Tips

If you’ve ever wondered how much to tip the delivery guy, the Times helps out:

An unscientific survey of men and women who dispatch dumplings showed that tips can range from a meager dollar to a nice 15 percent of the total bill (maybe $5 on a $30 order). And if the weather is particularly bad, the figure goes even higher.

This seems appropriate; apparently they don’t even make minimum wage:

Nazario Benitez, 32, has been delivering roasted ducks and chickens for East Side Poultry on the Upper East Side for about a year. He uses his own bicycle and said he makes a total of $30 to $60 a day, relying on tips to supplement the $3 an hour he earns.

And who knew there was a “do not deliver” list?

Whatever you do, do not get on the do-not-deliver list.

Failing to tip is one way to land there, said Kristyn Watters, a manager of the Park Slope Ale House in Brooklyn. So is ordering food and then not being home to accept the delivery, a big problem when people call during their commute home and then get caught on a slow train. And even though you swear your barking dog is friendly, keep it away from the door when the food arrives. For cat owners, there is a corollary: Don’t expect the delivery person to block a fleeing animal.

And of course it is always a good idea to avoid threatening behavior if you ever want to get food delivered from a particular restaurant again.

Mr. Chu, the manager at Ollie’s [Noodle Shop in Times Square], recounts a recent example. One of his deliverymen brought $15 worth of food to a nearby apartment building. The customer only had $13 but promised to make it up the next time. The delivery man would not leave the food, and the customer pulled a knife from his pocket.

The delivery man ran, still carrying the bag. The next day the customer called back and tried to place another order, explaining that he was going to give the knife to the delivery man as a way to make up the $2. If there ever was a candidate for the do-not-deliver list, he was it.