Chastised for not tipping on a to go order

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Corporations push tip culture because they don’t want to pay their employees. Instead, they pay executives outrageous salaries and prioritize stockholders over customers.

Companies that don’t pay or treat employees fairly will soon see that they can’t find people willing to work for them.

I do agree with this though I also don't think there is anything wrong with tipping, especially for exceptional service.

But I also think that if this is your position and reason for not tipping, then you should have to back it up by choosing to patronize businesses that you know pay and treat their employees well, or to use your voice as a customer to influence businesses to shift from relying on tips to better compensation for employees.

We have a list in our house of restaurants that have either eliminated tipping or where we know employees are making a higher wage and getting decent benefits, and we try to patronize these over businesses who don't have these practices or where we don't know whenever we can. It's a win-win because then we also feel liberated from tipping pressure and can just enjoy our meals there. Sometimes we even still tip because someone goes above and beyond for us. But there's no expectation and also no guilt on our part, like we're stiffing our server. It's actually a more enjoyable dining experience precisely because it gets rid of some of the friction that accompanies tipping. It might be my imagination, but I also feel like employees at these businesses tend to be friendlier and more relaxed, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Restaurants are all short staffed, and whatever they can do to keep workers from jumping to other restaurants, they will do. How many closed during the pandemic? How many are still short staffed? How many would you like to remain open so that you can get a tablenor take out and don't have to cook on any particular evening?

If a couple of bucks won't make a difference in your life, but will make a big difference in someone else's life, Just. Do. It.

This is a weird thing I've noticed in the tipping culture in DC that has become particularly prominent since Covid. It's this idea that restaurant workers are all very economically needy and restaurant customers are all very economically advantaged.

It depends. I am NOT rich. At all. I am middle class. I have kids, and I also have additional family who rely on me financially. I do sometimes get take out or go out to restaurants. Some of the people at those restaurants are less well off than I am. Some are more. As a general rule, the people who own those restaurants are all more well off than I am. So I think it's weird when I am asked to give more money to restaurants out of some kind of charitable impulse. Why? I don't owe the restaurant anymore money than I have agreed to pay for whatever I am purchasing. At a restaurant with tipped wages, that includes a 20% tip on service for a sit down meal, assuming the restaurant is not issuing a service charge already.

But the idea that I somehow owe the hostess at a restaurant a few dollars when I pick up my take out is weird to me. Why? No one gives me extra money when I fulfill basic components of my job description, even when they are much, much richer than I am. Why do I owe the hostess money (I don't even have any idea if she is more or less needy than I am) but no one owes me money?

It's just a weird income allocation argument.

Also, some restaurants are terrible businesses and it's for the best that they go out of business. Sorry, I said it. Just because you had a good meal somewhere, or the bartender is cool, or you know the owner a little, does not make a restaurant and inherently deserving business. Bars and restaurants in DC got money and lots of accommodations to get them through Covid, and some still didn't make it. There are a lot of businesses who didn't get that kind of help. Heck, there are a lot of families that didn't. There's not something special about most restaurants. A small minority actually become a valued part of the community; most don't. We don't owe them something extra to help them to stay open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

Ok. I don't eat at McDonald's. Let me clarify. If tipping is allowed, I tip. Happy now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

This is not true. It's actually illegal for an employer to prevent a worker from receiving a tip offered by a customer, though the employer can create a tip pool to ensure that tips are shared over the course of a shift. But I've tipped people at McDonalds drive through many times and, yes, they accept them and the restaurant cannot take them away. Once I was going through a drive through on a holiday and gave a really big tip because I wanted to thank them for being open and working on a day when really no one should have to, and the big grin I got from the women at the window was so genuine.

I worked in fast food in high school and used to sometimes get tipped at the drive through window and I never forgot how good it made me feel. Tipping people who work at places like McDonalds is extra rewarding to me because those jobs don't come with much social status and I want those folks to know that I see them and appreciate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone tipping take out and at hotels must live in a fancier world than I do. It has never occurred to me to tip when I stand in line, watch my order be made and then handed to me in a bag Or, when I stay at the Holiday Inn (a luxury my parents never had when I was growing up). Honestly, the only place I've heard about hotel tipping is in movies (hardly a window into reality), and here on DCUM (which is....a unique place, to say the least).

You need to leave $5-10 a night at hotels, this is what decent people do now. Maybe not when we were kids, but now, yes.

Only if they clean my room during the stay. I will leave tip money daily for the person cleaning the room. Otherwise, I will leave $10 for the entire stay for the cleaner who comes in to cleanup after my departure.

Where are people stating that they have nightly maid service? Since COVID started I haven’t experienced that. I have been staying in hotels and emptying my own trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

This is not true. It's actually illegal for an employer to prevent a worker from receiving a tip offered by a customer, though the employer can create a tip pool to ensure that tips are shared over the course of a shift. But I've tipped people at McDonalds drive through many times and, yes, they accept them and the restaurant cannot take them away. Once I was going through a drive through on a holiday and gave a really big tip because I wanted to thank them for being open and working on a day when really no one should have to, and the big grin I got from the women at the window was so genuine.

I worked in fast food in high school and used to sometimes get tipped at the drive through window and I never forgot how good it made me feel. Tipping people who work at places like McDonalds is extra rewarding to me because those jobs don't come with much social status and I want those folks to know that I see them and appreciate them.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

This is not true. It's actually illegal for an employer to prevent a worker from receiving a tip offered by a customer, though the employer can create a tip pool to ensure that tips are shared over the course of a shift. But I've tipped people at McDonalds drive through many times and, yes, they accept them and the restaurant cannot take them away. Once I was going through a drive through on a holiday and gave a really big tip because I wanted to thank them for being open and working on a day when really no one should have to, and the big grin I got from the women at the window was so genuine.

I worked in fast food in high school and used to sometimes get tipped at the drive through window and I never forgot how good it made me feel. Tipping people who work at places like McDonalds is extra rewarding to me because those jobs don't come with much social status and I want those folks to know that I see them and appreciate them.

Source?

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips

"1. The Department published a final rule, “Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)” (2020 Tip final rule), on December 30, 2020, (See 85 FR 86756). The parts of this rule which became effective on April 30, 2021 provide:

-an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools;
-an employer that pays the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit may allow employees who are not tipped employees (for example, cooks and dishwashers) to participate in the tip pool;
-an employer that collects tips to facilitate a mandatory tip pool generally must fully redistribute the tips within the pay period; and,
-employers that do not take a tip credit, but collect employees’ tips to operate a mandatory tip pool, must maintain and preserve payroll or other records containing information on each employee who receive tips and the weekly or monthly amount reported by the employee, to the employer, of tips received."

(emphasis added)

An employer might discourage tipping but they can't prevent a customer from giving a tip (what are they going to do, intercept it?) and once the tip is offered, the employer cannot confiscate it. Even in a restaurant that says "no tipping", the employer can't legally prevent an employee from accepting a tip. They can prevent employees from soliciting tips (including via a tip jar) but it is the customer's discretion whether to offer one.

Companies like McDonalds actually don't have much incentive to aggressively discourage tipping, as its' not a common part of their culture and it's as likely to piss of customers as employees. But more importantly, trying to prevent tips from changing hands enters a murky legal area where a large corporation like McDonalds could open inself up to liability or DOL censure, and they have lots of lawyers on hand to help them avoid that kind of liability.

[Anonymous]

Two issues here:

(1) Should we tip on takeout orders?
Opinions are mixed on this, as evidenced by this thread.

(2) Should an employee call out a customer for not tipping on takeout?
IMO this was wrong. Whatever your opinions are about #1, it's rude to do what she did and certainly ineffective in converting the non-tippers.

[Anonymous]

What I don't think many people realize is that one unlucky server each shift is tasked with To Go orders. If it's a larger, busier restaurant, they'll sometimes only be responsible for To Go orders. If it's a smaller restaurant with fewer To Go, they'll sometimes also get a small section of tables to work.

When you draw the short straw and are on To Go, you still make your $2/hr crappy wage + tips.

Most places regulate the takeout orders to new servers or trainees who need to learn the menu and the ropes. But not all and usually every server has to take a turn running carryout.

I mean, would you want to run back and forth for 6+ hours for a total base pay of $12-16? Heck no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

McDonald’s employees aren’t allowed to accept tips.

This is not true. It's actually illegal for an employer to prevent a worker from receiving a tip offered by a customer, though the employer can create a tip pool to ensure that tips are shared over the course of a shift. But I've tipped people at McDonalds drive through many times and, yes, they accept them and the restaurant cannot take them away. Once I was going through a drive through on a holiday and gave a really big tip because I wanted to thank them for being open and working on a day when really no one should have to, and the big grin I got from the women at the window was so genuine.

I worked in fast food in high school and used to sometimes get tipped at the drive through window and I never forgot how good it made me feel. Tipping people who work at places like McDonalds is extra rewarding to me because those jobs don't come with much social status and I want those folks to know that I see them and appreciate them.

+1 So glad you do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would email the restaurant and let them know. There is no need to tip on carry out.

+1

Cheap a$$ho!es that don't tip a measly $5 for takeout orders. Maybe you can't afford to eat out and need to eat at home.

Do you tip at McDonalds, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Burger King, Corner Bakery and other take out locations?

Yes, without hesitation.

You have a lot of disposable income. Or you are just foolish with the income you have. Glad it works for you, but it does not work for everyone's finances.

Your assumption is wrong. Being generous as one is able is not being foolish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#endtipping

It's a movement for 2023

Great. That must mean you support a living wage.

A high school student working as a hostess in a local restaurant or coffee shop or sandwich shop doesn’t need a living wage.

I can’t remember the last time I had a high schooler serve me. They all seem to be off doing travel sports or brushing up their Mandarin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here and I haven read the previous 13 or so pages.

I worked as a hostess all through high school and took to-go orders and then boxed them up. I was rarely tipped: maybe one out of every 100 orders. I was paid $10/hour and the servers were paid $3/hour plus tips.

Last summer my 15 year old daughter worked the take-out counter at a taco place and made $9/hour. With tips she made between $16-25/hour, it was a bit nuts for a 15 year old.

Not really. Like 30 years ago you made $10/hour; your kid should be making more than you, not less or the same. What is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Restaurants are all short staffed, and whatever they can do to keep workers from jumping to other restaurants, they will do. How many closed during the pandemic? How many are still short staffed? How many would you like to remain open so that you can get a tablenor take out and don't have to cook on any particular evening?

If a couple of bucks won't make a difference in your life, but will make a big difference in someone else's life, Just. Do. It.

This is a weird thing I've noticed in the tipping culture in DC that has become particularly prominent since Covid. It's this idea that restaurant workers are all very economically needy and restaurant customers are all very economically advantaged.

It depends. I am NOT rich. At all. I am middle class. I have kids, and I also have additional family who rely on me financially. I do sometimes get take out or go out to restaurants. Some of the people at those restaurants are less well off than I am. Some are more. As a general rule, the people who own those restaurants are all more well off than I am. So I think it's weird when I am asked to give more money to restaurants out of some kind of charitable impulse. Why? I don't owe the restaurant anymore money than I have agreed to pay for whatever I am purchasing. At a restaurant with tipped wages, that includes a 20% tip on service for a sit down meal, assuming the restaurant is not issuing a service charge already.

But the idea that I somehow owe the hostess at a restaurant a few dollars when I pick up my take out is weird to me. Why? No one gives me extra money when I fulfill basic components of my job description, even when they are much, much richer than I am. Why do I owe the hostess money (I don't even have any idea if she is more or less needy than I am) but no one owes me money?

It's just a weird income allocation argument.

Also, some restaurants are terrible businesses and it's for the best that they go out of business. Sorry, I said it. Just because you had a good meal somewhere, or the bartender is cool, or you know the owner a little, does not make a restaurant and inherently deserving business. Bars and restaurants in DC got money and lots of accommodations to get them through Covid, and some still didn't make it. There are a lot of businesses who didn't get that kind of help. Heck, there are a lot of families that didn't. There's not something special about most restaurants. A small minority actually become a valued part of the community; most don't. We don't owe them something extra to help them to stay open.

TLDR: you’re too poor to eat food you didn’t prepare yourself.