Team-BHP - How do you manage tipping in India?

I know I'm bumping onto an old thread, but as I lay here waiting for a quick lunch which is nearly 30 min late from Zomato with a preorder tip of 50, as I had free delivery on Gold. But then, dun-dun-dun Zomato instead groups my order to a nearby office first and now I'm kinda upset and feeling that pre-tips should never be a thing specially given the shady dealings with the food delivery apps. Obviously it's not the delivery drivers fault, but I don't think a high tip justifies in such scenario either.

P.S I still did eat the soggy and cold shwarma. :coldsweat

What's everyone else's opinions on pre-tips? And, how happy are you with the "grouping" deliveries specially if you find yourself on the last leg of delivery order?

Quote:

Originally Posted by A_Basu (Post 5795514)

I stopped pre-tipping on Zomato for this exact reason. I tip in cash, during the delivery.

I too stopped pre-tipping. Not sure if any of it reaches the intended recipient.

I tip by cash or take their personal QR code and ask them to leave and tip afterwards.

The sad reality is that often the service-class folks are poorly paid by their employers, thus we as a family always ensure to tip such folks well. In Delhi a tip of 10-20 bucks may not even cover any basic expenses, so the lowest we usually hand out is 50-100 bucks depending on the type of service.

While staying at the Taj's and the Marriott's, even for Buffet based services I tried tipping the staff who continuously run around the buffet tables for clean-up or bringing requested food items, but most of the time they flat out refuse tips! Hoping they are paid well and happy with their benefits.

In Delhi, quite a few restaurants still have that 10% compulsory service charge, which I don't have a liking towards. Just by asking them once they usually remove the fixed charges, and then you can pay as per your choice. I've heard that this 10% charge doesn't actually go to the staff, but to the owner's pocket. Not sure how true this is, but a simple way is to just tip separately.

I read somewhere that we have the right to demand that the bill be redone after taking off the service charges they have put without asking the customer. Could anyone possibly give the legal angle for this?

In an ideal case scenario, I should have trust in the management that every penny given as service charge is passed on to staff completely and not a single penny is taken by the company. The question is not whether the management is trustworthy. The question for us should be whether it is our job to check that process. Unfortunately, it is too difficult to detach many times.

PS: I have read a snippet of a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna. Once Arjuna asks Krishna why Karna is called "Daanveer" when I also give charity. Krishna proceeds to set an example where Arjuna is too involved in the charity process to make sure the right recipient receives it whereas Karna just donates and does not bother to check whether it reaches the right recipient. Krishan then proceeds to say that Karna can detach himself from the charity and the goodness that comes back to him whereas Arjuna is too keen to reap the good karma of charity that he is not able to detach.

As per Krishna, detachment is the key to setting ourselves free. I failed many times, but I still try to be like Karna than Arjuna in this aspect. :)

Hi BHPians, I would like to add transgender tipping on this. As you can see them at every city signals asking for money. I generously tip them. Not for all (I can't tip everyone), one or two! This may be a controversial topic, but being a surgeon who has operated numerous trans people, I get to know their part of life many times.

So the point is, 'Any sane person who has a normal IQ will not beg or do so with extreme pain and humiliation'. With limited job prospects, the choices are limited. However the burden of responsibility falls on the government. I think I have added my view here.