# On the subject of when the pizza guys don't deliver **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327 "2015-03-30T05:47:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/21 "2015-03-30T17:49:22Z")
The best pizzas around here come from restaurants who don’t deliver, other than perhaps helping you carry it to your car. No one bitches about that. And yeah, a business has to protect their employees. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/22 "2015-03-30T17:54:29Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Former EMT (Ambulance driver) here. We had similar policies for certain areas of town no matter what the emergency call. We would still respond, but only after the police arrived and escorted us into the high-crime area. > > In the case of gunshot wounds in those areas of town, we also wouldn’t exit the ambulance until the police had a chance to ensure the crime was “over”. As you might guess, it resulted in uncomfortable situations. (Relatives/friends of the victim see us there, but we aren’t rushing to aid him yet) Me too. Dispatch would instruct us to stage nearby until PD had secured the scene for us. We’d only drive the last few blocks after it was safe. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/23 "2015-03-30T18:12:07Z")
I was a pizza guy once. I went out and got a better job. And it appalls me that there are people who are ARGUING WITH THE OP. I mean, really? The OP can be boiled down to a very simple statement: PIZZA JOINT EXISTS TO MAKE MONEY. THEREFORE, NO PIZZA SERVICE TO PLACES THAT = TROUBLE and/or NO MONEY. In much the same way that no pizza chain offers mid-air in-flight pizza delivery; they do not see profits in buying a fleet of hypersonic jets and training pizza men to deliver pizzas to aircraft in mid flight. All the arguments in the world are unlikely to sway Domino’s or Pizza Hut to the contrary no matter how bad I want pizza or how racist I accuse them of being. I’ve delivered to some spooky neighborhoods. My bosses were marginally concerned with my safety, but they were also concerned with that sweet, sweet money. It did not concern them, the color of the hands that held that money. Black people money, Asian people money, Hispanic people money… it’s all green when it’s in the bank. But if one address or location is either unprofitable or too likely to yield trouble… they cut off service to that area. Pure economics. And sure, it sucks to be outside a delivery area, but what are you going to do? It seems to me that requiring delivery to a given area is kind of a legal quagmire. The OP said he wasn’t going there, and I couldn’t make him, and he’ll quit if I try. What, am I now in the position of trying to make some hourly wage guy deliver a pizza to a known danger spot? And how am I supposed to feel if he gets shot? Jeez, have some class. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/24 "2015-03-30T18:20:55Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > And it wont take robbers very long to learn, no matter how dumb they are, that robbing pizza delivery drivers is a fruitless endeavor. And how many drivers will be shot as part of the learning curve? Robbers can get testy if they think you are holding out on them. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/25 "2015-03-30T22:50:06Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Not only reasonable chance, but probable chance he’d lose _more_ money by requiring cards only rather than not delivering to certain addresses in those neighborhoods. What neighborhoods do you think check cashing places gravitate towards, & why do they exist there? It’s because those people don’t have bank accounts, which means, for the most part, no debit cards & few will have credit cards. > > Do you demand the card be run when the order is placed or when you deliver? What if the driver discovers the card is expired, or the names don’t match. Could be Mom’s card, or the BF, or it could be a freshly stolen one. What happens when the card is declined. Does the driver bring the pizza back? Does the order taker stay on the line while they try to find another one? How much time is wasted on the phone when people aren’t expecting this & don’t have their wallet by them when they order? Have you ever paid for a pizza with a credit card online or over the phone? The pizzas are paid for before they are even made. If the card gets declined, the pizzas don’t get made. And poor people have cash cards. They offer them right their at the check cashing places. It’s a prepaid check card. (Not that any of this matters. It’s not like poor people have a constitutional right to pizza delivery.) And as far as other people using the card, I can’t count the times I’ve left my card with the kiddos so they could order a pizza while I was at work or out with friends. > [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > And how many drivers will be shot as part of the learning curve? > > Robbers can get testy if they think you are holding out on them. The same amount of cashiers that got shot before store owners or managers started putting up signs that state: “Cashier does not have more than $20 in cash register at any given time”. Sure, cashiers still get robbed. But which ones are getting robbed more? Is it the big chain stores like 7-11 that adhere to a strict policy of not keeping cash in the drawer? Or is it the mom and pop shops wherein the cashier is probably also the owner who happens to have the combo to the safe? Or if not that, a shit load more than $20 in the drawer. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/26 "2015-03-31T00:04:04Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Similarly, I’ve read (on the SDMB) of neighborhoods where the Post Office does not offer home delivery. Too many mail carriers getting robbed. Instead, everybody in those neighborhoods gets a PO Box, and has to come in & check it themselves. > > You can call it racist all you want, but the PO/pizza place/hospital has a responsibility to ensure its employees’ safety. I have a cousin who is an RN. She’s by now a nurse practitioner, highly skilled at all aspects of health care. Many years ago. earlier in her career, she took a job in California, working as a contract supply nurse for hospitals in LA… She went where she was sent. Cousin ended up breaking the contract and coming home in less than a year. She got sent to ER’s where she’d end up getting threatened with guns and knives, because the friends and relatives didn’t think their person was getting taken care of fast enough. So it was “Screw this! I’m better than that, so bye!” ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/27 "2015-03-31T00:12:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Land of the free, huh? what does this have to do with anything? > [@Baker](#): > > I have a cousin who is an RN. She’s by now a nurse practitioner, highly skilled at all aspects of health care. > > Many years ago. earlier in her career, she took a job in California, working as a contract supply nurse for hospitals in LA… She went where she was sent. Cousin ended up breaking the contract and coming home in less than a year. She got sent to ER’s where she’d end up getting threatened with guns and knives, because the friends and relatives didn’t think their person was getting taken care of fast enough. So it was “Screw this! I’m better than that, so bye!” St. John Hospital in Detroit makes you pass through security/metal detectors before you can walk into the ER. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/28 "2015-03-31T00:29:30Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Have you ever paid for a pizza with a credit card online or over the phone? The pizzas are paid for before they are even made. If the card gets declined, the pizzas don’t get made. The merchant pays even more for card-not-present transactions than when they swipe the card. - I have never ordered it online & very rarely get it delivered. There are at least 5 w/in 2 miles of my house; if the weather’s to bad to go out, delivery will probably take forever. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/29 "2015-03-31T01:25:06Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The merchant pays even more for card-not-present transactions than when they swipe the card. > > - I have never ordered it online & very rarely get it delivered. There are at least 5 w/in 2 miles of my house; if the weather’s to bad to go out, delivery will probably take forever. Millions of people, myself included, pay for their pizzas online or over the phone. They’ve been doing it like this for years. If the credit card fees really cut that much into their profit, I doubt they would offer that service. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/30 "2015-03-31T01:35:57Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > what does this have to do with anything? > > St. John Hospital in Detroit makes you pass through security/metal detectors before you can walk into the ER. Are you serious? You answered the question yourself. Pizza delivery guys are afraid of getting shot or stabbed. EMS responders can’t go into some neighbourhoods without a police escort. Mail delivery isn’t possible in some neighbourhoods. And now you need to pass through metal detectors to access the emergency ward at hospitals. WTF? This is not in any way normal for a free society. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/31 "2015-03-31T04:17:59Z")
About a hundred years ago I worked in the records division (as a civilian) at our local police department. Among other things we processed daily police reports and guess who got robbed more frequently than any other group? Pizza delivery guys—even more often than cab drivers. Robbed, stabbed, shot and even killed. It was enough to make me very very sure that I would never, ever allow my sons to get a job delivering pizzas. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/32 "2015-03-31T05:57:48Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > St. John Hospital in Detroit makes you pass through security/metal detectors before you can walk into the ER. “Sir. Sir! You can’t go in with that knife in your chest – pull it out and place it here in the container for us to run through the scanner before you can enter.” > [@Spiderman](#): > > The merchant pays even more for card-not-present transactions than when they swipe the card. Around here, the delivery guy asks to see the card and verifies the number upon delivery. I believe that lets the pizza store record it as a ‘card-present’ transaction, thus getting the lowered fee. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/33 "2015-03-31T10:58:16Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > I was a pizza guy once. I went out and got a better job. And it appalls me that there are people who are ARGUING WITH THE OP. > > I mean, really? The OP can be boiled down to a very simple statement: PIZZA JOINT EXISTS TO MAKE MONEY. THEREFORE, NO PIZZA SERVICE TO PLACES THAT = TROUBLE and/or NO MONEY. In much the same way that no pizza chain offers mid-air in-flight pizza delivery; they do not see profits in buying a fleet of hypersonic jets and training pizza men to deliver pizzas to aircraft in mid flight. > > All the arguments in the world are unlikely to sway Domino’s or Pizza Hut to the contrary no matter how bad I want pizza or how racist I accuse them of being. > > I’ve delivered to some spooky neighborhoods. My bosses were marginally concerned with my safety, but they were also concerned with that sweet, sweet money. It did not concern them, the color of the hands that held that money. Black people money, Asian people money, Hispanic people money… it’s all green when it’s in the bank. > > But if one address or location is either unprofitable or too likely to yield trouble… they cut off service to that area. Pure economics. And sure, it sucks to be outside a delivery area, but what are you going to do? It seems to me that requiring delivery to a given area is kind of a legal quagmire. The OP said he wasn’t going there, and I couldn’t make him, and he’ll quit if I try. What, am I now in the position of trying to make some hourly wage guy deliver a pizza to a known danger spot? And how am I supposed to feel if he gets shot? > > Jeez, have some class. Why don’t you have some class? Don’t strawman people so you can make fun of them. Everyone arguing with the OP is explaining ways it could be pulled off and reduce the danger. They aren’t defeatists like you, throwing their hands up and screaming what can you do. The excuse about making less money is stupid. You can add a fee for credit card transactions now. So do that when they order online or via phone. You get more customers. This is not an insurmountable problem. Plus, frankly, giving up because of violence makes you part of the problem. You don’t give up until you’ve tried everything. (Though why people actively choose to live in these bad parts of cities, I don’t get. It’s not like those of us who live in the sticks and can’t afford to live elsewhere. Your cost living is higher than ours, but you live in a shittier place. There is literally no part of my town or the surrounding towns (including some with 15000 people) where it’s unsafe to walk at night. The only problem with pizza delivery is living too far away.) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/34 "2015-03-31T11:04:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The excuse about making less money is stupid. You can add a fee for credit card transactions now. So do that when they order online or via phone. Plus, handling cash has a cost. There are good reasons why some businesses won’t accept cash. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/35 "2015-03-31T11:07:34Z")
> [@grude](#): > > As for not meeting someone in a zone you do deliver in, I assume then you ban those with cell phones or VOIP from ordering? Or online orders? What stops someone from sitting in front of an address they know you deliver to and ordering online and paying with credit card? Will you refuse to give them the pizza when you arrive if they are outside? As a former pizza driver, I can say it’s not that simple. If the address is a residence, I’m going up to the door despite you being propped out front. Why? Drivers get “hijacked” all the time - someone sees you approaching and decides “Huh, a pizza _would_ be nice.” and says “Yo, here I am” and pays for the pizza. You get back and discover that wasn’t the customer, who’s wondering why their order didn’t arrive. You learn pretty quickly not to hand off the pie to anyone with some cash. So I go to the door and the folks that live there didn’t order and don’t know you. I’m returning with the pie, because management doesn’t want to encourage such antics. Okay, you know of an abandoned house in our delivery area and you plan to lurk there. Yeah, I’m not even getting out of the car, seeing someone who looks out of place in front of a neglected house with a for sale sign on the lawn. And that’s assuming I don’t already know that address is an abandoned house because, driving the neighborhood 40 hours a week, I likely no it better than someone trying to scam a pie from outside the delivery zone. A safe bet is that the store has already seen every scam and dodge you think you just came up with, and is wondering the same old question: why all this effort to scam a delivery when you can just pop a DiGiornos in the oven? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/36 "2015-03-31T11:43:16Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Are you serious? You answered the question yourself. > > Pizza delivery guys are afraid of getting shot or stabbed. > EMS responders can’t go into some neighbourhoods without a police escort. > Mail delivery isn’t possible in some neighbourhoods. > And now you need to pass through metal detectors to access the emergency ward at hospitals. > > WTF? This is not in any way normal for a free society. This is like squawking about the “First Amendment” when a message board bans you. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/37 "2015-03-31T13:04:39Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > There’s a line on the receipt that allows you to tip post delivery. I didn’t know that. The only pizza place around here that delivers has mediocre pizza, so it’s been a while since I’ve had any delivered. Very few places are willing to deliver to my (very safe) neighborhood because we aren’t very close to take out places, and they don’t want to spend a long time driving, either. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/38 "2015-03-31T13:29:35Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > And it appalls me that there are people who are ARGUING WITH THE OP. It’s the Dope, it’s what we do. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/39 "2015-03-31T13:54:44Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > It’s the Dope, it’s what we do. No it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327/40 "2015-03-31T14:20:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Everyone arguing with the OP is explaining ways it could be pulled off and reduce the danger. They aren’t defeatists like you, throwing their hands up and screaming what can you do. This isn’t some new problem that just cropped up in the last 5 years and the OP’s company hasn’t figured out the right way to deal with it. Pizza places have been delivering for decades, and people have been ripping off Drivers for decades. Do you think that Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s haven’t thought about this problem? They have thousands of stores, and they set the policies the stores are run with. Stores refusing orders is NOT the way to make money, and they’re all about making money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-subject-of-when-the-pizza-guys-dont-deliver/716327.md?page=3)