How much to tip the pizza delivery guy?

[awayfarer]

It depends. If he mouths off or gets real snarky, usually about degrees. I may tip him to 77 or more if he's really bent out of shape. Generally if they're nice I don't tip them at all, I figure they're fine the way they are.

One fun thing to do, just before you tip them, say, "Whats your angle?" they never see it coming.

 

[Stormborn]

Generally I tip the pizza guy a dollar or two and whatever makes it an even number.

Except this one time...

I was coming over to my girlfriends after work and asked her to order a pizza for us because I knew that she didnt want to go out that night. Now, I am no stickler about the temperature of my pizza and so was hoping she would order it before I got there. She however waited until the last possible moment before I would arrive to order the pizza so that "it would be hot for me."

What she didnt know was that the engagement ring I had order for her had come in that day and it was burnign a hole in my pocket. I had thought to wait until the weekend but she and I had talked about how she wanted it to be a suprise and I had already talked to her family and mine about me ordering a ring for her. I just didnt think I was going to be able to keep her in the dark so I had decided on proposing that night.

So all day long I am getting worked up about asking her.

I get there an no pizza - which I wasnt interested in anyway and knew she wouldnt really want afterwards but was mainly to maintain the illusion of a quiet evening in front of the TV togther. She has just ordered it.

A more patient man would have waited. I was about to bust.

I get the box out of my pocket, get down on one knee, and ask her to marry me.

She starts crying and reapeating over and over "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou..."

The doorbell rings.

I put the box back in my pocket and go to the door and hand the guy a $20 for a $10 pizza and shut the door.

I put the pizza down and return to her at the couch, get back down on one knee, open the box and ask again.

"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou..."

"Is that a yes?" I ask.

"Yesyesyesyes...." you get the picture.

After much crying on her part, kissing and hugging, and calling of parents, siblings, and friends I think I, at some point, ate two slices of pizza. We wound up eating most of it the next day after all her calculations about timing it so that it would hot for me.

That was the one and only time I tipped someone for as much or more than the food cost.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

The U.S. has a minimum wage law, as well, though, at the moment, it's a very low wage, and it hasn't increased in something like 15 years. (Many states have instituted higher minimums.)

In addition, as LightPhoenix notes, in some jobs in which tipping is expected (e.g., waiters), the minimum wage apparently doesn't apply. I'm not sure if "delivery driver" is among those that are exempt from the minimum.

North Carolina has upped their minimum wage to $6.15, a whole dollar higher than the Federal minimum wage.

Waitstaff makes a base salary of $2.13/hr plus tips.

From what I heard from a friend who was a pizza delivery guy, they make at least minimum wage plus any tips, hence why he says not to tip them as much as one would do waitstaff.

 

[buzzard]

I'm pretty much a universal 20% tipper. I will venture up from that, but I rarely go below. It doesn't matter the context (except buffets, which I usually don't tip much for unless the server is amazing, which is hard with just soft drinks).

I did once get in a habbit of really generous tipping when there was a bar by roomate and I frequented every week for imports night. There was one server there who we liked, and we got into her section if we could by any means. The other server was flat out lousy. But our waitress kicked butt and took names. I pretty much drank the same thing every time (hey Whitbread Pale Ale for $2 a bottle is nothing to sneeze at). Our waitress was so good, that I didn't even have to ask for my next drink. If my bottle was down around 1/4 level, I'd have a new one without asking. Now that was service. We left VERY ample tips.

buzzard

 

[Mark CMG]

On tipping, error to the generous side. Start with ten percent with delivery, fifteen to twenty percent with wait staff, and twenty-five percent with bartenders. Add that percentage to the total then round up to the next nearest dollar on the total bill to even out your credit card or what you hand the person in paper money. The benefits you will garner from being recognized as a generous tipper far outweigh the coins you save, and the average service you will receive in the future, by calculating exact or lowball tips.

 

[Pyrex]

Pizza Guys: 10% or $2, whichever is higher.

Waitstaff: 0% to 30% based upon quality of service.

 

[Mycanid]

I must admit that I have always felt extremely sorry for waiters and waitresses, and generally tip them 15-20%, unless the service is just from an "I don't care - how dare you disturb me here at work - #E%^%$$ freakazoid...." angle. [Yes ... I have come across that from time to time - how they keep their jobs I will never know. They probably don't. :\ ]

The delivery guys though ... well, since I live WAY off the beaten track I don't order pizza too often. But sometimes when I will go and visit a friend we will order one. I have a friend in nearby Chico who I visit every 6 weeks or so who just got married and we pretty regularly order the same pizza from the same place. These guys have always been on time, and the service has been normal - sometimes even friendly (in a genuine way too). In such cases when I am paying I usually tip 15%, always rounding up.

When I lived in Syracuse (19 years ago! ) I used to order pizza a lot more ... I kept to the same tipping standard. And like Roderigo earlier pointed out, if a place gets to know that you regularly tip they WILL deliver to you earlier and faster. We were gamers, and we would order just before midnight - usually on Friday evenings - so the place was used to us. "You those guys down on Ellis Street?" "Yeah." "Same old same old?" "Yeah" "'Kay ... be there in 15 minutes."

Makes me giggle to think about it.

Perhaps there is a little bit of guilt too in my tipping the deliverers, now that I think about it, for some of the stunts we used to pull on the poor guys. Hmm....

 

[Agamon]

North American customers are not the best tippers, generally speaking. Always leave at least 15%, pizza guy, waitress, whatever. Don't leave nothing if the service sucks, leave something insiginificant if the service is really poor, (and only if that bad service is all the server's fault), that way they know they need to shape up and not that you are forgetful or don't tip.

I delivered pizza in high school. I got paid per delivery, so tips were necessary to make a decent wage when it wasn't incredibly busy.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I delivered pizza in high school. I got paid per delivery, so tips were necessary to make a decent wage when it wasn't incredibly busy.

Of course that also meant that you weren't actually "working" as such when it wasn't busy!

Olaf the Stout

 

[Hypersmurf]

When I lived in Syracuse (19 years ago! ) I used to order pizza a lot more ... I kept to the same tipping standard. And like Roderigo earlier pointed out, if a place gets to know that you regularly tip they WILL deliver to you earlier and faster. We were gamers, and we would order just before midnight - usually on Friday evenings - so the place was used to us. "You those guys down on Ellis Street?" "Yeah." "Same old same old?" "Yeah" "'Kay ... be there in 15 minutes."

A friend of mine once lived in an apartment with about nine people. One wall of the living room was lined - up to a height of over six feet - with empty pizza boxes.

One of the flatmates could, apparently, pick up the phone, hit speed dial, say "Hi - my order, please," and hang up... and the pizza would be there in ten minutes.

-Hyp.