Do you tip at a drive thru?

[-_aj_-]

Nope tipping isnt really done here although I do when I go to the chinese restaurant we go to its just the best chinese food ive ever had.

I would refuse to tip at a drive through because more often than not they get my order wrong

 

[nerdrock]

I worked at Tim Horton's for about 3 years while I was in high school. We didn't make as much in tips per shift as the person a few posts above me did, but we did make between $5-10. The ones out on the highway always made the most in tips, I had friends that worked at those ones that made anywhere from $20-50 a shift. The truckers really tip well out there. Remember this is all about 7-10 years ago, so things may have changed. 

Most fast food places here aren't allowed to accept tips. The only ones that really are are the coffee shop drive thrus (I do consider them fast food since most of them now serve sandwiches, soups, etc). I do not tip at Starbucks, except for the one by one of my jobs (the server always has my order ready and gives me a free cookie 99% of the time). The Tim Horton's near the same job never gets a tip from me because they always mess up my order. 

One time we went out for sushi with another couple. We had horrible service, the food was horrible, it wasn't licensed (even though the sign said they were) and it was ridiculously expensive. We just left our change as a tip, it was a few dollars, but the waitress actually chased us out and asked us if we forgot to leave more for the tip. We were all stunned. She also told us not to bother going back, which we never have (wouldn't have even if that hadn't happened, it was awful). 

 

[catspaw66]

I would refuse to tip at a drive through because more often than not they get my order wrong

    

  and on top of that most of them are rude.  They use high-school kids here and most of them can't make change even with the register doing all the work.

 

[mbjerkness]

I have never thought of tipping at a drive thru or fast food place.

 

[callista]

If there's a tip cup, yes. If there isn't one, then chances are the establishment doesn't encourage tips and/or employees can't accept them.

I always tip delivery people, though. Gas prices are so high, and they pay for their own gas most of the time, plus dealing with traffic and the very real possibility that some idiot will try to rob them. They deserve it--I've never in my life gotten cold food delivered from a restaurant, and that's something I feel I need to reward.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

No.  I do inside sometimes; but not much.  For the 6 weeks I worked at a fast food place (5 really since I had strep one week) I never got any tips.  

I like tipping when we go to Cold Stone...making the people working there sing. 

  We dont go often though.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

No, not at drive-thrus or fast food type restaurants. I normally just tip when I visit a sit-down place.

 

[zohdee]

I've heard that at buffets, you tip a dollar per person, maybe more if you're messy or have a toddler

.

 Oh my, when my daughter was little I would tip big at the Chinese buffet.  She would make a horrid mess.  I tipped them the same as I would in a normal restaurant.  They always remember me and I get great service to this day.

I would never think to tip at a drive-thru fast food place.  I went thru McDonald's once, bought a happy meal and they forgot the burger.

 

[pushylady]

It never occurred to me to tip at a drive-through or a fast food place. Half the time in sit-down restaurants I'm irked that I'm supposed to leave a tip. I feel you should tip when it's worth it, not just because you went there.

 

[speakhandsforme]

I understand that a lot of you feel like tipping is only necessary if you get great service, but you should consider two things.

1. The service you get is not always dependent on your waiter. If the place has bad management, short staff, a slow kitchen, etc. that can all affect your experience at a restaurant.

2. Wait staff in the United States generally do not make the minimum wage everyone else makes. It's legal to pay wait staff around half of what the federal minimum wage is, because they're expected to make up the rest of it in tips.

So I keep those two things in mind whenever I go out to eat, and I ALWAYS tip, unless the server was downright rude to me. And I always tip 25-30%.

 

[mrblanche]

There are bad wait staff.  They need to be starved out of the business, or learn to give better service.  There are wait staffs that are hampered by the factors you mention.  They need to pressure the establishment to solve the problems, or they need to leave that restaurant and find a better job. 

If a wait person expects to make 3/4 of his/her wages from tips, he/she needs to make sure the customers are happy.  If I tipped when I had bad service, I would never go back to that restaurant.  So...you don't get a tip, you pressure the boss/cook/whatever, and you treat your customers right, and next time you'll get a tip when the service is better.  Or, I tip you this time, but I write a review telling everyone the service and food is lousy, and I don't come back, so you get fewer tips. 

See how it works?
 

 

[mrblanche]

I understand that a lot of you feel like tipping is only necessary if you get great service, but you should consider two things.
1. The service you get is not always dependent on your waiter. If the place has bad management, short staff, a slow kitchen, etc. that can all affect your experience at a restaurant.
2. Wait staff in the United States generally do not make the minimum wage everyone else makes. It's legal to pay wait staff around half of what the federal minimum wage is, because they're expected to make up the rest of it in tips.
So I keep those two things in mind whenever I go out to eat, and I ALWAYS tip, unless the server was downright rude to me. And I always tip 25-30%.

1.  In fact, the service is almost entirely dependent on your waiter.  Getting food out promptly and not letting it sit, making sure it's right, keeping your cup full, all that is something the wait staff does.  If they do it poorly, they deserve to starve, leave, and let someone who cares get the job.

2.  Minimum for tipped personnel in the U.S. is something less than $2.50 per hour.  If you want to make even $10 per hour, you owe 3 times the loyalty to the customer that you owe to the restaurant.  Want a tip?  Stand up to that turkey manager who is trying to minimize labor.

This is a real sore point with me, can you tell?  When we go on vacation, we usually go on a cruise.  When we come back, we feel like standing on the table at the restaurants and asking, "What is the problem here?  It's a simple formula; you give us good food and good service, and we voluntarily not only pay for it, but give you extra money for it.  Don't you want your money?  Because if you don't show us you want it, we figure you're already earning too much and don't care about tips."

Now...ask me about the times I have taken $100 in one dollar bills and given them to a manager at a Waffle House to divide up among everyone there.

Drive thru?  Nope.  Those people are, in most case, not "tipped employees" and are actually making a pretty decent wage.

 

[spudsmom]

Honestly, I've never thought of tipping at a fast food drive-thru. I tip VERY well at restaurants because my daughter worked her way through college as a waitress and I know how hard she worked. I pay that forward as much as possible.
 

 

[tara g]

Never tipped at a drive thru or fast food restaurant, and don't intend to.