Do I have to tip when i pick up food?

Question

I went to a restaurant to pick up food doing ‘curbside pick up’. I paid online and didn’t tip and when I got to the restaurant they brought the food out to my car. However, she asked me to sign my receipt. Even though I had already paid online and put 0 tip. Well, because of the pressure of her hovering over me and watching me sign, I gave a $5 tip 😭 it was 2 items and it cost $35 dollars. Would it have been rude to just put $0 for tip?

Answer

I always tip. Minimum 20% if I’m sitting. 15% on to-go. And 10% if it’s a counter order and they’re just turning and grabbing like bagels at Panera or at a donut shop/bakery.

Answer

You do not need to tip.

Answer

They did a service for your convenience. An employee hired specifically for this job, packed your order correctly and brought it out to your car. You tip for that. 
I worked at Carrabba’s in carside. It was the busiest carside in all the Carrabba’s restaurants. I was paid $2.13/hr as they expected me to make enough in tips to hit minimum wage. It was a lot of work. There was a ton that went into making sure your order was received correctly, taking phone orders, packed correctly, all cheese and utensils added, bread was warm, bread dip added, that the food stays warm while you drive over, and getting payments. This sometimes was done while waiting tables too to help out the busy dining room. Getting the kitchen to give everything on the ticket isn’t always the easiest thing. On top of all this too, include the times we are dealing with an unhappy customer and they are yelling in our face rather than asking for a manager. That can be overwhelming and degrading. It really sucked when we didn’t get a tip (typically split the tip between 3-4 people) and were treated like we didn’t do anything to make their order. 
So yes, I tip in most all situations dealing with food services. My baristas get tips. My pick up order gets tips. My sit down restaurants of course do too.

Do I have to tip when i pick up food?

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