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Dining: Service charge for take away food?
Bonaire Talk: Dining: Archives: Archives 2008: Archives - 2008-03-01 to 2008-12-31: Service charge for take away food?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By janvanderlist (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 7:06 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I live on Bonaire and my wife and me often go out for dinner. But sometimes we go for take away food. I notice that some restaurants charge 10% service charge with take away food. I never complained about that and just paid the bill. However it seems to me that when you go for take away food there is no service and therefore it does not make sence to charge service charge. Again I am not looking for a bargain but I am curious if it is normal/acceptable in the usa to charge 10% with take away food?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By April (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #289) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 7:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I personally have never experienced a service charge for takeout food. But have tipped for takeout on occasion, but that is at my discretion (not theirs). You do get service with takeout, just not AS much as eating at the restaurant. But someone does have to package your takeout meal, provide necessary condiments, and present it to you.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ***Boat Chick****Tink*** (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #7284) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 10:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I've never experienced a charge for take out food. I do tip typically (not as much as if we had sat down and ate).

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By RA. aka Agent 99(*) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3202) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 10:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Same here. I've never had a service charge for take away but still leave a tip.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By janvanderlist (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 10:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

My question was if a service charge would be normal in a take away situation in the us.
I can at least mention 2 restaurants on Bonaire where they charge 10% extra in a take away situation. I am not going to point out which restaurants they are, cause I like their food and just pay the bill. I was just curious about the situation in the US. So help me out.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ***Boat Chick****Tink*** (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #7288) on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 11:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

My post was in relation to the U.S., not Bonaire:-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bonaire Beach Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1724) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 5:53 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I've never experienced a service charge for take away food, either on Bonaire or the US.
Between you & me, I'd balk at paying same.
What type of service is the 10% for? Putting it in a brown bag?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By RA. aka Agent 99(*) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3203) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 11:37 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sorry, my answer was for Bonaire but here, in California special discounts apply in some places for take away so you actually are charged less.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin W. Williams (Bella Vista Estates) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #610) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 12:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I applied the service charge for takeaway when I ran a restaurant, and have encountered it in the US as well. The tips get split among the kitchen staff, and their work doesn't change much for takeaway.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kristi...PBD, need plane tickets quick!! (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3712) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 12:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

some restaurants do not have a separate way to bill for a meal than to put it on a server's calculations. That sounds weird but unless you can "ring it up" under the bar lets say, then it must go under a server.(waitstaff)
The server's total sales gets reported for tax purposes (at least in the US it does) and she/he has to pay (used to be 8%) tax on it. So, to NOT tip for a to go order kinda cheats the server who had to "ring it up" because he/she still had to pay tax on it as if he/she made an 8% tip on the sale.

Does that make sense? So, for to GO orders, I will sometimes give a small tip to cover what the server has to report as an income...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ruth van Tilburg (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #956) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 3:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jan, re: the restaurants here charging the 10% service charge on take-away food--what is their service charge when you eat-in? Or is it only on take-away? I haven't seen one myself, but it doesn't surprise me.

The most bizarre charge I've encountered here lately is a company who provides a service to me charging me an "Office Costs" surcharge of 5%. And then our sales tax on top of that. Sheesh!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Baker (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #607) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 3:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

That is kind of like auto repair shops in the States that charge $70-$85 an hour shop time and then tack on a surcharge of $20-$35 for incidentals such as zip ties, electrical tape or any little bit (shop supplies is what the call it) that may be required for the repair over and above the cost of the parts themselves.

Aquaman

(Message edited by barry_b on October 24, 2008)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lloyd Haskell (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #251) on Friday, October 24, 2008 - 5:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Not that Im condoning it but they are probably covering the costs of their take out containers / bags etc ... which end up in the landfill .

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ann Phelan - www.bonairecaribbean.com (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3415) on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 6:11 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I would love if Bonaire had those recyclable take out containers. The styrofoam used is obscene. I often consider carrying my own tupperware when I go to take out at Bobbijan's or Nadia Snack.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1579) on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 3:23 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

i think a service charge should be just that...a charge for service. cooks salaries, containers, napkins, etc. are overhead and should be figured into the price of the meal. we usually tip 20% but if i see 10% already added then i just figure 10% for the tip. seems reasonable to me, but i could be wrong (wouldn't be the first time)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lloyd Haskell (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #252) on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 4:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey Ann , heres one for the environmentalists ,
How about 10 percent off if you bring your own containers , I have a pet peeve when I see styrofoam litering our roadsides and parks.
There seems to be a new wave of literbugs emerging .

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sharklovers (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #8) on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 12:01 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

We just completed a 2 week stay and, for the first time, were charged for water in the restaurant. This was from a pitcher for refills, so I'm assuming it was tap.

(Message edited by sharklovers on October 27, 2008)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bonaire Beach Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1727) on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 6:22 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Well personally, I dislike being "nickel & dimed".
This practice is really too pervasive.

Annie..your idea of using tupper ware for the take outs is excellent. An incentive ought to be made to the costumer to support this practice. After all, we now use our own shopping bags on Bonaire when we go food shopping.

And for some reason other folks insist on casually discarding a plastic bottle or styrofoam container along the side of the road instead of in a garbage container. Indicating to me at least that they are probably brain dead.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By RA. aka Agent 99(*) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3226) on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 11:30 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ah Vince, I feel the same way as you!

Here in our county and a few others surrounding us, the grocery stores have stopped giving out grocery bags and you either bring your own or pay 5cents for a paper bag (for each bag you bring of your own they take off 5 cents from your grocery bill).It's a great idea. And many of the take away places serve in recycled material containers. My kids school serves the lunch in recycled bento boxes, the kids think it so cool!
Garbage on the side of the road anywhere irritates me to no end!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bas Noij (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #269) on Saturday, November 1, 2008 - 5:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We also carry our own plastic containers to take away places. At Bobbejans it is accepted but we have encountered quite a few places that are not keen on serving the take away food in our tupperware. Probably because they are used to the styrofoam boxes for measurements??? I hope that more and more people start bringing their own boxes and that snacks and take outs start actually encouraging them. Would be a fantastic thing for the island environment.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fid Chinoy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #105) on Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 6:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Personally I dislike any service charge being added to my bill. You just never know if the staff are actually going to get the money or if management keeps it. Besides, the whole point of tipping is so that you can show your appreciation for the service provided, so automatically adding it on does not make sense.

 


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