Question of the Day: How Much Do You Tip Carside-to-Go?
Posted on 23. May, 2006 by Jason Guthrie in Saving & Investing
Most of the time I let my wife decide how much the tip should be. Having worked as a waitress for a few months she knows how hard those waiters and waitresses work and how they depend on their tip. In addition, I’ve always been taught to tip the standard amount as a minimum and then tip more if the service was especially good – i.e. never use the tip as “punishment” (this just makes the server upset and doesn’t inspire them to do better. Instead, speak to the manager about what can be improved in the future).
However, this weekend I ran to Chili’s to pick up some food as part of their Carside-to-Go program. There are many traditional restaurants that are offering this service and I find myself taking advantage of them more and more – so naturally the question of tipping comes up. On the receipt that I sign there’s always a space for tip, but how much do you tip a carside-to-go server?
One perspective is that they don’t do very much other than throw your food in a bag and bring it to your car – a whole 5 minutes of work. The other view is that they are still paid the same meager minimum wage the other servers are so they are depending on those tips to make decent money.
So, how much should you tip your carside-to-go server?
AJ
23. May, 2006
Good question. I suppose they are still providing a service and making a nice dinner “out” easier for you and the kids. On the other hand, do you tip any other take out restaurant when you go and pick it up, like chinese? I sure don’t. They made the food just like the people at McDonald’s and I sure don’t tip them. One time at Mimi’s however, we saw the server pour the soup, package the muffins, and put it all together so we tipped her 10% I believe. So to answer the question, I suppose 10% would be good if you know they put a lot of effort into it. Definately not the 15-20% had you stayed to eat.
Kandace
23. May, 2006
Something to remember also is that tips are shared throughout the restaurant; typically, waitresses tip out cooks. And, quite a bit of work still goes into cooking and packaging a to-go order. I’d agree with the 10% tip (at least). And yes, I also tip at to-go Chinese
.
Brooks
01. Jul, 2006
as a former carside to go emplyoee at applebees we do a lot more than you think for one there is only one to-go person on at one time we get your dressings put lids on your food and make sure everything is perfect for you. we expect 10-15% we work hard so you can enjoy your food
Lorrie
12. Sep, 2006
I always tip at least 20%, that’s the standard in the U.S. I can’t believe anyone would leave nothing when ‘the service is horrible’. How bad could it be for crying out loud? Did you never have a bad day. I’d feel sorry for you if you had to rely on tips for your livelihood and some jerk stiffed you because you didn’t perform up to their expectations. I am not a waitress but I have had friends who are and ’stiffing’ a waitress is crude.
John
21. Jul, 2007
Definitely tip carside. I used to work carside in a restaurant. We do a LOT more work than you think. We have to take your order and ring it in, put lids and bag all of it. and get all the condinments and such. All this is done, but you can have as many as 6-7 orders do all in about 30 minutes. It can be extremely stressful since you only have one chance to get it right becuase people don’t want to drive back.
Oh and if you don’t tip, we end up making less than minimum wage since our hourly is less than minimum wage.
Demono
19. Dec, 2007
“Oh and if you don’t tip, we end up making less than minimum wage since our hourly is less than minimum wage.”
I believe the law states that if you are paid based on the expectation of getting tips, the tips plus your wages have to equal at LEAST minimum wage per hour. If you make less because you didn’t get much in tips, then your employer is required to make up the difference.
Shannon
08. Jan, 2008
sometimes restaurants don’t have enought employees to schedule a carside person or none of the serevers will pick up a carside shift because everyone knows its rare to recieve a decent tip working carside, so therefore bartenders and/or servers will have to continue with their job and also do some carside togo on top of everthing. A carside person is supposed to take every phone call the restaurant gets, take the orders and deal with people calling just to complain, put the order in, package it all up, (togo silverware, dressings, bagging), watch for cars to pull up while still trying to keep up with all the phone calls and getting ready orders. . . . just to get tipped less, so that the carside consumers can be satisfied??? I would never tip 10% to any restaurant employee. I think that would just be selfish and if you think otherwise you should just stay home and cook your own food.
kathryn
27. Feb, 2008
ok first off. to anyone who thinks your to-go person just stands in one station and smiles when you walk through the door, you need to get your head out of your ass. We are an elite group of people who rush to answer your phone calls, talk over loud servers and customers screaming. We listen to you yell at your children, and put us on hold while you take another phone call, even though we have people wating on us, and the other lines ringing. we rush back to the kitchen to make sure your food is ready. We pour your dressings into the containers and double check to make sure the kitchen staff got everything right. we yell at the kitchen staff if they messed up. We dont just put food in a damn bag. We have to actually “prepare†your food. Even though must of us get paid higher we still do alot of work. Actually most servers hate doing to-go work. (You do more work). Oh and I dont get a break…. I have to answer the damn phone… you know for to-go orders, serving calls to talk to other people, people asking if we are hiring, wives and husbands calling for each other. and such. Your server ACTUALLY gets a BREAK. I DONT. I have to hear the gripes of other employees for them having to hear the phone, while im in the back looking for more lids and other things, because you sir/maam need 3 things of honey mustard in your dressing, hmmm. So the NEXT time you think about NOT tiping that to-go person who probably does ALOT more work think about this- If you were at a table, your server is more likely doing the following- Smoking, serving other tables, or talking to other serves. Well when you do to-go. that person is doing alot more than a server. (yes on Occassion we do have a “down†times…. but we still have to answer the phone and deal with people on the phone- we are basically secretaries for the resturaunt as well)
BTW. If you dont tip me I dont take it as a sign of your order being wrong… or that your upset with me… MOST people actually tell me. but when you DO…. dont leave me 2 bucks for a 30 dollar order. I take that as your being CHEAP.
Kurt
23. Jan, 2009
Yes, Carside people should recieve tips based on how nice and friendly they were THE SAME WAY YOU WOULD TIP A SERVER. They do equal work as servers (sometimes more because there’s only 1 carside person for every order that comes in while there is about 7 servers for the restaurant) 10% is nice but 15% is expected
Kurt
23. Jan, 2009
Yes, Carside people should recieve tips based on how nice and friendly they were THE SAME WAY YOU WOULD TIP A SERVER. They do equal work as servers (sometimes more because there’s only 1 carside person for every order that comes in while there is about 7 servers for the restaurant) 10% is nice but 15% is expected
Ricky
05. Feb, 2009
Yes, please tip. I’m a to-go server at Applebees and I can tell you exactly what I do. First, I clock in, next I stock my carside station with everything you’d need for to go lids, cups, condemnets, ect. After that I line the rounds, you know the things you get for pick and pair as well as for the trios. All this, as well anticipating an order. After I’ve completed my opening work I have several things to do. Not only do I get my own food ready I do it for all of the servers. I don’t know how it works at other places but, that’s what I do. I also run food to tables, take complaints over the phone, tell people when we are open, wehen we close, oh I forgot to mention take your food out to your car. It takes a lot more work than fast food, trust me I’ve done that too. So please tip, anything is better than nothing.
Paul H.
07. Jun, 2009
That’s just silly. There’s no way that you should tip someone who hands you a bag the same as someone who comes to your table an average of 5-6 times and take first orders, follow up orders, and handles problems. Come on guys. For the effort they put in they could probably handle 30 handoffs an hour. On a 10 dollar bill (very conservative) your telling people to tip $2, that’s $60/hr for unskilled food handling. They need to make to make a living but those tips are crazy.
Pay them a reasonable wage for what they’re doing.
josh
29. Jul, 2009
As far as credentials go, I have 4.5 years of experience in a restaurant and have done everything one can think of… cook, bus, host, run food, carside, serve, bartend, write schedules, etc. I have also worked from the typical fast food all the way up to suit coat/tux restaurants. At the restaurant I am currently at, I am the host, server, and carside trainer. First thing i tell my carside trainees…you may get tips, but never count on it, i will teach you how to do the best possible job, but its never up to you, its always up to the customer. Therefore, for all of you out there… you heard it, its up to YOU!
Bussing… grunt work, hosting… people bitch, but its still easy(organization), serving.. get a routine, line cooks.. be fast and efficent, carside…. you must be accurate and servants.
At the restaurant i am currently at, carside workers carry pagers, when there is a call, they take care of them, in the meantime, instead of food runners, the carside person runs food, helps servers, seats people, bus tables, basically everything. They get paid $6.50, a little under minimum wage. They are dependant upon tips to receive that minimum. Most weekdays, we can expect only 4-5 orders for carryout, while the restaurant goes on a 30min wait. My reccomendation is start off with 10%. If they suck, give them that, if not, raise it to $15. If you are doing a large-party order or anything above $100, tip $20. It is alot harder to organize and make sure everything is prepared correctly in a small amount of time with only one person doing it.
Patience
13. Sep, 2009
I tend to agree with Paul. Tip carside to go employees but it is really not fair that they get as much for their “efforts” as the normal waiter/waitress who serves you refills, asks you if need anything, gets you more condiments, brings you fresh bread, returns your order if needed and replaces it with something more suitable (you hope), offers you dessert, serves your food in the normal order, etc. Regarding Applebys (since several of you referred to it) I recently ordered 4 items including a salad. I walked into the restaurant to place the order and stayed nearby until the order was prepared and handed to me. In this particular Applebys the folks taking the orders were absolutely not preparing anything. They were manning the phones and taking the orders of the walk in customers. I must say my person was very upbeat which I appreciated. You are sort of encouraged to settled up before you get your order. I saw the tip line on the receipt, yet the order taker brought it to my attention as well and said I could put it on my card. I must say I was a little uncomfortable with the inference. had already decided not to put it on my card and pay a cash tip instead. I paid 10% in cash and wrote on my receipt, tipped in cash. About 10 minutes later the “order taker” mentioned the person who was packaging my food would be out shortly. I hope the “order taker” shared the tip with the person who actually ensured I got my order. My salad left a lot to be desired as I literally had about a cup of greens for this full sized $10 salad. I only bring this up to say, if I had been seated and eating at one of the restaurant’s tables, I would have been able to clearly see the issue, send it back, receive an apology (sometimes even from management) and received something closer to what I should have gotten. 3 things: Check your order, yes take everything out of the carefully packaged bag, open it up and check it ; Don;t itp until you do; don’t tip the same thing as you would someone who waits on you for an hour or more. It is just not the same effort and therefore not fair. I would still feel the same way if I had allowed the person to bring it out to my car. I would likely tip a little extra for inclement weather. So that’s my 10%!
Cameron
27. Nov, 2009
To the idiot that mentioned make then minimum wage, you will never make less than minimum. Your employer will make up the difference if you don’t make tips.
I’ve worked minimum wage jobs that I wasn’t allowed to make tips, but I did everything these car-side to go people do. I’m not going to tip for putting lids on my food. I’m not going to tip for you putting food in my box. I’m not going to tip for you putting forks and ketchup in my bag.
If you receive $0 in tips, you will make the same as many others who do not rely on tips. This isn’t a problem with the consumer, its a problem with the employer. They just want to get out of paying their employees so the system of tipping to replace the wage came about. If you are all so upset about the tips, complain to your employer who gets to use you as slave labor because the consumers will pick up the bill directly. Doesn’t anyone see something wrong with that?
Tipping should be extra. You did something above and beyond, here’s a tip. That doesn’t work today because employers expect you to be tipped for doing your average job. If pressure was put on these large chain restaurants, maybe something would be done about it.
Amy
02. Jan, 2010
I think everyone on here who thinks they deserve a tip works in a restaurant. People what you do is part of your job. The poster who told us that they clock in and prepare lids and condiments…hello that is YOUR JOB. I’m sorry you don’t get paid well. That is your job’s problem. Carside service is no different than fast food. Do you tip at McDonalds, or Taco Bell. NO. They too clock-in, take your order, stock product, and put lids on your food. Why should I tip someone I only see see once once when they bring me my food? I get why we tip inside at a table because they fill drinks and WAIT on you and your needs. To all the carside people I feel sorry for you if you EXPECT a tip. Talk to your work because they need to increase your pay, don’t expect a tip for doing a fast food job or in that matter doing your JOB.
Justine
06. Mar, 2010
Okay just to clarify something what was said… yes it sucks when someone doesn’t tip you when you are waiting tables or working to go, and yes that is especially true because the wages for servers is around two dollars and some change an hour, however if the server does not claim at least minimum wage in tips per hours worked (including the wages they receive) in a week the business is required to make up the amount. So every server will get at least minimum wage in a week, whether or not they receive that much in tips.
Chris
10. Mar, 2010
I am currently a server and the carside person at applebees. Carside is harder and more stressful than serving. Yes, “Paul H” we could take 60 orders in a hour but I average 55 orders working 6 days a week or 30 hours. Thus making us depend on what little money that people guests leave us. Live a week in our shoes and maybe you wouldn’t be inconsiderate. For all of the people that do tip 10-15% thank you and remember we appreciate alot!
Jason
06. May, 2010
I usually tip around 10%, give or take. However, if I spend a lot of time waiting, I have no problem tipping less or not at all.