what on earth

[stephen]

now i work at olive garden as a to-go specialist (always remember to tip your to-go specialist, cause 90% of people don't)

OK, I'm going to be a total bitch here, maybe -- but why tip the to-go specialist?

If they are extra friendly or have done something special, I always do.

Otherwise, they didn't bring my food, refill a drink, clean up the table or answer questions/make recommendations about menu items. . . so to me, it's the equivalent of tipping a fast food or grocery cashier (except the food is more expensive.)

Educate me, please?

- Mere "I know this is a hot button for Dalya and her friend Stephanie, too, who REALLY got pissed off when the customer only tipped spare change or a dollar" 1975

you obviously have had shitty to-go specialists.

they should be offering you appetizers, explaining your meal, making sure the to-go area is neat, clean, and orderly. where i work, we bring the food to the guest and handle the cash/credit/gift card procedure as well. we handle the order from beginning to end, except we don't physically make the food. we take the order over the phone, and belieeeeeeve me, there are plenty of people who just want to shoot the shit and ask you about every item on the menu. the good thing is that the job at my restaurant is generally so slow that i actually have time to chat. if the person comes in to place the to-go order (or their order is not ready when they come in), that is the time to chat about wine, beer or mixed drink menu.

and if someone is tipping only spare change or a dollar, that is buuuuuuullshit. i don't know about TX, but up here in MA, waiter/esses get $2.63 an hour, so you are actually living off your tips. i tip 20% if the service is normal, 15% if it's a little subpar, and will only go to 10% if the waiter has been a dick or completely inattentive and, like, peed in my food. i've worked in food service long enough to know that shit happens and sometimes you don't have time to be up your table's ass with refills or whatever. anything above 20% is for super-dee-duper waiter/esses.

and i am SUPER FRIENDLY (when i'm with a customer, anyway). you would have no choice but to tip me!

and p.s., if you didn't gather from this post, a "to-go specialist" is just a fancy way to say the waiter/ess assigned to to-go orders.

20% is quite a bit sometimes, for me at least. i'd never tip 20% if it's normal. it's not really complimentary to tip over here anyway. and there's no way i'd tip if the waiter was a dick, you're just giving them money for acting a dick then. i tip if the people have been especially helpful or friendly.

[James]

OK, I'm going to be a total bitch here, maybe -- but why tip the to-go specialist?

If they are extra friendly or have done something special, I always do.

Otherwise, they didn't bring my food, refill a drink, clean up the table or answer questions/make recommendations about menu items. . . so to me, it's the equivalent of tipping a fast food or grocery cashier (except the food is more expensive.)

Educate me, please?

- Mere "I know this is a hot button for Dalya and her friend Stephanie, too, who REALLY got pissed off when the customer only tipped spare change or a dollar" 1975

you obviously have had shitty to-go specialists.

they should be offering you appetizers, explaining your meal, making sure the to-go area is neat, clean, and orderly. where i work, we bring the food to the guest and handle the cash/credit/gift card procedure as well. we handle the order from beginning to end, except we don't physically make the food. we take the order over the phone, and belieeeeeeve me, there are plenty of people who just want to shoot the shit and ask you about every item on the menu. the good thing is that the job at my restaurant is generally so slow that i actually have time to chat. if the person comes in to place the to-go order (or their order is not ready when they come in), that is the time to chat about wine, beer or mixed drink menu.

and if someone is tipping only spare change or a dollar, that is buuuuuuullshit. i don't know about TX, but up here in MA, waiter/esses get $2.63 an hour, so you are actually living off your tips. i tip 20% if the service is normal, 15% if it's a little subpar, and will only go to 10% if the waiter has been a dick or completely inattentive and, like, peed in my food. i've worked in food service long enough to know that shit happens and sometimes you don't have time to be up your table's ass with refills or whatever. anything above 20% is for super-dee-duper waiter/esses.

and i am SUPER FRIENDLY (when i'm with a customer, anyway). you would have no choice but to tip me!

and p.s., if you didn't gather from this post, a "to-go specialist" is just a fancy way to say the waiter/ess assigned to to-go orders.

20% is quite a bit sometimes, for me at least. i'd never tip 20% if it's normal. it's not really complimentary to tip over here anyway. and there's no way i'd tip if the waiter was a dick, you're just giving them money for acting a dick then. i tip if the people have been especially helpful or friendly.

That's the difference between the UK and the US though. The UK, overall, is less of a tipping culture, but the waitstaff are paid a wage as opposed to this wage + tips nonsense. It shows though, because in the US, the service is a million times better, especially in Dallas, which is the restaurant capital of the world. It's also less expensive to eat out than it is in the UK, and some people do it every day...

I generally do tip the to-go order folks but it's never as much as I would if I were eating out in the restaurant. I can see why people don't though. They don't see the service that goes into it; it all happens before they pick up the food. And the tip happens before the food is eaten, which most people consider a risk. I've had that happen before, where some of the food I brought home was just flat out wrong. I think what restaurants should do is have a flat % service fees, like say, room service, for that service. Because, as is pointed out, waitstaff don't make minimum wage and it's hard if you don't get tips.

Or they could just change that little law, and make minimum wage compulsory.

[ree-ree]

Learn something new. The title is awful. I don't order much food to go. I'm assuming this is like take-out? But more involved? I wouldn't tip the pizza take-out guy, but your job sounds more like a co-ordinator who brings it all together.

I don't mind tipping and tipping generously, but it can sometimes feel like extortion for some things.
I agree that the wages are ridiculous and the workers should be paid more.

We were at an oktoberfest and tried to tip the counter people and they weren't alowed to take tips. I felt bad because they were a service and either young or old and you knew they weren't getting paid crap. I especially felt bad for the ones who had to clean up the messes after the drunks.

[katie]

I generally do tip the to-go order folks but it's never as much as I would if I were eating out in the restaurant. I can see why people don't though. They don't see the service that goes into it; it all happens before they pick up the food. And the tip happens before the food is eaten, which most people consider a risk. I've had that happen before, where some of the food I brought home was just flat out wrong. I think what restaurants should do is have a flat % service fees, like say, room service, for that service. Because, as is pointed out, waitstaff don't make minimum wage and it's hard if you don't get tips..

yayayayay. i don't need you to tip me 20% or even 10% for that matter. give me a buck and i'm happy. i do get paid more than minimum wage, but it's just nice to know that if i give the customer a little extra, i get a little extra.

and to avoid the "oh shit, i just took this food all the way home and my order is wrong" deal, i always take the food out of the bag and check it with the customer, juuuuust in case. it saves me a lot of trouble later down the line and it makes the customer feel like you really actually care about their dining experience, which i really actually don't but would like to pretend i do.

[mere1975]

and to avoid the "oh shit, i just took this food all the way home and my order is wrong" deal, i always take the food out of the bag and check it with the customer, juuuuust in case.

See, just for that, I'd tip you.

I don't think any to-go employee has ever checked my order when I arrived to pick it up. They've never helped me decide on a menu item either -- but I guess I wouldn't just call up and be like, "What do you think I should get from your restaurant?" I guess other people really do.

- Mere "I always try to reward people who take care of their customers because it's easy to do the bare minimum" 1975

P.S.
Just today, Sam and I got slooooowwwww service at a very casual place (no need for fancy food prep -- they were just understaffed). But the waiter checked on us, apologized for the slow service and -- without us asking -- got the manager to deduct $5 from the bill to make up for our wait. I think we gave him $4 on a check of $11 and change (would have been $16 and change.) I thought he deserved it because he messed up and made good on it.

[jbfromoc]

I don't think any to-go employee has ever checked my order when I arrived to pick it up.

"They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru, okay? They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru! They know you're gonna be miles away before you find out you got fucked! They know you're not gonna turn around and go back, they don't care. So who gets fucked? Ol' Leo Getz! Okay, sure! I don't give a fuck! I'm not eating this tuna, okay?" -Leo Getz (Lethal Weapon 2)