I'm Not Tipping For a Pickup Order

[GURPS]

I didn’t tip on my Outback Steakhouse takeout — and got a rude ‘tip’ back


In the video, she shows her receipt, which totaled $96.41. The “tip” section had been circled and starred, presumably by an Outback employee working at the restaurant.

[clip]

In the comments section of the video, viewers were split about what the proper etiquette around tipping is for takeout orders. Some agreed with the TikTok creator, saying that the restaurant had a lot of “audacity” to be so passive-aggressive.

@blacartistrybyknicole
Outback Steakhouse passive aggressive staff… #outbacksteakhouse

“Wow!” the user wrote. “Their audacity. This tipping expectation is getting out of control.”

Another agreed, commenting, “I can’t stand that a tip of the same amount as a server is expected when I pick up my meal. You put it in a bag, you did your job, congrats.”

“I don’t tip for carry out,” someone else explained. “Part of the reason we get carry out is because it’s cheaper since no one is waiting on us.”

One person even compared it to having a self-checkout experience at a store.

“That’s like tipping the Walmart workers watching me at self checkout.. I’m not tipping for carryout,” they wrote.

 

[SamSpade]

“That’s like tipping the Walmart workers watching me at self checkout.. I’m not tipping for carryout,” they wrote.

I still think self-checkout lines should PAY US, or at very least, offer a discount. We are doing THEIR job.

 

[vraiblonde]

Sometimes I'll tip for carry out but it has to be an extraordinary circumstance. Like if the staff was personable and entertaining, I'll drop a couple bucks in their jar - "Thank you for not being an ahole like most everyone else "

But it's certainly not mandatory and anyone who says it is is dumb.

 

[glhs837]

I tip when picking up a Starbucks app order, but thats about it.

 

[SamSpade]

Sometimes I'll tip for carry out but it has to be an extraordinary circumstance. Like if the staff was personable and entertaining, I'll drop a couple bucks in their jar - "Thank you for not being an ahole like most everyone else "

But it's certainly not mandatory and anyone who says it is is dumb.

The whole PURPOSE of a tip is to reward - and encourage - good service.
I also think it is variable according to the difficulty of the job - I'm 50/50 about giving the person who brings your water at a buffet anything.

But filling out a carryout order to me is no different from the person at the drive-thru or the checker at Dunkin' Donuts.

 

[Sneakers]

But at the same time, we've all made comments that when seated, a good tip is not only for the table service, but also for the quality of the food, to reward the cooks. That's part of the tip. So a pickup negates that? Would you have tipped for the food (not table service) if seated?

Seems like a bit of double standard.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I'm a bit torn on this, it is the people that don't make minimum wage getting the order ready so I usually tip $2 for somewhere like cracker barrel.

I hate the tip line on every single thing, why would I tip a fast food worker that makes at least minimum wage?

 

[DaSDGuy]

But at the same time, we've all made comments that when seated, a good tip is not only for the table service, but also for the quality of the food, to reward the cooks. That's part of the tip. So a pickup negates that? Would you have tipped for the food (not table service) if seated?

Seems like a bit of double standard.

When I was 16 I worked as a cook in a BBQ style restaurant. Kitchen staff did not receive tips, so your reward for the quality of the food went to the servers only. Very few cooks get to share the tips.

 

[SamSpade]

When I was 16 I worked as a cook in a BBQ style restaurant. Kitchen staff did not receive tips, so your reward for the quality of the food went to the servers only.

That’s my thought. The servers made LESS than us guys in the kitchen - we got a regular wage and the cooks, some of them, got paid as well as the management.

 

[Grumpy]

I think the carry-out tipping got out of hand because of the Covid lockdowns...now it's expected.

 

[Sneakers]

When I was 16 I worked as a cook in a BBQ style restaurant. Kitchen staff did not receive tips, so your reward for the quality of the food went to the servers only. Very few cooks get to share the tips.

That’s my thought. The servers made LESS than us guys in the kitchen - we got a regular wage and the cooks, some of them, got paid as well as the management.

Ok, fair. I was more or less playing devils advocate here. I don't tip for drive thru or a pizza. I do tip for a prepared meal (burger and fries isn't a prepared meal...) like a large Chinese order. It's certainly not 20%, or even 15%, more like the leftover change from payment. I still use cash for these as the banks charge the business for use of a credit or debit card, so there's my tip. I can't remember the last time I got take out from a place like Outback or any other sit-down restaurant.

 

[RoseRed]

When I tip it is almost always cash and I write cash on the tip line. Before doing that, I was twice ripped off by the server changing the tip total for more money for themselves.

 

[SamSpade]

Ok, fair. I was more or less playing devils advocate here. I don't tip for drive thru or a pizza. I do tip for a prepared meal (burger and fries isn't a prepared meal...) like a large Chinese order. It's certainly not 20%, or even 15%, more like the leftover change from payment. I still use cash for these as the banks charge the business for use of a credit or debit card, so there's my tip. I can't remember the last time I got take out from a place like Outback or any other sit-down restaurant.

I DO tip pizza delivery for the same reason I tip wait staff - they get paid less and make their money on tips. I know, I did it for a living for a year and a half. Sometimes that pizza could be in your hands as fast as fifteen minutes from order.

One thing we learned the hard way was tipping abroad. Some countries it was considered rude - it looked like rich tourists looking down on underpaid staff. Usually we asked a guide what was normal. Often it was FAR less than we wanted to pay.

 

[Sneakers]

I DO tip pizza delivery

Pickup, no. Delivery, yes.

 

[WheezyCarl]

I work in the F & B industry and it doesn't hurt my feelings when not tipped for pick-up.

 

[WheezyCarl]

Your approval is not needed, move along......... Aaaand, they deleted their comment and it seems as if I'm talking to myself LOL

 

[Kyle]

When I tip it is almost always cash and I write cash on the tip line. Before doing that, I was twice ripped off by the server changing the tip total for more money for themselves.

That would’ve sent me over the top.

 

[RoseRed]

Your approval is not needed, move along......... Aaaand, they deleted their comment and it seems as if I'm talking to myself LOL

What comment and by whom?

 

[RoseRed]

That would’ve sent me over the top.

I went back to both establishments with my receipt and got my money back.

 

[Bobwhite]

I tip servers but, if I had my way, no one would be tipped for anything. However, when I tip servers, it goes on the credit card so that it is included in their w2s as income. I pay taxes on all of my income and I see no reason why servers shouldn't also pay what is due to Uncle Sam. Pay servers (and anyone else making less than minimum wage) the same way you pay any other employee. They get salary increases based on their performance and impact to the bottom line (like everyone else). Your customers will let you know who the good ones are. I worked in the corporate headquarters of a major restaurant chain for twenty years and I can tell you that even though servers are paid less than minimum wage (except in California) they are making more money that anyone in the back of the house. In some cases they make more money than the low level managers.

I order my groceries online and pick them up. I do not tip the person who brings the groceries to my car for a couple of reasons. One, they probably didn't do the shopping and two, they are doing the job that they contracted with store to do.

I don't tip people for providing the service they promote when they are the owner of the business, such as hairdressers. If I knew how hairdressers were compensated, I probably wouldn't tip them either. But I've never been able to figure it out and it seems that salons differ in the manner in which they pay their employees.