Last week I wrote about taking an order out of our delivery area. It happened again tonight. This one was a 10 mile round trip, or 2.5 times my normal trip average. They tipped $2 and the change on a $35.95 order. (Nick, since I know you're reading this, it was about a mile past Indian Hollow Road).
Also unique about this delivery was that the check was subdivided into 2 subtotals, for 2 separate paying customers at the same address. But one kid gave me all the money (and then the $2 tip).
I had a pretty crummy night, with 5 stiffs and 5 $1 tips out of 17 deliveries in all. If I didn't get a $6 tip on my final delivery (to the apartment complex next to my house), it would have been much worse! And the fact that I had 5 doubles helped keep my delivery count high and my mileage low.
A pleasant surprise was the return of Cori B as a driver. Cori was a driver / manager with us a couple years ago but overslept and missed a few manager meetings and lost her job. She later went to work for Marco's and has also worked at another pizza place, as well as several other jobs in the meantime. Now she's back as a part-time driver.
Totals for the night were 8 hours worked, 17 deliveries, 64 miles, and $33 in tips.
Showing posts with label Ex-employees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ex-employees. Show all posts
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Dish-Pan Hands? Not Tonight!
I started my night with my first 2 deliveries, both to decent areas pretty close to the shop. The first paid exact change and the 2nd tipped $1 and the coins. After that, I had a GREAT night!
I got 2 $5 tips, one to my favorite customer, and sports-fan widow in the local trailer park. She orders often on the weekend, always pays by credit, always orders a 20-ounce pop, and always tips $4 or $5.
The 2nd was to a bar. Bartenders usually tip pretty decent, so I'm always happy to deliver to them.
I also had 9 tips of $2.93 - $3.70 tonight. Only 4 under that (including my first 2) and the 2 over. I had a hospital delivery, and a delivery to ex-driver and current IHOP waitress Chelsea.
Our chain is marketing a new family-size pasta. We were told tonight we had to suggest this when we answered the phone. Our GM Ady phoned at least 5 times to make sure we were doing it right. I answered her call once and she was happy with the way I did it. Better yet, one customer even bought one after I suggested it. And I delivered another pasta so we sold at least 2 tonight.
We really weren't that busy tonight but we were perfectly staffed. Manager Mike, waitress Catherine, and especially cook Mona all 3 did a great job inside. For the first time in my almost 4-year career, I didn't wash a single load of dishes!!!
In 5 1/2 hours driving, I took 15 deliveries, drove 62 miles, and made $43 in tips.
I got 2 $5 tips, one to my favorite customer, and sports-fan widow in the local trailer park. She orders often on the weekend, always pays by credit, always orders a 20-ounce pop, and always tips $4 or $5.
The 2nd was to a bar. Bartenders usually tip pretty decent, so I'm always happy to deliver to them.
I also had 9 tips of $2.93 - $3.70 tonight. Only 4 under that (including my first 2) and the 2 over. I had a hospital delivery, and a delivery to ex-driver and current IHOP waitress Chelsea.
Our chain is marketing a new family-size pasta. We were told tonight we had to suggest this when we answered the phone. Our GM Ady phoned at least 5 times to make sure we were doing it right. I answered her call once and she was happy with the way I did it. Better yet, one customer even bought one after I suggested it. And I delivered another pasta so we sold at least 2 tonight.
We really weren't that busy tonight but we were perfectly staffed. Manager Mike, waitress Catherine, and especially cook Mona all 3 did a great job inside. For the first time in my almost 4-year career, I didn't wash a single load of dishes!!!
In 5 1/2 hours driving, I took 15 deliveries, drove 62 miles, and made $43 in tips.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Bad At Tipping, Bad At Math
This girl tonight had a credit card order for $19.57. She wrote in a tip of $0.48 and then totaled it up to $20.00. Obviously it was her intent to get the total to an even dollar amount, but not only was she a horrible tipper but she was also bad at math, as her tip as written would have put the total at $20.05.
My 2 biggest tips of the night were both surprises, both $5 and change. The first was on a $19.57 order to the Super 8 motel, the guys in the room had been fishing all day. The second was even more surprising, on a $14.69 order to the 200 block of 8th Street.
I also had a girl who was very impressed with herself for using the online ordering. She tipped $4.00 on a $20.57 order so I was excited for her too!
Totals for the night were 16 deliveries, 66 miles, $36 in tips, in 7.5 hours of driving.
It was also kind of an old-home night. I saw 2 ex-employees and talked with another on the phone. Ex-manager Josh stopped in and visited for a few minutes. Ex-driver Tim (known then as "Little Tim" but much bigger now) ordered 2 calzones, and I took the delivery to him. And ex-waitress Katie (and ex-driver Amy) called on the phone to see who was working. They said they might stop in but they never did.
My 2 biggest tips of the night were both surprises, both $5 and change. The first was on a $19.57 order to the Super 8 motel, the guys in the room had been fishing all day. The second was even more surprising, on a $14.69 order to the 200 block of 8th Street.
I also had a girl who was very impressed with herself for using the online ordering. She tipped $4.00 on a $20.57 order so I was excited for her too!
Totals for the night were 16 deliveries, 66 miles, $36 in tips, in 7.5 hours of driving.
It was also kind of an old-home night. I saw 2 ex-employees and talked with another on the phone. Ex-manager Josh stopped in and visited for a few minutes. Ex-driver Tim (known then as "Little Tim" but much bigger now) ordered 2 calzones, and I took the delivery to him. And ex-waitress Katie (and ex-driver Amy) called on the phone to see who was working. They said they might stop in but they never did.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Hot Tub Party!
Well, I have alot to write about today. So much that this is going to be one of those long posts that describe my night in detail, delivery by delivery.
Actually tonight's story starts on last night. A week ago, the exhaust system fell loose from our 1987 GMC Van. Last night while getting gas at Speedway, I asked the manager there, an ex-pizza driver, about a muffler place he had recommended in the past. He gave me the phone number for Action Muffler.
I called and drove the van out there today. The owner took a look and quoted me a price of $140 to replace the converter and remount the exhaust system. I thought that sounded great so I agreed to it. My wife and I then went to Subway for lunch, and when we went back, the van was fixed. Excellent service at a great price!
At Subway, we ran into another ex-employee. Former cook Nate now works at Subway. Nate was a good kid, he still stops in for food occasionally, but I didn't know he had found work at Subway. Ironically, this Subway is owned by the mother of one of the girls on the soccer team coach.
Add in that I saw former driver Tyler driving last night for Hungry Howies, as well as former driver Amy driving for Marco's, and I actually saw 4 ex-employees, each separately, in a 16-hour period.
Now finally we get to today's delivery stories.
A couple months ago, we rolled out a new internet-ordering system. Basically the customer orders over the internet, the order gets sent to and printed at a special web-enabled computer in our store, and then someone must enter that order into the system. We probably get 10-12 internet orders per week.
My first order tonight was to the guy who uses internet ordering far more often than anyone else in our delivery area, Bryon H. Bryon's order, paid by credit card, was $17.58 and he added on a $4 tip!
My next delivery was un-remarkable, a $21.57 order with a $3.43 tip.
My 3rd delivery was to the far reaches of our delivery area. The total was $19.07 and the customer gave me $24. I don't mind driving a long ways for a $5 tip!
About this time I said good bye and good luck to our GM Rick and driver Melissa, as they are moving to Virginia where Melissa got a job as a schoolteacher.
After that I had a triple, 2 deliveries that were literally less than 10 houses apart, and a 3rd that was just 3 blocks away. This was to a notoriously low-tipping area so I didn't expect much.
Was I ever wrong. The first customer's total was $17.08 and she tipped me $2.17. The next house had a for-sale sign but there seemed to be a party going on. Adults on the porch, kids inside playing video games, and more adults at the kitchen table. They had a $37.06 order including pizza, pasta, and wings. The guy joked about needing a discount because it was late (it wasn't) but then they gave me a $5.04 tip! Not only that but they offered me a shot of Gray Goose (which I declined).
The third house also tipped well, $2.43 on a $25.57 (2 pizza) order, so that was over $9.50 for a 3-bagger to a bad part of town.
My next run was a double, I got a $3 tip from a regular customer on a $17.57 order, and then got stiffed (0.42). After that I had a close delivery, got $1.92 on a $17.08 order from a guy who came to the door in his boxer-shorts and a t-shirt.
After that was my most frustrating order of the night. A credit card order for $15.46, just a couple blocks from the store. The girl who signed wrote $15.46 on the tip line and then a big slash through the total line. Obviously her intent was to not tip, but I was so mad I was tempted to enter the $15.46 as the tip, as that WAS what she wrote. Of course I thought better of it, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble.
The delivery after that, about 9:30 at night, was to a nice neighborhood where I was greeted in the driveway by about 6-8 kids, who looked to be late elementary age. They introduced themselves, asked my name, and told me it was one of their birthdays. The kids were alot friendlier than the mom of the house, who tipped me $1.42 for a $13.58 order.
Next up was an order to a house where cook Steve's dad was. It was for 4 XL specialty pizzas and Steve had given them his employee discount of 20% (for deliveries), maximum $10. This came to $53.55 The problem was, these pizzas are on sale and the regular sale price would have been $45.55, but it was a credit card order so we couldn't change it. Whoever answered the door did tip me $3.
After that was an un-remarkable order, $23.56 with a $3.44 tip.
My next order had a note on it "out back in the hot tub." I checked with manager Nick and he said it was indeed a new note (some notes stay on the order in the computer system from a previous delivery).
Sure enough it was a guy, his brother, and his girlfriend, in their hot-tub in the back yard. They asked if I brought beer too. Tip on this delivery was $2.42 on a $12.58 order.
My final delivery was $22.20, they tipped $3.39. The customer was a former Papa Johns driver who had worked for our GM before our local PJ closed and Rick came to work at our store. We messed up their order (was supposed to be pepperoni with banana peppers on the side) but Nick then remade the pizza the right way, and we ended up sending out the mistake pizza too, so they got a little extra.
Speaking of Nick (the manager), he was very sunburnt, having spent the day at Cedar Point with driver Amber. Amber stopped by to see him tonight and it's obvious she's very smitten with him. She had the day off, yet she came up and waited in her car for a couple hours, so that she would be there when we finally closed and Nick got off work.
Nick is a great kid, I hope it works out for both of them.
Total for the night, I took 16 deliveries, drove 57 miles, made $43 in tips, in 8 hours of work.
I ended the night back at Speedway, putting tonight's gas money on my gas card. Since last night's fill-up, I drove 75 miles on 2.15 gallons of gas. That's 34.9 miles per gallon, which is excellent for all the stop-and-go driving I do while delivering pizzas all over town!
Actually tonight's story starts on last night. A week ago, the exhaust system fell loose from our 1987 GMC Van. Last night while getting gas at Speedway, I asked the manager there, an ex-pizza driver, about a muffler place he had recommended in the past. He gave me the phone number for Action Muffler.
I called and drove the van out there today. The owner took a look and quoted me a price of $140 to replace the converter and remount the exhaust system. I thought that sounded great so I agreed to it. My wife and I then went to Subway for lunch, and when we went back, the van was fixed. Excellent service at a great price!
At Subway, we ran into another ex-employee. Former cook Nate now works at Subway. Nate was a good kid, he still stops in for food occasionally, but I didn't know he had found work at Subway. Ironically, this Subway is owned by the mother of one of the girls on the soccer team coach.
Add in that I saw former driver Tyler driving last night for Hungry Howies, as well as former driver Amy driving for Marco's, and I actually saw 4 ex-employees, each separately, in a 16-hour period.
Now finally we get to today's delivery stories.
A couple months ago, we rolled out a new internet-ordering system. Basically the customer orders over the internet, the order gets sent to and printed at a special web-enabled computer in our store, and then someone must enter that order into the system. We probably get 10-12 internet orders per week.
My first order tonight was to the guy who uses internet ordering far more often than anyone else in our delivery area, Bryon H. Bryon's order, paid by credit card, was $17.58 and he added on a $4 tip!
My next delivery was un-remarkable, a $21.57 order with a $3.43 tip.
My 3rd delivery was to the far reaches of our delivery area. The total was $19.07 and the customer gave me $24. I don't mind driving a long ways for a $5 tip!
About this time I said good bye and good luck to our GM Rick and driver Melissa, as they are moving to Virginia where Melissa got a job as a schoolteacher.
After that I had a triple, 2 deliveries that were literally less than 10 houses apart, and a 3rd that was just 3 blocks away. This was to a notoriously low-tipping area so I didn't expect much.
Was I ever wrong. The first customer's total was $17.08 and she tipped me $2.17. The next house had a for-sale sign but there seemed to be a party going on. Adults on the porch, kids inside playing video games, and more adults at the kitchen table. They had a $37.06 order including pizza, pasta, and wings. The guy joked about needing a discount because it was late (it wasn't) but then they gave me a $5.04 tip! Not only that but they offered me a shot of Gray Goose (which I declined).
The third house also tipped well, $2.43 on a $25.57 (2 pizza) order, so that was over $9.50 for a 3-bagger to a bad part of town.
My next run was a double, I got a $3 tip from a regular customer on a $17.57 order, and then got stiffed (0.42). After that I had a close delivery, got $1.92 on a $17.08 order from a guy who came to the door in his boxer-shorts and a t-shirt.
After that was my most frustrating order of the night. A credit card order for $15.46, just a couple blocks from the store. The girl who signed wrote $15.46 on the tip line and then a big slash through the total line. Obviously her intent was to not tip, but I was so mad I was tempted to enter the $15.46 as the tip, as that WAS what she wrote. Of course I thought better of it, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble.
The delivery after that, about 9:30 at night, was to a nice neighborhood where I was greeted in the driveway by about 6-8 kids, who looked to be late elementary age. They introduced themselves, asked my name, and told me it was one of their birthdays. The kids were alot friendlier than the mom of the house, who tipped me $1.42 for a $13.58 order.
Next up was an order to a house where cook Steve's dad was. It was for 4 XL specialty pizzas and Steve had given them his employee discount of 20% (for deliveries), maximum $10. This came to $53.55 The problem was, these pizzas are on sale and the regular sale price would have been $45.55, but it was a credit card order so we couldn't change it. Whoever answered the door did tip me $3.
After that was an un-remarkable order, $23.56 with a $3.44 tip.
My next order had a note on it "out back in the hot tub." I checked with manager Nick and he said it was indeed a new note (some notes stay on the order in the computer system from a previous delivery).
Sure enough it was a guy, his brother, and his girlfriend, in their hot-tub in the back yard. They asked if I brought beer too. Tip on this delivery was $2.42 on a $12.58 order.
My final delivery was $22.20, they tipped $3.39. The customer was a former Papa Johns driver who had worked for our GM before our local PJ closed and Rick came to work at our store. We messed up their order (was supposed to be pepperoni with banana peppers on the side) but Nick then remade the pizza the right way, and we ended up sending out the mistake pizza too, so they got a little extra.
Speaking of Nick (the manager), he was very sunburnt, having spent the day at Cedar Point with driver Amber. Amber stopped by to see him tonight and it's obvious she's very smitten with him. She had the day off, yet she came up and waited in her car for a couple hours, so that she would be there when we finally closed and Nick got off work.
Nick is a great kid, I hope it works out for both of them.
Total for the night, I took 16 deliveries, drove 57 miles, made $43 in tips, in 8 hours of work.
I ended the night back at Speedway, putting tonight's gas money on my gas card. Since last night's fill-up, I drove 75 miles on 2.15 gallons of gas. That's 34.9 miles per gallon, which is excellent for all the stop-and-go driving I do while delivering pizzas all over town!
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