Commissary Tipping

I agree with previous post. I think you have to be phillipino and speak tagalog to get a job as a bagger. My wife and I generally save the tip until the end to see how they do. If they take care, and do a good job, I don't mind throwing out a few dollars. But when they are rude and careless(most of the time), I don't give them a thing. They are indignant and rude, and usually say "have a niceeeeeee day" very snotty. I smile and say "thanks" and keep my money. Let them go somewhere else. They seem to hate American's anyway. I do wish they would just let us bag our own, give oursleves the tip, and get rid of the clutter standing around the door with their hands out.

About 10 years ago I saw this question addressed in a local base newspaper in San Diego. The response at that time was $.25 per bag was a good rule of thumb. Now days I usually tip the bagger about $2.00 if they were friendly and less if they ar not.
Frank

Seems to me the comment bout $1 a bag is way too high. When most of us shop at the commissary, it's a long trip so we load up. If my groceries "half-fill" ten bags, that would be ten bucks tip -- and if that were a "rule of thumb" we'd probably get more bags and less in each. And, we shop there to save money ... so when you add the 5% commissary operating fee, and then another ten on top of that (say for a $200 shopping spree, ten bags) then your adding ten percent to the total -- that's a pretty stiff "overhead" in my book ...

So, generally, I tip $2 or $3 for the "help", as they usually hand me the bags and I put them in the truck where I want them. That's plenty in my book ... and if a bagger takes out even five trips an hour, that's $15 an hour, probably supplimenting a retirement. That's more than most supplimental jobs offer (usually, minimum wage) ... so I feel no guilt here.

I'm glad you mentioned the surcharge. I have never been able to figure that one out. My husband tips, along with helping to put groceries, in the car. I never ask how much he tips, and chalk it up to part of the trip. I just get ticked off, when I look at the receipt, and see that surcharge. If they need money, why don't they incorporate it into the overhead. Just wondering, some times I get tired of being nickled and dimed to death. ??? ???

Commissary Surcharge:

Don't quote me on this, because I never verified this info. But, the commissary surcharge is there to cover overhead. When we pay for groceries, we pay what the commissary paid for them, and at the end, the commissary tacks on 5% to pay staff, cashiers, butchers, etc. That's how the commissary operates... so, we have no problem with the 5% ... that's fair in my mind.

The reason I mentioned it is because when you add a tip of say $1 per bag and have ten bags on a $200 food bill-- that's another five percent. So in essence, a bagger with a "ten bag, ten dollar" tip is getting as much as it takes to operate the entire commissary where you just bought the groceries. So a couple bucks to pack and carry a your bags is pretty fair -- or, they should go work somewhere else, in my opinion. When you start adding 10% to the grocery bill, it soon begins to be "no bargain".

I believe commissary employees are civil service employees; they receive pay based on their civil service pay grade (not baggers). It is my understanding that the surcharge is to pay for the cost commissary construction, equipment and maintenance. (This information came from the DECA website. Here is the link www.commissaries.com/documents/contact_deca/faqs/surcharge.cfm