Paying by Card

[DMDarcs]

One of our local restaurants has recently changed their policy towards paying with card. Any purchase with a card now adds a 3% surcharge to your bill as a "convenience fee." Until very recently, this was illegal in our state. That decision, as far as my research shows, seems to have been reversed, with the caveat that all menus must list the more expensive price (which this restaurant does not). There also seem to be some different rules if you are paying with a debit card, though that seems confusing from the various sources I've read. I plan on calling someone at the state level to find out what the exact terms are - more for my edification than anything else.

So if you're quoted on one price over the phone when you order the take out, and are given another price when you go to pick up the food - how much do you tip?

[Tahlvin]

I don’t tip on take out. I do on delivery, or if I eat in and am waited on by a wait staff. But not for carry out.

[El Jefe]

Legit question: Is tipping on carry out a thing? Have I been doing this wrong for...apparently forever?

[Mike]

I'm with Tahlvin. I tip servers in-house and I tip delivery drivers. I don't tip when I pick it up myself. In my state, servers rely on tips and make less than minimum wage. The carry-out food is typically prepped for me by a host or manager making over minimum wage. I don't tip them for handing me my food and ringing me up for the same reason I don't tip the employee working the Burger King drive thru.

[Phoebe]

Same. We give big tips to the actual wait staff, bartenders, or whoever is doing a service, because their base rate is so low and they usually deserve all the extra they can get, but takeout is mainly the manager/cashier handing you a pizza box/bag of food prepared by someone else.

I have been to various places that pass on service charges for credit cards, like you pay a surcharge for AMEX or Discover because it costs the vendor more to offer that service, but more often they just don't accept those cards because the fees are higher. A few places here are still sticking to cash-only, which is interesting as it seems to be succeeding.

[Kyle]

Do you tip your barista?

I have a friend who’s an Uber driver, and he showed me a shot of his fares. Only one out of three people tip their Uber driver.

I might tip one or two bucks on carry out, recognizing there is some personal effort made for my order, but not much. I almost always tip everyone else 20-25 percent. Even if service is bad because I’ve worked in service before and I recognize how tough it can be.

[Phoebe]

I do not ever have a barista, so that one is easily solved, but yes to tipping drivers. I don't understand the structure of how they get paid, but there's definitely better and worse in personal service from the driving.

[Mike]

Barista? No... never thought of it. But then, I've been to Starbucks twice in the last year (both times at GenCon) where there were six people behind the counter, and whoever made my drink put in the same personal effort (and probably got paid the same as) the person who made my blizzard at Dairy Queen.

On the other hand, I do tip my bartender on the once or twice a year occasions that I'm ordering drinks from a bartender. If I make multiple trips to the bar, I tip about every second or third trip.

[DMDarcs]

I do tend to tip anywhere I get take out at home, as every place to get food is locally owned, and I happen to know either the owners or the servers from outside the food world. I don't tip take out at chain restaurants. I ALWAYS tip Chinese food. Baristas at Starbucks, not usually - but then again my wife is usually the one procuring coffee.

[El Jefe]

If I'm tipping at a Starbucks, shouldn't I be tipping at Taco Bell? Jokes aside, I'm really unclear on the difference here. Why would one specific kind of takeout require tipping, but not the rest? It's one thing if some place has one of the tip jars out, and you throw some in. I get that. I'm talking more about places that don't. I think I'm more confused now than when I started.

Do I tip at the deli counter in the grocery store? If the Starbucks is in a grocery store, do I still tip? The post office when picking up a bulk package? What about the grocery shopping services cropping up in some stores? You know, you build the grocery list online, and they get it altogether for you, and just send you a message when its done. Because many retail grocery chains won't allow (and will outright fire) employees for taking tips. Is it just any place with a counter? I'm pretty sure you have me all completely rethinking life and the entire universe now. You're all the worst.

[Mike]

For me, the general rule is that I don't need to tip anyone earning a fair hourly wage (which in my area is about 11 dollars or more). I know servers are paid less than that. Servers get a healthy tip at all times regardless of quality of service. Starbucks employees make a fair wage, so I don't think about tipping them. (But I do tip my bartender, so I'm inconsistent.)

But some areas are complicated. Uber drivers make just over a buck a mile, but after expenses they make only around $9 an hour. And some claim their real pay is lower even. Uber driver are essentially borrowing money against the depreciation of their vehicle. And that's entirely without benefits. I drove cab for a while, and a decade ago I worked out that most of the drivers (contractors) made 9 to 10 dollars an hour with zero benefits.

And what about my barber? Is he a contractor? Probably. So he's working on commission with no benefits. I go in with my 2 kids and we get three haircuts. I pay 60 bucks for less than an hour of labor, but how much goes to the barber? What's the hourly rate adjusted for the lack of leave time, insurance, and other benefits? I don't know.

See, but then what about when the owner cuts my hair? I feel weird tipping the guy who sets the prices and compensation rates. HE decided what a fair rate for his work was and then expects me to throw in extra on top? That feels weird. That's why I dont have him cut my hair.

And my tattoo artist? These people are booked MONTHS in advance. They charge 100 bucks an hour. AND tipping is customary. None of them seem to be living as well as my mechanic, so what the hell is all the overhead for a tattoo shop?

I would love living in a world where everyone gets compensated fairly for their work and tipping is a rare expression of gratitude for exceptional work. But we dont live there.

[Tahlvin]

And housekeeping staff at hotels. I typically tip $5 a night for the housekeeping staff, per room (we typically have 2 rooms when we travel with the kids).

Incidentally, one of my customers recently implemented a new policy for what travel expenses they would and would not reimburse. They will no longer reimburse tips to hotel staff. So now when I travel for work, the cost for tipping housekeeping is all out of pocket for me. Either that, or I'm a jerk who doesn't tip housekeeping.

[Phoebe]

apparently motivated by a study of Uber drivers that found tipping depends more on the tipper than tippee, so it's unpleasant that we make people's salaries depend on something that doesn't really reward their skill in service work. I wonder if it's different with different jobs, like being a waiter or stylist, but the question remains. The article has some annoying little issues, like that he and his editor think the Victorian era is sometime way earlier than it was, or that he ends by saying tips come down to "luck" after carefully explaining that the highest tips occur from men to younger women in newer cars on smoother rides... etc none of which sounds like "luck", but the overall question still worth exploring.

[Phoebe]

I swear to God when I first read this article it mentioned that the practice started in Victorian England, but now that's gone and there's no errata reference. I don't know how you use the internet to go back in time to the magic moment when they posted the article, but since I give this magazine my money I'm kind of inclined to try. Does anyone know how you do that? I have a pretty good idea of the exact time of day I read it the first time.

[Mike]

Use the wayback machine at wayback.com

If you are lucky, they will have that moment for that site.