# Tips for Curb Side Service



## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

So in my effort to do as little fast food as possible, and my lack of love & time for cooking, I will on occasion order on line at a restaurant for curb side service. I just don't want to leave my 3 babies in the car even to just run in and pick up an order.

So my question is...what is the appropriate tip for curb side service? Reason I'm asking is my order tonight was under $10.00. I handed him a $20 and he said "Thank you very much. Have a nice night." :huh: Ummm...I'm thinking that's a bit high for curb side service. So I called out to him before he got back inside the restaurant and asked him what the total of my bill was and he told me $9.00 and some odd cents. And I just continued to look at him and he then asked..."oh, do you want change?" :smilie_tischkante:


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

:new_shocked::new_shocked: Crystal - was the guy feeding you the meal with a sterling silver fork, walking the dogs and washing your car for a 100%+ tip?? Or maybe he ran alongside the car bringing your meal to your home. :blink: Talk about nerve. :w00t::w00t: OMG. I would say a couple of bucks at most (that's 20% - not what I would think you would even need to leave since someone's not waiting on you) should do the trick.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

For any order no matter the cost (other than feeding a bunch of people) I would likely just tip $5...but for your $9 order, I would probably only tip $2-$3. Usually a delivery charge is added in already, and honestly, all they do is drive your order over to you, they don't serve you for an hour like a waiter/waitress. I would have wanted change, too!

In the future you may just want to pay using your debit card over the phone or something, that's what I do since I never know if they'll have proper change or not.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Good heavens' sounds like the silly man thought you gave him $10........ because surely he wouldn't be so insolent to think he deserved that as a tip.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Snowbody said:


> :new_shocked::new_shocked: Crystal - was the guy feeding you the meal with a sterling silver fork, walking the dogs and washing your car for a 100%+ tip?? Or maybe he ran alongside the car bringing your meal to your home. :blink: Talk about nerve. :w00t::w00t: OMG. I would say a couple of bucks at most (that's 20% - not what I would think you would even need to leave since someone's not waiting on you) should do the trick.


Well now my car really DOES need to be washed...that would have been nice. Not really into being fed unless it's someplace that I can be reclining on the chest of someone who looks and sounds like Hugh Jackman while looking at an incredible view. :innocent:

But no....all he did was bring me my order. It wasn't heavy or hard to balance like a tray with food on it. It IS cold as Siberia though. I usually give them a couple of bucks or around 15-20% if it's a higher priced meal. But I was so p.o.'d at his nerve that I didn't give him anything. Now that I'm thinking about it I'm not so sure that was the brightest thing I've ever done. Wonder what he'll do to my food the next time I order???  I may wait a loooong time before I try that restaurant again. :blush:


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

LJSquishy said:


> For any order no matter the cost (other than feeding a bunch of people) I would likely just tip $5...but for your $9 order, I would probably only tip $2-$3. Usually a delivery charge is added in already, and honestly, all they do is drive your order over to you, they don't serve you for an hour like a waiter/waitress. I would have wanted change, too!
> 
> In the future you may just want to pay using your debit card over the phone or something, that's what I do since I never know if they'll have proper change or not.


This wasn't delivery. This was curb side service. All he had to do was walk 10 to 15 feet out the door to my car. :HistericalSmiley:


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

silverhaven said:


> Good heavens' sounds like the silly man thought you gave him $10........ because surely he wouldn't be so insolent to think he deserved that as a tip.


Gosh I would really like to think that but I saw the look on his face when I handed him the $20.


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> Well now my car really DOES need to be washed...that would have been nice. Not really into being fed unless it's someplace that I can be reclining on the chest of someone who looks and sounds like Hugh Jackman while looking at an incredible view. :innocent:
> 
> But no....all he did was bring me my order. It wasn't heavy or hard to balance like a tray with food on it. It IS cold as Siberia though. I usually give them a couple of bucks or around 15-20% if it's a higher priced meal. But I was so p.o.'d at his nerve that I didn't give him anything. Now that I'm thinking about it I'm not so sure that was the brightest thing I've ever done. Wonder what he'll do to my food the next time I order???  I may wait a loooong time before I try that restaurant again. :blush:


Hate to say it Crystal but I would actually call the restaurant's manager and tell them what happened. That wasn't just a mistake - unless he really thought you were giving him a $10 not a $20 but after you said something to him he should have realized it. It's just not right to do that to a customer and who wants to come back when it's highway robbery?? The manager should know; I would want to know if it was my business. JMO.


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## Hunter's Mom (Dec 8, 2008)

I have called restaurants and pizza places before when delivery persons (including curbside) have been inappropriate about tips. I was told by one delivery person that they didn't have change of course they did, they just wanted a larger tip than they knew they would get. For curbside I usually tip $2 as it is essentially pick-up/take-out and the person at the counter is required to be paid minimum wage and not waitressing wages as they are akin to a hostess and not a waitstaff.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Crystal&Zoe said:


> This wasn't delivery. This was curb side service. All he had to do was walk 10 to 15 feet out the door to my car. :HistericalSmiley:


Oh gosh, I thought you meant delivery. For curbside, I don't tip at all. Maybe I'm bad, but it isn't hard to walk outside and hand someone a bag. LOL


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

:HistericalSmiley:
Crystal, when I read your title I was thinking "at the airport"---shows that we run everything through the grid of where WE live/operate! 
The only thing this guy deserved was "a piece of your mind, that (as my husband says of me --in jest, of course) you could not afford to lose!" :HistericalSmiley:
:wub:


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## CeeCee's Mom (Sep 14, 2006)

I would think like you do Crystal.....that he would do something to the food next time. That is terrible that he would try to pull that by you and taking a 20.00 bill and walking away for a 9.00 order!!! I am so glad you said something because he has probably pulled this before! Ugh, I hate things like this......next time when you place an order for curbside, ask on the telephone how much the complete bill is and then you add the 2 or 3 dollars and give them the exact amount........the nerve of that young man!!!


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Oh wow, can't believe that guy!! Really??? Really...you thought you did that FANTASTIC of a job walking from the door to the car that you deserved more than a 100% tip!!? Oh really now!? :w00t: :smilie_tischkante:

I'm so glad you said something, Crystal...I would have been too stunned to do anything. AND I'm glad you ended up leaving him nothing! :aktion033: He so deserved that.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

You did the right thing....the customer offers a tip if they choose to for the quality of service. In this case I wouldn't have given him anything....but probably $2 otherwise. Even if he thought it was a $10, it was your place to say 'keep the change' not his.

Really thou if he is just doing his job bringing something to the curb that's not exactly waiting on you during a sit down meal.


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## spookiesmom (Mar 28, 2010)

The servers used to pull that stunt around here. I guess enough people complained to management or corporate, the word came down and the practice stopped.

I'd call and speak to the manager.

I'm going to call PetsMart soon and tell mgmt they lost a customer last night, and why.


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## uniquelovdolce (Mar 10, 2010)

what exactly is curb service? just getting out of restaurant to the car? in that case problably nothing , for delivery here like chinese or dominoes i usually give from 2-5 dollars , and thats depending on how much they made me wait . 

i agree u should call and complain , umm i dont think he deserved anything especially assuming u were going to give him the whole $20 .. wth?


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

So is the general consensus that for curb side service no tip to a couple of bucks is appropriate? Honestly, I'm rethinking this whole thing and beginning to wonder if a tip is necessary at all considering all they do is bring the order out to your car which is right outside their door.

Oh...and yes, curbside service is simply that...they bring your order out to your car for you so you don't have to go in and wait in a line or if you have kids in the car, or in my case...furkids. :blush:


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

I say no tip is necessary at all, but I think Canadians have a bad rep re tipping.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Maglily said:


> I say no tip is necessary at all, but I think Canadians have a bad rep re tipping.


:HistericalSmiley: Don't feel bad. People in small communities don't do the extreme generous tipping that's the norm in cities either.


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## sunnycleveland (Apr 3, 2010)

I agree, for curbside pick up $1-$3 is what I usually tip. 
That guy had some nerve.... Maybe calling the manager is appropriate - this would leave a very bad impression on me and I probably would not return. I hate it when businesses put customers in confrontational situations... They may make extra $10 but the bad word of mouth advertising they get is going to cost them thousands, I dont know why they dont get it...

How frustrating, sorry you had to go through this...


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I'd call the manager. He, no doubt, is trying this with other customers. I think it's appropriate to tip a couple bucks curbside.


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## mary-anderson (Jan 12, 2010)

I agree with Brit, I would call the manager.


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