to give a cut of their tips to the supervisors and the kitchen staff.

Not only are you just a better person for tipping the delivery guy, but it can really work in your favor. Delivery people remember who tips well, and who stiffs them, and service is often prioritized accordingly. I don't just mean the occasional delivery driver who gets too fed up with the guy who always stiffs him, and puts some ice on the pizza, or spits in the pasta or something. But much more often, drivers remember who tips well, and they'll bust their ass to get the order correct and delivered quickly. They may even sometimes slip you some free extras to keep you happy. I was never a spitter or a pie-icer, but I sure remembered who tipped well, and I'd sometimes throw in some free cheesecake or breadsticks, and I'd work hard to remember what kind of salad dressing they liked and stuff.

Similarly, with waiters: the fancier the place, the more you should tip-- not because you're paying for style, but at a fancier place, the waiters have to cut more people in on their tips...bus boys, wine waiters, prep cooks, dish washers. If you go to a really swanky place, and you tip your waiter $10, just know that probably only $3-5 of that ends up in your waiter's pocket. But the tipping karma thing works even harder for restaurant tipping than for delivery: waiters remember who tips well, and you will-- I assure you-- get better service, better tables, more attention, more perks. If you consistently under-tip waiters in a restaurant, don't be surprised to wait for a table, get poor seats, and minimal service.

Believe me, nobody gets rich waitering or delivering: it's not something most people choose early and deliberately, and it's very hard to make a living doing it. It's incredibly thankless, and you all would just never believe the rudeness that service workers have to deal with. For every decent joe or jane like you guys, there's five bastards who have no problem verbally abusing the poor schmuck who drove their dinner over to their house because they gave the wrong cross-street and the driver got lost, or screaming at the guy taking their order over the phone for having to put them on hold for a minute.

It's been ten years since I worked in food service, and I still remember some of the customers I liked best-- the college kids who tipped me by smoking me out; or the rich guy who ordered 25 pizzas, tipped me a hundred bucks, and a Cuban cigar; or the dozen sorority girls that ordered five pies, barely made the total by scraping coins from under the couch cushions, and tipped me by all flashing me for a thirty-second count. I also remember the customers that were the worst: the guy who never tipped me, and looked at me like I was dirt; the guy who screamed abuse at me in front of his family and passers-by for getting lost and being ten minutes late; the guy who made snide comments about my appearance, made vaguely anti-semitic remarks, and then tipped me a penny.

I tip very generously in all cases, and let me tell you guys, I have never regretted it for a moment. If I get to Heaven, I wouldn't be surprised if it's for tipping.

06-08-2008, 07:15 AM	#44 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	Yeah, standard rule should always be to tip anyone in service. And with delivery (pizza, or any other kind of order-in) you should tip at least $3 or $4 if you live in a small city or large town, or at least $5 if you live in a big city. More if possible, since gas costs have shot through the roof. Obviously, if it was really crappy service, that's different, or if your delivery person was rude or something.... But other than that, tip and tip well. I worked delivering pizza, delivering cafe food, waitering, and a whole bunch of other crap service gigs like that when I was trying to work as an actor. Tips are indispensable: restaurants generally pay minimum wage, or not much above it. Delivery work is highly irregular, and conditions aren't great: you end up having to do a lot of scut work at the restaurant that isn't covered by tipping or extra wages, and you pay for your own gas, insurance and so forth. Plus, drivers usually have to give a cut of their tips to the supervisors and the kitchen staff. Not only are you just a better person for tipping the delivery guy, but it can really work in your favor. Delivery people remember who tips well, and who stiffs them, and service is often prioritized accordingly. I don't just mean the occasional delivery driver who gets too fed up with the guy who always stiffs him, and puts some ice on the pizza, or spits in the pasta or something. But much more often, drivers remember who tips well, and they'll bust their ass to get the order correct and delivered quickly. They may even sometimes slip you some free extras to keep you happy. I was never a spitter or a pie-icer, but I sure remembered who tipped well, and I'd sometimes throw in some free cheesecake or breadsticks, and I'd work hard to remember what kind of salad dressing they liked and stuff. Similarly, with waiters: the fancier the place, the more you should tip-- not because you're paying for style, but at a fancier place, the waiters have to cut more people in on their tips...bus boys, wine waiters, prep cooks, dish washers. If you go to a really swanky place, and you tip your waiter $10, just know that probably only $3-5 of that ends up in your waiter's pocket. But the tipping karma thing works even harder for restaurant tipping than for delivery: waiters remember who tips well, and you will-- I assure you-- get better service, better tables, more attention, more perks. If you consistently under-tip waiters in a restaurant, don't be surprised to wait for a table, get poor seats, and minimal service. Believe me, nobody gets rich waitering or delivering: it's not something most people choose early and deliberately, and it's very hard to make a living doing it. It's incredibly thankless, and you all would just never believe the rudeness that service workers have to deal with. For every decent joe or jane like you guys, there's five bastards who have no problem verbally abusing the poor schmuck who drove their dinner over to their house because they gave the wrong cross-street and the driver got lost, or screaming at the guy taking their order over the phone for having to put them on hold for a minute. It's been ten years since I worked in food service, and I still remember some of the customers I liked best-- the college kids who tipped me by smoking me out; or the rich guy who ordered 25 pizzas, tipped me a hundred bucks, and a Cuban cigar; or the dozen sorority girls that ordered five pies, barely made the total by scraping coins from under the couch cushions, and tipped me by all flashing me for a thirty-second count. I also remember the customers that were the worst: the guy who never tipped me, and looked at me like I was dirt; the guy who screamed abuse at me in front of his family and passers-by for getting lost and being ten minutes late; the guy who made snide comments about my appearance, made vaguely anti-semitic remarks, and then tipped me a penny. I tip very generously in all cases, and let me tell you guys, I have never regretted it for a moment. If I get to Heaven, I wouldn't be surprised if it's for tipping. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne) Last edited by levite; 06-08-2008 at 07:18 AM..