What % Do you tip for home delivery of food?

$

depends on timing
depends on person who delivers

There was an article in last weeks Sunday NY Times where 10% for these drivers on bicycles, motorized, were averaging. I thought that was horrible and so did most of the comments, but one person said I give about 20% to waiters who go through way more service, so 10% was he tipped. That made sense to me.

These drivers that were followed for the article were all new to the USA and had no other work.

This one guy was Chinese and got his meeting with US authorities and acceptance that he was a political refugee.

Usually $2 - 5 depending upon the size of order and the weather. Most home deliveries already include a delivery charge.

I tip better in cases where the delivery guy doesn't smell so bad as to ruin my appetite.

A few bucks as long as they don't already charge for delivery.

So if they charge for delivery already, it's ok not to tip? Or not tip as much?

I'm just curious, it's been a question I've wondered about for a little while since the mandatory delivery charges started creeping into more and more home delivery stuff.

Does anyone think that the home delivery charge goes to the delivery person? Does anyone know?

I really don't know. I tip the same anyway but don't feel bad when the "natural change" is less than the amount I'd normally tip.

the delivery charge going to the delivery person is entirely dependent on how the individual business is set up.

Deank wrote:the delivery charge going to the delivery person is entirely dependent on how the individual business is set up.

That is not for me to have to figure out.

Most delivery guys pay for their own cars/gas. So why would the restaurant need to charge for delivery? If the delivery guys drive a company car, they don't need the extra compensation.

If the delivery person doesn't like it they can work elsewhere.

I agree. Its none of my business and does not figure into my tip at all. The question was asked and I answered

Interesting conversation.



I seem to recall that the origin of the term "tips" comes from "to insure prompt service". Not sure if it is true or just someone was bullshitting when they told me that.



In a restaurant, you tip the waiter for good service. They were polite, courteous, timed your meal to suit you, made sure you had beverages, etc. I would think that a smart server would, of their own accord, want to share their tips with busboys, and even cooking staff so that they got preferential service, which would in turn help them earn larger tips.



So, why tip the guy that delivers your pizza? Does he have any impact on how fast you got your order? Was he courteous for the 2 minutes he had contact with you at your door? How about his driving? While your got your chow mein quickly, did he run 2 red lights and almost run over your neighbour to get there? Do you care as long as the chicken balls were hot? Is he driving an energy efficient vehicle which reduces his carbon footprint or a '61 Pontiac which needs as much oil as it does gas? So really, what is the value of tipping the delivery guy?

I tip the pizza delivery guy so I dont get spit the next time.

I'll tip if there is no delivery fee.

oh indeed. I forgot that some add that on automatically. If I see one the tip is either gone, or lowered substantially.

The delivery fees were introduced to cover minimum wage.

For a long time, certain jobs that were high in tips, did not require businesses to pay minimum wage. They could pay a reduced wage since the tips were considered the majority of the income.

Now though, the delivery fee is there just to cover the minimum wage...PRIMARILY for when there's no service being performed. So when the delivery driver is sitting at the restaurant, or doing jobs other than delivery.

It's typically customary to offer a $2-5 tip depending on the SIZE of the order, not the price. So if the driver has to carry 1 or 2 pizzas and a bottle of pop...that's probably a $2-5 tip...but if they have to carry 5-10 pizzas, a few bottles, maybe some breadsticks too...now it should be more like $10.

Having worked as a pizza delivery guy for a number of years, I will state that I never "spit" in someone's food...but if I was going somewhere that ordered regularly...that was a cheapskate and didn't tip at all (and there are those who expect exact change and don't tip)...they probably had cheese on the roof of the box, or a mess on the floor when they opened the pop bottle.

Anything less than a $2 tip these days though (especially with gas being so high) on any order, is really insulting to the driver.

"Anything less than a $2 tip these days though (especially with gas being
so high) on any order, is really insulting to the driver."

Why?

Deank wrote:"Anything less than a $2 tip these days though (especially with gas being so high) on any order, is really insulting to the driver."

Why?

Because they do pay for their own gas, insurance, maintenance, etc.
And you need to figure the restaurant is say 5-10 minutes from your home, which would make an average delivery take 10-20 minutes...and minimum wage is $10/hour...which would mean for a 20 minute delivery, a $2 tip would be only $6/hour...

And you are paying this person to come to your home to deliver something...and you think it's fair that you pay them less than minimum wage for this service?

That said...most drivers (if it's a good restaurant) are running with 3-5 deliveries on one trip...so their tips add up over the same amount of time...but YOUR consideration should be for the person you have hired to deliver YOUR food...and how much that service is really worth.

AGEsAces wrote:The delivery fees were introduced to cover minimum wage.

For a long time, certain jobs that were high in tips, did not require businesses to pay minimum wage. They could pay a reduced wage since the tips were considered the majority of the income.

Now though, the delivery fee is there just to cover the minimum wage...PRIMARILY for when there's no service being performed. So when the delivery driver is sitting at the restaurant, or doing jobs other than delivery.

It's typically customary to offer a $2-5 tip depending on the SIZE of the order, not the price. So if the driver has to carry 1 or 2 pizzas and a bottle of pop...that's probably a $2-5 tip...but if they have to carry 5-10 pizzas, a few bottles, maybe some breadsticks too...now it should be more like $10.

Having worked as a pizza delivery guy for a number of years, I will state that I never "spit" in someone's food...but if I was going somewhere that ordered regularly...that was a cheapskate and didn't tip at all (and there are those who expect exact change and don't tip)...they probably had cheese on the roof of the box, or a mess on the floor when they opened the pop bottle.

Anything less than a $2 tip these days though (especially with gas being so high) on any order, is really insulting to the driver.

This was in Winnipeg???

Ordered Domino's the other day. Charge was $25.38, told them I was paying cash.

The driver comes, has $7 for change, I gave him $40. I was forced to give him a $6.62 tip. I was livid, I would have tipped, but I don't like this bullshit excuse of not having enough change

Wrote a letter to Domino's head office about this, didn't receive a reply, will never ever order again from the Pembina Domino's (one in St, Vital is a lot better)

AGEsAces wrote:

Deank wrote:"Anything less than a $2 tip these days though (especially with gas being so high) on any order, is really insulting to the driver."

Why?

Because they do pay for their own gas, insurance, maintenance, etc.
And you need to figure the restaurant is say 5-10 minutes from your home, which would make an average delivery take 10-20 minutes...and minimum wage is $10/hour...which would mean for a 20 minute delivery, a $2 tip would be only $6/hour...

And you are paying this person to come to your home to deliver something...and you think it's fair that you pay them less than minimum wage for this service?

That said...most drivers (if it's a good restaurant) are running with 3-5 deliveries on one trip...so their tips add up over the same amount of time...but YOUR consideration should be for the person you have hired to deliver YOUR food...and how much that service is really worth.

In most cases I never hired them. Their employer did and the TIPS are just that.. TIPS.. not meant to pay for gas, or insurance or anything else. Hell some pizza places in this city even have a fuel surcharge on top of the delivery price.

USApegger wrote:Ordered Domino's the other day. Charge was $25.38, told them I was paying cash.

The driver comes, has $7 for change, I gave him $40. I was forced to give him a $6.62 tip. I was livid, I would have tipped, but I don't like this bullshit excuse of not having enough change

Wrote a letter to Domino's head office about this, didn't receive a reply, will never ever order again from the Pembina Domino's (one in St, Vital is a lot better)

That happened to me once too. ( cant remember which place) I said just wait. And scrounged up enough pennies to come up with the 4ish dollars of change that was needed... and not one penny more. So dude was out a tip, and out the 10 minutes it took me to count it all up.

The driver should have been sent packing only to return if he had the correct change.

Or Dean's solution would work,

grumpy old man wrote:The driver should have been sent packing only to return if he had the correct change.

Or Dean's solution would work,

But we were hungry!!

I should have done what Dean did