Tip the pizza delivery driver!

[Rik Meleet]

I'm not very comfortable with that. I googled "wilkes county" + "pizza" and (besides this thread popping up a lot) I only found websites where one has to register, and sometimes even order, to be able to see the prices.

If I just want to compare prices before I decide where to order my pizza, my life is made quiet difficult.

This may get way off topic, but I remember back in Economics class that in order to have capitalism and competition, the market must be transparant. The pizza market in Wilkes county (the only pizza market I've made an attempt to investigate) is not a transparant market in my eyes. I can't get a pricequote easily before ordering and if I do manage to find a pricelist the price I get for my order may not be the total sum I am supposed to pay.

If you like the system: please do so, but I don't like it at all. Sorry about that.

 

[Bugfatty300]

If I just want to compare prices before I decide where to order my pizza, my life is made quiet difficult.

Call and ask. 1-336-667-2023.

The pizza market in Wilkes county (the only pizza market I've made an attempt to investigate) is not a transparant market in my eyes.

Wilkes County is in the middle of nowhere. I would be surprised if "Wilkes County" and "Pizzas" brought up anything!

We got three places that do deliveries. Domino's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut. They're all listed in the local phone books. If someone wanted to compare prices all they have to do is call each place and ask. Its not really a sign of bad service if these tiny little pizza stores (many of them independently owned) in the middle of nowhere don't have their prices listed online.

But what does menus have to do with the tipping system?

 

[Rik Meleet]

But what does menus have to do with the tipping system?

Not much in itself, but i keep hearing from people who are in a "tip-region" that it's the system and it works well. Menu-treatment and price-display are also part of the same system, IMHPOV.
I took a step back and wanted to get informed on the system to be able to rethink my opinion on tips in general and the system as a whole.

 

[warpus]

OK, we will stop expecting tips when every pizza delivery driver is unionized, every driver makes double minimum wage and every big company and indy-operated store has huge fleets of new company vehicles with those neat little charge cards for gas.

Until then you're free to not order food for delivery if you don't like paying into the status quo of poor business practices. And when all those miracles do take place, please do enjoy your $40 large pizza.

Most places here already have a 'delivery charge', so I would not expect the price of a pizza to go up by much.

 

[MobBoss]

Great. You get a cold cheese wad that I used as a spittoon while I drove around delivering other people's pizza while I was supposed to have delivered your first.

What I want to know is does your employer realize you spit in peoples pizza? Or that you allege you might? Cause I dont think you really do tbh. I dont think you are that childish. I mean, what good does it do for you? Its like making faces behind someones back. Essentially, it means you dont have the balls to confront said non-tipper to their face to tell them how lame they are and thus take some other childish attempt at retribution.

And if someone ever got sick because you did this, or found a big loogy on their pizza, you would assuredly be fired and possibly even go to jail depending upon the local law concerning such tampering with food.

Also, giving someone a cold/late pizza usually meant giving them a free pizza or another pizza that your manager will make you drive out with an apology.

In my experience, the non-tippers never really ordered pizza often enough for us to realize before hand that the run was not going to be tipped. Your situation might be different, but when I worked deliveries, we were usually too busy to give individual addresses much thought.

Bottom line, the best course of action is to just deliver the dang pizza, tip or no tip and carry on to the next delivery. Doing anything other than that is just mere childish stupidity.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Tipping is never something I have engaged in outside of visits to North America and it certainly isn't part of the culture here; the nearest I have come to it is in days of yore, where very rarely a decent taxi ride resulted in substantial largess to the being responsible for propulsion of the automobile.

Not that there are any delivery services where I am now.

 

[Che Guava]

But how do you exactly apporach someone about tiping in a non-childish way...?

I remember a friend of mine was working who was working as a waiter got a large table of guys one night who plunked down nearly $300 on food and booze. THe whole night they were rude, loud and demanding while my friend did his best to be courteous and play along. At the end of the night, they gave him the princely tip of...$10. But his response was brilliant though...

He ran out of the restaurant and found them in the parking lot. He told them than since money was obviously an issue for them (why else would they leave such a small tip?) he wanted to give it back to them since they obviously needed it more than he did. THe mood went immediately from wild and rawkus to quiet and shameful, and they decided to EACH give him $10

The way that I see tipping is as a voluntary tax: if you can pay it, you probably should because you have the means. If you can't, you don't have to. THe only time it gets under my skin is when I see someone who has had good service (and who can obviously afford a bit extra) neglecting to tip...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Funny

Most restaurants and bars here have a tip-jar in which all the tips go. At the end of the week they take it out and split it evenly. This because otherwise the cooks and the cleaners wouldn't get something extra even if they did a good job.

This might not work for deliveries, since there is no social control and the idea that someone is holding out on the jar and pocketing it themselves will cause lots of greivance of course.

 

[LucyDuke]

I'm sorry, but the reason why establishments don't even need to advertise taxes is because they are imposed by law, and law is to be known by all people, consumers and businessmen alike.

Operational costs are a whole other deal altogether.

Regards .

I'm not here to argue about the law about sales tax. Social customs are usually known by all people, too. I'm just pointing out that tips aren't a unique hidden cost.

Then you fail to do the job you are being paid for IMO. And the customer you are giving poor service to is entitled to look upon you as blackmailing them.

Reminder! You are being paid to do that job by your customer and his tips! If good tipper and poor tipper both need service, I am going to take the higher-paying job first.

If you want better service, pay for it. It works like that in other industries. If I want a nicer hotel, I'm going to pay more. You're getting up in arms about it because an individual server is making the decision about who to help first? I hope you're not still stuck on this spit-on-the-food nonsense. Nobody's spitting on the food, and reasonable servers will not treat you any differently based on how you tip (unless you're ridiculously generous), you just move back in the priority line. We have things to do, and money is our only incentive to decide which order to do them in.

Am I entitled to look upon Sony as blackmailing me when they won't give me the better TV for a the price of the more modest TV?

For me personally the main thing about ordering pizza's is not about going for the cheapest; other factors (like taste and proper service) come into play. You pay for quality.

You understand paying for quality in pizza. Why is it difficult to see that here we also pay for quality in service?

lolz. All this insistence that the US way provides better customer service and you fail when I look at the menu and can't see how much my meal is going to cost. *takes his money elsewhere*

Prices will vary by location. I'm surprised that menu doesn't say it, most chain places' menus do.

 

[Masquerouge]

DNK's post has strengthened my opinion that Mr. Pink was right, tipping is for the birds.

Any weak link in the chain of the process is blamed on the employee handling the bill. On the other hand, if the chain performs outstanding, the cook did a good job, the planner shaved 15 minutes of delivery time, the same guy gets rewarded. Where is the incentive for the cook to do a good job? The guy answering the phone?

What if I order a pizza, but the feller on the phone was a jerk, the pizza is lousy (I have to pay before seeing/tasting the pizza ... uhm hello?! What's up with that. Should I not tip next time and explain the last time I had a pizza it was terrible? No, I would order elsewhere. This is always a good way to show you're not satisfied, so raise the deliveryguy wage allready) but it was here fast? The delivery guy is not to blame, so I should still tip him for an overall bad service?

You're totally right. Do drivers share tips with the rest of the chain? I know they do that in some restaurants, all tips are pooled then split... Dunno if it includes the cooks.

Because ultimately, if tips are such a great idea, why are they not applied to every kind of service-oriented job? Like cashiers or clerks or...

 

[Rik Meleet]

You understand paying for quality in pizza. Why is it difficult to see that here we also pay for quality in service?

That is not hard to see at all.
But the opposite is also true - if I don't like the quality it is 0 tip for the one who is supposed to give me service. And I can do that because the employer pays the fair amount to his employees and I take care of rewarding the service. Basis = 0. Good service means a tip.

 

[warpus]

Social customs are usually known by all people, too.

Only by people who eat out every once in a while.

My parents, for example, didn't really get the whole tipping thing, until my sister started working as a waitress - they learned from her complaints about how much she was paid before tips.

You learn how tipping works by eating out.. You'll get ridiculed by your friends if you tip too low, or don't tip.. so you learn.

 

[Bugfatty300]

What I want to know is does your employer realize you spit in peoples pizza? Or that you allege you might?

My boss is likes to joke around about threatening me with bolt cutters but got mad one day because I jokingly asked a co-worker where her hat was. I was pretty frustrated.

Thats kind of how I feel when people on this forum can't take a joke for face value.

I don't know how many times I've explained this. Two? Maybe three times? so I don't think I'll explain it again for this post and hopefully this will be the end of it.

 

[LucyDuke]

That is not hard to see at all.
But the opposite is also true - if I don't like the quality it is 0 tip for the one who is supposed to give me service. And I can do that because the employer pays the fair amount to his employees and I take care of rewarding the service. Basis = 0. Good service means a tip.

That is true. But keep in mind if-when you visit the States that the house only has to pay the servers $2.13. Before taxes. That's why we'll gripe about non-tippers.

Only by people who eat out every once in a while.

My parents, for example, didn't really get the whole tipping thing, until my sister started working as a waitress - they learned from her complaints about how much she was paid before tips.

You learn how tipping works by eating out.. You'll get ridiculed by your friends if you tip too low, or don't tip.. so you learn.

That is true too. But it's true of everything: you learn how to do things by doing them. Unfortunately, people relying on students, as it were, for their livelihood makes a good case for your "we underpay our staff, tip them please" notices.

 

[Rik Meleet]

That is true. But keep in mind if-when you visit the States that the house only has to pay the servers $2.13. Before taxes. That's why we'll gripe about non-tippers.(..)

I sincerely doubt I'd ever want to go there. Nothing personal, but the place doesn't appeal to me.

And you are pointing your gripe in the wrong direction. Point it at the one paying you a below acceptable wage.

 

[Bugfatty300]

But how do you exactly apporach someone about tiping in a non-childish way...?

You don't really. Or risk being fired. This is true in the delivery business anyway.

I probably could mention a tip to a customer but most likely they'd just give some excuse or in the worst case scenario become angry and complain. Its just not worth it. Just let it go and remind yourself that the next customer will be better.

 

[brennan]

Reminder! You are being paid to do that job by your customer and his tips! If good tipper and poor tipper both need service, I am going to take the higher-paying job first.

Then you are placing a (hidden) premium on service I expect to be standard, and a service advertised as freeto boot. That's both dishonest and poor customer service.

If you want better service, pay for it. It works like that in other industries. If I want a nicer hotel, I'm going to pay more. You're getting up in arms about it because an individual server is making the decision about who to help first? I hope you're not still stuck on this spit-on-the-food nonsense. Nobody's spitting on the food, and reasonable servers will not treat you any differently based on how you tip (unless you're ridiculously generous), you just move back in the priority line. We have things to do, and money is our only incentive to decide which order to do them in.

I expect a basic standard, that being that my food is delivered reasonably fast so I can enjoy a nice hot pizza. Since that is my only expectation of you (apart from that you get my order right) I don't really see any room for improvement. Either you do your job or you don't and as far as i'm concerned you either earn your money or you don't. If you suck at your job and can't deliver hot pizzas then I expect you to get the sack and be replaced by someone competent. Either that or i'm gonna start ordering from someplace else.

Am I entitled to look upon Sony as blackmailing me when they won't give me the better TV for a the price of the more modest TV?

False Dichotomy. I expect to pay more for better pizzas, but I don't expect to pay more just to get my food delivered in a satisfactory condition, see above regarding basic expectations. In fact the idea that I might get a cold pizza just because someone else has slipped you an extra fiver would mean me taking my money to someplace else where people can fulfil my basic requirements. See above again.

You understand paying for quality in pizza. Why is it difficult to see that here we also pay for quality in service?

Because my basic expectations are high enough that I don't expect to receive a cold pizza. Cold pizza=you can't do your job, not =I am a cheapskate.

 

[Masquerouge]

I wanna throw another bone into that discussion.

Obviously, this thread shows that even in places where tipping is an ingrained custom, some people do not tip or do not tip as expected

To me, this means that bad tippers are an inherent part of the system. You can not get rid of them, because tipping is ultimately not mandatory (as opposed to, say, the sales tax).

So if you support tipping, as a system that you think works, then you must also acknowledge that you will always have poor and bad tippers.

Just like when you have a regular salary, you acknowledge that you'll be paid only at specified dates.

 

[warpus]

A lot of people don't tip because they come from cultures where tipping is not the norm - and they don't eat out enough to realize that it is a norm here. They are mostly older people.

If the establishments that prop up this 'tipping culture' took some effort to inform (on their menus, for example), this wouldn't be such a big problem. You mostly learn this stuff by going out enough, and figuring out who to tip, and who not to tip.. and how much.

 

[Mise]

If the establishments that prop up this 'tipping culture' took some effort to inform (on their menus, for example)

Or this thread?