Since we are independent I am always curious to how the chains do it, we had a gal come in a while back and apply who had worked at Dominoes. She told me the delivery fee{cant remember how much it is} 2$ maybe? Anyways she told me the store gets 100% of that, the only "tip" she got was anything additional from the customer.
It depends on the area and the individual franchise. For the most part with the big 3 (Dominos, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut) there is a delivery charge on every delivery except free pizzas (remakes, credits, etc) and drivers receive mileage but the two are not connected. I currently deliver for Pizza Hut and we get a flat $1.25 per delivery while there is a $3 delivery charge. On the previously mentioned free orders drivers still receive mileage and for tax purposes mileage is not considered income. It's frustrating though because I know there are people out there that see the $3 and think I'm getting that and it leads to a stiff. Other variations of delivery charges I've received were a flat amount that was reduced for 2nd and 3rd orders that were dispatched with the first and a Domino's with a large area that paid per mile. Domino's has a map system and it used that to calculate your miles driven rather than what you reported.
A couple of my personal contributions to this thread having delivered for Pizza Hut and Dominos for the past 12 years.
A lot of people with a large amount of money have that money because of certain finance philosophies. These are the people that tend to be very stingy on their tips. Not all wealthy people are, but I've been tipped $2 on large orders to very nice houses before.
There should be a law where children should not be allowed to sign a credit slip for their parents credit card. The area I am in now has way too many deliveries where the parents who are not home send an order to their 12 year old alone at home who has no knowledge of tipping. This is one place I wouldn't mind Papa Johns set up where you can tip when you place the order.
If you are going to give some stupid excuse why you are not going to tip me then it's better to just not say anything at all. Telling me you don't have cash for a tip while writing a 0 on the tip line of the credit receipt is not a valid excuse.
Best tip I've ever received was a little over $60 on a 70 pizza school order. As mentioned earlier schools/churches can be real hit or miss. It largely depends on if the person paying/signing is actually the person in charge of the money or not. Second highest tip was $50 on a $50 order on my birthday. Was an excellent birthday. My worst day was a morning shift where I took 6 deliveries with a single $1 tip. I almost didn't come to work again the next day.
For the most part I give great service up until the point that I know you aren't going to tip. But be aware that I remember my deliveries. Maybe not the one off that only orders once every couple of months. But drivers remember known stiffers. That extends to other things to. I know when a regular has peculiarities in their orders that I need to check for. Also things like different colored porch lights or pets or unique houses. Stuff like the underwear guy mentioned earlier in the thread is known and talked about by drivers.
I delivered for Domino's in Waco, TX for several years and the first week of the month was always busier then the rest because that is when welfare checks would come in. The store was next to Baylor and the area was very segregated. You had the around the school where dorms were a likely stiff but as the kids got older and moved into apartments with other schoolmates they became better tippers. College parties were always great tips. Then you had the welfare section where 80% of the time it was a stiff. And then you had the nicer areas that were the best tips but also the furthest drive.
Speaking of Waco we had 2 strip clubs that we delivered to relatively frequently. Believe it or not, strippers actually make for terrible tippers. At least those that work in strip clubs in low income areas. If I was fortunate enough to have the bar pay for the order I'd usually get a tip but if it was the stripper themselves it was more often then not a stiff. I remember this one stripper in a bikini paying cash for an order. She handed me the order total up to the next dollar amount in ones. I started to walk away and she asked what about the change referring to the coins. I'm thinking to myself where the hell are you going to put them? Should have come back when she next danced and threw coins on the stage.
Besides the strip club my one naked story was to a college apartment. I knocked on the door and this tall naked black guy answered the door with a big smile on his face. The smile quickly changed to surprise and he said "oh" before closing door. 4 people who looked like they had quickly thrown on clothes were standing at the door when he re-opened it a minute later. I guess he was expecting somebody else and I interrupted an orgy or something.
Finally, I was robbed about 3 and a half years ago. This happened in Plano, TX in an area that I never thought it would happen. They placed a large delivery order to an empty house that was for sale. Red flags should have triggered in my head but I was having a very frustrating night. I pulled up and there was a teenager standing out on the sidewalk leading up to the house. He said he left his money inside and turned around to walk towards the house. I turned back to my car to set the heavy order down for a second. When I turned back around 3 guys in masks were swinging crowbars at me getting in several hits. I tried grabbing one out of one of their hands and he backed off for a second. I started repeating wait and he said to give him all of my money and my phone. I handed him my $20 bank,my wallet with no cash in it, and my phone. Dominos has a very strict policy about not carrying more than $20 on you at a time for reasons such as this. They then grabbed the pizzas and ran off. I later learned that they robbed 3 other delivery drivers that night eventually working up to pulling a gun on someone so I was "lucky" in that sense. The next morning when I went to the bank I found out they had tried to make several declined purchases with my card at Wal Mart. I communicated this with the detective and he went to Wal Mart to look at the security footage. One of the idiots was wearing his high school shirt. He took the photo to the school and asked around ultimately getting the identity of all three of them. One was still a minor and was sent to juvenile while the other were tried as adults and sent to prison. I should have quit but I kept delivering. I dealt with a lot of anxiety as a result though. I was super paranoid when at someones door though. If I didn't see any lights I called before ever stepping out of my car. And any time I ever heard footsteps behind me I had to step to the side and let the person past. I eventually got over it though.
I want to stop delivering pizzas. I'm essentially full time and while it is decent money with low qualifications necessary I'd appreciate a stable income. I'm tired of the highs and lows. A good day can be followed by a bad day and a good delivery can be followed by a bad delivery and the bad ones tend to stick with me more. Just need to figure out what to do instead.
