OT: What do you usually tip the pizza guy?

Submitted by aaamichfan on

So I haven't been on the board much lately, and figured this would be an interesting question for the MGoMasses on a Friday night. I just ordered a pizza for delivery(first time in probably 9 months), and ended up tipping the guy $1.75. He gave me a look like, "Geeze buddy, thanks for being such a cheap bastard."

I figure, $1.75 seems like an adequate amount for a pizza driver, especially when everyone is already charging $2.50-$3 for delivery nowadays.

Am I being a cheap bastard by tipping $1.75? What is your standard tip for delivery? What is your standard tip at a restaurant?

SFBayAreaBlue

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:45 PM ^

extra dollar on him, he woulda been happy, even if you'd just included a couple of loose quarters in that situation.   

He was probably thinking ahead of time about the bill size and thinking that it sucks that it was so close to 15$  Then when you just gave him the 15$ that was like the minimum he could have gottent (from normal people) so it was kind of a bummer for him.  

gbdub

August 4th, 2012 at 6:01 PM ^

Why is it different for delivery? The point is that the waiter/driver does the same amount of work to deliver a pie to your table/house regardless of whether you had a coupon or not, so it's good form to tip on the undiscounted amount.

OTOH I can see the logic of giving a delivery guy the same tip regardless of order size, but if that's the case $1.75 is a tad low. Anyway you only tipped 13%, which is on the low side even if $13 was the full sticker price.

MGoBrewMom

August 4th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^

I usually over tip... I say 15% so I don't get in trouble from the other half who tips $2 on a $35 order!! This s why I usually pay...so Pizza guy doesn't think we at totally cheap (one of us is!). I usually tip 20%..but that's because I usually go back and forth with myself and come to the conclusion that a couple bucks doesn't hurt me all that much, and the dude running his ass around probably really appreciates that.

So an extra buck and he probably would have just thought you were cheap without the look on top of it.

tjyoung

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:55 PM ^

And I can tell you that we make only $0.50 of the delivery fee that the pizza place charges. In most cases that's not even enough to pay for your gas round trip to and from the delivery destination. It's a big misconception that the delivery guy keeps the full fee. Apparently the rest goes to "insurance" to cover the driver, which is complete BS.

Long story short, I tip my guy $4 minimum. And that's why I never order delivery. I always pick up. If you tip correctly, you'll end up spending at least an extra $6.

One more thing, you shouldn't base the tip off of the total price you pay. If you're really going to analyze it, you should base it on how far the guy drives to and from your place to deliver you the pie.

One more (one more) thing. Delivery guys get paid less than minimum wage because it's expected that they get tips. They usually make $5-6/hour.

Wolverine in Troy

August 4th, 2012 at 1:47 AM ^

I was also a delivery boy at 2 restaurants while at Michigan (2004-8). I was paid the same wage as the host and made a few extra bucks on tips. Not sure where/when delivering became a job that depended exclusively on tips- if that were the case I never would have done it.

$4 would be a tip to remember. 

EDIT: I should note that tips averaged out to a bit more than what I paid for gas (it was nice having a delivery radius of ~5 miles)

clarkiefromcanada

August 3rd, 2012 at 10:24 PM ^

...but concerns linger for Green.

In an exclusive discussion this evening the door Papa John's Pizza delivery driver called "pizza guy" predicted WR LaQuon Treadwell to go Blue. "Pizza Guy" did express concerns about the potential for Derrick Green given that he's only recently re-configured his top list. Next week, analysis after Calzone order.

Monocle Smile

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:22 PM ^

Firstly, the driver does not get any of that delivery charge.

Tip your driver like you tip your waiter. Sort of. Add extra if he has to drive an appreciable distance. There are drivers who need to pay for their own gas, and there's really no way to distinguish.

bigmc6000

August 4th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^

If they are paying for their own gas doesn't that mean they get the 50ish cents a mile off their taxes?  That alone would be a nice incentive if you have a car that gets 25ish mpg your tax return ends up being pretty darn close to the actual cost of your gas.

 

I also know a bunch of waitresses and waiters and if you give them cash it's an extremely high liklihood they aren't going to end up paying taxes on it so it all probably evens out in the end. But, as others have said, I refuse to have a pizza delivered for many reasons. 1) they charge a lot more and 2) I don't need some random @ss guy coming to my house 3) when anyone comes to my house my dogs go absolutely ape-shit and I don't feel like dealing with that 4) it takes at least twice as long to deliver as it does to pick up. I'm about 1/4 mile from a Pizza Hut and to get delivery it woud take over 30 mins, pick up is around 10...

Leonhall

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:24 PM ^

It depends on what you order and how far they travel....here's a question I've always wondered, if you order carry out from say Olive Garden and pick it up...do you tip the guy who rings you up? Never know what to do...

cargo

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:27 PM ^

That situation just how generous you feel.  If your in a good mood or the person is nice throw them a couple bucks.  If not don't there is no common thing to do in this situation.  Plus you make that person a little happy when they get that one tip out of the last 50 pickups.

jdon

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:29 PM ^

I always give them a dollar or two for their time, but never any more.  I figure they put my meal together for me to take home so I appreciate that...  but really i am only tipping like 5%.

as for pizza.  I pick it up because if they are driving to my house I figure it is worth at least 25% of my order and I don't like to add five bucks onto my 20$ order.

jdon

 

cargo

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^

Working in the food industry all through high school, and college.  Cooking, Delivering etc.  I am a generous tipper i honestly do 20% on average.  Pizza wise I i probably tip 5 bucks on a 20-30 dollar order. If im gonna spend the money 20-30 on food i can at least enough money for the ~gallon of gas he used driving here and back.

HelloHeisman91

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:28 PM ^

My standard tip is four dollars. I will go to five dollars if the driver is nice, big order, etc.. I worked for tips throughout college and learned how far an extra dollar or two can go in terms of service.

LexArborWolvCats

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:28 PM ^

20 is the new 18 percent which was the new 15 percent which was the new judged on the quality of service. I am a waiter as my college job, and a tip isn't supposed to be expected. That's why it's called work.