Trust me the driver was driving only 3 miles and in flawless weather. I even helped him unload the pizza from the bag.
I thought $5 was reasonable. My boss IS cheap! It’s not even HIS money so I don’t know why the sour face!
Foget Bosses day on Oct 16th!
BTW last week I gave a kid(his mother was the actual delivery person but she waited in the car as it was raining) who delivered a Indian meal €5 and his mother brought him back to my apt. 10min’s to tell me I made a mistake a gave him too much.
I told I hadn’t and the tip was for the kid. He was delighted she was confused with the large tip.
Another former pizza deliveryperson here. It’s not necessary to tip the same 15-20% you would at a restaurant, though it’s certainly appreciated if you do. I was paid $5/hour in 1998, and it’s probably about the same now. I also got 50 cents per delivery (I also worked for a different franchise that paid $0.20/mile or something like that), so the base pay is significantly more than waiting tables. Still, that’s not a lot without tips, so yes, please tip. In those days, I was pretty happy with at least $1 per pizza.
Remember that the delivery person is using their own vehicle and paying for all maintenance costs out of pocket; mileage is supposed to help defray that but doesn’t completely cover it. Tip extra if the delivery person has to make an extra effort to get your order to you. I had a customer once with a huge order that I had to hoof up to the 4th floor and they tipped me a buck. That was not cool.
It’s true that good tippers get better service. Delivery people have excellent memories, so you can bet your boots that if you stiff or tip poorly, your pizza is not going to be on the top of the stack. The drivers would actually fight with each other to NOT take orders that we knew were going to be stiffs. “I’m on break, you go ahead of me!” “No, you’re up, you take it!” But a good tipper? Oh HELL yeah, I’m up!
The reason I like to tip them more (although my husband always disagrees) is because they have to buy their own gas and insurance. So they’re really making a crappy wage. As a personal home-owner type customer, I must admit I do closer to 15%, but for work-related deliveries (on the company’s dime) it goes up to 20%.
I always tip, $2~$3 cash. I write the check for the exact amount and give the driver cash. I don’t want them to have to divvy up with the pizza place or disclose the income if they don’t want to. I figure if they are delivering pizza for a living (no disrespect to the pizza deliverers of the world, I have the utmost respect for people who work, no matter what the job), I’ll try to help them out while I sit in my house and order food.
I tip around 15-20%. I know that’s high, but I figure half of their customers stiff them, and they’re driving their own cars when they deliver, too.
[hijack]I think this place deserves it, anyway; if I can make their drivers happier, then I’m pleased with that. My husband and I order a few times a month from the same place, and they nearly always get our order to us before the estimated delivery time. Once they mixed up a topping on a pizza, making my vegetarian selection into something with meat, and I called back to inform the restaurant of the problem. I was really polite and understanding - pointing out that I knew the 2 pizzas we’d ordered were identical except for the one ingredient - and the person who took the call was exceedingly apologetic. They rushed a replacement pizza for me, plus before it was delivered, the manager called my house and asked if there was anything they could do to make it up to me, and when I said it really wasn’t necessary, I wasn’t mad, he kept offering a free dessert or salad or appetizer. I finally took their cheapest appetizer and assured him that we loved their restaurant, and it was an honest mistake.[/hijack]
Another former pizza delivery guy checking in - and I tip but I don’t over-tip. Maybe $2-3 per delivery, depending on the number of pizza ordered and how quickly they get them delivered.
When I delivered pizzas nearly 20 years ago I was paid $2/hr + $1 per pizza + tips. The job had some pros and cons:
Cons -
Had to work Friday and Saturday night if you wanted to make any money.
Always smelled like greasy burned cheese.
A$$hole owner would often take orders after closing time, meaning that I would have to take out the pizza after 11:00pm, get back, clean up/mop and then get home around midnight on a school night just so he could make another eight bucks.
Pros -
I could make $8-10 per hour as a high school kid (mid-80’s), though only on weekends.
Christmas tips - some regulars would tip $10-$20 the closer we got to 12-25.
Free food - make my own small pizza or eat the mistakes.
Got to see three nekkid/partially dressed women on the occasions when I got to their house with a pizza before the were expecting me.
and the best Pro -
I delivered a large pizza to the best looking, most popular girl in my class one night. The next morning, as I walked into school, she yelled out to me “IT WAS GREAT LAST NIGHT!!!” and everyone looked at her, then looked at me, and then she turned beet-red when people started laughing and she ran off the the restroom when she realized what she’d said. I tried to set the record straight, but not too hard.
Depends on whether a person enjoys a pepperoni and spit pizza.
Ditto here. As a result, all of our regular takeout/delivery places know us and give us outstanding service. They really do remember you.
I gotta say that I never tip the delivery guy less than three bucks; the local pizza parlor we order from isn’t very far from the house, but I’m a lazy sumbitch and I get some seriously hot, fresh pizza whenever I call 'em. 
Mr. Levins used to work at Pizza Hut, years ago, and when you set up an “account” with Pizza Hut–called and they took your info so they know you the next time you call–they had a “comment” section with your name on it. And if you stiffed the last couple of delivery guys, it would go on record…
And good luck getting your pizza hot, or any time soon.
But it worked in reverse, too. Good tippers are always rewarded.
And if I’m really broke, or feeling cheap, and I want a pizza, I jump in my car and go get it myself. I never take my cheapness out on other people.
I tip a dollar, usually. Delivery usually costs an extra two dollars in addition to the price of the order, and we live rather close to the delivery places in question (with nice flat and wide streets in-between). If delivery is free, the place is a little further, and/or the delivery person is nice, I’ll tip more.
G-d help those who alter food as alluded to in Quintas’ post.
I always get th same order, and tip about $3.50. It’s worth it just to see the big smile from the guy.
I usually tip the Pizza guy, yes. Anywhere from 2-5 dollars, depending. Tipping at regular restaurants I tip about 5 bucks, but again, it depends on how big my order is and how much spare cash I have. I’m a university student and I don’t agree with the saying “If you can’t afford to tip, you shouldn’t get take out/eat out” It’s their job. If they don’t make a lot of money, that sucks and all, but there’s other jobs out there that will pay more. I do always tip a little but there are times where I’ve skimped on a tip when I was with a big group, because the waitress was getting a big tip from everyone else anyway.
Hey, that’s not a nice thing to say, why do you get to stamp your morals on other people? The delivery guys get paid by their employers. If you want to tip them, fine, but dont make others feel bad for not tipping.
Yes, pizza delivery people need a tip for doing their job. Their employer assumes they’re getting tips and so pays them a lot less than they would have to otherwise, sometimes sub-minimum wage depending on the area. A couple bucks’ tip is part of the price of the pizza.
I eat out/order in rarely, but I always tip VERY well unless there’s an actual reason not to. Really, at low to moderate priced restaurants, adding the quarters and dimes in your pocket will change it from an okay tip to a great tip, percentagewise… I consider it building up good karma in case I ever have to work for tips.
I expect most people dont notice the difference.
To me it looks as though many of you feel the need to tip. Some of you are tipping quite a lot as well, those delivery guys must be rolling it in. You really shouldnt feel the need to tip so much. I dont know, maybe all you guys are rich and can afford to.
I do tend to tip btw in case you were wondering, but not too much. Maybe a quid (that’s about a dollar 50 I think) if I’m in the mood. It costs more to get it delivered anyway so I figure they get paid a decent amount without my tips. You have to remember it’s a basic job, any monkey could do it. You have to give people encouragement to aspire to better things.
Always at least a couple of bucks.
They do get full minimum wage, so the 15>20% you would tip waitstaff is not nessesary. But yes- some sort of tip is nice, depending on facts & circumstances. Since the pizza guy has to drive under a mile, I usually only tip the change + $1. However, if the order is large, or the weather is bad, or etc, then of course I tip more.
Yes. I ususally tip a dollar
Average tip is 15 percent. Average cost of a pizza in my area is 14.99. However, if an extra 15 percent on a food order is gonna break the bank for you , perhaps you shouldn’t be ordering out.