My husband had this happen too when he delivered pizzas. I generally tip around $3 depending. Having had to live on tips, I understand the appreciation of a good tip.
I go for 5 bucks…I figure the delivery guys who get no tip go back to HQ and complain about it and someone makes a “cheap bastard” note on their computer (they seem to have records of my orders and stuff, so I’m sure they can fill in a little blurb about the customer, like for people not to deliver to or something (banned from pizza delivery? Can that happen? heh)) and the next time I order a pizza I’ll get it cold, as it’ll be the last stop on the delivery guy’s trip. If I tip good, they’ll right “woo! Money!” in their computer and the delivery guys will race to my house first (instead of the “cheap bastard”'s house) to get their tip.
Sure, I have no idea if this is actually how it works, but the delivery guys are always friendly and my pizzas seem to arrive faster than when I order from someone else’s house.
- Tsugumo
This thread has really shown me what a cheap bastard I am. I’ve never even thought to tip more than a couple bucks. $2 is pretty standard for me, and now I feel REALLY bad about that. Dammit.
I’ve been giving $3 minimum and $10 maximum for the delivery guy, based on the total order. I’m not going to penalize the guy for only deliverying one pizza and give him a measly buck fifty, but I’m also not going to tip him 20% on a $75 order, considering he didn’t drive any farther or put any more effort into deliverying 10 pizzas vs. 1.
I usually tip $2 or so, maybe more if I got more than two pizzas. Now, I’m a good tipper in restaurants (unless the service was bad, at least 20%) but the situation is different there. For one thing, most waitstaff at restaurants are paid considerably less than minimum wage, with the difference expected to be made up in tips. Most pizza deliverypersons are paid more than minimum wage - back when minimum wage was $4.25/hr. and I was living in an economically depressed town where many full time factory jobs paid minimum wage or just over, pizza deliverpersons were making $6.50/hr. before tips. Secondly, waitstaff work harder in my opinion…they take your order, bring you your drinks, your food, and check up on you periodically, all the while doing the same for other customers…they don’t get much of a break, they spend all their time on their feet. Deliverypersons do walk around too, but they get to sit down while they drive to the next stop. I’d bet that most deliverypersons who drive walk less per hour than a waitress in a busy restaurant.
I usually tip at least $3 or $4 on the typical $12 pizza order. I never thought of it as typing that much. I just consider the fact that they drive their own personal car around to do this (usually) and rack up miles on it and thus they deserve it IMO.
Hell, given where I live I’d tip $10+ if I could just get a dang pizza place to DELIVER.
I have been pizza-less for more than a year now. It’s a 30 mile round trip.
We usually get a pizza thats about $12.00
SO I tip $2.
If it is here earlier than they said it would be and/or its snowing out, another dollar comes out.
Mr. Winnie is an ex-pizzaman. Heard all kinds of nutty and unbelievable stories about what people to do to delivery folks. They really do get stiffed on a tip a decent amount of time (FREE delivery to some means they think they can skip a tip). He had one regular customer (a woman) who would answer the door and hand a nickel or dime to him or another delivery person with her check for the order, giggling slightly every time she did so. After three or four times of this he finally made a spectacle of her and when she handed him the nickel, he held it with both hands, made his eyes and mouth reeeally wide and exclaimed “A shiny nickel! Oh dear God I’m blessed!”.
She never stiffed the guys again.
People must think pizza joints staff about 100 delivery guys. During the Superbowl or another big ordering day, the delivery time would be about an hour. Customers couldn’t believe this. They’d call 15 minutes before halftime and exclaim, “What do you mean it’s going to take an hour to have 10 pizzas delivered? Didn’t anyone show up today? If it takes an hour there will be no tip.” Gee, thanks for the encouragement. We’ll be sure to skip everyone else and make sure you get YOUR order on time.
We typically tip about 20% - a little more for a holiday or bad weather. And in honor of the many, many, MANY nights Mr. Winnie got stiffed or was made to stand in the rain holding 5 scorching hot pizza boxes while Mr. Customer finished his shower or got back from walking his dog.
They were actually told that it would be an hour? I was under the impression that the PizzaDude oath required saying that it would take 45 minutes no matter how short or long the estimated time really was. 
Well, I generally go with 2 bucks since I have always lived less than 2 minutes away from about 6 pizza places.
The way I think it should be done is this.
If you live in the sticks, tip $5.
If the pizza is cold, tip less.
If the pizza is late, but warm, tip the same. (means it wasn’t the drivers fault)
If its really late, ask what the problem was, and tell the delievery guy to knock some cash off the bill, then tip him what you would have according to the above rules.
Tip close to the same regardless of cost of the food. Which obvious exceptions for >$100 tabs.
And most importantly (annoyingly), subtract whatever additional delivery charge they put on the order. In Chicago most of the non-crappy-chain pizza places charge $1.50-$2 for delivery on top of the pizza price. Granted the poor delivery sap probably doesn’t get a dime of that, but I fugure I’m saving them the cost of a waiter and dishes and paying for the delivery via tip, they sure as hell don’t deserve a extra $2 for nothing.
That last part is my major pet peeve, and I know what the math adds up to, but I don’t stiff delievery guys, if the 'za is $9.25 (after the $1.50 surcharge) I’ll give the guy $11, he’d get $12 otherwise. I typically try and avoid anyplace that charges a delivery charge on principle.
These pizza guys get a pretty evil deal. They have to use their own cars, which puts tons of stop-and-go miles on them. Takes years off the life of the engine. There’s some guy here in Boulder who delivers for Blackjack Pizza in his Nissan 300ZX sports car. Poor car, it deserves better than to be killed slowly as a pizza delivery wagon. He should have gotten a used 1970’s civic and ran THAT into the ground, and left the Z at home.
These guys aren’t given a terribly high wage, either. People stiff 'em a fair bit, so they need the money. And they’re bringing me food, which is something I always am extremely greatful for. So, pretty strict 20%, usually rounded to the nearest dollar. I tend to order $14-17 worth and just throw the guy a $20. It’s not like I’m cash-starved. $3 is less than pocket-change in my financial scheme of things. (Yes, I’m fairly lucky financially, and I know it.)
I think they do keep track of good tippers back at the store, too. Either explicitly on the computer or paper, or just mentally. I notice delivery is slow the first couple of times after I move, but they notice I’m a good tipper after about the third or fourth time, and the pizzas start to come quickly and be nice and hot when they arrive. I figure that’s worth a big tip by itself.
-Ben
There are many reasons why Domino’s discontinued their 30-minutes-or-its-free policy, but one of them may be something I read, either on Customers Suck, or maybe Dan McGripes (god, I still miss that site!). A Domino’s employee told of making a delivery to a non-security apartment building. He walked up to the door, not having to be buzzed in, saw dark windows and heard “Shhhhh…shhhhh!” from inside. Knocked and knocked, no answer. Went to pay phone, called number, no answer. Went back to store just in time for customer’s irate call: “The delivery guy never showed! I want it now and I’m not paying for it!” Manager overruled. The author of the anecdote implied that this happened to him more than once, and to other delivery people in that area.
Aw geez, Rilch, and just when I was starting to develop some faith in the human race again…
From what I heard, the main reason for Dominoes changing their policy was too many (near?) accidents from their delivery boys driving around like maniacs trying to beat the 30 minute deadline. I mean, they can’t all be like the Deliverator (in Snow Crash), right?
I seem to recall a major lawsuit when a Domino’s driver was responsible for an accident that cost a couple of people their lives – the lawsuit was settled, IIRC, contingent upon Domino’s doing away with the 30-minutes or free policy.
I could have just pilled that out of my nose, but I kind of remember that.
Anyway, my tipping strategy is always round up to the next dollar then add three. Our order is always the same, one pie, we’re always ready with our payment (usually we just use a debit card, makes it easy) and we call ahead to our doorman to let them know we’re expecting pizza and to send the deliverer right up. Most of our neighbours not only neglect to tell the doorman (meaning that he has to call the tenant to get permission to allow the deliverer to go up to the apartment) they apparently then linger before answering the door and tip for crap. I just can’t see the point of treating people that way when they’re doing you a service.
My, my, my. Most of y’all are great tippers. Wow. I used to deliver sandwiches for a chain called Jimmy John’s in Evanston, and I considered anything from $1-$3 on any size order more than enough. If I delivered 20 bucks worth of sandwiches, I wouldn’t really bitch about only $2. I made $6/hour base, and my tips would add another $4-$15/hour, which, IMHO, is a decent wage. But, then again, I had to pay for gas, provide the car, and keep it in shape. Honestly, though, $23 on a $20 pizza is perfectly acceptable. My general rule is $1 & change for an order under $10, $2 & change for under $20, etc…
What does piss me off though, is if I’m going off way into the suburbs, and a customer shortchanges me. Then, I’m losing money, since I can’t make as many deliveries because I’m especially going out of my way, and the other driver takes the local deliveries. That definitely deserves an extra two dollars.
Funny enough, my experience has been that college students and young people were OK tippers. One live-in nanny/au pair tipped me $6.50 on a $3.50 order. (And I made sure she knew I had a 10 and not a 5.) Then there’s the asshole with the million-dollar house, who orders $20 worth of stuff. He sends me back because someone forgot to pack a Coke. Then he sends me back again because someone forgot to pack some potato chips. (Note: not my fault, though I should have double-checked the order I suppose.) I go out there three times, out of my way, in one of those neighborhoods that have no numbers on the houses, his dog bites my trousers and I walk away with 50 cents. That’s OK. I slowly grated his chips into a fine powder on my third trip out there.
tlw, you’re probably right. I knew it was like KKB said, and figured there was either a specific case, or just a string of them that were overwhelming.
KKB, do you mean Snow Day? Never saw it, but it sounds funny.
And I was going to say, fraud wasn’t the main reason they discontinued the policy, but any time a company makes guarantees, there’s going to be some low-life who exploits that.
Rilchiam
KKB, do you mean Snow Day? Never saw it, but it sounds funny.
No, he means Snow Crash - read the exerpt. “The Deliverator” is the generic name for a future pizza delivery man from hell.
Ye gods, I am going to have to rend your soul for confusing my most beloved Stephenson book with that crap-ass piece of Hollywood schlock.
-Ben
Oh god…I am so sorry…so sorry…:::Rilchiam crawls away backwards, head bowed:::