More Crime, Now It's Local

This robbery happened in the next town over.

"The Marco’s manager said the pizza parlor doesn’t have caller ID .... The (driver) said Marco’s does everything they can to protect delivery people."

Does anyone but me see the problem with these 2 statements from the article?

Busted! And Shot!

Well done by the pizza driver who recognized what was going on, and the Columbus Police.

Cleveland Pizza Playoffs

The Cleveland Plain Dealer had a "Pizza Playoffs" contest and the winner is Angelo's of Lakewood.

I don't have much else to say.  I'm in the middle of my teacher training and haven't delivered pizzas since March.

30 Minutes Or Less - Movie Review

I watched a special screening of the movie 30 Minutes Or Less tonight at Crocker Park.  I got the passes in an email from www.gofobo.com.  I'm not sure why, other than that I won passes for Mastermind from the same website via facebook.

It's interesting that I got to go, as I am regarded as an expert on pizza delivery movies.  My Top 10 List used to be cited as a reference on Wikipedia, but I just checked and now it is not.

Back to tonight, I arrived about 15 minutes before the movie was to start, and the theater was quite full.  There were seats in the first 3 rows, but mostly just single seats near the top, where I usually like to sit.  Lucky for me I was alone so I took one of the single seats.

The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg, famous for playing Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Media.  It had some funny parts, including a line from Eisenberg's character where he said he was "good with faces", and alot of crude humor.

The plot fell apart when the pizza guy was kidnapped from an abandoned junkyard.  If the pizza guy doesn't return from the run in a reasonable amount of time, and doesn't answer his phone, any reasonable manager will either send another driver to check on him, check the location himself, or call the police.  Yet when our hero shows up the next day to quit his job (on his way to rob the bank), the missing pizza (and subsequent payment) from the night before is never mentioned.  How did they balance the register?  What's wrong at Vito's Pizza?

But as a whole, I can't approve of a movie that makes light of a pizza guy having a bomb strapped to his chest and robbing a bank, when a real pizza driver died in that exact situation in Erie PA in 2003. RIP Brian Wells.

School & Movie Premier

OK, so I haven't started back up to delivering yet.  School is hard!  And it is taking all of my time.  So no new stories.

The good news is I just won 2 free passes to the premier of 30 Minutes Or Less from the website http://www.gofobo.com/.  So I will see it on Thursday night and I will post a review that night!  From the previews I have seen it looks pretty hilarious!

EcEngineering

EcEngineering is an italian company, leader in cone pizza ovens and machines production.

I got an email from one of their marketers last week asking me to post an article about their website.  So I check out the website, and of course, it is in Italian!  (There is an English button, but where's the fun in that?)  I don't think I will write a story.  Most of my readers are drivers & customers, plus I don't read Italian.  But I did want to give them a little publicity, out of respect for the creativity of finding my blog if nothing else.

So hey, if you are a pizza shop owner in Europe and are looking for a pizza oven, check these guys out!

Coming Next Month

More new and fresh Pizza Delivery Stories, from me.

In the meantime, check out http://deliverygirl.wordpress.com/

Soccer Season

I was "called off" due to low business / overstaffing on 3 Mondays in a row.  The 4th week I called in to find I wasn't even on the schedule, and I'm not on the next 2 week's schedules.  I was actually going to request some time off as I'm busy coaching soccer in April & May.

So it's likely I won't drive (or post here) until June.

Quick Update

After getting called off 3 Monday's in a row, I worked last night.  In 4.42 hours, I took 8 deliveries, made $17 in tips, and drove 36 miles.

Highlight of my night was a $5 tip from the family of a girl I used to coach in soccer.

Thursday

Interesting night.  Delivered to an apartment building I didn't know existed (after 7 years of driving pizzas in the same town).  Delivered to a trailer with 2 big "Beware Of Dog" signs.  Well guess what, when they opened the door, don't worry, the stench!  Your nose would tell you there was an animal nearby!

3.47 hours, 9 deliveries, 34 miles, $17 in tips.

Mouse Attack!

This story is hard to believe!  One pizzeria owner set some mice free in a rival's pizza shop!

Mice are certainly troublesome, we have had a few off and on over the years and we generally keep traps out.  But while they are annoying, I can't imagine they would cause enough trouble that someone would risk getting caught (which he did).

Why not wipe the footprints off the toilet seat?

February Floods?

It rained so much last night, combined with melting snow, that several steets were flooded today.  Luckily for me everything was pretty much back to normal by 6 PM when I went to work.

I worked 4.14 hours, took 13 deliveries, made $30 in tips, and drove 52 miles.

A few deliveries stood out:

• Got tipped $1 by a waitress at a bar.  It is not cool to get stiffed (or low tips) by other tipped employees!
• Had a customer with a $13.99 order that paid with a $20.  He asked for $5 back.  I asked if he wanted a five or 5 ones.  He said, "Just 4 ones."  Asking the question got me an extra buck!
• The very next customer had the exact same situation and asked for $5 back.  I asked the same question and they wanted the five-dollar bill.  I guess it doesn't work every time.
• Final delivery of the night instructed the phone person (Driver Matt) to tell the driver to "Knock Hard."  Then they also taped a note to the outside of their door that said "Knock Hard."  I knocked hard and she came to the door right away.  I guess I did ok!

Do Pizza Drivers Make Better Tips In Bad Weather?

Today as my lunchtime running group was getting started, we observed a Fed Ex truck get stuck in the street.  Runner Matt commented that he wouldn't want to be any kind of delivery driver on a day like today.  I mentioned that I would be delivering pizzas tonight.  Matt suggested that at least I should be making good tips.  Unfortunately, it seems that isn't always the case.

But tonight was pretty good.  No stiffs, only 1 $1, and 6 $4 or more ).

First run - 3 deliveries ($2, $3, $6)
Second run - 4 deliveries ($5, $3)
Third run - 4 deliveries ($4, $2, $3, $3)
Fourth run - 4 deliveries ($4, $2, $5, $2)
Fifth run - 3 deliveries ($2, $4, $1)

I didn't come close to getting stuck, because I have learned not to try to pull in a snowy driveway.  I just flick my hazard lights on and leave the car in the street for a couple minutes.

Of course, at my next-to-last delivery, this led to an interesting story from a customer at a trailer park.  He said to be careful and I remarked that I was staying out of the snow.  He then said how once he had suffered a heart attack while shoveling snow!  He also has been run over by a car and had a 2nd heart attack.  I joked that he was like a cat and he said yeah, he figured he only had 6 lives left!

Totals for the night:  4.49 hours, 16 deliveries, 40 miles, $51 in tips.

Snowy Monday

Tonight was one of those snowy icy nights where nobody wanted to be out.  I initially expected a slow night due to people being off work for Presidents Day, but once the weather turned nasty I knew there would be some deliveries.

Slow was the name of the game, my first 2 trips I took 4 orders each, and each trip took about 45 minutes or more to complete and get back.  No major trouble, but I don't drive into snowy driveways, I will simply put my flashers on and leave the car on the road.  Driver Joel said he got stuck in a driveway for a few minutes tonight.

Highest tip was $3.76, lowest was $1.01.  I worked 3.97 hours, drove 30 miles, took 11 deliveries, and made $27 in tips.

Freeway Driving

There is one small corner of our delivery area that I use the highway to get to.  I don't go there very often, but tonight I went there 3 times in a row!

Tonight was another night that started slow then got much better.  First 7 deliveries I had 4 stiffs and only made $9.  Next 6 deliveries I made $24.

I had a delivery to Peggy, one of our cooks, and she added a nice $5 tip.

Totals for the night were 4.87 hours, 13 deliveries, 58 miles driven, and $33 in tips.

Valentines Monday

I usually like to work on Valentine's Day but since this year it was a Monday, I have had a feeling it wouldn't be as great a night as usual.  Many people celebrated already on Friday, Saturday, or even Sunday.

We were busier than a normal Monday but not by a whole lot.  And my deliveries seemed to be far-away, I think the other 2 drivers made out way better than me.  I worked 3.02 hours, took 7 deliveries, made $14 in tips, and drove 24 miles.

The only interesting thing was when I told a customer about the survey on the back of the receipt for a chance to win $1000, he remarked, "I could buy alot of pizza with that."  I chuckled.  Usually it's me with the funny lines.

Since I don't have much else to say, here are some interesting pizza-related links I have gotten recently:

• Cavit Wines is searching for the best original gourmet pizza recipe in its 6th Annual Cavit Gourmet Pizza Classic. Finalists receive a trip to NYC to compete for the grand prize—a trip for two to Italy and the title of “America’s Best Gourmet Pizza Chef”. For more information and to see last year’s finalist recipes visit: www.facebook.com/cavitwines
• Get Delivery Driver Jobs, a community for Delivery Driver professionals, included my site as a resource.  I wish them well!

Light Friday Night

We weren't too busy tonight, I was scheduled until 10 and got out about 9:30.  Worked 3.39 hours, took 9 deliveries, drove 21 miles, and made $24 in tips.  Minimum tip was $2 (well $1.88 but close enough).

People Who Don't Tip The Pizza Guy

I worked 4.28 hours tonight, took 12 deliveries, drove 41 miles, and made $22 in tips.  I got 3 stiffs and I wanted to write about them.

• Stiff #1 sent the kid to the door to pay.  This is common practice and allows the stiffer not to face the driver.  Pretty shameful if you ask me.

• Stiff #2 was a surprise, the woman was very friendly and thankful on the phone, she was still friendly and thankful at the door, and she paid for a $26 order with $40 so she had the cash to tip with.  Thanks is nice but I'd rather have a tip.

• Stiff #3 was a stupid 20-something ... I called to confirm the address when I was about 2 blocks away, then I passed a bicycle rider (on a very cold and snowy day) with a flashing red light.  The customer must have looked out the window because when I got to the door he remarked, "I thought you were riding a bike!"  At least his ignorance gave me a little amusement, but I'd still rather get a tip!

Super Sunday - Super Survey

I decided to take a survey as I drove around tonight, at each house I asked 2 questions:  Which team were they rooting for, and what was their favorite commercial.

I had 15 deliveries during the game and forgot to ask once, so here are my 14 answers to the football question:

Green Bay - 8 orders, $23.50 (average $3 tip, only 1 stiff)
Pittsburgh - 2 orders, $5 (average $2.50, 1 stiff)
Split house (people cheering for each team) - 2 orders, $7.50 (average $3.75, no stiffs)
Philadelphia - 1 order, 1 stiff
Not sure - 1 order, 1 stiff

The moral of the story is, football fans tipped way better than non-football-fans.

I only got 3 people to answer the favorite commercial question, one said the commercial with the test baby, one said he wasn't sure but it had to involve beer, and one said Doritos (they always seem to have some good ones).

So I just got home and watched the test baby commercial - I have to say, not impressed.  Not only I wasn't amused, I'm not sure I really even understand the product.  An alternative to hotels I guess.

I watched the Doritos commercials and I found 2, they both were pretty good.  The one with the pug was pretty predictable, but the house sitting one was both funny and surprising.  I guess now I found another, the one with the finger-licking was pretty wierd.

Work-wise, tonight was pretty typical for a Super Bowl.  Busy, lots of drivers, decent money but not great.  As usual, no "parties", I never delivered more than 2 pizzas and some sides to one house all night long.  Totals were 6.51 hours worked, 58 miles driven, 19 deliveries, and $49 in tips.

Wierd Things You See As A Pizza Driver

Tonight was pretty unremarkable (and unprofitable) as I worked 3.05 hours, took 8 deliveries, drove 19 miles, and made $10 in tips.

I did see a girl carrying a broken chair out from her apartment to the dumpster.  I said "That looks like the chair Goldilocks broke!"

A few weeks ago I delivered to an apartment and they had all the burners on their stove lit.  They were not cooking anything (obviously, they ordered pizza) so I can only assume that they got "free gas" and were using the gas as auxilliary heat for their home.  Kind of sad.

No Sierra Mist - Can I Suggest a Mountain Dew?

My first delivery of the night included two 2-liters, a Pepsi and a Sierra Mist.  I checked the cooler and we are out of Sierra Mist.  I took an extra Pepsi and also a bottle of Mountain Dew, so I could offer the customer a choice.  He picked the Mountain Dew.

Also, I had a free "customer satisfaction credit" order tonight, which means the customer complained and we gave them a credit for some free food on their next order.  Usually these customers assume I should deliver it for free also, but this woman was kind enough to give me a $2 tip (all in quarters).

I worked longer than most Mondays recently, as driver Matt is not driving due to (I think) car trouble.  I worked 4.43 hours, took 13 deliveries, drove 39 miles, and made $29 in tips.  Not a bad night!

Does Home Value Affect The Tip Amount?

I had a small sample today, 8 deliveries, but ironically my first delivery (to Arrowhead Drive in the Flint Ridge neighborhood) was to a house that was probably worth more than all of my other 7 deliveries combined.  (Colonial Oaks trailer park, West, 7th, Furnace, Jackson, 2nd, and East).

The "nice" house tipped $2.  The other 7 tipped a range of $1 to $5 with an average of almost $3.  Can't say that there was a big difference, but anybody expecting a bigger tip from a bigger house will most likely be disappointed.

I did have 2 credit card orders where the manager has to give me the tip.  Tonight was Manager Mike, same as Friday when I had my string of $5 tips.  It was pretty funny when both credit card tips tonight were $5!

Finally, I've got a new favorite Sunday night radio show - AlternaFISH!  "Positive rock and hip hop music.   ON-AIR every Saturday and Sunday night from 9pm to midnight on 95.5 the FISH, Cleveland"

Five-Dollar Tip? You Can Bet The Ranch On It!

I was supposed to work 6-11 or so tonight.  If I would have, I would have been bummed!

My night started off pretty depressing.  On my first 13 deliveries, I made a total of $18 in tips.  It was a continuation of Thursday night when I seemed to be getting $1 or $2 and nothing more.  My first 13 tips were as follows:  $0 - 3 times; $1 - 3 times; $2 - 5 times; $3 - 2 times.

Then something happened, I have no idea what, but my luck shifted.  I wasn't friendlier, and I sure wasn't getting the food there any faster.  But I got a $5 tip on a street where I didn't expect it (on what seemed to be a high-maintenance order with several special requests).

That started a trend and 9 of my next 16 deliveries tipped $5 or more!  I'm not sure I ever had such a streak of good luck!

My final delivery of the night was notable in that the customer ordered a side of ranch (for $0.75).  I packed the order and as I was 2/3 of the way there I realized I forgot the ranch.  I went over the options in my head:

• Ignore it and hope the customer doesn't realize it's missing - not my style
• Stop at Burger King and get a couple ranch packets - too many cars in the drive through
• Go back to the store for a ranch sauce - not this late at night
• Tell the customer and deduct $0.75 from their check - leads to a disappointed customer

I decided to stop at the 24-hour convenient and buy a bottle of ranch dressing.  It cost me $2.59.

When I arrived, I told the customer that on the way there, the guy who packed the order let me know the ranch was missing.  (Which is true.)  I then showed them the bottle and let them know I stopped to get it since I knew they were a good customer.

They paid their $32.74 order with $40 and said, "Just keep it."  A seven-dollar tip, earned in part by picking up a $2.59 bottle of salad dressing.

Oh what a night!

I worked 8.1 hours, drove 92 miles, delivered 30 orders, and made $89 in tips.  This is one of my most profitable nights ever!

Relief Driving

First, I want to answer a comment on my previous post asked about credit card tips.  When I get a credit card tip, I get the cash as soon as I get back to the store.  If the customer writes $3 on the tip line, I turn in the slip and the manager hands me $3.  So that is just as good as a cash tip to me.

I was home, actually in my pajamas, eating dinner, a little after 7 when Manager Mike called.  One of the drivers was not feeling well and Mike asked me to come in and close.  Money is a little tight in our house this week so I jumped at the chance.  I got there around 7:30 and by 9 I was the only driver.

I worked 4.65 hours, took 12 deliveries, drove 28 miles, and made $22 in tips.  Tips were pretty low tonight, six $1 tips, two $2 tips, and four $3 tips.  Best tip of just over $3 was from a woman who said she used to be a cab driver!

Driver Matt is having car trouble so I may be picking up a few extra shifts in the next week or so but I'm already scheduled Friday-Monday-Thursday-Sunday-Monday so I won't be picking up too many beyond that.

Not Much To Say

Worked 1.79 hours, took 5 deliveries, drove 17 miles, made $6.82 in tips.

First delivery to a house $19.98 credit card order.  Customer looked in the box and didn't like the amount of extra cheese, sent the pizza back.  Tipped $1.80.

Second delivery to an apartment, $13.99 cash order, paid $14.

Third delivery to an apartment, $21.99 cash order, paid $24.

Fourth delivery was the rerun to the first house, no cost, tipped another $1.

Final delivery was to a house, $45.99 credit card order (3 large pizzas plus breadsticks), tipped $2.

Address Verification

Third delivery of the night was to an apartment building.  The door was locked and there was no buzzer, so I called the customer on the phone # listed on the ticket.  I identified myself and the girl said she would be right down.

She paid for the pizza, then started up the stairs, asking, "Do you need to see that it's my apartment?"

"Nope", I replied, "You gave me the money, you can have the pizza."

I wonder who she thought might be looking out the window, waiting to pay for someone else's pizza without even knowing what it was?!?!?

Fourth delivery of the night was a new customer, I called on the way to confirm the address (which is store policy to prevent crime) and he was convinced I was lost.  He didn't tip.  He got his food in about 40 minutes after his order.  If he keeps not tipping, I will certainly be in less of a hurry to bring his food in the future.

Totals for the night were 2.43 hours, 5 deliveries, 18 miles, and $12 in tips.  This is becoming pretty average for a Monday night.

Up And Down Friday

Worked 4.92 hours, 15 deliveries, $32 in tips, and 58 miles.  Started off with 2 stiffs in a row, things went slwo until around 7 when I took a 5-bagger that netted me $11 in tips in just over 1/2 hour.

Four stiffs in all but two $5 tips ... not much else to say except that Tyler and I argued for about a minute over a penny ... she was right.

Back To The Scene Of The Crime

My first delivery tonight was to the street where Matt got robbed just before Christmas.  I was overly cautious, even though a neighbor was outside shovelling snow and I was parked about 20 feet away, I asked the customer to "stay by the door until I got in my car."  She agreed, I remarked that we had some trouble here a few weeks ago.  It's better to have people be more alert and aware.

Oh and she tipped $3.50.

I had a pretty decent night, got several solid tips in areas where I didn't expect it.  I worked 3.05 hours, took 9 deliveries, drove 33 miles, and made $24.50 in tips.

Catching Up

A few things about New Years Eve:

• My ending mileage was 105,612 (for tax purposes)
• Biggest tip was $5 (twice) and $4 (3 times)
• Stiffed 4 times

• 5 deliveries were to apartment buildings, including 2 to the low-income county building on Chestnut

I bought 3 packs of mardi gras beads at the Dollar Store on Friday morning, figuring I would wear them to be festive and maybe give them out to any young kids that came to the door.  Well I didn't give any out all night, other than a few to some of my co-workers (who also wanted to look festive).  I did get a few remarks but I'm not sure if they increased my tips (like the Santa hat).

Now for tonight:

• We were pretty slow, I did a whole lot of dishes
• I worked 2.35 hours and took only 4 deliveries
• I drove 23 miles and made $6.50 in tips

Christmas:

• I got a magazine for Christmas, Popular Plates Pizza - Across The Country With Roadfood's Jane & Michael Stern.  It has some interesting articles about the origin of pizza, and a list of 100+ pizzerias throughout the US.
• George got a WebKinz and today I played a game online with him, it was pretty fun.  You are running a pizza place and you take orders, make dough, add toppings, put the pizza in the oven, and serve it ... you have to do all of these things quickly before the customer gets upset and leave.  Meanwhile more customers (we got up to 6 at one time) are coming in and waiting to be served.

New Years Eve 2010 - Brief Report

This is a quick summary as I am running a marathon in about 5 1/2 hours.

Tonight was an ok night.  NYE seems to never be what I hope for, even on a Friday where we were open past 12.  I worked 8.65 hours, took 24 deliveries, drove 89 miles, and made $57 in tips.