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Should I tip if there's a delivery charge?

  • I just moved to a new city and all of the restaurants charge a delivery fee, which often amounts to as much as 30% of the total cost, should I tip the delivery person on top of this? Pretty self explanatory question but here's a few more details. My new city has a population of over a million and I'm living right downtown so it's not as if I'm living in some weird place that's a pain to deliver to. I'm talking about getting basic stuff delivered, chinese/thai food, pizza, etc., nothing fancy and no 3rd party delivery services, just straight up delivery from the restaurant during reasonable hours of the day (ie., not 4.am). I'm generally a pretty good tipper, but due to the delivery charges I feel like I'm getting gouged. Here's an example. I ordered $15 worth of food from a local (10 minutes away on foot) chinese food place. Delivery charge was $5 (33% of the price), and the extra $5 adds another dollar to my standard 20% tip (20% of $15 = $3, 20% of $20 = $4). Factor in tax and the total is over $25 for $15 worth of food. That means that delivery, taxes, and tip account for 40% of the total cost of the meal which seems unreasonably high to me. As such, I'm wondering if I can consider the delivery charge a "built-in tip" and only tip the delivery guy like 5% as I'm already paying for delivery? I don't want to be a cheapskate, but don't want to feel like I'm getting ripped off either.

  • Answer:

    As a delivery driver for Pizza Hut: - Currently we have a $2.50 delivery charge. It's gone up from $1.50 last January. - Back when it was $1.50, we got $0.91. It jumped to $2 and our cut went to $0.96; when it jumped to $2.50 we started getting $1.01, but now that gas prices are going down we only get $0.96 of the $2.50. - That cut goes directly into my gas tank, and the company specifically does the math so our cut is (average gas price)x(average delivery distance)/(average mpg). They keep the rest to cover their rising cost of doing business, or at least that's what we're told. - Once delivery got expensive enough that the math started not making sense to people (I don't recall anyone noticing when their order was $1.50 more, but a lot of people notice the extra $2.50), we started getting stiffed a lot more. People started getting indignant about being charged extra, and they assume we get all of it. - We complain about it, but the recent drop in compensation without decreasing the fee makes it kind of clear how likely any kind of a "trickle up" is. @ saeculorum - Just because you "don't know" where the money goes doesn't change where it goes. And I spent the better part of a 18 months unemployed before this job, so I'm can't exactly quit just because my customers are becoming less courteous. Job markets are tough right now. Hell, they've always been tough here (Lawrence, Kansas, USA). @ cjorgensen - Does typical restaurant waitstaff bring food directly to your door, using their own car? Do they drive back to your house without compensation if something gets screwed up? Try putting an extra 60-100 miles on your car every a few times a week and see how quickly it start to need maintenance. A waiter's job might not be easier than mine, but I'm not sure it's fair to say it's harder.

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Don't count on the delivery guy getting a cut of that delivery charge! I think the most pissed I ever got at a customer was this summer when a customer tipped me two cents for making her $45 worth of assorted smoothies, lattes, and cappucinos. NEVER piss off someone who is handling something you're going to put in your mouth.

dunkadunc

it is all about the karma... frequent the same establishments, get to know the staff (including the delivery person), treat them well..... I worked for tips once... the reality is, what goes around, comes around...

HuronBob

You are paying an extra $10 to not have to get off your ass and use your own gas to get the food. If you don't like it, well...you know what to do. This is how America works, unfortunately.

jenfullmoon

I don't. I even look to SEE if there's a delivery charge when deciding on the tip. ("Oh you already have the tip in there, great...") I figure maybe the point trickles back up to the top that way. (Note: I am usually a pretty liberal tipper. I hate when it's tucked in there for me. Baaa.)

rokusan

The delivery charge is NOT the tip. The delivery charge goes to the restaurant (they use it to offset the costs of "to-go" packaging for your food, the insurance and liability costs of sending the delivery person out into traffic, etc. - which may or may not be justified by their actual costs) If you don't like paying a delivery charge then use another restaurant, but don't punish the delivery person by withholding their tip.

amyms

Can you ask the restaurant(s) how the delivery charge is allocated? If as much of it goes to the driver as you would have tipped without the charge, then I'd say you're okay without adding a tip.

winston

Any charges such as that aren't something that gets kicked down to the delivery person. Those dropping of the food, just as in a restaurant are totally muling it around for you, unless you give them something. 15% of pretax total is generally considered the 'average' tip. Plus factor in the vehicle wear and tear, insurance, gas, etc. In a delivery instance, if you don't tip them they may actually 'lose' money in the end. Same goes for a lot of servers/bartenders. We have to tip other people out, generally, at the end of our shifts: managers, kitchen staff, food runners, bussers, dishwashers. If you don't tip, you cost the person helping you money. So don't be a dickhead.

ZaneJ.

The delivery fee goes to the restaurant, not to the person who brings you the food. So yes, tip.

emd3737

I would base my tip off the food amount pre-tax and pre-fee. I also refuse to order from places with delivery charges. And 20% is too high anyway. Did he check on you during the meal, make sure everything was as you expected, replace anything that was defective, keep your water filled, and offer dessert? No? Then 20% is too high. We quit ordering from Pizzahut because they raised their food prices (acceptable since raw ingredient prices are up). And while I know gas prices are up as well, I'm just unwilling to take their hit twice. I'll still eat there, just not delivered.

cjorgensen

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