Sunday, February 21

2/19 2/20 I'm a Screwup

I feel terrible. Here I am, defending tipping, defending the fact that pizza delivery people work hard and deserve to be tipped well, and I've had a couple of very off nights.

I suppose it starts with a lot of $2 tips on Friday night. $2 tips in particular irritate me because those people think they are tipping acceptably. Then on my last delivery I forgot the ranch cups, which is so unlike me. I always check the tags for extra stuff. When I told the guy at the door that I forgot them but that I'd be back as soon as I possibly could, the woman just inside made a disgusting scoffing noise and said "she forgot what?" like I was the lowest of the low, like what good was I if I couldn't even do my job and bring the ranch cups they ordered. It was a bad way to end the night.

Then last night I kept having $1 tippers. $1 tippers can't even pretend that they're tipping acceptably. Every time someone hands me a dollar as a tip I want to throw it back at them and yell, "Keep it! You obviously need it more than I do. Go buy yourself some class."

So, I'd had two nights of shitty tippers and it got to be the end of the night and I'd just gotten stiffed and I got into a neighborhood where the street signs are terrible, instead of being standard issue matte green with reflective white lettering they are matte brown with stylized matte white lettering. Anyway, I had a delivery to ***clarc and somehow I ended up on ***more exactly one street away. The houses are numbered the same and when I went to deliver the pizza a kid answered the door and seemed to know what was going on. As I drove off I noticed the street sign said ***more and had a 1/2 thought that I hoped I'd delivered to the right street, but I figured the kid wouldn't have taken the pizza if no one ordered it. I got back to the store and the phones were ringing off the hook and so I immediately go to answer it and it turns out to be the kid calling to let them know that he just got a delivery for someone else. I told him that I'd send the driver right out. I went back, I picked up the pizza which they had thankfully not started eating and from the fact that them mom came to the door with him I assume wasn't messed with and took it one street over to the correct people. I voluntarily gave them one of the free pizza coupons I've been hoarding. They deserve it for my screwup and hopefully it made the not hot pizza taste a little better. So another bad ending to a night.

Friday night I made $25 off of 7 deliveries. ($2.28 average tip per delivery)

Saturday night I made $27 off of 10 deliveries. ($1.41 average tip per delivery)

18 comments:

Hailey said...

at least your makin money

i babysit for 4 hours and make ten dollars....

and last time i went the kid spit in my face.

Anonymous said...

i've been following you for a while, and i love your blog. but this post rubbed me the wrong way. if you go to waiter/waitress blogs, they say if you can't afford to tip well in a restaurant, you shouldn't be going out at all, instead order delivery or take out. and then here you are saying it's not classy to tip $2. i'm sorry but i'm not tipping a pizza delivery driver 15%. delivery and serving are two very different things requiring two very different skill sets. the fact that you check things to make sure they're right, get the pizza there fast and hot, etc. isn't a plus, it's supposed to be the bottom line of your job, no? i mean correct me if i'm wrong.. i delivered pizzas a couple years ago when i was a freshman in college, and i thought $2 were appropriate for 1-3 pizzas. i literally had to have a driver's license to get hired - that's it. it wasn't a hard job and i never assumed people would tip the same as a restaurant.

Unknown said...

Annonymous: I will reiterate, I hate the comparison between pizza delivery and waiting tables, but if you INSIST on making the comparison, it's my waiter's job to make sure my drinks are full, bring me my food hot, and make sure that I have all the extras that I ordered. And yet I tip them for doing their job. I don't expect them to go above and beyond and when they do I tip them even more than normal.

I do not expect people to tip me like in a restaurant, I expect them to tip me $3 minimum because I take on all of the risk and inconvenience of bringing pizza to their house. I expect them to increase that tip as the job gets more complicated and if I do go above and beyond.

Ajathefairy said...

Haha...pizza girl is nice. If you do not tip me at least $4 or $5 then you do not get it and I make no special effort for you.
The costs associated with our jobs are too great. Our faithful cars are sacrificed, we are a target for robberies, and only a fraction of our gas is reimbursed. We are under-paid by multi-billion dollar corporations.
There is dirty, nasty, heavy-lifting required work for us waiting at the store before we can go home.
Please do not ever compare me to a waiter. His tires do not need to be rotated every f*^#ng month. And his transmission and starter do not know the work of starting and stopping a hundred times a day.
IF YOU THINK $2 IS A GOOD TIP, PLEASE PICK UP YOUR PIZZA.

Michael Kostin said...

It astounds me that people who know they want ranch do not have ranch at home. You can literally pick up ranch at every grocery store. Likewise things like soy sauce, sweet & sour sauce, spicy mustard (chinese delivery), buffalo sauce, ketchup, etc.

Now, Papa John's Garlic sauce, on the other hand, I always ask for extras of that (even if I have to pay extra for it). If they sold it in stores, I'd make sure to always have plenty of it at home.

Anonymous said...

i disagree about the waiting issue: waiting (done correctly) is a lot more than simple relay to and from the kitchen. people order pizza delivery for the pizza, but i'd argue people go out to restaurants for equal parts the food and the idea/culture of being served. the interaction between waitress and customer is on a completely different level than delivery man/woman and customer. it doesn't REALLY make a difference how much you interact with a patron when you're delivering, but small talk and a few smiles as a waiter gets you more money than if you had done without it. and when the service is awfully poor, you either don't tip or add only a few dollars to get the point across.

i'm confused as to what you mean by the "risk and inconvenience." that's your job. it's like a coal miner saying i want to be paid more because i get dirty when i mine, and also it's dangerous. of course it is.. if you don't want to do it because of the risk or inconvenience, then you don't take the job. ajathefairy, i don't agree with you either as to our cars being "sacrificed".. when i did delivery, i had to drive an awful lot as well, but it's part of the job. i didn't get fully reimbursed, and what i didn't i chalked up to essentially "commuting" to work. i certainly didn't think i was underpaid.. i wasn't WELL paid, but i wasn't underpaid: pay is determined mostly off of your job and the skill set employed, as is evident on any human resources pay grade chart. for pizza delivery, you need (1) a car, (2) a license and (3) a GPS or some sense of the city you're working in. it requires neither a degree nor serious customer relations skills. you neither employ a skill like the guy making the pizzas, nor is there any managerial responsibility. i certainly wasn't tipped $5 when i was delivering, and i would never tip $5 on a pizza. if someone chooses to take that badly and deliver my pizzas cold, then i'll make a point of complaining until they get fired, just as two of my former coworkers were.

Anonymous said...

it's not polite to call people names.

my car was certainly not "sacrificed".. what about people who commute to their jobs an hour or two each way? i've never heard any one of them talk about them sacrificing their cars, it's just part of the job.

as to the coal miner thing, pay is related to how much someone is willing to accept to do a job. my point in bringing up coal miners is to say that they have to deal with danger and risk, and that's part of the job starting off. they're not entitled to anything extra when they mine another piece of coal, simply because the "danger" is part of the job. the whole point of pizza delivery is to deliver hot pizza, i don't see why doing exactly that entitles someone to so much extra tip. the $2 i usually got paid i saw as a courtesy. i don't see why i should have to pick up my pizza if i'm unwilling to tip more than that. the pizza place has established this as a service to customers. if you don't like that, then don't work there.

Geoffrey Burrows said...

I don't know about the United States, but here in Australia travelling to and from work is not considered a job expense by employers, the tax department, or the larger government. The car related job expense is the on the job mileage and wear and tear that occurs while performing tasks for the business in question.

During a financial year, what percentage of miles driven would be done so for the business according to the definition above?

purplegirl said...

I've gotten plenty of people at my blog telling me to find another job if I have a problem with the tip system, or defending why they don't/shouldn't/aren't going to tip. Fuck 'em all. Don't let it get to you. They don't understand it's about the basic human decency involved in living up to the unspoken social contract of tipping.

Waiting said...

First of all, as a waitress, I would like to say that I have never suggested shitty tippers order food to be delivered instead - nor have I heard others suggest it. Everyone knows that delivery drivers deserve to be tipped so I wouldn't wish shitty tippers or non-tippers on them.

I (and others) suggest instead that people who are so utterly clueless about tipping should either stay home and eat a ham sandwich, go to a fast food restaurant, or get drive-thru. If you want pizza then go pick it up yourself.

Like pizzagirl said there really isn't a comparison between waiting tables and delivering pizza. The one similarity that they do share though is that most people already know what they are going to tip before actually tipping. The same shitty tippers who tip $3 on a $50 check in a restaurant probably wind up stiffing delivery drivers or only giving $1. These people aren't considering the quality of the service in restaurants nor are they checking the quality of the pizza or speed of the delivery prior to readying their money for the driver.

Consider this: When you receive your pizza do you actually open the box and check it for hotness or even correctness? I would guess that 98% of people don't. If you don't then you are in fact tipping a predetermined amount without considering any other factors - you probably always tip the same amount too. For delivery drivers that isn't necessarily bad - provided you always tip a decent amount instead of just giving them your leftover change.

Some people have simply decided that they don't like the tipping system and use this as an excuse to justify their tipping habits. The people who complain that a driver expects $3 per delivery (far less than I tip BTW) are probably the same people who complain that 20% is expected when you receive good service in a restaurant. These people would also complain if $3 was added to their bill automatically for gratuity. Some people are just never happy.

Anonymous said...

purplegirl: i'm simply trying to understand something. i have worked this job before. your characterization of not having the "basic human decency" isn't accurate: i tip at least 15% in restaurants, 20% for good service and above for excellent service. but i still hold that there's a significant difference in the two professions (waiting vs. delivery).

waiting: in her response, pizzagirl actually made the comparison between waiting and delivery, not the other way around. as i stated above, i consider myself an adequate-to-good tipper in restaurants. you said, "These people aren't considering the quality of the service in restaurants nor are they checking the quality of the pizza or speed of the delivery prior to readying their money for the driver"... but that's just it: the quality of the service in the restaurant is the waiter/waitresses job, while the delivery is the deliverers job (NOT the quality of the pizza itself). when a waitress does her job correctly, she gets at least 15% because the service is a significant part of the restaurant experience. if restaurants were set up in a way where you go there, send in your own order into the kitchen, bring it back to your own table and fill your drinks, i bet you a lot less people would frequent restaurants because the service is a big part of the experience. on the flip side, if you stopped all pizza delivery, the number of people ordering pizzas wouldn't go down as much, people would just be "inconvenienced" in going to pick it up.

back when i was a deliverer, a few bucks per pizza was tacked on anyways for delivery, and most places i've seen do this. so the deliverer is already getting something, hence why, as i mentioned earlier, i see the extra $2 as a courtesy.

Anonymous said...

just saw and read your most recent post, pizzagirl, thanks for writing it. it makes a lot more sense now! i'm shocked at two things that i guess now makes things different: 1) i didn't get paid lower than minimum wage and 2) 75% of the delivery fee was tacked onto my wage. maybe i had a nice employer? without these two things, i can totally see the tipping issue. thanks for taking the time to write it :)

Anonymous said...

ew, all of these negative commenters are the reason that I hate most people I deliver to. Attitudes like that. "blah blah blah im not gonna tip 15% blahblah " SHUT UP. please dont order delivery. everyone hates you. anyways, i like your blog. i just read this post about the tips that you made - whoa dude. Thats seriously low. especially for a fri. night. i feel your pain.
-fellow pizza girl in TX!

Geoffrey Burrows said...

I have just finished reading your follow up post about tipping, and I am thankful for it. That is one of the best descriptions about this matter that I have read in a long time. Hall of fame entry.

Rosa said...

Yeah, I'm late to the party, only to find that yet again the cheap-o's are trying to shout down everyone else.

TIP, PEOPLE! What the hell is wrong with you? TIP! Is that $3 tip going to break the bank? Yes? Then you shouldn't be ordering pizza.

I'm not surprised about the vehemence with which non- and under-tippers defend their practices; ignorance knows no boundaries. I used to work with a waitress who would purposefully stiff pizza delivery drivers and knowingly write them BAD checks when she was broke. She tried to get me to sympathize by saying, "Well, my kids got to eat!" And I was, like, What? Your kids can't eat mac and cheese out of a box? You have to feed them pizza?

GRRRRR!!

Justin McClary said...

You delivered a pizza to the wrong house and because you assumed it hadn't been tampered with, you delivered it to the correct house anyway? That's disgusting. I don't know what state you work in, but in Illinois that is completely against the health code. If you give food to a customer and it is returned for any reason, it has to be disposed of. It cannot be redistributed by any means.

Anonymous said...

Pizza Girl- You rock! Thanks for having the guts(and making the time)to write your blog! PLEASE, don't stop! I'm a Pizza Delivery Girl in FL, and have worked at the same restaurant for 6 years. For all those who belittle us, I AM college educated, and have owned (and sold) 3 successful businesses. I started doing this because my last business was seasonal (tourist related), and I am a high-energy "people person" who likes to stay busy; plus needed "off-season" cash flow.
I'm fortunate that most of my customers are decent-to-o.k. tippers.
LIKE a GOOD SERVER, I HAVE a FOLLOWING! I DO make a point of "knowing" my customers! I treat them like friends and extended family. I even bring dog biscuits for their dogs! I know what my customers like to order & make sure their order is complete, condiments included; even if they forgot to ask for it! I pay attention to detail, and strive to get it right the first time (everyone wants to eat at the SAME TIME, together.) My Lunch deliveries to businesses get Styrofoam plates, napkins, & plastic ware for everyone; PLUS optional condiments. My customers who MAY be sharing an entree, get a extra plate, napkin & utensils. I AM a SERVER-ON-WHEELS; and therefore, DESERVE appropriate tipping. Unlike a server, I don't have the luxury of running back to the kitchen to get something I forgot in just a minute's time! We DRIVERS gotta get it right the FIRST TIME (as you pointed out), or we screw ourselves for the whole night! If the KITCHEN messes up the order, we don't get tipped again, or get reimbursed for the gas for the SECOND trip!
What people don't understand also is that the economy is hurting us at both ends. When gas prices go up, our tips go down! The maintenance on our vehicles remains the same. We DO need tires, brakes, clutches, new starters and ignition switches more frequently than others! (I've obviously replaced or had issues with all of these!) The mileage we rack up lowers our vehicles' resale/trade-in value. Our interiors are subject to unusual stains that can require special treatment to remove. -SERVERS can take a cab or the bus to work!
I can understand the retirees on a fixed income who tip just a dollar or two, and "thank" me sincerely. That truly IS all they can afford! MY problem lies with the customers who live in the Golf & Country Clubs, or other gated communities, who expect me to break a $50 or $100 bill, and only tip a couple dollars; not even 10% of the check! Bad "Credit Card" tippers irk me too. If you don't mind charging your food, why is it a problem charging an appropriate tip? You obviously didn't have the CASH for your dinner, so what's a few dollars more?
Keep up the cause, Pizza Girl! You're the voice of MANY!-fellow pizza girl in FL

Unknown said...

Anonymous (the one at the end): you make me want to be a better pizza delivery girl. I know I rant on here a lot, but I'm really not as bad as I make myself out to be. I do enjoy the job and like to take care of customers that show their appreciation.