'Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving ...

... and Mama didn't want to cook anymore. So she ordered a pizza!

I usually don't work on Wednesdays but I chose to work tonight because it it one of our busiest nights. I think we had 5 drivers at one point. It wasn't super-busy but it was certainly a good night.

In 5.03 hours, I took 11 deliveries, made $29 in tips, and drove 61 miles. We even had a guy assigned to wash dishes tonight. I was on the road alot, but when I wasn't, mostly I helped answer phones.

The beginning of the night was really good, as I made $20 on my first 5 runs. Tips fell off after that.

Tonight's incidents (3) all involved the order-takers:

My 6th delivery, was for $15.98. The customer was certain they were quoted $14.99. The paid the $16 but didn't tip. I'm positive they weren't going to tip anyways.

The 9th delivery was to 9xxx Brewser. I had never heard of that street, so I checked the map. Not there. Manager Mike was sure it was in the Pioneer Ridge development. I went to the car and checked my GPS. Not there either. I called the customer for directions. She seemed a little put out but gave me directions. To 9xxx Berkshire.  Doh!

The 11th delivery was a new order so I was to call and confirm.  But the phone # didn't print on the ticket.  Mike looked it up in the computer and it was entered as 440-10-025.  Doh again!  It was a safe neighborhood so I drove there and knocked on the door, but clearly the house was dark and nobody was home.  Waste of my time and gas.

I did get $1.05 for the run but it's a 9-mile round trip ... Even if my car got 30 mpg (which it doesn't) this would be 1/3 of a gallon at $2.85.

Sorry, Wrong Number!

I worked for an hour and 15 minutes tonight. I did several loads of dishes, I answerred the phone 3 times, and I took 1 delivery. Of the 3 phone calls I took, 1 was for the delivery I took, and the other 2 were both wrong numbers!

The other driver had things under control and Manager Mike was doing inventory but available to assist as a driver if necessary, so I got sent home early.

Total miles = 7
Total tips = $3.02

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.

Blogging Again Tonight, Working Again Friday

I finally got around to posting a couple interesting pizza and restaurant related articles tonight, I hope you take the time to read them.

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't worked for a while. While I was suspended for not using the car-topper, I got out of the habit of updating my availability so I ended up missing an extra week. I went in on Wednesday night and put in my schedule requests for the next 3 months so hopefully I will be driving a couple nights per week.

There was a note on the current schedule saying that some hours had been cut due to low sales (bad economy).

Even worse on Wednesday, the phones were out of order. At 7PM there had only been 9 deliveries all day long, all internet-orders. I'm glad I wasn't working THAT night!

Five Stiffs (one per hour)

Well I called off my day job sick, and was hoping to just work a couple hours tonight, but the other closing driver Chris had already called off with the flu before I got in, so I was stuck working my scheduled shift from 6-12.

The bad omen for the night came on my very first delivery. A woman gave me $20 for her $18.07 order and was fishing around in her purse for the 7 cents. She handed me a dime saying, "Just give me the $2 back, don't worry about the 3 cents."

Thanks alot!

This was the first of 5 customers tonight who decided not to tip me. The next 4 were troublesome orders in one way or another, besides being non-tippers.

• The girl with the gift card who apparently wasn't even paying for her food.
• The guy who tried to pay for his $28.87 order with a $100 bill. I took it to make change to the Gas USA 2 blocks away, the site of a murder just 6 months ago. Does he really think I should carry that much change in that neighborhood?
• The girl who gave us a wrong phone number and we couldn't confirm their order.
• The couple who's dad had paid by credit card, so I couldn't get a physical imprint of the credit card.

Best tip of the night was $3.79.

Totals for the night were 5 hours, 14 deliveries, $22 in tips, and 64 miles driven. A big thanks goes out to cooks Mona for keeping up with the dishes, and Alicia, for doing most of the dough-prep.

Off-Day Post

I didn't work today, it is Sunday so maybe I was observing the 4th commandment from Exodus 20:8-10, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work."

But I did contact the Chronicle about last night's robbery attempt. I was interviewed over the phone and even went in tonight and got my picture taken. We'll see if I'm in Monday's paper.

I discussed the incident with 2 of our young waitresses who often answer the phone. Cat especially seemed genuinely concerned and vowed to do more call-backs of new addresses.

Then I stopped over at a rival franchise where our ex-driver Amy used to work and talked to their manager Matt for a while, letting him know what happened and reminding him to be safe.

Finally I went over to Dominos and, surprisingly met the driver Nick who actually was robbed 3 weeks ago. He confirmed that the address I went to was the same, and his decription of the guy was similar. He did say that he found his car a couple blocks away the next day.

And one more thing I meant to add about yesterday, the robbery set-up was actually the 2nd fake order of the night. I had earlier taken an order to unit F of a particular apartment building. As I was going in there was a Chinese food delivery guy just going out. Well the people in F said they did not order food.

Just then the people in unit E opened their door and told me the Chinese guy had knocked on their door with an order they didn't place either. Seems like somebody was pranking the whole building.

Employee Discounts and After Hours Calls

When I worked on Saturday, Sweetest Day, my wife got a pasta and I paid for it. We have a new policy that you can only get the employee 50% discount when you are working, which I was. So imagine my surprise when the manager on duty told me about the NEW new policy that there were no employee discounts, period. I paid full price for the pasta.

The next night we had a different manager. My wife picked up a cheese pizza for the kids and this time I got my discount. I'm planning to discuss it with the GM next chance I get.

Finally, last night about an hour after close, the phone rang. I answered it with my usual rhyme, "Thanks for calling our pizza place, this is Kevin, I'm sorry we close at eleven." The customer was bummed out and asked if I knew of anyplace that was open.

"Nope, sorry ... wait try DiGiorno." was my reply.

The guy actually asked for the number. I tried to say "Look it up in the book" without laughing but I couldn't.

New Computers, New (And Old) Problems

I've felt like quitting so many times in the past week it isn't funny. I've got a list of problems, many related to the new computers. Basically other employees are screwing up and it's costing me money.

Dispatch
On Wednesday, the manager mistakenly assigned my run to another driver. When he was made aware of his error, he didn't correct it. I'm not sure he knew how to reassign the run to the correct driver.

Bad Street List / Out Of Area Deliveries
The street list on the new computer is not as up-to-date as the list on the previous computer was. Due to this, we are taking many deliveries that the computer doesn't think is in our delivery area.

Incidentally, we're also taking more deliveries that really aren't in our area. I took 2 tonight (out of 13) and both stiffed me.

Some people think giving the driver a little money for this will make up for it, but there are many costs involved here, including the cost of the extra gas to drive farther, the time it takes me to drive farther, the other deliveries I could have taken had I gotten back in a normal time.

Wrong Address
Last night one phone girl got the apartment wrong, typing B14 instead of D14. The original driver couldn't find it (of course) and also couldn't call the customer so the order got brought back until the customer called wondering where their food was. I ended up having to take it and we gave it to them for free. Of course they didn't tip. Get the addresses right!

On a similar note, a different phone girl tonight totally butchered the phone number. 474-032-4739. It probably should have been 440-324-739X. Unfortunately the X is important. We ran out of Pepsi and I couldn't call to see if they wanted a different 2-Liter or a credit. Manager Nick had me take a Cherry Pepsi and a Sierra Mist and let them pick. Of course they didn't tip.

History Deleted
Our old computer system had the order history of all of our customers. Last night the same phone girl who messed up the address, took an order and decided arbitrarily, because the customer was laughing and ordered $45 (3 pizzas) that it might be a prank. She and the manager cancelled the order.

Had they asked me, I could have told them that I've delivered to that house at least 20 times in the past couple years. But no, they were too smart to ask for help. So the customer called back eventually, the pizza was over 2 hours late, and do you think I got a tip?

If you've read this long, you deserve a funny story. On one of my deliveries last night, as I stood by the door, I heard a miniature explosion going off behind the house. The guys at the door in their early 20's started laughing. Their younger brother (preteen) then showed up and the guys accused him of "throwing all the fireworks in the fire" and that's exactly what it sounded like.

Saturday I drove 8 hours, took 18 runs, drove 78 miles, and made $46.

Sunday night I drove 6 hours, took 13 runs, drove 67 miles, and made $25.

Note that the night with the 2 out-of-area runs, I got 5.15 miles per run. The other night was a more normal 4.33 miles per run.

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.

Crazy Night!

Tonight was simply a crazy night from start to finish. Even our cook Mona agreed.

It started off with me arriving late. I just missed my train home from my other job and then the next train was late and slow so I got home about 25 minutes later than I should have. Then my uniform was in the basement (luckily they were at least washed) so after I started getting undressed I had to get dressed again and go down and find my clothes. So I didn't get to work until about 6:30.

My first delivery didn't leave the store until over 30 minutes after it was placed. The pizza was made but somehow didn't get sent back as the deliveries should, and a manager had to go look for it. I made the long trek to the house (grid C5) where I was looking for 146 XXX street. Well I saw 180 and then the next house was 142. I phoned the customer to ask where 146 was. They looked out the window and saw me and told me to go towards Lake Ave. I did, and the next house after 142 was 160, then 156 ... the 142 house was just totally misnumbered. I got $2.02 on a $13.08 order.

My second delivery customer said that he had ordered online and paid by credit card, but it was marked as cash on my ticket. I phoned the store but the (newer) manager I got didn't know how to do online orders so I just had the guy sign the back of the ticket and gave him his food, I figured I could fix it myself when I got back. He wrote in a $1 tip on a $14.58 order.

My 3rd delivery was a rerun to a pickup customer about 6 miles away. They had picked up their food but there was a pizza missing. We don't usually deliver replacements to pick-up customers. They did tip me $3 but for the distance and time, it was still hardly worth it.

My 4th customer ordered 3 pizzas and a order of wings, well done. I could tell that the wings weren't well done so I put them back in the oven myself and waited while they got cooked a 2nd time. The guy tipped me $3.71 on a $28.29 order, my best tip of the night.

My 5th and 6th deliveries were a double. The guy at the 5th delivery is usually a $5 tipper, but told me he had just lost his job. He tipped $2.43 on his $25.57 order. His story turned out to be a foreshadowing of another customer sob story yet to come!

The 2nd delivery of the double was my only uneventful delivery of the night, tipping $3.41 on their $26.59 5-pizza order.

After that I took my 7th delivery. It was a house with multiple units and multiple entrances, so I called them from the porch. When the girl got to the door she told me that I'd been there before and I should have remembered to go around back. I told her it wasn't marked on the ticket and I go to about 100 houses a week sometimes. She then reminded me that her uncle had tried to pay by check, and I did indeed remember being there before and going around back. She gave me $21.10 on her $21.07 order. I don't consider 3 cents a tip, but more of an insult.

My 8th & 9th deliveries were another double. The guy at house #8 was standing on his porch smoking, and proceeded to tell me that his wife was in the hospital, she had had a total hip replacement, she may have to go to a nursing home, he used to deliver pizzas, he had a dog that was a good guard dog, he still had to lock his garage, he had some nice tools in it ... and on and on and on! But he gave me $17 for his $16.09 order so I was in no mood to stay to listen to him. Plus I had to get to . . .

Delivery number 9. This woman had called back to ask the driver to phone when they were about to arrive, as she couldn't hear the knocking way in the back. So I phoned as I was pulling onto their street. However, there was a man already waiting outside. He asked if I had his wings, he asked what "she" got on the pizza, then he said he didn't really care as long as he got his wings. He tipped $2.43 on his $18.57 order.

My final delivery was a new address. I had just had a conversation with the manager in training about the night we were robbed and how we were supposed to phone back all new addresses after dark. Well she took the order, it was a new address, the grid was wrong, I knew it was an apartment building and there was no apartment number on the ticket. I asked her about it and she said "oh yeah I forgot." I proceeded to call the customer and everything checked out ok. He tipped me $2.42 on his $13.58 order.

To top the night off, the manager came back as I was finishing up the dishes and asked "is this running?" about the loud, obviously running dishwasher, as she opened the side and dirty dishwater shot right into my eyes.

Totals for the night were 4 1/2 hours driving, 10 deliveries, 49 miles, and $21 in tips.

Naked Pizza Customer

I had my first ever naked person come to the door tonight. It was a little boy about 2 years old, who sneaked up while his mom was paying for the pizza. It was really hot today and you can hardly blame him!

I took a phone order today, and after getting the phone number, if they are a new customer I have to get their last name. The girl said "Do I have to give you my last name?" I replied that she could give whatever name she wanted, and she said to put it under "Jamie."

I reminder her that she had called us and I had no intentions of stalking her, and then she explained that her last name was just very long and difficult to spell.

My last delivery of the night was a $5 tip to a group of people sitting around a fire and drinking in their back yard. Two young men were wrestling on the ground, while the rest of the group sat around and chuckled.

I worked 6 hours tonight and took 13 deliveries, drove 45 miles and made $28 in tips. If I hadn't gotten that last $5 tip, it would have been a crummy night but it ended up decent.

How Can My Pizzeria Help Increase My Tips?

I had a comment posted a couple posts back by chrikaren with this very question.

Unfortunately I don't think there is much that can increase the average tip per delivery. Most people always tip, but a few never tip. And most people that do tip, always tip the same amount.

The one thing that I think affects my tips the most is how we answer the phones. I try to answer as many phone calls as I can when I am in the store between deliveries. I sincerely believe that most people have decided how much they will tip by the time they get off the phone, right after hearing their total price.

So if I can be super courteous and helpful on the phone, and sound excited to take their order, I think it helps. Sometimes I can even joke around ... if the customer keeps asking people in the background what they want, I'll laugh and say "You're really stuck in the middle here, huh!" And usually they laugh too.

Another thing is quality. Sometimes customers may tip less (or order from somewhere else) if we mess up their order. If they ask for no green peppers on their deluxe pizza, make sure that's how it is made. If they want their wings well done, be sure to put them through the oven a little extra.

Finally, as a driver, I have some effect on my tips. I'm clean and neat and cheerful at the door. I'm as prompt as I can be, and I will sometimes pick up a newspaper laying on the step. I'll say hi to the kids, smile at the dog, help them hold the door, all of those things help a little.

One thing I can't change is my looks. We had a driver named Amy, an attractive young girl, and she was the one person I worked with that almost always made more tips than me. She's over at Marco's now, and I'm sure she still gets tipped well.

How Not To Treat A Customer

On Sunday, while vacationing with my family near Port Clinton, we decided to get pizza for lunch. I knew there was a franchise of the pizzeria where I work there, so my wife called my home-franchise and got their number.

My wife then called to place an order. This was around 11:30 AM. Our first surprise was that this franchise has different specials than ours, but that was no big deal. I get an employee discount of 50%, up to $10 maximum discount, so we just ordered 3 pizzas and some garlic bread with cheese.

The order was for pick-up as we were driving to my in-laws.

My wife indicated when placing the order that I was an employee and should get the discount. They asked if I had a pay-stub and she said no I do not, but that they could call my home-store and they would definitely vouch for me. I'm not sure what was said next but apparently they didn't want to make the long-distance call because my wife then offered to let them use our cell phone to call.

About 15 minutes later I walked in the door. This is definitely a nicer restaurant, built for more dine-in business. There was a hostess stand.

I walked up and asked if I was in the right place for a pick-up order.

"Yes, but we don't have any orders."

"Well, I just called about 15 minutes ago, maybe it's not ready yet."

"No, we don't have any orders at all."

I opened my phone to show the last number dialed. "Is this your number?"

"Yes"

"This call was for 3 minutes and 51 seconds, just 15 minutes ago."

"But we don't have any orders. Our only order of the day so far was a delivery."

"But I'm showing you the phone record that I called."

"Maybe you called our Oak Harbor store," she suggested.

"But this is your number on my phone. Not Oak Harbor."

"Right but we don't have any orders."

By this time my wife had came into the store also, I told her that they didn't have an order for us.

"I just called," she said.

The management of this restaurant made no effort at all to try to resolve the situation. They had no dine-in customers that I could see, and they admitted they had only had 1 delivery so far.

They didn't offer to take my order, they just tried to convince me that I hadn't called.

I said to my wife, "It's fine, we'll go to McDonalds"

She said "Is there someone we can call?"

"We can call Shelly," I said. Shelly is our district manager. I thought she was the district manager there too, and I know she spent many days there opening that store.

"Shelly's not our district manager, Ken is," the woman called out as we were walking out.

...

Fast forward to today, I called my home store to get Shelly's number. Our new GM Ady answered, and told me she knew what it was about.

Apparently someone from the Port Clinton store had called her. They told her that they didn't make my order. They told her that they did a $7000 day and were too busy to call and see if I was an actual employee.

Why did they do this to try to cover their tracks, when they told me that they didn't have an order for me?

Coupon Scam

This article describes 2 Dominos employees who ran the famous "coupon scam."

Basically the phone person takes the order. The driver delivers the order. The customer pays full price. But the driver discounts the order with a coupon, and the driver pockets the difference. In this case it seems the phone person and the driver were in on the scam together.

Our POS system tracks "surprise coupons", or any discount added to the order after the order is initially entered, so it would be pretty difficult to try this at our store.

Plus, as I always say, the money is too good as is for me to try something like this. Not to mention it's illegal!

Wardo's Curtain Call

Tonight was my last night to work with Manager Ward. He has taken a job working with Driver Steve at Rent-A-Center. His last day is Tuesday and he will be missed. Ward is a good guy and as much as I give him a hard time, he knows I like him and want the best for him.

Ward has actually come a long way in the 1 1/2 years that I have known him. He started as a server (I called him a waitress) and he became a Hourly Assistant Manager, or HAM. He used to live with his mother and now he has his own apartment. And he just recently turned 21.

I hope that he finds a little more direction for his life and that he develops some ambition, but he is a good kid, very strong in honesty, integrity and loyalty. I told him tonight that I hope he fails miserably and comes crawling back to us, but I sincerely hope this move works out well for him.

His legacy at our pizzeria will be "Wardsticks", or cheesesticks with jalopenos. I plan to explain this, and other secret recipes, in an upcoming post.

Meanwhile, back to tonight's deliveries. In 5 hours I took 11 deliveries, drove 41 miles, and made $24 in tips. That's actually a decent Monday. It was helped by 2 "triples" that I took.

One delivery of note tonight and it was not a good one. Driver Alison was out on a double and I was getting ready to take another double when I noticed a 5th delivery on the screen, to the Holiday Inn.

Now the Holiday Inn is actually not in our delivery area. Our computer won't accept addresses that are out of the area without a manager override. However, if the phone number was already in the system (and theirs was), the order-taker may not realize that it is out of the area, unless there is a notation on the record. And there was not.

Now normally as a driver, I would try to not take this delivery. As a store, we would call the next franchise over that actually DOES deliver there and transfer the order. However the order was paid by credit card so this could not be done. And since my double was actually to the far edge of our area and just a few blocks from the Holiday Inn, I volunteered to take it.

The ticket said room 129 so I walked in, past the front desk, and down 2 long halls until I came to room 129. I knocked a few times and finally called the number on the ticket. It rang at the front desk and I explained that I was the pizza guy and asked them to ring room 129.

I heard the phone ringing, with no answer. The clerk soon came back and said there was no one in room 129 tonight. Weird. The clerk also checked the name on the ticket and there was no one by that name registered at the hotel. The order was paid by credit card so it was not a prank. I called back to the shop and spoke with waitress Stacy who took the order.

Come to find out, she did not type in room 129 or the name on the ticket. They were there from the previous (and only) delivery to that address, way back in November. I asked if she remembered the room number that they did tell her or the name, and she claimed that they did not give her a name or room number. I find this difficult to believe but there I was.

I ended up leaving the pizza, in the hot bag, at the front desk. They were very helpful and I told them that when the customer called us back about his pizza, we would direct him to the front desk. Also I promised to be back after we closed to pick up the hot bag.

With that I finished my runs and headed back to the store. Eventually the customer did call back and I got to speak to him. I apologized for the confusion, told him where to find his dinner, and told him that if there were any problems he could call back and ask to speak to a manager. I then asked if he had wanted to add a tip to the credit card, and, much to my surprise, he actually added a $2 tip over the phone.

So in the end, I can't say that it made me feel smarter, but I did deliver to a Holiday Inn last night.

Oh and thanks to manager Doug who picked up the hot bag as it was on his way home. We also took the desk crew a pepperoni pizza to show our gratitude for their helpfulness.

Good Friday?

I had the day off from my day job today, but spent a busy Friday at home. Before heading to my pizza job, I filled both cars with gas, or tried to. I bought a $50 gas card at Speedway, filled up the Taurus, but wasn't quite able to fill up the Hyundai. Gas is up to $2.749! That sent me to work in a somewhat foul mood.

I haven't worked a Friday in a long time so was really looking forward to a profitable night tonight. My emotions ranged so far tonight that it's one of those nights I almost have to give a pizza by pizza description.

Surprise Tip
My first delivery was $27.58 to a house on the far side of town, where the young men who order never tip. Much to my surprise, someone who appeared to be their grandmother was there today. She gave me $30 and asked how much the change was. "$2.42," I replied. "That's for you" she said, "It's bad out there." (At this point it was starting to get cold).

Line From A Movie
My next delivery, also far away, was 6 pizzas, discounted to $62.08. I was hoping for a big tip. I got $2.92, and a guy in the background called out "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." Regular readers will certainly recognize this line from the #2 movie on my list of Top 10 Movies with Pizza Scenes, Home Alone! It was my first time actually getting this line used on me, so it was kind of cool.

Delivery / Pick Up - Mix Up
My 3rd delivery was a ways away also. When I knocked, a little dog was barking and jumping like crazy, but nobody answered the door. This was strange as a different delivery had just been changed to a pick-up before I left the shop. I called the number and got voicemail. I called our shop and spoke with Rick our GM. We agreed that I should wait a few minutes to see if they had went to the store or something. Finally a guy came to the door, and said it was supposed to be a pick-up. He took the pizzas, which were already paid by credit card, and with a $2.68 tip.

I quickly called Rick back, as I realized that the name on my delivery and the name on the delivery that had been changed rhymed, (like "Hose" and "Lowes") and there probably was a mix-up. Indeed this was the case and someone had to be sent out with the other delivery.

Rerun
My 4th delivery was my farthest yet. On the way I had to drop off a pasta from a previous delivery. I don't know if it was messed up or if the driver forgot it. But reruns usually mean no tip, and this was indeed the case.

On Second Thought, No Tip
Then the actual delivery was $19.57. The woman came to the door holding a $20 and a $5 but only gave me the $20. I don't know if she was teasing or what.

Family Dine-In
About this time my family had arrived, ordered, and was finishing up their meal. Now as an employee I get a 50% discount, up to $10 off maximum. Many times, the waitresses will also hook up employees and their families with free fountain drinks, but not today. Before the discount, our bill for 2 pizzas, breadsticks, a salad, and 7 drinks was $41.12. The discount brought it down to $31.12 but I figured I would have to work most of the night just to pay the check. Victoria left a nice $7 tip.

My next 4 deliveries were uneventful except for the fact that snow was starting to fall. And I got my first and only stiff of the night (except for reruns), $0.42 on a $11.58 delivery. Total for the 4 runs was $7.30.

Forgetting The Pepsi
Oh and I forgot the 2-liter on one of them, so I stopped at Drug Mart and bought one with my own $. The store owes me a 2-liter. I forgot to take it home tonight, I'll be sure to remember tomorrow.

Pizza Circles
On my 10th delivery I finally took my first double of the night. I made $5.45 in tips but had to apologize on the 2nd delivery. We have a new kid cutting and boxing the pizzas. This customer had ordered 4 extra ranch sauces, and Steve had put them directly on top of the pizza (in the box). Closing the box and putting another box on top causes something similar to "alien crop circles" to appear on the pizza. I asked him not to pack them like that anymore.

Don't Drink And Drive
About this time we were slow and I took a phone order for a pick-up. They wanted 2 pepperoni pizzas. We're supposed to try to "upsell", so I always ask "Do you want anything else with that? Breadsticks, chicken wings, Pepsi?"

"No, we have beer, we're ok," was the reply. I used this as an opening to try to talk them into delivery. "Beer huh. Are you sure you don't want us to bring that pizza out to you?" I suggested, but she wasn't interested.

Snow On Easter?
My next 3 deliveries were also pretty boring. I did start using a line at the door which I think may have increased my tips slightly: "When you have more snow for Easter than you had for Christmas, something's not right." Total for the 3 runs was $7.27.

Best Tip Of The Night
By now, the snow was falling pretty good and the roads were getting very slippery. A pickup truck fishtailed right in front of me! My next delivery was pretty close and I was quite surprised to get $4.42 on a $13.58 delivery from a punk/goth type young man.

My 16th run of the night got me $2.93 on a $12.07 order, not bad!

Rerun (again)
Next was another rerun (with no real order to go with it this time). Pasta again! This time the customer specifically asked for marinara sauce but the cook made the dinner with alfredo sauce. This customer had a pretty neat light-up house number beside their door. I may look into getting one, it was very nice!

Extra Cash
By now it was after midnight, all of the prep work was done, and the dishes were pretty well caught up. The other driver Steve offered me $5 to let him go home early, which I agreed to. Thanks Steve! Steve also pocketed an extra $17 due to a computer glitch which led to a voided check, and he was kind enough to split that with me also. Steve starts at 9 PM on Fridays and took just 5 deliveries, but made over $30!

Best Run Of The Night
Then we got a late order, actually 3, but 2 were to the same house. Quite far away. One was 5 pizzas for $62 and the other was 1 pizza and some cinnamon sticks. They were separate because the smaller order was paid by credit card. Each of them tipped $4. One of them was an ex-employee who has tipped very generously in the past, and with the bad weather I was kind of hoping for more, but I sure can't complain about $8 on a single delivery.

The final order of the night was $12.58 and I got another $2.42 tip on that one.

Nightly Totals
Total for the night was 7.5 hours on the road, 20 deliveries, 84 miles driven, $378 in pizza orders delivered, and $46 in tips. Pretty decent night, but a little frustrating due to the $31 I spent to buy my family's dinner.

Pizza! Get Your Hot Pizza Here!
Then there were a few pre-made pizzas that cook Steve put through the oven. There were 2 with pepperoni for me to take. We closed up and I gave Steve a ride home. Steve lives near a bar and I swung past after I dropped him off, with the 2 extra pizzas. There was a crowd of smokers outside the side door and I was able to quickly sell those 2 pizzas for $20. That made it a very nice night!

Gassing Up And Going Home
I put another $20 on my gas card, filled up the Hyundai and had $ left, and brought home $45.

Slow Sunday

I drove tonight, it was my first shift in almost a week. The night started out awful, my first 5 "tips" were $0.30, $0.42, $0.00, $0.67, and $1.42. That's $2.81 total for 5 deliveries, and over half of that came from 1 tip.

My 7th delivery finally yielded $3.67 but it was already around 9PM and there wasn't really much time to catch up.

I was surprised we were so slow. The weather was nice and the clocks were set forward, so I expected people to be outside, taking down the last of their Christmas lights, and then come inside and realize it was dinnertime.

If they did this, they must have called another pizza place, because we were slow all night long.

I took the phone call for my 10th and final delivery and I was concerned that it would be a prank. The name was "LAFARTA." It was a new phone number and address, and the guy on the phone had to ask someone in the background what the address was. But they answered the phone when we called back to verify so we made the order and I took it.

And was I glad I did. I'm guessing the guy was at a girls apartment and was trying to impress her. I don't know if he impressed her but he sure impressed me. He gave me 2 $20's on a $20.67 order and just asked for a $10 back in change.

That $9.67 tip ended up getting me a respectable $21 in tips on 10 deliveries, over 6 hours of driving. I did have several very close deliveries and ended up driving only 31 miles, well under my average of 4 miles per delivery.

One interesting coincidence (I hope) was that the only 2 orders where I answered the phone AND took the delivery ended up being my 2 biggest tips of the night. I told manager Ward that I hoped it was just a coincidence or we would be having some phone training soon!

I have to remark on this, earlier in the night, Ward and drivers Steve and Desiree were having a discussion that I did not understand at all. They were talking about people with names like Tango and Shamrock. When I asked what they were talking about, they said it was a reality show called The White Rapper.

Man am I glad I don't have time to watch tv.

Closing Time?

Today in the mail I got a copy of Dave Shelson's book, "How to Make Up To $38 Per Hour Delivering Pizza." I can't wait to read it!

I drove tonight, worked 5 hours, took 12 deliveries, drove 40 miles, and made $40 in tips.

You would think I would be in a great mood.

But I had 2 deliveries (or non-deliveries) tonight that have got me steaming.

My first run of the night was pre-paid at the store. That means someone came in, ordered food, paid for it, but couldn't wait the 10 minutes while their pizza was cooked. Usually when this happens they leave a tip for the driver at that time. But no such luck for me, and no tip once I got to their house either.

To top it off, I found out later that they called back to complain, and we sent another driver back out there to pick up their pizza. Now our policy is to never give refunds. But now we took back their food so they certainly can argue that we owe them something. I don't understand why we went back out there to get their food.

From there I had a great night. I made a $12 tip on a $32 order on my 2nd delivery.

I got a $5 tip on my final delivery where the girl paid by credit card and left it blank, then her boyfriend handed me a $5.

I got a $3 tip in a low-rent apartment where I never get tipped. Guy paid me $22 for a $21.xx order then, holding a $10, asked if I had change. I counted off 5 $1's and a $5. He gave me $3 back and then I said "Hey guy I need that $10 too." "Sorry man, I'm tripping" was his reply as he handed me the $10.

But what upset me was as I was washing dishes, the phone rang. "We're open" I said to Nick, the one-time blogger. I looked at my watch, and it said 10:54 PM. Not even close to the 11:00 PM closing time. A couple minutes later, manager Doug (who answered the call), told us that he told them we were closed.

This is like taking money out of my pocket. I earn a good portion of my income in tips. This was a potential tip that we turned away tonight. And possibly they called another pizza place, were served well, and will take their business elsewhere in the future. Who knows how much potential $ I lost tonight.

I mentioned this to Doug and he was bold enough to lie to my face and tell me that it was after 11. I told him no it was not and he said yeah it was.

I have no respect for liars and tonight I learned that Doug is a liar.

Tonight was a bad, bad night.

Ordering Pizza For Delivery - A How To Guide

Today's post will list some tips for the customer on how to order pizza for delivery. If you follow these instructions, you will have a better chance of getting your order made correctly and delivered quickly.

Before Calling:

• Know what you want: Talk it over with your friends or family before you call and decide what toppings you want to order. Long delays while you decide in the background may lead to being put on hold at busy times or when multiple lines are ringing.
• Find your coupons: Give your coupon information over the phone when you make the call. Some places will accept "surprise" coupons at the door but often this will force the driver to call back to get the revised price, which delays you getting your dinner.
• Know where you are: Believe it or not, often times someone will call in an order from a friend's house and doesn't know the address where they want the food delivered. Find out before you call if you are not sure.
  
• (Optional) Have your credit card ready: If you are paying by credit card, have it ready before you make the call.

While On The Phone:

• Ask for specific specials: Many customers will call in and ask "What are your specials?" This is fine but when the phone person describes the deals on 3 pizzas, and you reply "No it's just me," they have wasted both of your time. Asking if there are any deals on single (or multiple) pizzas may get you a faster, more accurate answer.
  
• Answer questions in order: Many pizza shops now use computer-based ordering systems and the data must be entered in a certain order. For example, on our system, the person taking the order must enter the phone number and address before adding any items to the order. They must choose the crust type and size before choosing the toppings. If you call up and blurt out "I want a pepperoni mushroom pizza" you may have to repeat yourself.
• Specify how you are paying: If you plan to pay by check, be sure the pizza parlor accepts checks. Many do not. If you plan to pay by credit / debit card, now is the time to give out the information.
• Ask for extras: If you need napkins, plates, red pepper or parmesan cheese packets, ask for them while you are ordering. If you do not ask, the driver may not have any.
  

After Ordering:

• Stay home: The quoted delivery time is just an estimate and may not be accurate, especially if you live close by. If the shop is not busy, your order could be on it's way in as little as 10 minutes. Now is not the time to go to the store for a bag of chips!
• Answer the phone: The pizza shop may need to call you if there are any questions with your order or if they ran out of a topping and want to offer you a replacement. If your ringer is off or if you are online and your phone is busy, it could delay your order.
• Get your money ready: If you have a group, collect the money now. If your purse is upstairs, go get it. Be ready to pay when the food arrives.
• Turn your porch light on: Making your house easy to find helps the driver get your dinner to you as quickly as possible.

When The Doorbell Rings:

• Answer it: This one seems like it should be a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people call out "Who is it?" as if they have no idea why anyone would knock on their door 30 minutes after they ordered pizza for delivery.
• Tip the driver: Pizza delivery drivers work for tips. If you paid a delivery charge, in most cases, it goes to the store. The driver may get a portion of it to cover his gas. This is not in place of a tip, this helps cover his vehicle expenses. A good tip is 15% of the order, with a minimum of $2. Tips should be more in harsh weather or for far-away locations. Drivers have good memories and a driver who remembers a good tip will go out of his way to get you your pizza fast in the future!
  

Not So Super Bowl

I worked last night from 4-close. That is 7 hours on the road. I took 17 deliveries and made $35. Now that is slightly more than I would make on a typical Sunday, but not much. We were busier than usual but we were WAY overstaffed. Every driver I spoke with was disappointed in how much they earned.

In our area at least, I believe the thinking that the Super Bowl is a bonanza for pizza delivery drivers is a sad myth. Affluent customers that may have a big party and tip very well are more likely to prepare their own food these days. People eat pizza so often that I think it just isn't 'special' anymore.

Of my 17 deliveries, I only took 2 that were $25 or more, and each of those was just 2 pizzas and some sides and 2-liters. I didn't take 3 pizzas to one house all night. I did make 2 nice $5 tips but about half (8) of my tips were $1.40 or less.

I almost didn't write about the Super Bowl at all, I thought about titling my post "It pays to answer the phone."

Now I believe that phone-answerring is important. Most people, as many as 80-90%, have decided how much they will tip before they answer the door. The drivers actual service and job performance seems to have little effect on the size of the tip, in most cases.

Almost the only chance we have to affect the tip is during the phone transaction. So I try to answer as many phones as I can, and to be friendly and cheerful while taking the order. I believe this helps increase my tips.

But last night I actually made money just by answerring the phone. I started off with my normal greeting. "Thanks for calling (name of pizza place), this is Kevin, will this be for delivery or pick-up."

"Actually I already placed a pick-up order and it should be ready. I'm outside with 2 sleeping kids in the van, can someone possibly bring it out to me?", the lady asked.

"Absolutely," I replied, "we will be right out."

I found the order, grabbed the 2-liter of Pepsi, checked the amount ($15.00), and took the food out the front door. The woman opened the door to her van, thanked me, and handed me $20. "If you have $3 that would be great" she said.

I quickly handed her her change (out of my drivers bank that I keep in my pocket), went back in and paid the $15 check, and I made a nice $2 tip for about 1 minute of work.

This was before the game started, and it at least put me in a good mood for a few minutes.

Oh and I should say "Thank you" to my co-workers Nick and Ward, for helping me get home last night. If you were following along from last week's blog, I was driving a PT Cruiser rented from Enterprise that I had to return at the end of my shift last night. Nick picked me up from Enterprise after my last delivery and Ward took me home after we closed. Thanks guys!