to tip or not - a traveling gourmet

[noydb]

At my work place, we have a nice perk in that a woman comes to our complex, for about 20minutes, with foods from her restaurant -- muffins, breakfast sandwiches, bagels, soups, salads, wraps.  She then moves on to another complex.  Anyway, should she be tipped?  Like, I buy a muffin, sometimes a muffin and a meal for lunch later, so $3-10.  Tip or not?  If yes, how much?  I haven't been tipping - it cocurs to me afterwards, 'should I be tipping?'  I asked a co-worker and she said she wasnt sure, she has not been doing it, but did see someone tell this 'traveling gourmet' to 'keep the change'.  Hmmm, should we be tipping?  What do you think?

[noydb]

Sorry!  I realize now this should've been posted elsewhere.

[Shoo]

The food is pre-cooked, and pre-packaged, I'm guessing.

I'd say no, you don't tip in this situation.  What service are you tipping for?  She's handing you a muffin, and you're handing her money.  Transaction complete, IMO.

[Outdoor Girl]

Re: Posting in the wrong spot - If you scroll down to the bottom of the page when you, as the OP, open the thread, there should be a 'move topic' button on the left hand side.  Click on that and it should let you move the thread where you want to put the thread.

In answer to your question, I would assume that she has priced her items accordingly to cover the cost of her delivery of said items.  But if I were a regular customer and my total came to $6 something, I'd give her $7.00 and not worry about my change.

[Kaypeep]

I would give a tip, maybe a dollar or "Keep the change." kind of amount.  IMO, it's obviously a business strategy of hers to sell her food this way instead of relying on just customers who come to her restaurant. But I'm willing to give a little extra for the trouble of bringing it directly to me, having it packaged well, and just being pleasant and helpful (ie:  if she remembers I like blueberry muffins or chicken salad, so she makes sure to have them when coming to my office.)  I also tip street food vendors, because they are fast and efficient, convenient, and I admire their willingness to be out there in any weather and are always pleasant.  (Seriously, I've never met a cranky hot dog/pretzel/gyro guy.  They are always happy!)

[noydb]

Re: Posting in the wrong spot - If you scroll down to the bottom of the page when you, as the OP, open the thread, there should be a 'move topic' button on the left hand side.  Click on that and it should let you move the thread where you want to put the thread.

In answer to your question, I would assume that she has priced her items accordingly to cover the cost of her delivery of said items.  But if I were a regular customer and my total came to $6 something, I'd give her $7.00 and not worry about my change.

Thanks for the HOW-TO!  Moved...

[noydb]

I think this is a woman who works for the restaurant and owners, dont think she is the actual owner.     This is a very nice service.  Eveything is good quality, well packaged, fresh, yummy, reasonably priced and super convenient.  Hmmm....

[Knitterly]

As she is bringing the food to you, I would personally tip.
It may not be an expected thing, necessarily, but I would see it as sort of analogous to pizza delivery.  I would tip about $0.50 - 1.00, rather than tipping based on the price.

[jmarvellous]

I would not tip. Wouldn't even think of it.

[Jones]

I used to tip the breakfast burrito truck. The fact they brought me my breakfast once a week seemed so worth it, and I wanted to do something a little extra to let them know I appreciated it.

[WillyNilly]

For me this a "keep the change" kind of tip situation, so essentially I would just leave all my coins with her and only take back paper money.

[Roe]

The food is pre-cooked, and pre-packaged, I'm guessing.

I'd say no, you don't tip in this situation.  What service are you tipping for?  She's handing you a muffin, and you're handing her money.  Transaction complete, IMO.

Another one for no need to tip.

[lowspark]

I would not tip. Wouldn't even think of it.

It wouldn't occur to me either. She's coming to you in order to boost her sales and move some product that might not otherwise sell. So yeah, she's doing you a service by bringing it to you but it seems to me that her main motivation is increased sales as opposed to tippable service.

Now, if you WANT to tip for whatever reason, such as she always remembers you like the chicken sandwich or whatever, fine. I agree that would be a "keep the change" situation. But I would not tip anything near 15%, norm for table service.

[Judah]

I would not tip. Wouldn't even think of it.

It wouldn't occur to me either. She's coming to you in order to boost her sales and move some product that might not otherwise sell. So yeah, she's doing you a service by bringing it to you but it seems to me that her main motivation is increased sales as opposed to tippable service.

Now, if you WANT to tip for whatever reason, such as she always remembers you like the chicken sandwich or whatever, fine. I agree that would be a "keep the change" situation. But I would not tip anything near 15%, norm for table service.

I agree. Now, if you could call ahead and place an order to be delivered to you, I would tip for that. But just because she's bringing food to your location doesn't make it a tip worthy event.

[rose red]

I don't think I would tip.  It's not like delivering pizza or Chinese food where they wouldn't come unless you call them to make a trip they wouldn't otherwise make.  This woman is there anyway and I assume her employer pays for her time and gas money.  Maybe even your employer pays the food company to stop by. 

It's nice to tell her to keep the change once in a while, but I would not tip everyday.