People Wait For Tomorrow's UWS Apple Store Opening
FIT Students Busted For Drug Dealing Get Probation
Oreo The Dog Is Dead, Blame Game Is Not
Giuliani Livid Over Bringing 9/11 Trials to NYC
Digital Billboard Wreaks Havoc on Canal
Dear Gothamist:
Help me settle an argument. My boyfriend only tips delivery boys 5%, which is a lot less than he gives waiters in a restaurant. I told him I thought he should give more, but he said that since the guy didn’t do anything except deliver the food, he didn’t deserve as much as a waiter. What do you think?
Karen S., Greenwich Village
It’s the rare delivery guy who comes back to your apartment ten minutes after he’s dropped off your food offering to refill your water. But if you consider the hazards of delivering food in New York City, tipping more than your boyfriend suggests is probably warranted. Riding your bike the wrong way down a busy city street and entering strange apartment buildings is not one of the safest of vocations. Factor in wet roads, cold temperatures, snowy sidewalks, and five floor walk-ups – in other words, things that keep New Yorkers from getting their own food – then sympathy for a delivery boy might coax a few extra dollars out of your boyfriend’s wallet.
Considering that Gothamist orders from a few regular places and sees the same delivery guys over and over again, we tip well in the interest of future speedy deliveries and spit-free food. So, Karen, Gothamist has to side with you on this one. You might not tip delivery guys as much as a waiter at Nobu but you should definitely be giving more than five percent.
For more information, pick up a copy of The Itty Bitty Guide to Tipping or check out Tipping.org for advice on tipping everyone from coat checkers to exotic dancers.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Yargh. I work nights in a law firm and the lawyers often order in and then send me downstairs with the company credit card to pay the delivery guy. I literally have a panic attack everytime in the elevator on the way down. I am accused of tipping too much... then too little... then too much. Eventually I just started tipping whatever and throwing just the credit card receipt away in the trash can in the lobby. No one is the wiser.
You should tip your delivery guy well, it's a hard, thankless job. But it shouldn't be percentage based. I mean, if your bill is $10, this dude Karen's dating is going to give the guy 50cents. That's absurd, but so is giving 15% on a $50 delivery tip. I think you should give your delivery guy a couple of bucks, at least two and no more than five unless it's a really huge order.
AUTHOR: JeffD
EMAIL: fake.fake.fake@fake.fake.fake.fake.fake.com
IP: 24.193.29.157
URL:
DATE: 04/30/2004 06:57:57 PM
AUTHOR: JeffD
EMAIL: fake.fake.fake@fake.fake.fake.fake.fake.com
IP: 24.193.29.157
URL:
DATE: 04/30/2004 06:57:57 PM
If you order regularly from the same place, you'll get better ongoing service with an extra dollar in your tip. Speaking as a high-school pizza delivery guy in suburbia, I sure as hell knew which houses I might come away from with a $4-5 tip. You better believe I got myself to that house as fast as possible. That extra dollar goes a long way to someone who really wants it. Bad tippers are also committed to memory. Sometimes their meals arrived at their houses with one less chicken finger, or a few less fries than there were when I left the store. The reward system is pretty cut and dried...people will remember those that are $1 more generous than their neighbors. Besides, if you can afford Manhattan rent, even on student loans and family assistance, you are doing pretty well...probably better than 95% of the rest of the country. What is an extra dollar for a delivered meal?
Jesus you bunch of cheap bastards! They are carrying food through god knows how many blocks, weaving through traffic, just so that you don't have to get off your lazy ass to fatten it some more.
At a minimum, I give a 10% tip. More often than not 15-20%. Given the cost of food that is in the "delivery" realm, it is not that much. If you can afford to have someone cook you some food, you can afford to tip the poor schmuck who brought it to you.
Interesting you mention Nobu among places to tip well. I am studying in Japan right now and here there is no tipping whatsoever. The customer really is king. You are thanked numerous times for your business and a nice comment about the service or quality of food is the best "tip" you can give. When I am back home and am forced to tip for lousy service, I wonder how this tradition started in the first place.
I am delivery guy. I work in one chinese resturant in Houston. Some customer thinking we are doing some easy job. But they don't know that in State. The delivery guy how much per hour. I tell all the customer. 2 dollars per hour. 1 order ticket only 1 dollars gas. If the customer over 5 miles. and don't pay the tips. We will lost money. Why we need to pay gas, car maintance. Normally delivery people 5 to 6 years need to change a car. Everyday need to run over 70 miles. 365days * 70 miles. How much the delivery overhead. In the resturant witress. Their overhead only dress and shores. All customer also need to think about distance from resturant to your house and traffic. Some customer only pay the money to order. They don't think about this. I has one case. The resturant owner receive the order. Ask me dilivery over 8 miles. From I start to delivery and come back to resturant over 1 hour and 30 min. The customer only give me 10 dollars. All the resturant owner only know that the money. They don't think the driver thinking. I hope all the customer when they are order for delivery. Please check the distance.