Hey, I have never gotten a pizza delivered before from Domino’s. There is a $1.10 delivery charge. Does the driver get that? Or does that delivery charge go to the store? Because then I’d tip more. (I’ll give more than the $1.10 in any case.)
Thanks.
Well. I gave the guy a couple of bucks anyway and that’s fine but damn, Domino’s pizza is pretty awful. Bland, undercooked, not entirely hot (and I live maybe 200 yards from the store; it can’t take them more than 30 seconds to drive here).
I guess it’s back to looking for a good independent place that doesn’t use cheddar cheese on their pizza. That’s why I had to switch from the other one I used to go to.
All the major pizza chains around here starting charging for delivery within the last few years. I’d also like to know if that goes to the driver. What IS the proper amount to tip a pizza delivery guy anyway?
I usually tip 10% to a driver, 15% if the weather is nasty. I don’t know what happens to the deliver charge but even if it goes to the driver it probably just covers expenses.
I don’t know where the delivery charge goes (and Papa John’s charges $1.50 for delivery around here) but when I worked for Papa John’s ('98-'00, before delivery charges) drivers received $0.65 per delivery to cover wear and tear, gas, etc. I imagine whatever they get out of the delivery charge is on top of that.
Also, to answer the “how much to tip?” question - when I was doing it, on one pie, a dollar was decent, two was great, three was “woo! jackpot” territory.
ETA: I once got 4 cents (rounded his check to the nearest dollar) on a delivery of 28 pizzas for a Superbowl party.
Ditto. I worked for Domino’s for a few weeks in the mid-80s. They figured three bucks a delivery as a tip when they were selling us on the idea that we could make 8 bucks an hour, or whatever it was. Most of the time I got a buck. They gave us some sort of stipend, plus mileage, and maybe minimum wage for tipped employees (I really don’t remember). I never made 8 bucks an hour. Even though our territory was only six miles in diameter, it took at least twenty minutes to get anywhere–it usually took five to get out of the parking lot, and then you were usually headed in the wrong direction and needed to make a Michigan turn, and then traffic always sucked.
I quit after I got in an accident. I rear-ended an elderly couple. It was (obviously) my fault. My face hit the steering wheel, and I was bleeding profusely. The manager stopped by the accident scene to pick up the pies and deliver them. The cops got pretty pissed that he didn’t even ask if anyone was ok. Also, the pies slid off the front seat and crashed into the dashboard before dropping to the floor of the car and landing on their sides. I doubt they resembled pizza when he delivered them.
(Realize the OP is in the US – just for comparison)
NZ Pizza chains (including Dominos) charge about $5 for delivery. Drivers seem to be paid $10-$12 per hour + petrol allowance. (Based on an employment advertisement for Dominos). Tipping is not normal here for pizza delivery. (I won’t say no-one tips – I don’t know everyone 
– but it’s certainly not the norm for delivery food… and pretty unusual in restaurants too).
The Pizza Hut I worked for did things the same way. We did get 72 cents per delivery in the mid 90’s, but it was a very rural area. We also got paid minimum wage and took in tips. Delivery reimbursements were paid out nightly, but the hourly pay was paid as a normal paycheck. The paycheck was usually pretty small, drivers did not work that many hours. But in those hours we could pull in some good money in tips and trip reimbursements.
My local joint (well STL local) gave the delivery fee to the drivers as their wage. When they received a paycheck, it was delivery fees only, taxed like everyone else. (tips are taxed as well but I think everyone knows almost no tip worker claims 100% of their tips) So no deliveries = no money at all. They got a bit for gas depending on the shift, $5-10 or so, sometimes more. So if the drivers did not get tipped, they’d make pretty much chump change, about minimum wage if they worked a Friday night, pretty much nothing for a weekday shift. And they remember who doesn’t tip and who does. So give the driver a few bucks regardless.
And if you were to ask someone if the drivers get the tips when you are ordering, they will likely say no even if they do, because they know people will tip better. Even if a place is charging upwards of $3/delivery, they probably still aren’t making much money, and the job kinda sucks.
The delivery charge is independent of of what the driver receives from the company. For example, if the pizza place sends you a replacement pizza at no charge, the driver is still reimbursed for gas and vehicle maintenance. The fee is deposited into and the reimbursement comes from two separate business accounts. At least, this is how Pizza Hut works.
Oh, and tip your drivers at least $2. Otherwise you’re a bit of a jerk. Unless you don’t live in the US of course. I understand that things are different…on the outside.
I delivered for dominos for about a year from 05-06. We charged 1 delivery charge, and drivers got .75 per delivery for gas reimbursement. How much drivers get varies, depending on franchise location or coorporate ownership. I don’t expect a whole lot has changed in the year.
I’m on the outside and I used to enjoy tipping Pizza Hut drivers a couple of dollars, but…
…a few years ago, Pizza Hut Australia announced they would be charging a delivery fee. “OK”, I thought, “It might be a dollar or a dollar fifty. Maybe $2 at the outside.”
$6!!! And the Pizza Hut was literally just down the street, but I was stuck at home with a toddler, often in the rain. Really, we’re talking about 200 yards here.
Forget what the AUD is now to the USD, but it’s up there close enough at 90-something that you’ll get the idea. Of course, I would STILL tip the drivers if I ordered delivery, but the way they’ve made it, I just don’t get delivery anymore. I feel sorry for the drivers, but I’m not going to be a charity to a large, profitable, multinational.
To add: it’s true that Australians generally don’t tip, but we also ain’t stupid or that incompassionate to think that the impoverished students Pizza Hut employs on slave wages don’t deserve one. However most Pizza Hut suburban customers aren’t rich either, and to give a $2 tip to the driver on top of a $6 delivery charge on a $15 order is a bit much. They no longer have my custom and I hope they go broke, and their drivers get a better employment deal elsewhere. Pizza Hut seemed to do well for decades here with free delivery, so it’s not like it was anything but greed. I hope it bites 'em on the arse.
I stopped using Domino’s years ago when they asked me if I wanted cheese on my pizza.
I asked the Papa John’s guy once if the drivers get that delivery charge, and he said no, not most of it. Just a paltry “mileage” amount. So I always tip four or five bucks and my pizza gets to me fast and it’s rarely wrong. (When it’s wrong I raise holy hell, though.)
Back in the late '80s when I was a student I worked for Dial-A-Pizza as a contract delivery driver. I had to sit around unpaid until I was asked to deliver a pizza, $3.50 a time (and that included my fuel costs) - no tips because Kiwis don’t. If the paid drivers were available, they got the deliveries (because they were paid regardless, but had to work in the shop as well). It was a good night if I got maybe 4 deliveries.
I did not last long, and loose distributor cap was enough to push me over the edge into quitting. The stormy night I almost got stuck down someones steep winding driveway did not help.
Plus the boss was a jerk.
Si
Hahhahhahahhahahaha!!! That is hilarious! I’m sure the Domino’s in Wisconsin would never ask a question like that.
I had a co-worker that grew up in Wisconsin, moved out to California for a few years the back to Wisconsin. She said you had to order extra cheese out there just to get the regular amount.
Rob (Who used to order Domino’s in college but has since learned there is too much good pizza out there to do that anymore.)
I’m surprised at people who only tip $1 on a pizza (unless that’s a really cheap pizza). I tip a delivery person the same as I would tip a waiter at a restaurant (15% rounded up).
Of course, I consider the delivery charge to be part of that. I’m paying that tip for the service of getting delivered food, whether or not it’s a line item on the bill. Whatever extra charges they want to tack on are, in my opinion, part of the deal. I mean, if I went to a restaurant that all of a sudden decided to charge a $1 “bringing you your food” fee, I wouldn’t pay the $1 charge and a normal tip, I’d just pay my normal tip. I understand that some delivery drivers may feel that this screws them over, and I agree, but they should take that up with their employer, who started charging a fee for their services and not compensating them for it.
Since I’d feel heartless not to give at least some kind of tip, if the delivery charge starts being a substantial amount of the tip I would give, I just get pizza elsewhere.
It can get more complicated. A local pizza place offers substantial discounts off the menu price of some items if you pick it up yourself. What’s the real price and what’s the delivery charge?