# Waiter/waitress rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357 "2010-05-31T06:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/161 "2010-06-04T00:38:12Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I"m confused. Are you saying that the ONLY compensation that the drivers receive is gas money and tips? Or are they paid a salary? If they are actually paid an hourly salary, then of course the delivery fee is used to pay this hourly salary. To my knowledge, most drivers are paid an hourly wage, plus a percentage of gas reimbursement, and maybe a set amount per delivery. > [@](#): > > Are you saying that pizza places actually make a profit on delivery, in that they pay the drivers less in hourly salary than the business receives in fees? Yes. The same drivers that were being paid $3.00 an hour before these delivery fees cropped up are still being paid $3.00 an hour. And perhaps 3% of the delivery fee. Increase in income to pizza joint: $2.50 per order. Increase in income to delivery driver: 7-8 cents per order. Net profit of new “delivery fee” to pizza joint: $2.42-$2.50 per order. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/162 "2010-06-04T00:54:01Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > To my knowledge, most drivers are paid an hourly wage, plus a percentage of gas reimbursement, and maybe a set amount per delivery. > > Yes. The same drivers that were being paid $3.00 an hour before these delivery fees cropped up are still being paid $3.00 an hour. And perhaps 3% of the delivery fee. > > Increase in income to pizza joint: $2.50 per order. > Increase in income to delivery driver: 7-8 cents per order. > Net profit of new “delivery fee” to pizza joint: $2.42-$2.50 per order. The only loser in this scenario is the customer, who used to get free delivery, and is now paying for delivery. The pizza joint is now getting the delivery made at no net cost to them, so they win. The driver is neutral. So I still don’t see why its a crappy deal for the driver. It’s the customers who are losing out. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/163 "2010-06-04T01:00:39Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The only loser in this scenario is the customer, who used to get free delivery, and is now paying for delivery. The pizza joint is now getting the delivery made at no net cost to them, so they win. The driver is neutral. > > So I still don’t see why its a crappy deal for the driver. It’s the customers who are losing out. And the pizza place and driver, because fewer people order from them. I know I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ordered delivery since they’ve started delivery charges, and I used to order delivery – well, more often than that. Mostly it broke me of my chain pizza habit altogether, even though I usually picked it up to avoid tipping. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/164 "2010-06-04T01:48:24Z")
I love these threads. Heaven knows I’ve told my waitering and bartending stories in them. Sometimes what I read here reminds me why I don’t do it anymore, and other times I feel like going and getting a part time job someplace because, dangit, sometimes it was just fun. Good customers really make it worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/165 "2010-06-04T03:13:28Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > … we decided that we’d cease our patronage of Cazadores (the restaurant) altogether. > > (But we still miss the food. Damn it.) You know what you should do? You should call and ask when the guy’s day off is, “So you don’t miss him when you come in,” and then go in when he isn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/166 "2010-06-04T04:27:50Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The only loser in this scenario is the customer, who used to get free delivery, and is now paying for delivery. The pizza joint is now getting the delivery made at no net cost to them, so they win. The driver is neutral. > > So I still don’t see why its a crappy deal for the driver. It’s the customers who are losing out. As **Ludovic** pointed out, there are at least two of us who no longer patronize the chain delivery places since this fee came about. In my brief chat with the pizza delivery folks, it seems they have noticed an overall drop in tips since the fee, as well. Makes sense to me if consumers believe that the delivery fee is going to the driver. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/167 "2010-06-04T11:34:21Z")
> [@StuffLikeThatThere](#): > > Unless s/he’s a rural carrier. I’ve lived most of my life in places where the mail carrier drives a privately owned vehicle with a “U.S. Mail” magnet on the door. > > I have no idea how they’re compensated for that, though I’m sure they are. Rural route carriers are compensated very generously for the use of their vehicles. My Grandfather was a rural route carrier for a number of years, it was a very coveted position. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/168 "2010-06-04T15:48:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > “Great Big Magical Pool of Money that pays for everything in the company?” > > I like that. You should be a professor in an Accounting program at Harvard, or something. Thanks. It was deliberately phrased to point out how stupid people are being about this. > [@billfish678](#): > > My retardo meter just broke. Really? If you’re not understanding me, seems like you’re the one who’s being trisomatic: 1.) Company charges X dollars for a good+service and pays me Y dollars for providing the service. 2.) Company raises price to X+Z dollars, but continues to pay me Y dollars, not Y+Z dollars. 3.) Z dollars go into the same pool as X dollars, out of which the Y dollars are paid, but the extra Z _amount of profit_ stays with the company. Get it now, moron? Yes, if you were to trace the money back, some portion of that $2.50 might end up being transferred to the employee, but that would mean that a corresponding amount wouldn’t have come from other areas. When profits go up but compensation does not, it is perfectly accurate to say that _the fee in question is not being passed on to the employee providing the service that is being charged for_. Otherwise, I’m going to start claiming that I own the interstate highway system, since I pay taxes, and taxes are used for its upkeep. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/169 "2010-06-04T15:53:03Z")
It’s probably more accurate to say that the delivery fee has no appreciable impact on the driver’s wage, but among the non-anal-retentive that’s basically the same as “it doesn’t get passed on to the driver.” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/170 "2010-06-04T16:37:29Z")
Even the anal-retentive don’t care; it’s only an equivocator who could attempt to claim that a fee that doesn’t impact the income of someone gets “passed on to them” simply because they work for the company. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/171 "2010-06-05T06:19:08Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > So, has the neighborhood/ethnic group been revealed by the OP yet? > > I’m guessing Astoria. Yeah, I saw _The Goonies_. Those Astorians are nothin’ but trouble… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/172 "2010-06-15T16:58:08Z")
At Dominos: Minimum wage in store (making/taking orders, cleaning, folding millions of boxes) Subminimum wage while driving $1.05 per delivery out of $1.90 charge - goes to gas/depreciation, cash at end of night Whatever I make in tips in cash at end of night ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/173 "2010-06-15T18:23:35Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > At Dominos: > > Minimum wage in store (making/taking orders, cleaning, folding millions of boxes) > Subminimum wage while driving > $1.05 per delivery out of $1.90 charge - goes to gas/depreciation, cash at end of night > Whatever I make in tips in cash at end of night Are you saying 1.05 out of the 1.90 charge is given to you the driver? If so, it sounds like Dominos is giving you approximately your fair shair of the fee then. That leaves 85 cent per delivery to apply to your wage when delivering, your wage when just hanging around “just in case” when NOT delivering, and expenses the company incures JUST for having you as a driver (I’d assume business insurance related issues eat up a big part of that). I would not be surprised if that 1.90 charge is actually LESS than what it costs the company to have drivers. Look at it this way. Lets assume a company hires drivers and pays them a wage and they get to keep tips. 10 dollar pizza. FREE Delivery!. Thats obviously bullshit. The delivery is NOT free. People who pick up their pizza are subsidizing the people who get “free” delivery. Free Pizza! 10 dollar Delivery fee. Another version of obvious bullshit. The pizza is NOT free. People who pick up a free pizza are being subsidized by the people paying the excessive delivery charge. Obviously, the economically correct and not misleading to the consumer answer is somewhere inbetween these two values. You’d need to see the companies books to make a reasonable estimate as to what is a fair fee. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/174 "2010-06-17T16:00:12Z")
Yep. Those who get a delivery pay an extra $1.90 (though it’s waived in very few instances (I’ve done so in the case of screwing up and not getting it added on when I processed their credit card, which would be a pain for all to fix). Though I’ll note that our store has a policy of not delivering free pizzas, unless part of another order. We’re in a largely poor part of town, that doesn’t tip well on a regular basis, and tips for free pizzas are often nonexistent. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/175 "2010-08-03T01:22:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > > > … Yes. The same drivers that were being paid $3.00 an hour before these delivery fees cropped up are still being paid $3.00 an hour. And perhaps 3% of the delivery fee. > > > > Increase in income to pizza joint: $2.50 per order. > > Increase in income to delivery driver: 7-8 cents per order. > > Net profit of new “delivery fee” to pizza joint: $2.42-$2.50 per order. > > The only loser in this scenario is the customer, who used to get free delivery, and is now paying for delivery. The pizza joint is now getting the delivery made at no net cost to them, so they win. The driver is neutral. > > So I still don’t see why its a crappy deal for the driver. It’s the customers who are losing out. Well probably because people like me will not pay as much of a tip if there is a delivery charge. In some cases i won’t pay a tip at all. For example, I recently bought some mattresses and I was charged $50 for delivery; I bought some ficus plants to scatter around my home and I was charged $75 for delivery; I bought some appliances and a TV and I was charged $20 for delivery; I recently ordered some pizza from Jerry’s Subs and was charged $2 for delivery. In each case, except the pizza, I did not pay a tip. In the case of the pizza I reduced my usual tip by a dollar and only paid a $3 tip. If you want to charge me for delivery then I don’t pay a tip or at least not as large a tip. > [@](#): > > As **Ludovic** pointed out, there are at least two of us who no longer patronize the chain delivery places since this fee came about. > > In my brief chat with the pizza delivery folks, it seems they have noticed an overall drop in tips since the fee, as well. Makes sense to me if consumers believe that the delivery fee is going to the driver. It doesn’t really matter to me. The delivery folks can take it up with their bosses who seem to want to cut in on their action. They are all making at least $7.25/hour (see [Challenge Validation](http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm)), which is a pittance but if people don’t think that is enough then they should lobby for a higher minimum wage. I have posted before about my beef with wait staff that expected a $750 tip for setting up a self service bar and a buffet table that cost me $5000 it was for a small party. It literally took two members of the the wait staff an hour to set up and an hour to take down. The minimum wage laws require that everyone makes $7.25/hour. If you don’t make enough in tips to cover that then your boss has to make up the difference to you but I don’t know frequently someone who works tips minimum that doesn’t make minimum wage including tips. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/176 "2010-08-03T14:32:37Z")
Seriously? If you don’t like service charges, negotiate them down or use a vendor that doesn’t include them. But don’t cheap out on tips for people whose income depends on them (waitstaff and delivery drivers). If you can’t afford the total _plus a tip_, you _can’t afford the meal_. Period. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/177 "2010-08-03T16:06:00Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > **Mississippienne** , at least I bet you make excellent tips. > > Myself, I’m a waiter at a Japanese steakhouse. I don’t have any horror stories, but last week a Brazilian-Japanese man pissed me off. We both spoke semi-fluent Japanese. He asked me what was in the special. I made it clear that it was steak, chicken, and shrimp. He said OK and ordered 3 (He was with 3 guests). I asked what he wanted for himself, and he just repeated, “3 specials, ok!” > > So, I go about my business, and the chef comes to the table. The chef says, “where’s this man’s salmon?” He never ordered any. I talk to him, and the Brazilian-JP guy says I forgot it. OK, so no big deal; I go and get some. > > When the bill comes, he claims he never ordered any salmon! He says he told me it was a substitution for the shrimp in the special. No sir, you did no such damn thing! We both spoke enough Japanese for there not to be any confusion over such a thing… He never even said the word for salmon until the chef came out. In the end, we had to take it off his bill and my boss was super pissed at me. Says I should have called her over b/c of the confusion, but there was no confusion! It was just this guy’s bullshit. > > There was a slim chance there was a language mixup, but I still think this guy pulled a fast one on me. Not to mention that Brazilians always come in to eat 20 minutes before we close!! Argh! :mad: I’d say it was an intentional play for a free meal by that asshole. It’s hard in a rush to make things clear but when an order gets changed mid stream try to clarify it with the customer. “So you want the salmon _in addition to_ one of the specials right?” and regardless, if he actually got the shrimp and the slamon, and ate them, rather than correct the mistake, he owes. Dick moves like that are just part of the resturant business but you learn ways to avoid them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/178 "2010-08-03T16:22:16Z")
Wow, Dominos is fucking its drivers. Papa Johns’ pays minimum wage plus tips, plus a set per-delivery amount ($0.65 when I worked, there, and apparently not much more now). However, **Djamuri Ajashi** , you should note that a waitress guaranteed minimum wage and a pizza driver guaranteed minimum wage are not the same thing. One isn’t incurring $50/day in vehicle usage costs. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/179 "2010-08-05T19:08:06Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > She actually looks pissed that she can’t bitch at me over it and leaves. > > She was looking for an excuse to reduce whatever tip you were getting, or possibly trying to get a discount on the entire bill. > > There are some people who WILL NOT be made happy by anything you do. Once you accept that, and realize that they have to live with themselves, but you only have to interact with them for an hour or two, you’ll be happier. In my experience, the most frequent source of shitty customer attitude is because they’re in a bad mood and they don’t have a dog to kick. The second most common reason is they are just assholes. The third most common reason is because of shitty service. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/180 "2010-08-05T20:17:11Z")
> [@julius blaze](#): > > > [@MTCicero](#): > > > > Do you tip your letter carrier every time you receive your mail? Likely as not, he/she had to _walk_ your mail to you and all your neighbors. > > Your letter carrier isn’t delivering in his own car (depreciating it), and paying higher insurance for it. hahhahhahaaa… Paying higher insurance? I once just mentioned _maybe_ getting a job delivering pizza to my insurance company. They cancelled my policy. I wanted to get a delivery job in my new city. Wife said I couldn’t. She works for an insurance company now, and they’d **fire** her if they found out I was delivering pizza in my vehicle. So basically all those people you see driving their own cars delivering food are criminals, as they don’t have the proper insurance for the way they use their cars. Catch 22: if they did ask their insurer about it, they’d be canceled, and there would be no more food delivery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357.md?page=10)