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Typically food delivery service you tip because the delivery person did their best in the conditions to be quick, not leave the restaurant for extra unpaid wait

Typically food delivery service you tip because the delivery person did their best in the conditions to be quick, not leave the restaurant for extra unpaid waiting, not leave the restaurant emptyhanded, handle the poorly packed food, maintain it's temperature, find you through various layers of location that may not be specifically noted (community, building, wing, level, find the stairs/elevator, door), contact you because you were too lazy to give all the necessary info, and the legwork/schlepping things you want to you at whatever ridiculous time of day or night you were too lazy to go get it yourself. You know, normal bs stuff you didn't want to deal with, and probably worth more than the $3 or whatever they were paid for the trip that is supposed to cover their expenses as well and some dead time between trips. Pretty sure waitressing pays better after all is accounted for. Additionally, getting tips on the app (instead of cash) provides almost no benefit to drivers usually because of the way the apps/algorithms hand out work. If you start making more in tips, you probably won't break over your typical takehome for the day/week as it is averaged/washed out in your total earnings (tips included) that are spread out so no one earns more money (even if they deserve it for a job well done/hustle). Finally, what you pay in surge pricing does not usually go to the driver. That surcharge goes to the app, and sometimes the app has to pay the driver a surge rate, but usually not (this is called arbitrage). Again the same averaging applies and surge pays usually don't increase your overall takehome pay.

blub 7y ago
"""did their best in the conditions to be quick, not leave the restaurant for extra unpaid waiting, not leave the restaurant emptyhanded, handle the poorly packed food, maintain it's temperature, find you through various layers of location that may not be specifically noted (community, building, wing, level, find the stairs/elevator, door), contact you because you were too lazy to give all the necessary info, and the legwork/schlepping things you want to you at whatever ridiculous time of day or night you were too lazy to go get it yourself.""" That's the job definition and it's a crappy job. These companies are paying their employees poorly and try to guilt customers into picking up their slack.
- Rainymood 7y ago
  >These companies are paying their employees poorly and try to guilt customers into picking up their slack. Well put. I haven't seen a better description of modern tipping in the US, yet.
- unimployed 7y ago
  Really not sure what your point is ethically or otherwise. Are you saying you should not tip? Should you not tip a person for good service? Really hard to fathom a reason you need to use the service in the first place. I suppose one could make the argument that if you request/use the service and don’t tip, you are actively participating in perpetuating the crappy business model of crappy businesses and crappy jobs that are setup to be unfavorable situations for the workers while everyone else benefits at the workers expense. That doesn’t sound very ethical because you simply don’t desire to feel some kind of guilt if you don’t tip. How about choosing not to patronize a service and system that is setup to take advantage of said workers? As I mentioned, it is really difficult to fathom a situation you need to use such a service like food delivery or selecting a restaurant with wait staff. Just make other arrangements and don’t patronize those services in the first place. If you do find yourself using such a service, leave a tip (cash if an app) for a good job that says I know you probably get screwed over a lot by the man/system, but I’m more enlightened than others that feel entitled to choose to use the service and not tip. It’s really that simple.
  - geofft 7y ago
    You are conflating two senses of the word "should." Should you throw out expired milk? In one sense, no, you shouldn't let it expire. Use it faster, or buy less. In the other sense, yes, why leave it in the fridge? Nobody in this conversation is trying to get out of tipping people who aren't making a living base wage. We all agree it's a moral duty. Our claim is that wages should be higher so we shouldn't have to tip, eventually. And, yes, I would in fact disagree with tipping a person for good service. Everyone deserves a living wage, good service or not. If they don't meet your expectations, complain to their employer (chances are the cause of your bad service is out of their hands), and tip them anyway, every bit as generously as someone who provided good service. This too is a moral obligation.

blub 7y ago

"""did their best in the conditions to be quick, not leave the restaurant for extra unpaid waiting, not leave the restaurant emptyhanded, handle the poorly packed food, maintain it's temperature, find you through various layers of location that may not be specifically noted (community, building, wing, level, find the stairs/elevator, door), contact you because you were too lazy to give all the necessary info, and the legwork/schlepping things you want to you at whatever ridiculous time of day or night you were too lazy to go get it yourself.""" That's the job definition and it's a crappy job. These companies are paying their employees poorly and try to guilt customers into picking up their slack.

Rainymood 7y ago
>These companies are paying their employees poorly and try to guilt customers into picking up their slack. Well put. I haven't seen a better description of modern tipping in the US, yet.
unimployed 7y ago
Really not sure what your point is ethically or otherwise. Are you saying you should not tip? Should you not tip a person for good service? Really hard to fathom a reason you need to use the service in the first place. I suppose one could make the argument that if you request/use the service and don’t tip, you are actively participating in perpetuating the crappy business model of crappy businesses and crappy jobs that are setup to be unfavorable situations for the workers while everyone else benefits at the workers expense. That doesn’t sound very ethical because you simply don’t desire to feel some kind of guilt if you don’t tip. How about choosing not to patronize a service and system that is setup to take advantage of said workers? As I mentioned, it is really difficult to fathom a situation you need to use such a service like food delivery or selecting a restaurant with wait staff. Just make other arrangements and don’t patronize those services in the first place. If you do find yourself using such a service, leave a tip (cash if an app) for a good job that says I know you probably get screwed over a lot by the man/system, but I’m more enlightened than others that feel entitled to choose to use the service and not tip. It’s really that simple.
- geofft 7y ago
  You are conflating two senses of the word "should." Should you throw out expired milk? In one sense, no, you shouldn't let it expire. Use it faster, or buy less. In the other sense, yes, why leave it in the fridge? Nobody in this conversation is trying to get out of tipping people who aren't making a living base wage. We all agree it's a moral duty. Our claim is that wages should be higher so we shouldn't have to tip, eventually. And, yes, I would in fact disagree with tipping a person for good service. Everyone deserves a living wage, good service or not. If they don't meet your expectations, complain to their employer (chances are the cause of your bad service is out of their hands), and tip them anyway, every bit as generously as someone who provided good service. This too is a moral obligation.