Do you tip for curbside pickup?

[luvthatduke]

We never used curbside pickup until the pandemic.
We tip the runner/delivery person because they are
helping us avoid exposure to Covid, not for their effort.

We wish we could tip the shopper, but they don't allow it at the stores where we shop.
We know that some of the stores say "no tipping" but we offer it anyhow.
The few times the runner refused it, we did not insist.
If I heard of our runner getting in trouble because we gave them something,
I would be on the phone to management very quickly.
Some runners have said to us that they would be giving it to our shopper.
We haven't done Walmart curbside, only 3 grocery stores in town.

Like I said, if we could tip the shopper we would.

 

[shoney]

A few years back when stop and shop first introduced pea pod pick up the parking lot signs said no tipping During covid that was removed. I tipped a few bucks.

I have always tipped workers for helping with large purchases such as tv’s, lumber, Christmas trees etc. never once has it been refused. My parents tipped for this stuff 40 years ago.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I do for food, but for stores I do not. I seriously thought it was against most stores' policy for employees to accept a tip.

I do not use the pickup thing too often, maybe twice at Walmart and a couple times at Kohls too.

 

[RedAngie]

I’ve never used curbside pickup for either restaurants or retail stores, but if I ever do I’ll know not to tip.

I did tip the guy at Home Depot who put bags of mulch in my trunk for me this summer, and he accepted. They had an extra section of mulch, top soil, etc. in the parking lot for drive up loading after I paid inside the garden center.

 

[Kellykins1218]

My son's friend got fired for accepting a $2 tip at Walmart

 

[DisneyHardin]

I offered a tip to the person who brought out my curbside order at Total Wine and she told me they were not allowed to accept tips.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’ve never used curbside pickup for either restaurants or retail stores, but if I ever do I’ll know not to tip.

I did tip the guy at Home Depot who put bags of mulch in my trunk for me this summer, and he accepted. They had an extra section of mulch, top soil, etc. in the parking lot for drive up loading after I paid inside the garden center.

Most of my kids worked at a garden center, 99% tipped the guys carrying stuff to the car (my girls were cashiers and jealous). Christ tree season is a huge money maker (but very hard work).

 

[Moliphino]

It honestly didn't occur to me to tip for curbside pickup at stores. I rarely do it, I think just once at Home Depot and once at PetSmart. Pretty much if they don't prompt me to do it in the order I won't tip. I rarely have the right amount of cash on me, anyway.

 

[goofyernmost]

Why wouldn't one tip these people. They have to pick out your items, scan them, pack them in bags, and cart them out to your car and you probably don't get out to help them even put them in your car. Minimum wage slaves so you don't have to flex a muscle and do it yourself. I have gone through this entire Pandemic and have always done my own shopping. Not for any reason other then I want to see what I'm buying before I buy it, especially if it is food. In the beginning I wasn't vaccinated and was first in line when it came out and just a couple of weeks ago I had my regular yearly flu shot and my third Covid shot. I don't want to feel like I own a bunch of underpaid people to do my stuff for me.

 

[howardlee2]

not at retail stores, but always at restaurants!

 

[monsterkitty]

Why wouldn't one tip these people. They have to pick out your items, scan them, pack them in bags, and cart them out to your car and you probably don't get out to help them even put them in your car. Minimum wage slaves so you don't have to flex a muscle and do it yourself. I have gone through this entire Pandemic and have always done my own shopping. Not for any reason other then I want to see what I'm buying before I buy it, especially if it is food. In the beginning I wasn't vaccinated and was first in line when it came out and just a couple of weeks ago I had my regular yearly flu shot and my third Covid shot. I don't want to feel like I own a bunch of underpaid people to do my stuff for me.

Why wouldn't we tip these people?

Because they're not allowed to accept tips.

In my area, the ones who deliver the groceries or items to the customer are not the ones who did the shopping.

Yes they deserve more but if they go against the company policy and accept a tip they will be fired.

 

[ronandannette]

Why wouldn't one tip these people. They have to pick out your items, scan them, pack them in bags, and cart them out to your car and you probably don't get out to help them even put them in your car. Minimum wage slaves so you don't have to flex a muscle and do it yourself. I have gone through this entire Pandemic and have always done my own shopping. Not for any reason other then I want to see what I'm buying before I buy it, especially if it is food. In the beginning I wasn't vaccinated and was first in line when it came out and just a couple of weeks ago I had my regular yearly flu shot and my third Covid shot. I don't want to feel like I own a bunch of underpaid people to do my stuff for me.

As has been explained upthread, the shoppers/order pickers and the curbside deliverer are two different people. You never see the person that did the bulk of the work and the person who spent three minutes bringing out your order is a) probably not allowed to accept a tip by store policy; and b) not sharing it with the shopper.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They have to pick out your items, scan them, pack them in bags, and cart them out to your car and you probably don't get out to help them even put them in your car

Have you been to Walmart? They have people who go through the store and pick up the items, then you have people who bag them then ones that go put it in your car. Then you have curbside for in store pick up like when you order something and have it sent to the store, Walmart has shifted to most of those being fulfilled by curbside.

You aren't supposed to get out of your car. That's the entire premise of curbside, like literally the entire point. Some people seem to not understand what curbside is. This isn't decades ago where a bagger at your mom and pop grocery store helps bring your groceries out to your car.

When I order from Petsmart the directions even say pop your trunk for curbside.

 

[Karin1984]

Non-American here! A few weeks ago there was another tipping thread and indeed one of the answers on the why was, 'They provide a service for you, so why wouldn't you'?

What I know from movies and tv shows (so no idea if this is true), in the US supermarkets have people at the register putting the groceries in bags for you. Do you tip these employees? And while we are on it.... it's custom in certain US areas to not fill up your car with gas yourself. Tip these people?

 

[RedAngie]

Non-American here! A few weeks ago there was another tipping thread and indeed one of the answers on the why was, 'They provide a service for you, so why wouldn't you'?

What I know from movies and tv shows (so no idea if this is true), in the US supermarkets have people at the register putting the groceries in bags for you. Do you tip these employees? And while we are on it.... it's custom in certain US areas to not fill up your car with gas yourself. Tip these people?

Generally the in-store baggers are not tipped. And it varies from market to market if they even have baggers, or only have them at certain times. The cashier will bag your groceries if there is no bagger, but I always start bagging my own while s/he continues to scan. I do NOT like the markets where the cashier bags immediately after scanning.

Most of the time I use self-checkout. I rarely buy large quantities at a time.

As for fuel, New Jersey is the only state where self-service gasoline is prohibited. An attendant MUST pump for you. Oddly enough, self serve diesel is permitted. Go figure.

Gas attendants generally don’t expect tips. If they do something extra, like cleaning your windshield, a tip is appreciated but still not really expected.

My company doesn’t forbid employees from accepting tips, either the gas attendants in NJ or the ones who bring out curbside pickup orders. But I hear that fewer than 10% of customers tip for pickup. It’s not expected.

 

[tobikaye]

I tip for food curbside. For restaurants that are full service, I give a full tip like if I had been an in house customer. I know that many of the food runners are also the ones putting the food together and checking the order. For quick service food curbside I tip, but at a lower % than I would for a full service place.

For retail/grocery pickup, I do not tip. I have asked at some of the locations I use and after 3 places had employees tell me they do not accept tips, I stopped asking.

 

[WEDWDW]

What about at a Restaurant that has Curbside Pickup AND a Drive thru window.

Do you tip if you order at and go through the Drive thru?

 

[tobikaye]

What about at a Restaurant that has Curbside Pickup and a Drive thru window.

Do you tip if you order at and go through the Drive thru?

I do not since because the places I do this, which is rare anyway, are McDonalds and Wendys. It is basically just putting your order in so when you pull up they can see your order and make it then. It is nothing really extra in their normal work routine. It just makes it so they have the order as I place it and the person taking the order does not have to put it in.

 

[Moliphino]

You aren't supposed to get out of your car. That's the entire premise of curbside, like literally the entire point. Some people seem to not understand what curbside is. This isn't decades ago where a bagger at your mom and pop grocery store helps bring your groceries out to your car.

When I order from Petsmart the directions even say pop your trunk for curbside.

My trunk door swings outward, not up, so I wait until the person is coming and get out to open it. I could see someone driving through the parking lot taking it off if I just left it open while I waited.

 

[ronandannette]

I do not since because the places I do this, which is rare anyway, are McDonalds and Wendys. It is basically just putting your order in so when you pull up they can see your order and make it then. It is nothing really extra in their normal work routine. It just makes it so they have the order as I place it and the person taking the order does not have to put it in.

I always find it interesting when people explain their rationale for who they do or don’t tip. You know that everybody on your “does get a tip” list is just doing the job they’re paid to do, right?