Waiters on wheels
The email wasn’t meant to make me feel better about my own job, but it did.
“The next time you’re having trouble coming up with a story, go to www.tipthepizzaguy.com and do a little research,” wrote a local pizza delivery person recently.
The writer then shared a typical day of searching for homes without numbers or porch lights, of dealing with people who send children to the door to pay to avoid tipping, of waiting for ages while those who ordered loads of food search under couch cushions for change to pay the tab.
Mostly, though, the driver was upset because many people want food delivered right to their door, but don’t bother to tip.
Since I’d never given much thought to such things before, I took the emailer’s advice and visited tipthepizzaguy.com. I was soon sucked into the site. It felt like I’d stumbled into a secret underworld of pizza delivery people.
The site has an interesting message board for venting and scads of delivery stories that give insight into a world most have never thought of before, a world where many customers try to get something for nothing, where they try to con drivers into giving them rides or picking up other items while on the way to their house, where they get hit on and hustled and hurt. (According to a 2006 Washington Times article, being a pizza delivery driver is the fifth most dangerous job in the U.S.)
“By having us deliver pizza right to your house,” the driver wrote, “you don’t have to use your own gas or your time, you don’t have to find a parking spot or stand in line, then try to rush home before the pizza gets cold. Instead, you can spend the time doing chores or playing with your kids while your pizza is being delivered-nice and hot–to your door.”
With gas prices nearing $3 a gallon, many pizza chains have added a delivery charge to the bill. Many people (myself included) thought the new delivery charge was much like the automatic gratuity many sit-down restaurants add to make certain their waitstaff doesn’t get stiffed. “A lot of people think the delivery charge is my tip,” wrote the driver. “They believe that since they are paying $1.50 for delivery, that should be enough.”
Although some chains do share a small part of the fee (up to 20 cents), the surcharge covers the store’s increased expenses for ingredients, their escalating per-run cost, and their insurance. The one making the delivery isn’t the one who gets the so-called delivery charge.
Delivery drivers are risking their cars and lives, but just like waiters and waitresses, drivers are paid under minimum wage because most of their pay is supposed to come from tips.
One lurker at the site complained that delivery drivers don’t deserve the same percentage as waiters because they don’t seat the customer, refill their drinks, or do anything but bring the order, an opinion which prompted the webmaster to create an impressive chart with side-by-side comparisons between the two jobs.
“About half my customers did not tip,” wrote the driver who created the website. “I was courteous and always thanked them for ordering. It was surprising so many didn’t tip, yet they would smile, chat with me and express thanks. A few even called me their favorite driver. That led me to believe there was a general level of ignorance in the public. They simply didn’t know about tipping.”
The site recommends a $2 minimum tip, increased for bad weather, long distance, or if it takes a long time for you to complete the transaction. (If you still think tipping isn’t necessary, go to the site and read what can sometimes happen to the pizzas of those who make a habit of stiffing the drivers. It’s an appetite killer.) In a nutshell, if you can’t afford the tip, you can’t afford to have the pizza delivered.
Among the strange observations about tipping was that the best tippers tended to be those who order veggie pizzas, with meat lover types generally being the worst.
Other notable suggestions:
* It’s ok to add the tip to the check.
* Avoid paying small tabs with large bills, or with bags of change.
* Give the driver the coupon, even if he doesn’t remember to ask for it.
* If ordering from a business, notify the front desk and make sure your money is ready for the driver.
I have a new appreciation for what those drivers endure. And a new appreciation for my own job, as well. (And, for the record, I welcome tips, too.)
August 18th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Wow! Thanks for all of the insight! Even though I would never consider NOT tipping a pizza delivery person, this made for some interesting reading. Love the website, too.
August 20th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
My son-in-law delivers pizza, and part of his delivery area is in an affluent part of Charleston. He says folks there don’t tip nearly as well as those in middle-class neighborhoods, if they even bother to tip at all.
August 21st, 2006 at 3:06 am
I’ve always heard that those who can most afford to tip well are the least likely to tip at all. That’s really sad.
August 21st, 2006 at 4:42 pm
I already emailed you after reading your article, but thanks again for making it even more public on your blog. You really are doing a great job.
-D, delivery driver (view my blog for a peek into the delivery underworld)
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:28 am
Just to ease your mind, food tampering is highly rare though some talk about it like breathing air. The most anyone will get with a reputation for bad tipping is purposely late orders since we’ll prioritize normal/high tipper orders first. Weirdos that might tamper with food are usually too unstable to work as a delivery driver very long.
August 23rd, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Although I believe good service should be recognized, I disagree with tipping. Why is it the customer’s responsibility to supplement an employee’s income? When I visit a restaurant, I expect to pay for the food I ordered. The service should be included in the price of the food. Same thing goes for pizza delivery. Do we tip fast-food workers? No. Do we tip our doctors, nurses or physicians? No. I don’t get tipped when I perform well at my job. Why do some service workers expect to be rewarded for performing the jobs they were hired to do?
Now, before anyone attacks, let me say that I do actually tip. In fact, I often leave at least a minimal tip for bad service because I realize the folks in these jobs don’t make a lot of money. But instead of passing the costs onto customers, why don’t we look at perhaps chaning the law to require certain businesses to fairly pay their employees?
August 23rd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
There is a lot of merit in what Bluelou has to say about tipping. I’m glad that he(?) does tip, though, the system being what it is.
As a teenager, I worked at as a busboy/dishwasher at a large cafeteria that was located behind the Mound in South Charleston. As restaurant employees, naturally waitresses and busboys were paid less than minimum wage. While busboys didn’t receive tips, the waitresses did, though in a round-about manner–the owner required all waitresses to pool their tips, then divide them evenly AFTER he took a cut for the store (more likely for himself!).
August 25th, 2006 at 5:28 am
In many countries, there is the so-called “service charge” included. Some would say since the employee already knows what they are going to be paid, they aren’t going to do any more or less than they have to. How often is the service superb at your fast food example? Though with delivery, the service is less hands on with customers so I could see your point in just charging and paying the customer accordingly. In Australia, drivers are paid a higher wage and the company often provide vehicles. In the US, with insurance costs, no food delivery store wants want to equip all it’s stores with vehicles, pay drivers more and jack the price of the food to cover it when a few bucks here under the current system works great for them. I also suspect that if the US followed the Australian model, a store would charge the customer more than if the customer just paid the current price plus tip. Individual deliveries are far more costly to do than say a truckload of UPS packages.
August 25th, 2006 at 5:34 am
maicomike points out another problem with “tipped minimum wage.” They are rife with examples of abuse. You can’t pay busboys under normal minimum wage. That’s completely illegal. It’s obscene enough the owner gets to subsidize his payroll because of customary tipping. Yet to take a slice for the store is outrageous. And since most waitstaff don’t claim their tips, they feel completely unempowered to file complaints about such abuse.
August 27th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Tim, I’m not sure what the law is now regarding wages for busboys, but keep in mind that this was in 1970. The owner of this cafeteria (and two others by the same name in Charleston) wasn’t known among his employees for his sense of fairness and good will toward those who worked for him.
Case in point–I once slipped and fell on a wet floor with a large stackof dinner plates, several of which broke. He heard the crash and came running. While he did ask whether or not I was hurt, the gruff manner in which he asked implied tht he was more concerned about a workers comp case than he was about my well-being.
I’ve always thought that perhaps he felt justified in taking a cut of the tips for the store because he personally carved and served the prime rib on Sunday afternoons.
August 28th, 2006 at 1:48 am
I’m sure the interpretations, changes, and add-ons to the Fair Labor Standard Act have changed since it was created in 1938. The department of labor provides great specific decisions and interpretations of the FLSA. For example, the DOL specifically points out that employees can’t be paid tipped minimum wage for duties outside of what earns them the tip. A waitress can be expected to set up the tables and serve the customer, but if she is supposed to wash dishes, she is supposed to be paid non-tipped minimum wage. As people don’t tip busboys, they shouldn’t be getting tipped minimum wage regardless of any tip split policies though I’ll admit this looks gray to me looking at the tip pooling policy in the FLSA. However, it clearly states that if an employer takes a portion to count as his own gross receipts, he cannot count the employee as a tipped employee and must pay a higher wage. Interesting stuff.