Have your tipping habits changed with the rising cost of living?

[SwanBuster]

Have you found yourself having to think more carefully about tipping - cabs, hairdressers, deliveroo etc now that the cost of things are going up?

I do a little ‘roo-ing’ on the side, and I’ve found that despite some of the orders I’ve been doing being insanely ridiculous - huge shops, long distances by bicycle, working out to way less than minimum wage, I’ve been getting very, very few tips.

I’ve always personally tipped when on the other side of the transaction - and still would - but times are getting tighter and wondering if this is one of the first things to go?

I normally add a quid onto deliveroo but I don’t tip on Uber eats as there seem to be so many more fees - service fee, delivery fee, restaurant fee etc. Its often £5+ in fees alone.

I will tip more if it’s particularly bad weather too.
But with cost of living etc we don’t get takeaways as much so I can only afford to do it as we don’t do it very often.

I also still tip my hairdresser and nail tech but again only £1-2.

You say the tips make a big difference OP which I understand but it doesn’t sound like you are reliant on them so not a great persuasive tactic to get people to tip!

@SwanBuster a good delivery driver finds my house without having to call for directions or me having to stand outside and flag them down. It’s surprising how many can’t find my house despite it being pinpointed on the map and we don’t live in the middle of nowhere. It makes it more hassle than collecting myself sometimes.

I still tip as usual. Hair dresser, Deliveroo, restaurants. I can’t stand stingy people.

I used to tip my hairdresser and beautician but since they all take payment via touch card I don't tip any more.

I tip more. I have always tipped, but now I tip more, since I can afford it and I like to reward good service well, and I know that people in the gig economy are more vulnerable to costs of living changes.

@VangVieng

I did read your responses and there’s no need to get defensive because you didn’t get the response you wanted. Classic customer service issue.

You’re right, it is not the job of the customer to top up rubbish fees paid to delivery.

This is a massive problem with the gig economy. You’re doing it for some cash on the side, others aren’t and whilst the customer is overall receiving very average service, the profits are only distributed one way.

No, you didn’t - you may have some congnitive bias that filtered out the fact I said it wasn’t their responsibility - an implicit acknowledgment of me knowing it’s ‘table stakes’, and decided to womansplain it to me.

*cognitive

[quote Overthebow]@SwanBuster a good delivery driver finds my house without having to call for directions or me having to stand outside and flag them down. It’s surprising how many can’t find my house despite it being pinpointed on the map and we don’t live in the middle of nowhere. It makes it more hassle than collecting myself sometimes.[/quote]
Thanks! Makes sense 👍

I never tipped so nothing will change for me.

I’ve never tipped delivery drivers as there is always a charge anyway abs take just eat they take a service charge plus the take aways charge their delivery fee. A £18 take away can easily become £21 without a separate tip.

Nope.

Didn't tip before. (Not since the late 1990s when the minimum pay act came in and everyone was paid the same.)

And

I don't tip now.

@Sparklesocks

I normally add a quid onto deliveroo but I don’t tip on Uber eats as there seem to be so many more fees - service fee, delivery fee, restaurant fee etc. Its often £5+ in fees alone.

I will tip more if it’s particularly bad weather too.
But with cost of living etc we don’t get takeaways as much so I can only afford to do it as we don’t do it very often.

I also still tip my hairdresser and nail tech but again only £1-2.

You say the tips make a big difference OP which I understand but it doesn’t sound like you are reliant on them so not a great persuasive tactic to get people to tip!

I would say I’m part of a very small population of one who is doing it more for the exercise than the money. The people who really need this income* are the ones I’m concerned about.

• note - 90% of the orders I do are really, really stupid ones that no-one in their right mind who is doing it for a living would do because they would end up getting 1/3-1/2 minimum wage for the round trip. I generally take 4-5 mile cycle orders to the next village, a good ride but if you were doing it for a living you would avoid these.

@MurmuratingStarling

Nope.

Didn't tip before. (Not since the late 1990s when the minimum pay act came in and everyone was paid the same.)

And

I don't tip now.

Fair enough, but please note the gig economy does not have a minimum wage. You’re generally treated as self employed.

I have never tipped anyone so no change for me

How does it all work, I use Deliveroo a lot for my DM but I’m not there when she receives the order. How much would you get for say £15 of Coop food?

I generally tip 20% across the board. Except food/grocery delivery, I usually tip whatever the app recommends.

@NeedleNoodle3

How does it all work, I use Deliveroo a lot for my DM but I’m not there when she receives the order. How much would you get for say £15 of Coop food?

Good question.

The amount the order cost doesn’t matter to the person doing the delivery. It’s purely based on a minimum fee + extra for distance. For an order that’s less than 1/2 a mile - maybe £3, for one that’s 4 miles maybe £5.50. You can see why people would want the small orders. But it’s very sporadic and there’s the time waiting for orders, locking bike up etc to consider. It all reduces the effective hourly rate.

The other day I had a massive supermarket order that should have been illegal to carry on my back and got paid less than another one that was just a bottle of wine and a pack of tobacco.

Tipping as usual on the few occasions I've eaten out. If you can't afford to tip properly then you can't afford to eat out.

Haven't had a delivered takeaway for months, but routinely tip £3 or £4 cash every time.

Thank you.

Remember - that 4 miler might take you way out of the zone where the orders leave from. So it’s an 8 mile round trip to get back to work. Even for a very quick cyclist, that’s 1/2 an hour. Even driving, it won’t be much less if it’s all 20/30 mph.

No. Still zero.

Tell me the price you actually want and I'll decide whether to buy or not.

Don't tell me a lower number but expect me to add x% on my own initiative - and get uppity if I don't. No time or energy for games like that.

No we went out for meal last night cost £75 and I tipped the waitress £5
I always tip the girl who does my eyelashes £5
And when I get my nails done it’s £2-3 or a fiver if I’m having a pedicure and nails
Rarely order takeaways but when I have I’ve always tipped £2-3

But I appreciate I am lucky to be able to do this and it not affect me
And we don’t live in a posh part of my city either 😂

Always tip takeaway driver £2 unless very poor service. Also tip my regular shopping delivery drivers as they are brilliant.
We are a low income household but appreciate their help.

No, not changed. We tip £1-2 for takeaway deliveries, round up for taxis (we use them very infrequently though).

For good service in a restaurant we tip generously - 15% usually. I factor it into the cost of eating out. I used to be a waitress.

In situations where tipping is inappropriate but we've had exceptional service, I make a point of giving feedback to a manager/emailing HQ. There are often awards snd recognition from the company when people do that.

All this said - I highly recommend giving the gig economy a go and seeing what it’s like first hand. Even if you earn 100k+in your main job. It’s one hell of an eye opener when you really get a practical sense of how it works.

Without going all ‘tone deaf’ like that other infamous thread - doing that sort of graft for less than minimum wage very quickly makes you not want to waste anything at all.