Do you tip your detailer?

[Calendyr]

I have been embarrassed with how people have tipped. I've been to the point where I sneak back to the table and leave more money.

My mom is one of those people... in fact I just automatically pay just because of this. She is a nightmare to wait on and doesn't think "she should be paying their salary".
But this is how that profession is set up! And many people do it when they are going to school during the day, or they have small children, and rather than putting them in daycare, they wait until their husband is home and then go out and wait tables.

Back again to tipping your detailer, I think if they are putting their all into the job they definitely deserve a tip. You probably aren't charging them what you really should be anyway!

Funny story that happened to me about a month ago.

I go make a delivery to this social club and I bring an order Worth about 300$. After dropping the 2 very large and heavy boxes the person in charge of paying hands me the money plus a tip of 5$. The other guy that was with him gives him this look of "What the heck are you doing?" reaches into his Pocket and hands me 10$ more Still was a very bad tip, should have been more on the 30-40$ range but I found it so funny that I was happier than if I had received the proper tip LOL That just made my day

[DetailKitty]

LOL- well at least the one guy tried.

I always tip delivery guys well. We tip about 50% on the bill when we get food delivered to the house. I heard they get paid like servers... mostly rely on tips.

[jpegs13]

Detailing is a "service" business, and like all service industry people, if it's a job well done there should be a tip.

[Radarryan]

I've only used one professional detailer in my life (because, well, I am an AG and do it myself) and it was fairly recently when I had the GTechniq C1/EXO hazing problems and Rob@GTechniq offered to send out one of their certified detailers to ensure that the coating was completely removed and the new coating was applied with no issues. It seems my issue was I let the C1 cure for too long before applying EXOv2, 24 hours rather than 12.

Michael @ Thumpers Auto Detailing Salon of San Antonio came up to me in Dallas to make sure everything was done to perfection. We has talked several times over the phone and he assured me that all the coatings, plus his time was being covered. When he got here, he again assured me that he was being well compensated. Despite this, I was so impressed by his attitude, work ethic, personality, and results I decided to tip him $100.

He tried to refuse but I insisted. I also did write-ups and testimonials (including on this forum) where I praised his work. I think he was more thankful for the good publicity than the extra cash, but I'm glad I could give him both. I figured the $100 would be around a 20% tip (figured a $500 job but I could be way, way off. Maybe more around $700+).

I wasn't planning on tipping, but after sitting in the garage with Michael and his assistant for many hours, talking and observing (I can always learn!) I felt that I really wanted to give him a little something extra. I hope everyone can have a good experience like this and feel that you want to tip, not need or be compelled to tip.

As always, happy detailing!

[Detailer Daemon]

Tips are something I look at as icing on the cake. I accept tips because every little bit counts. To me however, one of the greatest rewards of detailing is to see a person speechless at the changed appearance of their car. That is what I strive for when I detail. Monetary earning I get from my teaching profession.

[Calendyr]

LOL- well at least the one guy tried.

I always tip delivery guys well. We tip about 50% on the bill when we get food delivered to the house. I heard they get paid like servers... mostly rely on tips.

Dépends where you are I guess. Here in Montréal we work bellow minimum wage because our real salary are the tips. Pretty much like a servers except we are limited in the money we can do since we have to drive to get orders to people so about a maximum of 5 delivery per hours, averaging around 3 during a typical day.

It's still good money if you work for the right places. The restaurant I work at is super busy. The money is good despite a lot of client being very bad tipers. Some client make up for it with great tips.

You have to accept the bad and look at the overall pay once the day is over otherwise you get mad when someone orders 60$ Worth of food and gives you a 1$ tip And yes it happens ALL THE TIME!

LOL

[Romans5.8]

I always tip delivery guys too but I kinda don't like that. I do because they don't get paid as much and I feel like I'm paying for the services rendered. But at the same time, it feels a little 'unjust' to give the same tip to a guy who just handed me some food, took my money, and went on his way as I would to a waitor or waitress who checked on me several times, refilled my drinks, took my order, etc.

Certainly not a criticism of the delivery guys; but a tip is supposed to be a gratuity paid at the end of receiving adequate service. The delivery guy I only see for a couple of seconds!

Really that's a criticism of the system in general. I think they ought to just get paid. Even if they did make minimum wage, there's wear and tear on the car and fuel expenses. (One of the biggest mistakes I think young people working delivery jobs make is assuming they just have to pay for the gas, forgetting the depreciation, wear and tear, and maintenance on the vehicle. When I travel for work I am paid $0.52 a mile per my odometer plus expenses; which is the Federal mileage rate, a rate determined based on what the 'average' car actually COSTS to drive, beyond just the fuel used!) I love how a lot of places charge a 'delivery fee' and make it a point to tell you to still tip the driver because the delivery fee is not given to them. What exactly do they need a delivery fee for then?

Like I said, I still tip the delivery guy. I just always felt that weird. Kind of unjust to 'traditional' servers yet at the same time, they are working hard for me, and are not getting paid an amount relative to the work they put forth!

[Calendyr]

I always tip delivery guys too but I kinda don't like that. I do because they don't get paid as much and I feel like I'm paying for the services rendered. But at the same time, it feels a little 'unjust' to give the same tip to a guy who just handed me some food, took my money, and went on his way as I would to a waitor or waitress who checked on me several times, refilled my drinks, took my order, etc.

You are probably not the only one feeling this way, and that would explain some of the horrible tips we receive and some times no tip at all. But if you take the time to think about it, when you go to a restaurant with friends, let's say a table of 4 and you all eat for let's say 30$ each (affordable place). That's 120$ for the table and the waitress gets 15% so that's 18$ for serving your table. She comes by a few times, and refills the drinks and all but overall during the entire evening you are there she's at your table for what? 5 to 10 minutes total? For people doing delivery, we start by preparing your order, that takes about 5 minutes making sure that nothing is missing and getting it to the car. Then we drive to your place. On average it's about 5 to 10 minutes drive on the road. Then we go to your door and hand you the food and take the payment, let's say 3 minutes more. So for your 20$ order (ok sometimes it's much more) we we work 13 to 20 minutes. During a super busy evening we can do 5 delivery max in an hour. So at best we spend a minumum of 12 minutes serving each client. And that waitress doesn't have a risk of accident, doesn't have to pay for gas, doesn't put wear on her car and so on. I am Lucky to have a vehicle provided by the restaurant I work at which is branded to our chain but it's really the exception in the delivery job. So while I know many people feel like you do, I really don't think that mentality has any roots in reality.

Certainly not a criticism of the delivery guys; but a tip is supposed to be a gratuity paid at the end of receiving adequate service. The delivery guy I only see for a couple of seconds!

Really that's a criticism of the system in general. I think they ought to just get paid. Even if they did make minimum wage, there's wear and tear on the car and fuel expenses. (One of the biggest mistakes I think young people working delivery jobs make is assuming they just have to pay for the gas, forgetting the depreciation, wear and tear, and maintenance on the vehicle. When I travel for work I am paid $0.52 a mile per my odometer plus expenses; which is the Federal mileage rate, a rate determined based on what the 'average' car actually COSTS to drive, beyond just the fuel used!) I love how a lot of places charge a 'delivery fee' and make it a point to tell you to still tip the driver because the delivery fee is not given to them. What exactly do they need a delivery fee for then?

I agree with you the tip system has it's limitations. Many places around the world don't use it. Personally I think it forces people to provide a better service so I think it's a good thing. The problem comes when people take advantage of the fact it's not mendatory and don't follow the rules. Here in Canada everything is based on the fact people will leave a 15% tip. We are taxed as if we receive that. So when people don't tip or are super cheap, we actually pay for the service. If tips did not exist. the price of the service/merchandise would be higher to reflect the higher cost of doing business, so in the end the Customer would pay roughtly the same but the person providing the service would have less of an insentive to give a good service. So as I said before, I think the system is good, even with the people abusing it.

Like I said, I still tip the delivery guy. I just always felt that weird. Kind of unjust to 'traditional' servers yet at the same time, they are working hard for me, and are not getting paid an amount relative to the work they put forth!

As far as salaries go, there is a huge gap between the lowest paid delivery guys and the top guys and that really dépends on where you work.

Let me give you an example.

I got my first delivery job las january. I had decided in December that I was gonna drop my Poker Club for many reasons I don't wanna go into. I had been running it for 7 years and it was time for me to move to something else. I decided I wanted a part time job while I decided what business I wanted to start next.

So I start looking around for one and see this add by Pizza Hut. So I apply and they hire me. Their package is like this: You use your own car, you pay your own gas and car expenses and the wage is a fixed amount per delivery (2.75$).

So I figure ok, let's say I can do 4 deliveries per hour that's 11$ plus tips and I pay for the car so it's should be cool. Well..... The restaurant's business was really slow and they had way too many drivers. To them the more the better since they pay per delivery it's the same overhead with 1 driver or 500. So the more the merrier, food will get there faster.

On the driver's side. I would do between 6 to 8 delivery per night. So I was making about half minimum wage after expenses...

I stayed there a month then found my current job. With this company, car is provided, I have close to minimum wage salary 8.75$ per hour) and the restaurant is super busy so I do on average 20-40 deliveries per night. After everything I make around 20-25$ after tax. This is really not the norm, I feel very priviliged to work there. It's part time so I can build my detailing company and the work environment is great and the pay is good. But most of the restaurants fall in the same boat as what Pizza Hut offers so your typical delivery guy makes very little money.

[Andrew@ToyMotorsports]

As a detailer I don't expect a tip not because my work isn't good but just for the fact that people don't feel they should after they've already paid a high price for a detail. I can count on one hand how many times I've been tipped which is great and makes you feel that your work was really appreciated but like I said its not expected. I would much rather a client ask me for a hand full of business cards so they can spread the word then to get an extra $15-$20.

[oldmodman]

I always tip based on the value and quality I have received.

Guy delivering the pizza? Five bucks unless it is an order for something other than one $8.00 pizza.

I have never paid for a detail so I can't say much about that.

But restaurants are a different story. The tip is totally determined by the service. I had one meal at a very nice place. Myself and seven other people. The actual waitress was just terrible. But the food and the young guy that was busing our two tables was top notch.

So I went back to the kitchen and tipped the head chef and his crew separately, complimenting them on the excellent dinner. And I tipped the busboy separately too.

Then I found the manager and told him what I had done and why. I wanted him to know that I would definitely be returning due to the cuisine. But that he needs to have a talk and retraining session with the waitress. And maybe even give the busboy her job.