Tip the pizza delivery driver!

[Whomp]

I doubt the staff pays that much attention to which customers go there.

Heh. Good luck with that thinking. Having worked in the service business there's two people you never forget and tell everyone in the house about. You fill one of the two categories.

 

[woody60707]

What about tips on curb-side pick up, like at outback stake house?

Sometimes I tip and sometimes I haven't. I've asked my friends, some say tip, some say don't, some say tip only 5%-10% at most.

Also, dappers Restaurant has awesome cream of chicken soup on Sundays. I just was in, ask for a to go bowl, and about 1-2 mins later I am walking out with my food. I have never tip. I never even thought I should leave a tip, is that wrong?

 

[Gogf]

Yet that's exactly how it happened during this thread... Some vague notion to begin with, then 3 or 4 people coming up with some supposedly authoritative rules.

I don't really care what happened in this thread. I know how the system works.

Okay, so why should I tip if I go to America?

It's unethical not to.

Or rather, what will happen if I don't tip?

Nothing.

 

[Whomp]

Okay, so why should I tip if I go to America?

Beacause its customary in the states?

Or rather, what will happen if I don't tip?

Just don't do it while on a business trip since it would be quite embarrassing.

What about tips on curb-side pick up, like at outback stake house?

I've never been there but when I pick up there's no tip.

 

[FredLC]

Well, that's true, Fred. But I think it's a little overblown. Buggfatty was blowing off steam about not being tipped, and I think his point was that people who don't tip deserve to have their food spat in. Of course, this got picked up by a lot of people who don't understand how it works and started blowing the "tipping is racketeering!" horn.

I understand that, but the sentiment there is real, and i think that the whole point the other side is trying to make is that it shouldn't be, that it's unreasonable to expect it, and "punish" people who fulfill their contracts to the fullest, just because they don't volunteer to graciously give more.

Of course we could pay our waiters like in Europe. But do we want to? The argument in favor of tipping is that it provides much better customer service and provides customers with an avenue to dock a poor server for their poor service. I, for one, actually like the system.

Again, I understand that. I'm just saying that I think that whatever steam is to be lost, is being aimed at the wrong target.

Nonetheless, nobody is ever gonna stop the rain by complaining.

Regards .

 

[LucyDuke]

It's clear to me that the "American system" story is, in fact, a story.

Oops! You caught us! We're making the whole thing up! Sorry.

So if I do not tip, I deserve bad service?

It's very rude. It's disrespectful and insulting. It makes you look bad. I don't think you deserve bad service, but I can't see anyone going out of their way to give you more than the bare minimum.

 

[The Yankee]

I'm not understanding what's so hard to understand in the "you get what you pay for"-like system. Pay really well and of course you'll never see the bottom of your glass. Don't and don't be surprised that the motivation of pay means you'll not be the top priority.

The whole "they're holding my food hostage!" thing is a little tired by page 27, IMHO.

 

[Trafalgar]

My pizza delivery guy is always pleasant...... so I tip him.

 

[warpus]

Well, first we have to think about who wants to get this information out. Restaurants aren't going to do it, because passing out pamphlets titled "why we tip" is expensive, awkward, and brings them no real benefit.

You're 100% right that handing out pamphlets saying "We pay our servers $2 an hour" would be awkward.. embarassing, too!

It's unethical not to.

Maybe it shouldn't be called a gratuity then

I'm wondering what you think an appropriate tip would be for horrible service?

I have not tipped anything at all 2-3 times. I did so when the service was unacceptable. If the service is even worse than that (I can't imagine how), I would leave a couple cents in tip. This has never ever happened.

If the service is relatively bad but bearable, I might tip $1 or $2. This has happened maybe.. I don't know.. 10-15 times?

What would you tip for 1. unacceptable service 2. disguisting service (ie. it almost made you vomit) and 3. bad service ?

 

[TheLastOne36]

My worst day ever: i got to a restaurant, and i tip the waiter 10 $ cool right? But i accidently put 2 extra zero's (to make it 10.00$ but in reality it was 1000$) and i tipped a waiter 1000 $. I didn't argue cause the waiter looked pretty happy and i didn't want spoil his day. (he took the rest of day of apparently...)

 

[Bamspeedy]

Griping? It's their policy.

When I first read this I thought you were making a joke that it is the customer's policy to gripe about anything and everything. (Years of working customer service warps the mind).

Now I realize you were referring to the company's policy of free food if it's late. Yes, you can get the food for free if they are one minute late, but in my opinion (and most likely the driver's), the customer looks like a jerk if they don't allow a few minutes leeway before enforcing that policy. I know you at least allowed 2 minutes, but I think most people would be a little more generous than that, and not demand the food be free until at least 10-15 minutes past the time*. Personally, if they told me 30 minutes, I wouldn't complain until it got to be an hour; if they told me 45 minutes, I wouldn't complain until 1.25-1.5 hours (tip may suffer a bit, though), but I realize most people aren't that patient.

*This is assuming you aren't having the food delivered to your work where your lunch period is limited and not flexible because then every single minute does count alot more than at home when you aren't really doing anything of importance.

I'm wondering what you think an appropriate tip would be for horrible service?

I have not tipped anything at all 2-3 times. I did so when the service was unacceptable. If the service is even worse than that (I can't imagine how), I would leave a couple cents in tip. This has never ever happened.

If the service is relatively bad but bearable, I might tip $1 or $2. This has happened maybe.. I don't know.. 10-15 times?

What would you tip for 1. unacceptable service 2. disguisting service (ie. it almost made you vomit) and 3. bad service ?

I was thinking of asking you that. If you tipped nothing if it was 3 minutes late, then what do you tip if it was 20 minutes late? The driver will have the attitude that "well I'm not going to make it in time anyways, so I'll save this one for last".

My scale:
Great (no complaints, delivered on time or earlier) $4-$5
Mediocre/Standard (a few minutes late, or something pretty minor to complain about) $2-$3
Below par (big complaint) $1, unless I know it was entirely the driver's fault then I won't give him a tip
Horrible (makes me want to gag)- No tip, will likely choose a competitor next time.

 

[warpus]

Now I realize you were referring to the company's policy of free food if it's late. Yes, you can get the food for free if they are one minute late, but in my opinion (and most likely the driver's), the customer looks like a jerk if they don't allow a few minutes leeway before enforcing that policy.

What? Why?

And I thought I was being nice for giving them 2-3 extra minutes, just because I knew that it was tough to find a parking spot by my apartment at times! And I let the clock run until they buzzed me - I did not count the time it took them to get to my door.

but I think most people would be a little more generous than that, and not demand the food be free until at least 10-15 minutes past the time

That is very generous indeed.

Swiss Chalet usually has a 45 minute or free policy; and I order from their website from time to time. After you're done putting in your order, the site will clearly say "Food will arrive in 45 minutes or less, or it's free".

IMO it should be the delivery guy enforcing the rule, instead of the customer, if it's late!

And that's what happens half the time - they just hand me the food and walk away, not expecting any payment.. apparently not even a tip. Now, do they do that because nobody ever tips in such a case? or because a trip is truly not warranted? Hmm?

 

[Shylock]

This reminds me a lot of the first few chapters of Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson.

Basically the Mafia (now legitimate as there is no government to speak of) owns the largest chain of pizza restaurants in America. If a pizza is late the head of the Mafia himself has to fly to the customer and apoligise.

Needless to say, the drivers take the time limit very seriously.

 

[Bamspeedy]

What? Why?

And I thought I was being nice for giving them 2-3 extra minutes, just because I knew that it was tough to find a parking spot by my apartment at times! And I let the clock run until they buzzed me - I did not count the time it took them to get to my door.

Well, I only rarely ordered from Domino's, the only place I know of that had such a policy (delivered in x time or it is free), so I'm not too familiar with how they come up with what time to use as the standard before it is free. Is it a time that is below par so they want to beat that time, or is it a time that is horrible (compared to normal delivery times)? What is the average delivery time for Swiss Chalet? If it is a time that is only a little longer than the average delivery, then any small delay and then you have problems with managers ordering their drivers to speed in order to beat the delivery time, and I want no part in that (and why two domino drivers crashed into each other in my town so they dropped the policy). If it is a horrible time so the free food is very rare then I guess counting the minutes isn't quite so bad.

Sorry, I just get this image of some geezer that is standing there with a stopwatch because he is so desperately trying to get free food. If we told someone their pizza would be there in 30 minutes, we usually wouldn't get a call from them asking where there pizza was until it's been at least 45 minutes.

AFAIK, domino's has pre-made pizza so they pretty much have the pizza in the oven one minute after you call, so 45 minutes from Domino's is a bit more rediculous than small pizza places that make everything from scratch after you placed the order, so the average delivery would take a bit longer and 45 minutes is the standard.

 

[The Yankee]

Thirty minutes seems like a pretty good time to expect. But after the accidents (I think a death came out of it, which led to the following), Domino's scrapped that promise. Too many drivers were racing to their destinations to keep up the promise.

 

[Nobody]

Maybe i should start tiping blizard employees, because there customer service sucks... (im currently banned from azeroth for 72 hours for have a è in my name)

 

[woody60707]

Maybe i should start tiping blizard employees, because there customer service sucks... (im currently banned from azeroth for 72 hours for have a è in my name)

Well to be fair, there is a really good reason behind that rule.

 

[brennan]

People who haven't grown up in a culture with tipping and well understood obviously don't understand the system very well.

This is clearly a strawman Gogf. How the system works is blindingly obvious to everyone, even us benighted Euros tip waiters. Many of us however can see that your system falls down in a variety of ways. If anyone is failing to understand anything it it certain US posters who apparently cannot understand where the problem is and whose only response is to throw insults about.

 

[DNK]

To reiterate, no one spits in food that I have seen. Yes, at times it's quite tempting, but it doesn't happen to my knowledge. Let us end that once and for all. Anyone threatening to do so needs to grow up, period.

What would you tip for 1. unacceptable service 2. disguisting service (ie. it almost made you vomit) and 3. bad service ?

Since we're sharing tipping schemes, from someone who's been reliant on tips for a while now.

15% if the job the person is asked to perform is done. If they say the pizza will be there in an hour and it's there in an hour without any pieces missing, that's what the guy gets. If it's a restaurant and the waiter isn't just completely gone for the first thirty minutes, 15%.

+5% for good service. If the person is friendly, attentive, etc.
-5% for problems with the product. Late food, cold food, missing food. I usually never drop this though, as it'd have to be fairly bad.

+10% for excellent service. If the person gives me free stuff or is basically waiting on me hand and foot (which I never expect). This would be rare, though.

No tip for absolutely horrid service. Person spits at me or cusses me out, etc.

Again, I think with deliveries it's more important to tip based on distance than order size. $5 pizza delivered 7 miles = $5 at least. Whichever is biggest - 15% or .75 x miles.

 

[Jeff1787]

I have many friends in the Service Industry and they all pretty much live on their tips. So I use 20% as a general guideline. I will occasionally tip higher if the service is really great and lower as the service gets worse.

A $20 pizza delivered on time I would give 5 bucks....I love pizza!!!!!!!!!