Tipping for Applebee's Carside?
 

So are we supposed to tip for the Carside service at Applebee's (and similar?) I didn't and wondered later if I should, I do like to tip well to those in the food service industry, that I know work hard!

(I do usually give $1 at Sonic when I travel to a city with those, so now wonder if this is similar. Conversely though, here in BUF, I am not in the habit of tipping when picking up a pizza, though yes I do when they deliver)

I have never heard of tipping for fast food,are you tipping the person who hands you your bag of food?If someone comes to my car to deliver the food and later returns to pic up my tray I do tip 15% or so

If someone comes out to your car, than I would say yes, but not 15%. If you go inside to pick the food and someone just takes your cash and brings your food out to a counter....than I would say no.

From my sons, who both worked in the kitchen at Ruby Tuesdays:

The carhop server receives the same pay as a server with tables (less than $3 an hour). He/She therefore is expected to earn tip income. Duties include taking the order, making sure that the order is correctly filled and delivering the order. Most patrons tip, but often not 15-20%

My opinion:

The service has value, but not equivalent to serving a table. I generally tip 10% and may adjust that amount in future visits if prior service wasn't up to snuff (assuming the same server).

Just pretend to speak with a European accent and nothing will be expected of you.

It's kind of like going to one of those quick serve restaurants where you order at a counter, a server brings you the food, and then you're expected to discard your trash. I typically leave a couple bucks....probably ends up being around 10%+.

Hmmm I feel awful now. I only left a dollar for a $10+ order a few weeks ago when I was using the carside service at Applebees

FWIW, here are the NYC rules:

(1) No tipping for takeaway. (You go to the restaurant and get your food)

(2) Tip a couple of dollars for delivery. A little more if he stops at a deli to pick up beer if requested. (The delivery guy comes to your building and delivers your order to your door)

haven't been to applebee's in ages. Where do you order for this carside service? Is it just like a regular drivethru? If it is I definitely wouldn't tip.

I usually just leave a dollar or two. At my applebees there is an actual drive up door so they only have to take about 5 steps or so,and most of the time they dont realize your there so you have to go in anyway.

I usually tip about 10-15% for delivery to the car. I am torn about carryout in a nice restaurant - if there is a counter for pick up I usually just leave no tip but, if the bartender has to get the meal, assemble it and provide it to me I try and tip a few dollars.

Bob

THAT is a good tip !

I seem to remember a similar discussion in a thread about restaurant tipping in general, if you want to search out more opinions. (Not Applebees but maybe Outback or Carrabbas which have similar situations), for curbside service, I estimate a tip of about 10%+ and round the total up to the next dollar.

And for those who have not seen them yet, tip jars are becoming more and more prevalent at many fast food locations, even for those workers not being paid as tip workers (some companies specifically prohibit them, possibly because of payroll tax reporting issues). My impression is that this trend has been spreading from the west coast eastward. I saw them en masse over 6 years ago in California.

In my case, it depends on who answers the phone and takes the order. There's an Applebee's across the street from the hotel I've been staying at M-F for the past six months. I normally order from there once a week, sometimes twice, and they normally only have one person who runs the carside service. I normally tip 10% up to the next whole dollar, but there's one server who continues to try to add tax to my take-out order....so after reminding her for about the fourth time, I've decided that she must not listen very well. She no longer gets a tip.

And no, I'm not waiting until I get there to remind her about the tax -- when she confirms the amount before I hang up, I've reminded her that take-out (in Ohio at least) isn't subject to tax, and she says "oh yeah, I'll take it off." Funny that it's never once come off the tab she brings out to the car.

I lived in England for some time, so I am a lot more cynical about tipping in general, but IMHO, a tip should be a bonus for great service, something extra that is earned
Therefore, the widespread practice of tipping that is expected by everyone all across the country for every little thing done is quite disconcerting. Where does it end?
So, I would never tip Applebee's carside for the five steps the person takes to bring the bag of food out to my car. Similarly, I would never tip at a fast food counter, despite the ever-increasing presence of tip jars at some of these places in our local shopping mall. For example, there is a food court inside the mall, and nearly every one of the walk-up fast food places now sports a tip jar!! :rolleyes:

I usually tip for carside service as well as takeout where an employee who is normally paid on reduced wages (i.e. a waiter, hostess, or bartender) has to prepare my meal to go and ring it up for me. Tips are considered to be part of their pay and they are given a reduced wage rate as a result.

My exception to the rule is somewhere that is exclusively carryout (a pizza from a carry out only joint) or when the owner is the one who is handling my order (at my local sushi joint, for example, the owner rings takeout orders under their own id, not that of the wait staff or sushi bar - and I know from talking to the staff that tips on takeout do NOT get passed to them, so I don't tip on takeout).

I agree tipping in the US has gotten out of control. If I remember right, 20 years ago 15% was the standard and 20% was for extra service. Now it seems to be creeping up to 20% standard and 25% for great service. At this trend it will be 30% by the time I retire.

Oh no. Increasingly for those visiting the US from overseas the serving staff will start to deliver an unsmiling, patronising and possibly aggressive "hard sell" about how you have to tip, how much, etc, sometimes more than once during the meal.

We do Outback curbside a lot, and I usually tip 10%. I'll go to 15% if it's expecially cold outside. :D

Yeah, and the madness is spreading with the Americans!

I was chased out of a bar in Cancun once, by a barman asking for a tip! I told him I did tip him (which I actually did) opened the door and threw him back in.

Same trip did a little tour, at the end of the tour the tip jar came out, all the americans automatically put their hands in their pockets, and the hard sell came out with 'hey man don't forget my tip'. That cemented his lack of tip from my group.

the tip situation is getting worse!
 

Tip jars are turning up nearly everywhere, even at the dry cleaners!

I asked the manager of a local Applebees about tips for carry out. He said 'we don't encourage tipping for that as we want our customers to return to buy more food. He said that all tips are pooled and those who do carry out get their share.' But the credit card charge slip has a tip line!

I've long suspected that tips added to credit card charges are pooled in many places, but at this Applebees, apparently all tips are pooled and shared. Elsewhere?

Sorry, I don't think you need to tip for anything except the following:

- table service
- bellhop service
- food delivery
- bartender

I think Americans tip way too much.

We tip about $3 per order

I think a lot of those used to be charity jars. What a shame, confusing people "should I put the 4 pennies I got for change in the tip jar or the Ronald McDonald House?"

I don't tip at Sonic. I was told they get normal wage, not tip wage. If you don't get paid tip wage, you shouldn't expect tips.

I dont tip for pick up. To avoid the Credit Card Tip line i always pay with cash.

Which usually makes me take a considerable amount off the tip for that rudeness.

Why not simply cross out the tip and total lines? You are missing out on the miles you could earn with FFP credit cards.

Well here is my 2 cents worth from someone in the industry. I pay to-go staff a higher wage then servers.They answer the phones, package the meals and make sure the order is the way the customer wanted it.
I would say on average a person tips 10% per order. Just a pizza a dollar or two is fine,dinner for four with appetizers and desserts 10%.

There's always a few cheapskates. There always will be. I like a system where good service is rewarded and poor service is not. The alternative is average service at best with the cost included in the price of everyone's meal. I wish more jobs were paid with tips. I just got back from shopping at TJ Maxx which locally employs the slowest, most disinterested cashiers. I'd love to put a zero on the tip line there!

...but, getting back to the original topic, I think it is entirely warranted to tip less on a percentage basis for car service at Applebee's, since the car server can accommodate a greater dollar volume of business per hour and they are providing less service to each individual party (not having to make multiple trips to each table: greeting the party and distributing menus, taking drink orders, receiving appetizer order, delivering appetizer order, receiving main course order, delivering main course order, receiving drink refill order, delivering drink refill order, receiving dessert order, delivering dessert order, delivering check, picking up check).

Well we used Applebee's Carside again (we have become a fan of those steak combos), and this time I gave $5 on a $35 order ... I agree with the "not a full tip" but somewhere around 10% or a bit more (And I gave a bit more to atone for the last time, even though it was a new location?!?)

Buffets we usually drop a dollar or two (at Chinese buffets, OCB, etc.)

Very interesting reading all the responses on this thread!

How about a system where service is excellent across the board and no tipping is expected? That's what they do in Japan.

That would be wonderful. I don't see it happening here, even if we granted visas for japanese waitstaff. Any idea what they're paid?

I'd probably throw them a few bucks for car service. If I'm going inside to pickup, I never tip.

I also don't put money in tip jars at Starbucks, etc. Unnecessary, as these people are not paid tip wages.

how is carside serivce different than drive thru at mcd's? they bring it from the restaurant out to your car instead of give it to you from a window? that takes about 10-15s of walking and then 1 min max for payment. what are you tipping for??

I'd tip McDonalds drive through folks if they ever got the order right. I don't expect I'll ever have to follow through on that promise, however.

The first mistake was exiting the road at that establishment. :D

We tip on carside pickup; we also tip the dry cleaner when they bring the order out to the car, which they usually do. On the dry cleaning, it's usually two or three dollars. On the carside, depends on the size of the order.

Look at the definition and then you may find you TIP to much:
T=To
I=Improved
P=Personal
S=Service

If they are just doing their job, no tip is warranted.
If they are friendly or go that extra mile, please tip.