How much to tip the pizza delivery guy?

[drothgery]

I'm not sure how it works in England, but here in the States many jobs, such as waiting tables and delivery, get paid very little due to wages earned from tipping. Not tipping those types of service jobs is considered rude at best.

I find tipping somewhat annoying, but the conventional wisdom is that places where tipping is common tend to get better service than places where it's not. Which should be expected, but it's still annoying. And since waiters and bartenders make most of their money in tips, stiffing them seems like a bad idea unless the service really sucks.

 

[Wycen]

I try to tip the pizza guy and hair cutters about the same, $2 or $3's, but I don't know if the amount you tip is supposed to go up each year like the cost of living or what. I suppose that's covered by the actual cost of goods.

 

[hackmastergeneral]

I always tip, its easy in Nova Scotia, as our HST tax is 15%, so I just tip the tax.

Minimum wage here is a joke, so the tip is always a bigger deal to that guy than it is to me. Pizza delivery guys get on, and have a helluva time with insurance and car repairs.

Plus, if we like pizza at a place, we order from there ALL the time. So, we get to know the delivery guys (they usually see our number on call display - we once had a order taker tell us our order before we told it to him, so often did they call). They treat us well, as my gaming group is full of large, hungry guys who order more than twice a week.

We know the owner of the chinese place we order from, and he's a fantastically friendly guy, so we tip them well.

Theres no reason not to tip, unless you're a cheapskate, or live somewhere where tipping is not expected. In North America, it is, and you should. Service and delivery people have work, and deal with nothing but crap all day, for next to nothing.

 

[hackmastergeneral]

Don't tip anybody, anything, ever.

If you work for an employer who refuses to pay you a sensible wage for the job you are doing, change jobs.

Nice attitude to have, when you are in a position of comfort. When ALL the jobs you get give you craop pay, due to lack of education/opportu7nity to improve, your attitude on tipping changes immensely.

The people who are the closest to the poverty line, or who have been in their lives, are always the best tippers, on a consistant basis. The middle/upper middle classes are the worst, cause they've lived their lives in relative comfort, and don't know what it means to depend on tips to eat that week. Rich folks tip well cause it doesn't matter to them. But they don't often order pizza.

 

[Ranger REG]

It's the same in Finland. No tipping.

Will they arrest me if I tip service personnel (like waiters or carriers) in Finland?

 

[xrpsuzi]

Joe was delivering pizzas when we started dating (I ate a lot of discounted PapaJohns ) and my younger brother is currently deliverying pizzas while he job hunts and his wife's in law school.

While their base pay is higher than wait staff, waitstaff doesn't have to drive to serve you, dodge large dogs that are not chained up at night, consult a map to find the very edge of their delivery area by the dim light of car ajar, etc. No service job is easy, but we always over tip our pizzamen.
-Suzi

 

[Ranger REG]

Who would date pizza delivery guy? I figured the guy must already have a girlfriend before he took the job. I mean, would girls pick him up from a dating service or a speed dating session?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm usually a 20% tipper, a result of my wife waiting tables during & after college. It's tied to service, though -- I don't tip at take out, or buffets, where I'm not actually being provided a service. Pizza guys I'll throw a buck or two, though I'm reluctant to do that if there's a delivery charge. After all, the only service they're providing is to deliver the pizza, and if I'm already paying for that ... it's not like they hang around to refill my drink.

The ones that irk me are the places that put a "mandatory" 15-18% "gratuity" on their bill. Not only does that still the waitstaff, who I'd usually tip more, but the idea of a required "gratuity" seems akin to paying "protection" money. Then again, this is Jersey ...

 

[Darth K'Trava]

The ones that irk me are the places that put a "mandatory" 15-18% "gratuity" on their bill. Not only does that still the waitstaff, who I'd usually tip more, but the idea of a required "gratuity" seems akin to paying "protection" money. Then again, this is Jersey ...

The only times I've seen that is in regards to large groups. To make sure the waitstaff doesn't get stiffed out of tips. I think it should be allowed to be removed if the service sucks. Why should I pay 15-20% if I don't get good service?

 

[Chimera]

Haven't done Pizza delivery in a long, long time. Generally a few bucks, don't usually bother figuring percentage.

Restaurants: Minimum 15%, usually more like 25%.

With two exceptions in the past 15 years:

1> Italian Restaurant, mid-day. Only one other couple in the place. Waitress is blatantly ignoring us. I literally threw a fork about 40' to gain her attention at one point, this after yelling across the empty restaurant for her several times.

We walk out and the 80+ year old owner is sitting up front at the cash register. Mama D herself, if any TC people are reading this. She's long gone now. No tip for the waitress, a little story about our service for Mama D.

2> Billabongs (Aussie theme steak place) about five years ago. Out for dinner with another couple. Waitress is serious space case, probably high. Doesn't know anything. NOT A THING. Disappears after taking our drink orders. We have to flag down a manager and ask, whereby she reappears WITH THE WRONG DRINKS AND FLAT BEER. Disappears when asked to bring the correct drinks and beer. We finally get from another waiter later. Comes back and takes our dinner orders, but it requires several attempts for each of us in order for her to get them right. Disappears. An hour and a half later we're again flagging down the manager. Another 45 minutes later and we finally get our meals. We never see space case again.

I left exact change for the bill. Not one penny for a tip.

I don't like NOT leaving a tip. But in the extremis of this kind of service, NADA.