Monkey Madness: July 2007

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One reason NOT to be a pizza delivery driver...

Monday, July 16, 2007

I'm not going to rip on this occupation in general, but I do need to vent about one particular customer I dealt with this week.

I live in the Chicagoland area, fairly well known for pizza, pasta, and so on. I took an order to an expensive hotel, which included a pizza and a pasta. The order cost $39, and these big spenders gave me $40 bucks and said 'keep the change', like they were doing me a favor. How proud they must have been, giving that 2.5% tip. I'd only have to take 2500 orders to these people to pay for the car I just bought.

As I am walking back into the pizza place, the customer is on the phone. No, I didn't do anything wrong. There was meat in their pasta sauce, and they expected it to be meatless. This is the Chicagoland area, and I'm pretty sure most places put meat into just about everything. IHOP would put meat in their pancakes if they could. This customer thinks most of the pasta eating world goes meatless, and requests meat to be added. Ummmm.... nope.

The boss offers to make the pasta again (meatless, cuz we can do that by request), but they choose a store credit. Then, an hour later, they call back wanting that meatless pasta. Guess who gets to deliver that free pasta (me). The boss deducts most of the cost, leaving $2 on there for me (a deliver charge, which is normally $3). I get to the hotel, and the lady gives me $10 and says 'keep the change'. NOW were talking my kind of tip. I ask 3 (three) times 'are you sure you don't want some change'. She says no, and I leave.

As I am walking back into the pizza place (sound familiar?), the customer in on the phone again. They didn't know the new pasta was free (you know, the store credit the boss told them they had one hour earlier, and the total owed of $2 they were told on the phone). They want the driver (me) to come back to the hotel AGAIN, to give back some money. They wanted $7 back (oooo... $2 for delivery, and another $1 tip).

So, in all, I made 3 trips to the same hotel, for the same order (while missing out on other orders that could have made me some money). I got a total of $5 for delivery fees (when I should have gotten $9 for 3 trips), and $2 in total tip (a whopping 5%). I missed out on 2 other deliveries ($6 in delivery charges), and lets say about $4 in tip ($2 each).

Time for the math: I made $7 on the hotel customer, when I should have made $13 ($9 in delivery charges, and $4 at a %10 tip). I lost at least $10 on the 2 orders I missed out on while making the hotel customer happy. So, instead of making $23 for an hour of work, I made $7, a net loss of $16.

Now, the boss felt bad about it all. At the end of the night, he made it up to me. He gave me another $3 for a delivery fee, I made a mini pizza for myself, and a free 'pasta' for my mom. Normally I am allowed to make myself food anyway, but at least it made the night less painful. I started the day with two big orders, and they tipped average (10%), so I had an ok day overall.

So, if you are thinking about delivering pizza for extra money... just be ready to have days like this. I've taken $300 orders and gotten a $5 tip (1.67%), and taken $20 orders and gotten a $5 tip (25%). It does all average out in the end, but it shouldn't have to. Good tippers would like to think their tip made it a great night for the driver, and not a balancing point making up for horrible tippers.

Here is a message to all those who order out for delivery... gas isn't free, and in the last few years it has nearly doubled in cost. Most drivers would be reasonably satisfied if every customer tipped a minimum of 10%. Most people tip 15-18% at restaurants, and the server does not drive their car to your table.

The 10% minimum tip is regardless of whether they drive a company car, or personal car. Those who drive a company car are usually paid a little less by the store. A 10% minimum tip is fair for all delivery drivers, whether paid by the hour, or by a delivery charge. You wanna make a driver happy, tip 15%, if you wanna see a really happy driver, tip anything above 15%. Most drivers only make money on tips. Any base pay or delivery charge almost always goes for gas and car maintenance. The difference between a good night and a great night could be your tip, and trust me, drivers remember good tippers.

One last thing before I finish up. If there is a mistake on your order, or you get the wrong food, or its missing something, try to remember the driver doesn't make the order... they just deliver it. That is the fault of the inside staff. That driver will likely have to re-deliver your corrected order for free (a few restaurants will compensate drivers, most don't). Please don't short the driver on tip if the store makes a mistake.

Have a great day, and remember... tip your server/driver... they have bills to pay too.

posted by Robert @ 12:08 AM 2 comments

Welcome to Monkey Madness: July 2007

Name: Robert
Home: IL, United States
About Me: I live near Chicago.
See my complete profile