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.

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.

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.

Lost!

Well I wasn't exactly lost, but neither could I find the address, and I ended up coming back to the store with the food.

The delivery was to a manufacturing business on an industrial parkway.  Unfortunately there is a new section that I was not aware of that doesn't connect to the other sections.  I tried calling but the work number they listed just went to voicemail.  (They should have used their cell #).

When I got back to the store, the manager was on the phone with the customer, I got the correct directions quick and headed back out.  The pizza was still hot (hot bags are awesome!) and best of all the customer still tipped $5.

Unfortunately this didn't make up for my next run, a triple stiff!  One delivery to an apartment where there was some confusion whether or not the order was paid by credit card.  I think this one was late because we were out of banana peppers and (again) couldn't contact the customer using the phone # they had listed.

Next was 2 orders to a house, with a note that said "call 5 minutes before you get there."  I knew the neighborhood and knew what was going on.  They live in the "South Park" apartments, now known as Midview Crossings, where we do not deliver for safety reasons.  So they gave an address of a house across the street and they will go and meet me in front of the house.

I wasn't happy about this and knew there would be no tip, but we took the orders so I didn't have many options.  It wasn't that I was afraid, I don't get out of my car if the situation isn't right, and I spoke with both customers on the phone as I was on my way.  It's just frustrating being lied to and then being stiffed.

Along with these 4 orders, I had 3 more that were unremarkable, that tipped $3, $0, and $4.  Oh well the $3 one was remarkable, the woman proudly told me she put the dogs out back before I arrived.  Unfortunately the smell didn't go outside with them.  WHOA!

I'm so out of practice I forgot to put my totals!  4.1 hours, 7 deliveries, 31 miles, $12 in tips.

New Years Eve 2009 - Summary

It is late and I have plans in the morning, so I will make this brief. I may add a blow-by-blow recap later on.

I was scheduled from 5 to ? tonight. I ended up making deliveries until 11:30 (we closed - stopped taking calls - at 11).

I drove 82 miles, took 25 deliveries, and made $67 in tips. I made another $20 when one of the closing drivers paid me to stay until closing (which I was hoping to do anyways).

Highlight of the night was my 2nd-to-last delivery, 4 large pepperoni pizzas and 4 double-orders of cheesesticks to the apartments near my house. Total was $66 and I got a $14 tip!

First (slow) Night Back

Tonight I mostly did dishes, frustrating as our hot water heater is out an we have a "temporary replacement" smaller one. Every few loads I had to wait and let the water get hot again.

We had 3 drivers working so I only took 2 deliveries. One far away to a house, a credit card delivery that tipped $5, and one to an apartment almost right across the street, a cash delivery that tipped $1.

No dangerous deliveries so I'm happy.

Totals 2 hours, 2 deliveries, 11 miles, an $6 in tips.

Don't Eat The Messed Up Pizzas!

There are handwritten signs all around the shop tonight, warning that employees are not to eat any food that we do not pay for. We are not to drink drinks. (I didn't ask if this included water, I just got myself a glass). We are not to eat mistake pizzas. Our food costs are "out of control" and if they are not corrected "we will not have jobs."

Talk about a morale booster!

I arrived at my first run tonight and the person who ordered (and planned to pay for) the food was not home. They had been quoted 50 minutes, and I arrived with the food in less than 30. I have no idea why they were quoted that long, but it cost me a tip as the person who paid had to call in for a credit-card payment and the normal method of signing and adding a tip was not apparent.

Next was a double, I got my best tip of the night ($6) on a nearby order then took 2 separate orders (one paid by credit and one added on later and paid by cash) to the 3M plant outside our delivery area.

Next should have been another double, but the first guy tried to pay by check which we do not accept. He had added on a $3.75 tip. The other house tipped $2 on their $17.99 order.

Then came a series of 4 consecutive apartment deliveries that tipped $9 all together. Then my final order of the night was to the local Holiday Inn. A little small-talk led me to learn that the room was occupied by theater actors who had been in a show and were travelling next to Maryland. I'm not sure what show though.

Totals for the night were 10 deliveries, 5 hours, $24 in tips, and 39 miles.

Horrible Day To Be Sick

I was scheduled to work from 6-2 tonight. I haven't felt my best for about a week but I got much worse today in the late afternoon. I tried to call in sick but Manager Mike was too busy to even come to the phone.

So I went in, thinking if we weren't busy, I could get sent home early. Well we were more than busy, we were slammed. There were at least 8 orders on top of the oven waiting to go out.

I took the first one and 2 more that went with it. Unfortunately the 2 more were to the same low-income high rise. One of them shorted me 4 cents and the other overpaid by 2 cents. At least they were to the same apartment building, I think that's the first time I've ever done that.

I got back with $1.16 for the triple (plus $2.85 gas money). Again the oven was heaped and Mike sent me on a quadruple. Tips were better, even though a couple of the orders were nearly an hour from the time of the order.

After that things had settled and Mike was able to let me go home. I'd rather go home on a slow night than a busy night but my body just let me down today.

Totals for the 1 hour worked were 7 deliveries, $12 in tips, and 17 miles driven.