My 17 year old daughter just became a pizza delivery person (part time) a week ago.
She drives the car daddy gave her, and is on her own for maintenance and gas. When my insurance on the car runs out in October, she needs to cough up another $150 per month for insurance because she’s only driven for a year.
Well, on top of $8 per hour she gets from the pizza joint, she’ll $1.00 per delivery while the joint charges $3.00. She’ll also get $20.00 per month to cover her delivery insurance premium which actually cost her $28.00 per month.
Let’s face it. She’ll spend at least $2.00 per delivery for gas alone(semi-rural area). This is bullshit.
But it will work half assed if she gets tipped well.
Last night , in 5 hours she made $32 in tips above her $40 per hour and $13 delivery premiums. Can’t say exactly what the vehicle costs were, but you can bet they took a good chunk out of the tips.
Last night one customer didn’t tip and the other tipped 50 cents.
I always tip between 5 and seven bucks and wonder what others tip. Not that I would tip less but I could be persuaded to tip more if I am on the low end.
I think I tip pretty well, about 15%, maybe a little less than if I were eating in a restaurant.
Having said that, yeah, she’s not making a bunch of money. But I don’t think you can show me too many teenagers where their first jobs rake in a fortune. First jobs are shitty. It sucks, but there you go. The question is, would she make more working at McD’s or some such? She needs to do the math and then figure out where she’s better off. It’s part of getting started in “the working world”.
I have to tell you, that “delivery fee” scam by pizza places is why I almost only do carryout pizza now.
But on the extremely rare occasion that I get a delivery, I try to do 4-5 bucks for orders that run around $12. I figure that as a percentage is plenty.
I always pick up my pizza, cause I don’t want to pay the tip.
BTW I usually can parse typos and figure them out, but I can’t grasp what this means:
Are you saying the joint charges the customer three bucks for a delivery and the driver gets one?
BTW - not that a young woman shouldn’t be able to do any job she wants to do, but isn’t pizza delivery a somewhat dangerous job? Or is that notion urban legendy?
I did it when I was in college, the ‘scariest’ thing that happened was a guy who answered the door nude. He’d slammed it shut in the time it took me to think, “hey, was he naked?” He tipped well
Sorry about the typo. Yes. Actually its free delivery, but if you pick up you save $3.00 per pizza.
You have a good point and Its been brought to my attention by my wife and several other relatives. My wife objected but referred the final decision to me to allow her to take the job. I have enormous confidence in her maturity and ability to read a potentially dangerous situation. Unlike so many other girls her age she doesn’t define herself by others but by her own goals and achievements. She is not shy and readily challenges authority (especially me) for their justification. Yes, I allowed her to assume risk to herself, but I already put her at greater risk allowing her to get a driver’s licence.
I also think companies should not charge 3.00 delivery charges and then give 1/3 of that to the person making the delivery. What do the other parts go to? Boxes?
But in the end $8.00 an hour is what you make doing crappy jobs. I’ve had to pay my rent on $8.00 an hour. Plenty of people raise kids, pay medical bills and pay tuition with $8.00 an hour. It’s tough and it’s crappy. Labor sucks in this country.
I was going to say, delivering food is not the safest job, and there are a LOT of jobs that won’t end up costing you more money in the long run and it will end up costing her more in the long run in terms of car breakdown and gas.
I would encourage her to try and find an office job. ANY office job would be better than delivering pizzas and it would actually pay money.
I always tip, but a standard $2 or $3. I’m not going to pay a percentage because it doesn’t take the driver more time or effort to deliver my food if I get extra toppings or two pizzas instead of one. It’s actually better for them if I don’t do a percentage because they don’t get less if I order one topping or seven.
But, I will admit I tip less now than when delivery was generally free. I’d love to pay them $4-5 but I just paid $2 for delivery. Out of my control, I’m afraid.
A couple of weeks ago we had a serious rain storm. I was just about to order when the storm came up, so I waited until it passed instead because I didn’t want to make a driver come out in the weather. I asked the delivery dude how it went during the storm and he said that not only did business pick up, but he got some shitty tips. WTF?
Usually when giving change for a delivery, you just round up and give that back, leaving them enough singles for a tip. I’ve had places where they have you count out the fucking pennies and then don’t tip. Assholes. Actually those places tended to be immigrants and maybe they don’t know. Tipping for pizza is kind of a pain because there are so many different policies. When I did it, I didn’t get paid hourly, just tips and a delivery charge. It’s not like a restaurant where 15-20% is the norm.
Glad I got my pizza delivery years overwith when I did—fuel prices have, I suspect, rendered untenable what was once a relatively lucrative no-skills job.
The overlords back then gave us 50 to 70 cents per delivery to compensate not just for gas, but for vehicle wear & tear. It didn’t, completely—nothing kills even a healthy car faster than pizza delivery—but I’m sure it came closer to being fair than what’s being reimbursed to current drivers. Thankfully, there is no delivery place (pizza or otherwise) near me that doesn’t completely suck, so I no longer order delivered food. Thankfully, because I won’t face the ethical dilemma of whether to tip exorbitantly, as a charitable contribution.
I worked for Domino’s for a year. It was near Seattle; it doesn’t snow there very often, but it did during that winter. I had one delivery that was down a hill. I didn’t want to get stuck at the bottom, so I parked my Volkswagen and walked about a hundred yards to the house.
Yeah, I have to agree with that. She may be a mature and smart young lady, but even smart people can be robbed, raped, or murdered. If I were you I wouldn’t consider it worth the risk. There are people out there who will target pizza delivery people specifically, and when you’re going to a stranger’s home they’re going to have the upper hand.
When I was in high school, I worked at McDonald’s briefly. It was the best motivation I ever had to complete my college degree.
I rarely order delivered food…I can’t remember the last time I did. I’d probably go the standard 15%…a couple bucks, probably. If I’m being charged for the delivery, I probably wouldn’t tip at all. Companies shouldn’t say they’re charging for delivery and then ask me to assume I haven’t already paid for it.
I think when someone delivers hot and ready to eat food to my front door because my lazy ass doesn’t feel like cooking or going out, they deserve a tip. Don’t want to tip, go pick it up yourself.
That’s not true, at least it’s not any truer for pizza delivery than a waitron bringing things to your table. In fact, I’d go the opposite: a waitress brings the food 30 feet across a dry floor; delivering a pizza is a LOT more work than delivering a plate to your table in a restaurant. Especially since you know the driver is probably getting some shitty tips.
You should tip 15% at least. Otherwise you’re an asshole. (Speaking generally.)
