Full disclosure, I’ve been kicked out of 2 local community pages. Actually, I self-exiled. I attempted to post my masks for sale on those sites and the curmudgeons that own both, gave me a stern talking to via social media. It was rather obnoxious.
How dare I pay myself a decent wage ($10-$18 per mask) as well as the cost of supplies. I’m clearly an ass hole.
After telling the page owner that she needs to do her homework about how much it actually costs to make a mask, as well as the time, she threatened to remove me. So I did her a favor and removed myself, not wanting to be a part of such ass holeness.
So when something “interesting” pops up on these pages, my good friend A, informs me. Case in point, this dude’s rant about tipping. Apparently it pissed him off so much, he felt the necessity to write a small opinion piece on it. Here, go ahead and read it, then let’s chat:
Are You Trying to Get Fired?
Guessing this dude works for Grubhub or Doordash, is he trying to get fired? What is his end game with this? For every one that he delivers to, does he think that because he wrote this magnificent piece of literature that his tips will be no less than 20%? I totally get what he’s saying about the whole tipping thing but like your pooping schedule, you don’t put that on social media.
And anyone that’s been in the restaurant industry knows that no matter how amazing your service is, you may get a crappy tip or even stiffed. It’s not right and it’s not fair but it’s part of the job. I once was stiffed by one of the richest men in town despite knowing that I did everything right. Then on the other hand, there have been piss poor patrons that tip me 25%. If you can’t live with the reality that you will serve ass holes on occasion then you need to start looking for a non-tipping job.
What are your thoughts on blasting this on social media? Was it a good idea? Was it brave or stupid? I want to know your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. BTW, his profile picture screams doosh bag. He’s just one blue tooth and an Ed Hardy shirt away from livin’ his best life on the Jersey Shore.
You definitely don’t overcharge, its that most people are being charitable in regards to masks. On a different note being that you admitted at least on wordpress, that you aren’t big on hand washing i could see people not interested in buying a mask from a half hearted hygenic person.
Yeah and don’t get me wrong, before Battelle came out with the technology to be able to wash masks like 92 times before disposing, I was giving them out for free. Hell, I made six masks for free for my next door neighbors and 4 for another neighbor that was a healthcare worker, When it became for personal use, I began to charge. As for the hand washing, I’ve gotten better and washing as soon as I get home is now habit.
Yeah I hear ya, It’s just real hard to be profitable during a crisis when charity is stacked against ya
Ok, first? I love that you’re self-selecting off of community pages. I did the same thing with NextDoor…it’s like a micro-Twitter on this apps/pages. IE: I put this all here for you to agree with me, now everyone line up for the rump smooches! No, thank you.
Now, as for the tipping? I agree, this is some frustrated delivery guy. Likewise, I agree that some people – for whatever reason – are going to skimp on gratuity. As you said, it has nothing to do with the service person’s…service.
By the way, I don’t think he’s right about better in-app tips prioritizing your delivery order. My experience here has been that delivery routes are optimized for time/distance, not as a reward for tipping a driver. To be fair, though, my experience is 100% with PostMates – who I am mad at as a customer, not a driver – and that app encourages tipping after the drop off, not at checkout.
Do I think that gratuity should reflect a service provided that conveniences a customer? Absolutely.
Should it be the same as you’d provide a server if you actually hauled your ass across town to sit at someone else’s table and be waited upon? Meh. A driver picks up food at point A and drops it off at point B…the end. There’s no explaining specials or answering menu questions. No water or drink checking…so probably 15-20% is a high expectation.
Keep in mind, too, that these folks are probably paying app fees and possibly inflated menu prices to offset the app’s fees to the restaurant. And in today’s essential worker environment, probably tipping restaurant staff, too. That’s pretty extraordinary, when I order pizza, I don’t tip the restaurant staff and then the driver, I just tip the driver. I think people today are giving a little extra…just not all to this self-entitled little shit.
Still, when I go out to deliver for PostMates, it’s because I’m bored at home and/or don’t feel like talking to passengers with Lyft, not because I think someone is going to order $75 in food and give me a $15 tip. As it is, I average about $10/delivery once the app pays me and tips settle out. That’s pretty ok once you consider that I average between two and three deliveries an hour.
Now, about those masks…I’ve bought three personally and paid between $5 on the low end and $20 on the high end. In a fit of facial irony, the $5 mask is a triple-layer of woven fabric and the $20 version is a single layer of jersey knit cloth…I like the $20 mask better, even though I think it’s less “safe”. Essentially, I don’t think your prices are totally nuts. As this delivery pinhead seems to be enthusiastically demonstrating: people are whiny, oversized toddlers. Welcome to 2020 America.
All, very well said! And I especially like your point of how the server has to check on drink refills, explaining specials, etc. The driver? Take food from point A to point B. There’s really nothing extraordinary about that. He did come across as a whiny ass baby. As for the masks, one thing that is something that goes into the mask cost is the time/money just to get the fabric and elastic. Elastic can no longer be found at your usual places so I have to purchase (at a premium) from Ebay. Up until last week, I would have to wait in a line for about 45 minutes to get into the fabric shop, then another 30 minutes to get my fabric cut and lastly another 20 minutes in line to check out. It’s a process.
Damn! You’re talking almost 2 hours at the fabric store? That reminds me of waiting in World War era ration lines! Personally, I thought the person I bought my $5 masks from was charging too little, so I gave her $20 for the two she made me. But it sounded like she was clearing out her fabric surplus and wasn’t going through the fabric store bread line you experienced. ?
Keep on going, the hater will find something else to kvetch about soon enough and leave you alone!
I’ve found neighborhood groups to be, uh, enlightening. And not always in a good way, lol. I very rarely post on mine. If I rant on social media under my own name, it’s something that I feel strongly about, and typically something that won’t endanger my job. Oh, wait, I don’t have a job right now, lol. Thanks, virus. Nevertheless, tipping wouldn’t be something I would lose my mind over on social media. With that said, I hate tipping. I hate that it falls on me, rather than the business owner, to make sure employees get closer to a living wage. However, it’s rare that I tip below 20%. And if I have cause to tip below that amount, it usually involves a conversation with a manager or the owner.