h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There should definitely be a word about pizza delivery guys (or gals, sure): As you will probably use the same pizza outlet multiple times, ask the first time whether tip is included. If not, feel free to tip anywhere from a dollar to, say, firstborn children.

For example: My friend Nic Darling worked at a little pizza place called LB's (in Lima, New York, US). During that time, he recieved many interesting tips, including food, books, and collectibles.

Myself, I usually tip a book. After all, when I buy them from the library discard pile and the local used book store, they're cheaper than cash tips.

On an unrelated note, tipping friends, or anyone, for a ride, should be your share of the gas money -- or more. If that seems mercenary, consider buying fast-food certificates when they're being sold cheap. I give free coffee certificates from gas stations to anyone who drives me somewhere -- anyone have something even better?

A book? A DISCARD book? That would guarantee your next pizza be turned upside down at some point in the delivery!

Delivery drivers usually make minimum wage and rely on tips - some restaurants add a two+ dollar delivery charge and some don't. Some drivers get all of this charge, most don't.

Remember, they usually use their own cars and pay for their own gas, so every bit helps!

Having been a pizza delivery driver (here in the US) I generally tend to tip pretty well (20% plus). When working I usually expected 10% to 15%, more if I got there quickly or it was very rainy. I occasionally got other tips like a beer or two (appreciated and sometimes drunk on the spot) but I would have found a book insulting.

Oddly enough, I usually found that poor college students were the best and most consistent tippers, while the wealthy ones usually tipped "the change" - often 25 cents or so. The poorer students would either give you 1 to 2 dollars in change or they would apologize profusely for only having $5.00 to pay for a $4.50 pizza.

*sigh* Of course I give a dollar in addition -- And the books are always in fine condition. Besides, I believe a bit of enrichment beats capitalism any day. I also rely on the approval of said tipping practices from my former-delivery-man friend, who much appreciated books as more thoughtful -- and thought-provoking -- than cold cash. And he was struggling to make ends meet -- he could've used that money, surely!

My ex was a pizza delivery girl for a few years, she had some very interesting times...however, being 18 and very pretty she did quite well for tips from the guys and gay gals that she delivered to. Not suggesting that tipping is sexually motivated at all.....

With a son that delivered for 6 years, I am intimate with the Domino's sysytem. They get minimum plus to start, get 75c per trip, a gas allowance and extra for loading the sign atop their car. IF, again IF they get decent tips, they can get upwards of $11/hour on a decent nite. Someone that hustles can rack up. However, I've noticed that the majority of drivers simply don't know how to manage their money properly

having *been* a domino's driver for a few years, i can verify that some of what you say is true, and some of it isn't, so it must vary from market to market, or from managing group to managing group.

this was my experience driving for domino's:

we were paid the full minimum wage (while tip-earning minimum wage in my state is half the full, we earned the full hourly rate). we received .48 per delivery for maintenance. this maintenace bonus was for each order, not each run, so if there were several orders going to the same area at the same time, we could get up to 1.44 for one trip (up to 3 orders maximum at a time). we did not get extra for having a sign on our car, we were *required* to have a lighted sign on our car, it wasn't something you did for a bit of extra cash.

we carried a couple of closing drivers, who would work a 7 or 8 hour shift, but the majority of us were 'rush drivers', working only the 4 hours or less of dinner rush (5pm to 9pm). our tips and maintenance were paid in cash at the end of the night, and we reported our tips for taxes. taking taxes on wages plus tips doesn't leave much of a paycheck (the tips are often more than the wages, so the taxes are quite high), so what we took home in cash was the majority of our income.

in short, while i made decent money delivering pizza, i could never have lived on the money i made if i hadn't also had a full-time job.

the drivers know their areas, and it doesn't take long for a whole store to know which houses are good tippers, and which ones aren't. i can give you two specific instances that i remember well. the first was a house about five minutes from the store that ordered regularly on friday nights. the lady always tipped between $3-5 depending on the size of her order (2 or 3 pizzas), and as soon as her order was out of the oven one of us would immediately take it to her. a majority of the time her delivery time was 15 to 20 minutes.

the other lady lived in a brand new house in a brand new subdivision at the edge of our delivery area. when you delivered her pizza she would stand there with a sour look on her face while you counted out her change to the penny. she never gave any of the drivers a tip, no matter how fast she received her order. so eventually none of us would deliver her order until we had something else going out in her direction, rarely did she get an order in less than 40 minutes. i'm sorry, but if you live in a new house with a nice car in the driveway, you can afford to give your driver a dollar.

these days i generally tip drivers $2-3, depending on how much my order is, and how long it takes me to get it.

As a current employee at a Dominos, I agree that the way we are paid does vary a good deal. Where I work, we get $5/hr to start (yes that's below minimum wage), 65 cents a delivery for the use of our vehicle, plus tips. Since tips get claimed, I usually don't see much of a(if any) pay check.

Still, in this "improving economy" our president is so proud of, this is the best paying job around here in the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania USA) and I'm glad I have it.

Regards
Don

I found this article linked up on fark.com and figured I would comment on the Pizza thread .

Here in the States the pizza/chinese/etc delivery guy will almost always offer to give back whatever change your supposed to receive just because there are enough of the "I want my 3 cents back" types to cause problems otherwise, but it's pretty much expected that you try to tip at least a dollar or so.

If your going to be in the States for a while and find that you are frequently ordering pizza/chinese/any other kind of food delivery it's a good idea to tip well. Unless I'm broke cause I forgot to hit the ATM and am paying with a bunch of quarters and such, I'll usually try to tip the guy at least 5$ or so but usually give around 7$ or so. Tipping your delivery guy well pretty much ensures that you get your stuff quick/hot and often includes other perks like more stuff on your pizza, containers of chinese food with more in them. If your ordering from smaller non-chain places and have established yourself as a regular customer/good tipper often simply extra stuff you didn't order along with your order.

*sniff* my new apartment is (way) out of the delivery area for the chinese place I used to always order from

Well, firstly, I'd love to see more people like tetrasodium who tipped $5-7 all the time. Although to be quite honest, it's not that rare.

I've worked as a pizza delivery guy for Papa Gino's (New England chain) for over 3 year's (I'm 23), and consistently make $12+ and hour, usually $15/hr. I started at minimum wage for Mass. which is $6.75, making $7.10 now, no big deal tho. I also get reimbursed $0.65 per delivery, plus all my tips, which do NOT get taxed unless I put them in! I guess this is what separates me from the rest, because I end up making 15 grand in tips/reimbursements a year that goes pretty much untaxed, more than dwarfing the 9 grand gross I make through wages. The average tip is $2 and whatever the change is, where a $1 plus change leaves me grumbling and just the change leaves me shaking my head remembering you for next time. $4 or more and I'll get to you ASAP next time.

Although not commonly practiced, I suggest a bigger tip if I'm carrying a lot of stuff. If you see me struggling, and/or I have a long walk to meet you, tip well! If you only order a small pizza, I don't expect you to tip $5 for a $8 order, and $2 is fine.

Lastly, I don't carry loose change, and don't offer it to people. I've had to give the exact change back only once, and he didn't order again. If getting the exact change back is important enough, so what some people do and pay me with it, or make it so I can give you back whole dollar amounts to do so, because the day you need 34 cents back is the day you shouldn't be ordering pizza anymore.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] as I'm more than open to discussing this topic at great length, as you can tell. =)

Wow, $5 - $7 tips? That's impressive. I'm a poor college student and I still tip well (in my opinion, anyway), but I've never tipped quite that much for anything I've had delivered, especially since it's usually only a small order and good for one or two meals.

I've noticed, though, that if I don't say anything regarding how much change I want back, I generally don't get any. This may have to do with the fact that the delivery drivers in my town are generally poor college students themselves and need as much as they can get from tips. Just recently I ordered a $6.24 meal from California Chicken Grill and had to pay with a ten...the driver took it, said "thanks," and took off before I had a chance to say anything (which I would have - the guy had no customer service skills whatsoever and did not deserve a 50%+ tip!). Usually, the delivery person will hesitate to give you a chance to tell them how much change you want, but in my experience you have to say something.

One other semi-related comment - when paying by credit card, I always tip a little more than I would if I were paying in cash. Those tips leave a record behind, so they often have to be declared, while cash tips can be kept strictly under-the-table. My sister pointed this out to me not long ago - she has a long history in the service industry - and told me she basically stopped declaring her cash tips when the credit card tips got so frequent.