How much do you tip?

[sanantone]

I understand what Hejbelle is saying in that you're tipping the server to for answering the phone and taking away from his or her time waiting tables. But, many restaurants do not have servers answering the phones. If a restaurant does get a lot of take out orders at the counter or over the phone, then they should have a dedicated person to do that.

On the other hand, restaurants that have service charges infuriates me because it's never clear if the wait staff gets those tips. You can find yourself paying/tipping upto 10-20% more out of guilt.

Pizza and Chinese places and other restaurants that heavily depend on the delivery side of their businesses tick me off with their delivery charges. Some of them will tell customers on the menu or on an advertisement that the delivery charge does not go to the delivery person, so they would appreciate tips. I wonder what that delivery charge is spent on. Is it used to help pay the delivery people their wages?