How much to tip the pizza delivery guy?

[Seonaid]

This is interesting. I was gaming once this past year and we decided to order pizza, and for some reason I ended up paying for it (I think I charged it). I gave the guy 10%, whereupon he asked me for more money. I refused, because I generally tip around 10 for delivery, but when I told my gaming group this, they were appalled. Apparently, I should have tipped the same as for waitstaff. This thread makes me think perhaps not? I can't tell what the consensus is.

Anyway, for waitstaff, I tip a minimum of 15% no matter what. If the service is excellent, I'll go as high as 25% or even 30. If the service is poor, I tip 15. The only time I leave less than 15 is if I forget (which has only happened once or twice). I do not tip pick-up, unless I really like the people/place or I've made a complicated order. Then, I'll do around 10. I'll tip 10 for buffets, 15 or 20 if it's really good.

As for bartenders, I tend to tip really well since generally I'm tipping per drink, but it really burns me to tip them because 1) I believe they get paid more than waitstaff and 2) they aren't doing anything for me other than mixing my drinks and handing them to me. If I were to sit around and chew the bartender's ear off, I wouldn't mind tipping 50%. But when I'm expected to give a dollar or two for a drink that's less than five? No way, that's freaking ridiculous. Edit: and yet I do it anyway, because it's what's expected.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No way, that's freaking ridiculous. Edit: and yet I do it anyway, because it's what's expected.

No need to cave to expectations. Would they stop serving if you didn't tip a buck a drink? It's hardly a gratuity if it is expected.

 

[Seonaid]

Too troo, too troo. I am a slave to the system!

 

[ssampier]

A few bucks, I rarely do the math in my head. I am not a very demanding customer, so I selfishly tip less.

The only time I tip reasonably well is gambling. It's just chips (checks), you don't notice every silver.

2> Billabongs (Aussie theme steak place) about five years ago. Out for dinner with another couple.
...
I left exact change for the bill. Not one penny for a tip.

I don't like NOT leaving a tip. But in the extremis of this kind of service, NADA.

You're nicer than I would be. I would have expected our meals or a future meal comped. I waited over an hour for Domino's pizza carry-out. I got the pizza free; not much, but I took it.

 

[Waldorf]

I used to deliver pizza when I was younger. Most of my customers quickly came to realize the importance of tipping.

You see, deliverymen depend on their tips, just like waitresses.

So always tip your pizzaman AT LEAST 15%, lest your next pizza be late...

or worse.

 

[kenobi65]

Plus, if we like pizza at a place, we order from there ALL the time. So, we get to know the delivery guys (they usually see our number on call display - we once had a order taker tell us our order before we told it to him, so often did they call). They treat us well, as my gaming group is full of large, hungry guys who order more than twice a week.

Yeah. Our Friday night group had a particular pizzeria that we ordered from for years. We only played (and, thus, only ordered) once a month or so, so we probably weren't their best customers, but they definitely recognized us, and I suspect they expedited our orders a bit as a result of that.

They apparently went out of business a few months ago; we're all sad.

 

[kenobi65]

Who would date pizza delivery guy? I figured the guy must already have a girlfriend before he took the job. I mean, would girls pick him up from a dating service or a speed dating session?

Not dating per se, but...

My first D&D DM was a pizza delivery driver when he was in college. This would have been the mid 1970s, and there was only one place in Green Bay that did pizza delivery, and so they were always very busy.

He went to deliver a pizza one night, and the woman of the house answered the door without a stitch on. She said, with a grin, "Sorry, but I don't have any money." Eric's response: "Sorry, but you don't have any pizza, either," as he left.

 

[frankthedm]

So always tip your pizzaman AT LEAST 15%, lest your next pizza be late...

or worse.

And there is why one should never tip. Tipping people makes them expect a tip, when it should be a special bonus, not a bribe to keep saliva out of my food. Thankfully nowadays that crap sometimes gets justice... http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1026051loogie1.htm

Don't tip anybody, anything, ever.

If you work for an employer who refuses to pay you a sensible wage for the job you are doing, change jobs.

Damn right.

 

[Arkham]

I generally just throw on a $5, for pizzas, which averages out to between 20% and 14% depending on how much we ordered that day.

At restaurants, though, I'm overly generous, having worked at a Denny's once as waitstaff. If the service is decent, then at least 20% goes to tip. Up to 50% if we're just ordering coffee and appetizers though, and taking up a booth for hours.

But I must say, hippies are some of the best tippers. I worked at the closest Denny's to the local concert venue, and the best nights were always the Grateful Dead shows.

 

[Pielorinho]

furthermore, he isn't paid the same way as a waitress, with the business augmenting his tips. TRUST ME, I was a pizza delivery guy at one time not too long ago. He gets a full paycheck in addition to what you're paying him. Don't tip him.

Well then, TRUST ME as well. I briefly and recently worked for a food delivery place in town (as about the only job I could find while going to school full-time with a ridiculously complicated schedule). Here's what I was paid: four bucks a delivery, plus keep any tips i earned. I provided car and gas.

That might sound like a good deal, especially since some nights I'd bring home $70-80. But I also kept a spreadsheet of my mileage and tips, and I calculated real car costs based on the IRS estimates for operating a personal vehicle for business purposes. I found out that I only exceeded minimum wage one night. I tended to earn around $3-$4 an hour. And there was one night when I actually paid for the privilege of delivering folks' food all night long.

Different delivery places have different business models, which makes it very difficult to figure out what to tip. I was a very polite delivery guy, but there were times when I was biting back almost seething rage at having driven half an hour through mountainous terrain down gravel roads to deliver some multimillionaire's gourmet dinner and have them meet me at their mansion door with a three dollar tip.

That's the only job I have ever quit without notice. I figured if they were going to treat me like an independent contractor, I didn't owe them 2 weeks notice.

Daniel