Things I learned as a pizza delivery guy

[timb2]

1. If you have been in the hospitality business for a few years or many such as I, do not think tips work the same way as a bartender or food server..... People use some other kind of algorithm with figuring out how to tip a driver according.

2. Only do such if you have a cheap secondary means of transportation like an old beater... Depending on where you live, this may or may not be something that is needed, but an AWD is useful for crappy weather. Regardless of weather you are still looking for great gas mileage.... If you live in the northern states please look for an older Subaru, CRX, Rav4, etc.... Anything that can do decent gas mileage and be AWD.....

3. For God's sake do not use your primary vehicle. It is even worse if it is new... The mileage alone will devalue your vehicle to the point of insanity, and if you are honest with your insurance company, it will make your insurance insanely expensive.....

4. The worse the weather the better the tip.... This is true on average, but please do not get POed when some butthole decides to tip $1 or $3 for that matter, to come out to the sticks to delivery food they would not get themselves even with their 4X4..... It will happen...... In fact happened to me 3 times tonight..... Jerks.....

5. If this is the business for you, find a pizza delivery service that puts a premium on how far out you travel..... Where I work we have a 8 mile radius.... Personally I would like this smaller, but being I can take up to 4 deliveries at a time, I will not complain. The reason to bring this up is 8 miles could take up to 20 minutes one way depending on traffic and location. 40 minutes kills your tips when it is the only delivery going that direction....

6. Getting paid $5 an hour is actually a luxury where I work, but there is zero payment for gas or mileage, and the rest of your income is made by tips or part of the delivery fee..... With that in mind the more deliveries, the better per run.... If you work at a slow restaurant, unless you are new to this, please find a faster paced location to make your money.....

7. The tip average, at least around the DC area is $5 per delivery. Mind you that is including the $2 delivery charge they do at most places.... $1 is used to pay your hourly which you eventually see when you get paid. The other $1 is given to you at the end of the night per delivery, to help make up for the gas usage or piss poor tipping some do.....Either way, that tip averages out to $5 a delivery with the $1 delivery fee included.....

8. By all means, get the tip average out of your head until the end of the night. Frustration shows, and will eat away at you if you let it..... People read body language and will see you are having a poor night as you do not want their business. This will hurt your tip average even more. Fake that smile and be a cheerleader of sorts for the one minute it takes to be at their door.....

9. Lastly, learn your routes..... While having many drivers kills the idea of cherry picking the good ones, know your clientele. While first come, first serve is the correct idea, if first come is a stiff or leaves a buck while the second delivery is known to give the average or better, look to better take care of those that take care of you.... While this is our main thought as delivery drivers, also remember the more deliveries, the more money. So first look at how many deliveries are in hand for your run, figure the best path to hit them the quickest, then decide if going out of order would benefit you if it happens.... If you can deliver 3 deliveries in 30 minutes but the newest is closest, then the oldest, then the middle one, do so. The extra minute it takes to deliver the newest should not upset the oldest unless it is already getting late as it is..... Remember as a driver the oldest delivery decides the route you are taking, rather North, South, East, or West....

Hope this helps..... Eventually I will start the complaints and grievances portion of this.....

*another to add,- Cute pretty girls try to get out of paying for the pizza.

 

[GMO415]

Things have changed since I delivered pizza back in 85 . Back then minimum wage was $3.25. Today's it's like $10 in Cali.

Due to my early days of working service jobs I don't skip on taking care of my food service peeps. $5 minimum tips on pizza .WORD

 

[BigStar]

While all delivery persons enjoy such, it is really not about the better sales percentage.... Being a bartender/server for over 25 years, I love such, but since we are not taxed on our sales like a server or a bartender would be, It is more about the mileage and route to your location. If you live in a prime location, chances are we have multiple deliveries..... If you live in BFE, chances are you are a solo delivery.... That is what truly matters unless you are dealing with poor conditions which means you are driving slow, risking you vehicle and time to complete the delivery. Like I said many understand this and take care of you, but there are a few that..... Well to be nice, don't care or understand.....

Yeah feel ya there, they will always justify a way not to get it bc they really do, etc. Part of their weasal personalities in real life...what can ya do.

 

[CouchCoach]

What, no stories of scantily clad,beautiful women attacking you? Wow was I missed by some "movies".

Most entertaining and informative thing read here in a while. Nice

Hell, that's what brought me in here. I was thinking of delivery stories, most of which involved near naked ladies not having anything smaller than a $100 for a tip.

About 20 years ago, one of my younger son's buds worked for an Italian restaurant in the area that delivered. One night he delivered a pizza and salads to this house and when the man came to the door, he had blood all over his face and he quickly looked behind him and his wife was laying in the floor with blood all over her. He ran as fast as he could and called the police.

The officers and the ambulance arrived pretty fast. The woman had been stabbed in the chest but she would survive. One of the officers told our son's bud that they had argued when the man found out she had ordered a vegetable only pizza and he stabbed her. They'd never had a domestic disturbance call at that address. Ya just never know what's gonna make someone snap. I told my wife "I bet that had nothing to do with a vegetable pizza, she was getting her meat from somewhere else".

 

[wrongway]

Hell, that's what brought me in here. I was thinking of delivery stories, most of which involved near naked ladies not having anything smaller than a $100 for a tip.

About 20 years ago, one of my younger son's buds worked for an Italian restaurant in the area that delivered. One night he delivered a pizza and salads to this house and when the man came to the door, he had blood all over his face and he quickly looked behind him and his wife was laying in the floor with blood all over her. He ran as fast as he could and called the police.

The officers and the ambulance arrived pretty fast. The woman had been stabbed in the chest but she would survive. One of the officers told our son's bud that they had argued when the man found out she had ordered a vegetable only pizza and he stabbed her. They'd never had a domestic disturbance call at that address. Ya just never know what's gonna make someone snap. I told my wife "I bet that had nothing to do with a vegetable pizza, she was getting her meat from somewhere else".

Dang!

 

[CouchCoach]

Things have changed since I delivered pizza back in 85 . Back then minimum wage was $3.25. Today's it's like $10 in Cali.

Due to my early days of working service jobs I don't skip on taking care of my food service peeps. $5 minimum tips on pizza .WORD

Both of my sons and daughter-in-law worked in the restaurant industry so we always tipped pretty heavy and if we'd had really excellent service, my wife would thank them in person and tell them why they were getting a larger than normal tip and that they treated that as a professional.

I gotta tell y'all, if you are in the New Orleans area, a trip to Commander's Palace is a must visit. That is the flagship of the Brennan family and where Prudhomme and Emeril made their rep and Mrs. Brennan was a stickler for service. There are several well known NYC restaurants that sent managers down to see how she trained her staff. That's how well known she was for that.

Doesn't matter the job, there are people that can instill a level of pride and professionalism in anything and Mrs. Brennan was a great example of that. Even her youngsters were not allowed on the floor until they were ready.

I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone in the service industry and having to deal with the public. If I had to do that, I'd have to limit my time on the forum to a time share computer in prison. I have seen some people treated so poorly that it was shocking to think a human being would treat another like that. Someone would have been taking their steak knife home in the neck, if that was me.

 

[cowboy_ron]

I've always tipped well for deliveries that I just didn't want to get out and go get myself like pizza or chinese The delivery people like many have said here already are using their gas, vehicle, and time. I always tip 10.00 if my order is 20.00 or less, if over 20.00 a 50% is reasonable IMO. Delivery people are like waiters/waitresses tend to have good memories remember who tips and who doesn't. The better the tips the better the service in the future.

 

[CouchCoach]

I've always tipped well for deliveries that I just didn't want to get out and go get myself like pizza or chinese The delivery people like many have said here already are using their gas, vehicle, and time. I always tip 10.00 if my order is 20.00 or less, if over 20.00 a 50% is reasonable IMO. Delivery people are like waiters/waitresses tend to have good memories remember who tips and who doesn't. The better the tips the better the service in the future.

I agree and I always look at waitstaff and delivery people as they're working for me, not the restaurant. Most people, unless they know someone that works in the industry don't know how they're compensated.

 

[Ranching]

1. If you have been in the hospitality business for a few years or many such as I, do not think tips work the same way as a bartender or food server..... People use some other kind of algorithm with figuring out how to tip a driver according.

2. Only do such if you have a cheap secondary means of transportation like an old beater... Depending on where you live, this may or may not be something that is needed, but an AWD is useful for crappy weather. Regardless of weather you are still looking for great gas mileage.... If you live in the northern states please look for an older Subaru, CRX, Rav4, etc.... Anything that can do decent gas mileage and be AWD.....

3. For God's sake do not use your primary vehicle. It is even worse if it is new... The mileage alone will devalue your vehicle to the point of insanity, and if you are honest with your insurance company, it will make your insurance insanely expensive.....

4. The worse the weather the better the tip.... This is true on average, but please do not get POed when some butthole decides to tip $1 or $3 for that matter, to come out to the sticks to delivery food they would not get themselves even with their 4X4..... It will happen...... In fact happened to me 3 times tonight..... Jerks.....

5. If this is the business for you, find a pizza delivery service that puts a premium on how far out you travel..... Where I work we have a 8 mile radius.... Personally I would like this smaller, but being I can take up to 4 deliveries at a time, I will not complain. The reason to bring this up is 8 miles could take up to 20 minutes one way depending on traffic and location. 40 minutes kills your tips when it is the only delivery going that direction....

6. Getting paid $5 an hour is actually a luxury where I work, but there is zero payment for gas or mileage, and the rest of your income is made by tips or part of the delivery fee..... With that in mind the more deliveries, the better per run.... If you work at a slow restaurant, unless you are new to this, please find a faster paced location to make your money.....

7. The tip average, at least around the DC area is $5 per delivery. Mind you that is including the $2 delivery charge they do at most places.... $1 is used to pay your hourly which you eventually see when you get paid. The other $1 is given to you at the end of the night per delivery, to help make up for the gas usage or piss poor tipping some do.....Either way, that tip averages out to $5 a delivery with the $1 delivery fee included.....

8. By all means, get the tip average out of your head until the end of the night. Frustration shows, and will eat away at you if you let it..... People read body language and will see you are having a poor night as you do not want their business. This will hurt your tip average even more. Fake that smile and be a cheerleader of sorts for the one minute it takes to be at their door.....

9. Lastly, learn your routes..... While having many drivers kills the idea of cherry picking the good ones, know your clientele. While first come, first serve is the correct idea, if first come is a stiff or leaves a buck while the second delivery is known to give the average or better, look to better take care of those that take care of you.... While this is our main thought as delivery drivers, also remember the more deliveries, the more money. So first look at how many deliveries are in hand for your run, figure the best path to hit them the quickest, then decide if going out of order would benefit you if it happens.... If you can deliver 3 deliveries in 30 minutes but the newest is closest, then the oldest, then the middle one, do so. The extra minute it takes to deliver the newest should not upset the oldest unless it is already getting late as it is..... Remember as a driver the oldest delivery decides the route you are taking, rather North, South, East, or West....

Hope this helps..... Eventually I will start the complaints and grievances portion of this.....

I always tip about 25%. I have never been in that line of work, but I know how the system works. I even tip bad wait staff, because we've all had bad days. **** happens!

 

[CouchCoach]

I always tip about 25%. I have never been in that line of work, but I know how the system works. I even tip bad wait staff, because we've all had bad days. **** happens!

I do as well but I will tell them it wasn't great service as I don't want to reward crappy service but also don't want to penalize them. That's a tough job in a busy restaurant but in a slow one it's awful. And the host or hostess can reward their friends with loading their section, if the manager is not watching it closely.

 

[Ranching]

I do as well but I will tell them it wasn't great service as I don't want to reward crappy service but also don't want to penalize them. That's a tough job in a busy restaurant but in a slow one it's awful. And the host or hostess can reward their friends with loading their section, if the manager is not watching it closely.

I'll give the tip after I beat the crap out of them!!! Lol!

 

[CouchCoach]

I'll give the tip after I beat the crap out of them!!! Lol!

Or how about telling them their tip is you're not going to beat the crap out of them?

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Here are some of the things I have seen whether it be as driver/manager.........

People call and want pizza delivered to the park.
People call and want you to pick up a 6 pack of beer on the way.
Schools and Churches are for the most part bad tippers, last year we had a order for 50 pizzas for a local private school, after the order is made me and another guy drive it over in my truck and after we deliver it they just kinda stand there and say "ok thanks". Zero tip.
Only delivered to a lady in lingerie once, as well as a guy that would always answer the door in his underwear
Had a customer that lived in the apartments right by the shop, she would always order for delivery, sometimes drunk, use profanity etc. A real PITA and zero tipper. One time she orders a little measley order of breadsticks. Turns outs to be like 8-9 bucks, well the driver gets over there and lo and behold she pays with a 100$ bill. The driver then gave her back 92$ in 1 dollar bills. She never called again and problem solved.
Some rich people don't tip near as good as you would think, although others do.
Also had a family they would order who was right on the edge of our delivery area, never tip, always trouble, people fighting in the driveway over as to who gets what pizza and so on so forth. Real pain in the rears. Anyways they call one cold winter night for a delivery, had to be about 22 degrees. The driver took the order out of the warming bag and held it out the window on the drive there

Have seen people come in and eat for a solid hour, finish everything on their plates and then some. Then as they are paying for their food ask for a refund because there was a hair on the plate. They were promptly told to leave and never come back.
Seen a older guy tip 10 cents just to be a rear end, and yes the dime was given right back to him{almost thrown}.

Also have seen people call and order and the minute you answer the phone they say "hold on" and you can hear them arguing with someone else "na na I don't want veggies on that side hon". This usually happens when you are getting slammed.

Also we always try and made a point to be open on Christmas night say from 5-9 or so, more often that not we are beyond swamped. Last year I made 80 bucks in tips in those 4 hours just working the front counter with people picking up orders.

 

[The Dark Bishop]

What, no stories of scantily clad,beautiful women attacking you? Wow was I missed by some "movies".

Most entertaining and informative thing read here in a while. Nice

I will say I witnessed a sting operation just a few weeks ago at another pizza shop..... There were literally 9 cop cars that I could count and a few unmarked cars as well..... All for a delivery driver that was supposedly delivering pizzas with extra mushrooms..... Not sure how long he was dealing drugs as a driver, but it does sound like a pretty good delivery system... Well until he got caught I guess.....

 

[The Dark Bishop]

Here are some of the things I have seen whether it be as driver/manager.........

People call and want pizza delivered to the park.
People call and want you to pick up a 6 pack of beer on the way.
Schools and Churches are for the most part bad tippers, last year we had a order for 50 pizzas for a local private school, after the order is made me and another guy drive it over in my truck and after we deliver it they just kinda stand there and say "ok thanks". Zero tip.
Only delivered to a lady in lingerie once, as well as a guy that would always answer the door in his underwear
Had a customer that lived in the apartments right by the shop, she would always order for delivery, sometimes drunk, use profanity etc. A real PITA and zero tipper. One time she orders a little measley order of breadsticks. Turns outs to be like 8-9 bucks, well the driver gets over there and lo and behold she pays with a 100$ bill. The driver then gave her back 92$ in 1 dollar bills. She never called again and problem solved.
Some rich people don't tip near as good as you would think, although others do.
Also had a family they would order who was right on the edge of our delivery area, never tip, always trouble, people fighting in the driveway over as to who gets what pizza and so on so forth. Real pain in the rears. Anyways they call one cold winter night for a delivery, had to be about 22 degrees. The driver took the order out of the warming bag and held it out the window on the drive there

Have seen people come in and eat for a solid hour, finish everything on their plates and then some. Then as they are paying for their food ask for a refund because there was a hair on the plate. They were promptly told to leave and never come back.
Seen a older guy tip 10 cents just to be a rear end, and yes the dime was given right back to him{almost thrown}.

Also have seen people call and order and the minute you answer the phone they say "hold on" and you can hear them arguing with someone else "na na I don't want veggies on that side hon". This usually happens when you are getting slammed.

Also we always try and made a point to be open on Christmas night say from 5-9 or so, more often that not we are beyond swamped. Last year I made 80 bucks in tips in those 4 hours just working the front counter with people picking up orders.

LMAO...... Love the $92 back in ones...... Great idea..... Could have used that one myself a few times..... A great way to get rid of my ones as well.....

Also I agree on schools and churches being lousy tippers..... What gets me, is there is a Middle School here that gets the pizza on a 5.99 special (16 inch large cheese) with zero tax being a school.... So they order 4 of them at $24. They then sell them by the slice at their concession stand during the basketball games for $2.50 each. Eight slices at $2.50 equals $20. Nice little $14 profit per pizza..... Anyhow they do this twice per night. Eight pizzas at a $14 profit makes them around $112 a night. This goes on for at least 3-4 nights a week. Now I get having to buy new uniforms, equipment, transportation, etc, but would tipping the driver really kill them? At least we get $2 from the delivery fees during our busiest moments of the night to find a place to park, walk all the way to the concession stand, have the woman paged to handle the money since she is watching the game.... Anyhow I feel your pain on that one...... Group homes are the same way with the elderly but I watched my own grandmother live off of $800 a month from Social Security, so I understand all too well....

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

LMAO...... Love the $92 back in ones...... Great idea..... Could have used that one myself a few times..... A great way to get rid of my ones as well.....

Also I agree on schools and churches being lousy tippers..... What gets me, is there is a Middle School here that gets the pizza on a 5.99 special (16 inch large cheese) with zero tax being a school.... So they order 4 of them at $24. They then sell them by the slice at their concession stand during the basketball games for $2.50 each. Eight slices at $2.50 equals $20. Nice little $14 profit per pizza..... Anyhow they do this twice per night. Eight pizzas at a $14 profit makes them around $112 a night. This goes on for at least 3-4 nights a week. Now I get having to buy new uniforms, equipment, transportation, etc, but would tipping the driver really kill them? At least we get $2 from the delivery fees during our busiest moments of the night to find a place to park, walk all the way to the concession stand, have the woman paged to handle the money since she is watching the game.... Anyhow I feel your pain on that one...... Group homes are the same way with the elderly but I watched my own grandmother live off of $800 a month from Social Security, so I understand all too well....

Yep Schools are the worst. Here is another one. Banks, we deliver to a few banks and usually are 20-30$ orders with a very minimal tip if at all. We also have a bar that is pretty much next door, drunks are for the most part great tippers. Back to schools though yes they are already getting a discount especially if they order in volume, but to then turn around and not tip is just being cheap.

 

[Nightman]

LMAO...... Love the $92 back in ones...... Great idea..... Could have used that one myself a few times..... A great way to get rid of my ones as well.....

Also I agree on schools and churches being lousy tippers..... What gets me, is there is a Middle School here that gets the pizza on a 5.99 special (16 inch large cheese) with zero tax being a school.... So they order 4 of them at $24. They then sell them by the slice at their concession stand during the basketball games for $2.50 each. Eight slices at $2.50 equals $20. Nice little $14 profit per pizza..... Anyhow they do this twice per night. Eight pizzas at a $14 profit makes them around $112 a night. This goes on for at least 3-4 nights a week. Now I get having to buy new uniforms, equipment, transportation, etc, but would tipping the driver really kill them? At least we get $2 from the delivery fees during our busiest moments of the night to find a place to park, walk all the way to the concession stand, have the woman paged to handle the money since she is watching the game.... Anyhow I feel your pain on that one...... Group homes are the same way with the elderly but I watched my own grandmother live off of $800 a month from Social Security, so I understand all too well....

My brothers and I owned a Pizza and Sub shop and it is much better than the chains

We are free to lay into the bad tippers and ahles and it feels great

We would fight over who would drive because you made all the cash and got to sit in the AC listening to Sirius all night

It would be hilarious though seeing us pull up in BMWs, Escalades and Yukons doing delivery

We got a hoopdee when our Grandfather passed away and we turned it into a Italian flag delivery car....it was great advertisement and the cops knew not to bother us since we hooked them and the Fire guys up

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

My brothers and I owned a Pizza and Sub shop and it is much better than the chains

We are free to lay into the bad tippers and ahles and it feels great

We would fight over who would drive because you made all the cash and got to sit in the AC listening to Sirius all night

It would be hilarious though seeing us pull up in BMWs, Escalades and Yukons doing delivery

We got a hoopdee when our Grandfather passed away and we turned it into a Italian flag delivery car....it was great advertisement and the cops knew not to bother us since we hooked them and the Fire guys up

Did you mean athletes?
I want names of the bad tippers

 

[Cowpolk]

Hell, that's what brought me in here. I was thinking of delivery stories, most of which involved near naked ladies not having anything smaller than a $100 for a tip.

About 20 years ago, one of my younger son's buds worked for an Italian restaurant in the area that delivered. One night he delivered a pizza and salads to this house and when the man came to the door, he had blood all over his face and he quickly looked behind him and his wife was laying in the floor with blood all over her. He ran as fast as he could and called the police.

The officers and the ambulance arrived pretty fast. The woman had been stabbed in the chest but she would survive. One of the officers told our son's bud that they had argued when the man found out she had ordered a vegetable only pizza and he stabbed her. They'd never had a domestic disturbance call at that address. Ya just never know what's gonna make someone snap. I told my wife "I bet that had nothing to do with a vegetable pizza, she was getting her meat from somewhere else".

I gave a few uber rides to strippers that actually changed cloths in the car one of them was riding in the front seat when she changed dint have to adjust the mirror that time

 

[The Dark Bishop]

Did you mean athletes?
I want names of the bad tippers

I'm sure he meant buttholes but since we are on the subject of Athletes being poor tippers..... Anyone remember the .20 cent tip by Lesean McCoy?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...o-call-out-lesean-mccoy-for-bad-tip-backfires

There is other sites that shames alot of athletes.....

http://www.sportsonearth.com/articl...g-scottie-pippen-david-beckham-michael-jordan

https://www.thesportster.com/entertainment/top-10-worst-tippers-in-sports/