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I usually give them five to seven dollars. I know they already add a delivery charge, but I am never certain if the driver receives the delivery charge. I order pizza from the same place and my order is always promptly delivered, fresh and hot. Lately, I have had the same delivery person each time. He does a great job of getting my pie here in less than the promised time.
The delivery fee has nothing to do with what the driver gets. Typically a driver will get $0.50 - $1.00 per delivery compensation for gas, regardless of what the delivery fee is. That doesn't even cover the actual cost of gas, let alone other maintenance for the driver's vehicle. I had a couple of pizza delivery jobs that compensated as much as $1.50 per delivery. That was better, but still wasn't quite enough. The best delivery jobs I ever had, I got to use company vehicles. I didn't get any compensation, but I did get to keep 100% of my tip money. What ever compensation the driver is getting from the delivery fee, it is not enough. It's tips that keeps their vehicles running.
After reading a bunch of these posts, I am wondering WHO gets the delivery charge? Is it just a bonus for the owner of the pizza place? KaaBoom, I think you were the only one who indicated that delivery drivers get a bit of money per delivery. I would think $1 per delivery would pay for gas, unless the delivery area is huge ... don't drivers make more than 1 delivery per trip (usually)? (Maybe I have a skewed idea about this because I live so close to the pizza places in my town ... it is 2-5 miles round-trip to deliver to me!)
I normally tip 15% on pizza delivery (even if there's a separate delivery charge). I order from any of 3 places, none of which is more than 10 minutes away, and 2 of which are literally 5 minutes away (which is why I pick up a lot more than I order with delivery!). I figure 15% is what I'd tip (at a minimum) if I were in a restaurant, so it seems appropriate.
I DON'T tip when I pick up, but that's a different issue. I know some people do but it always seems odd to me. I only feel weird about it when I pay by credit card ... paying cash, they don't expect a tip, but they don't cross out the "tip" line on credit card receipts either.
We don't order pizza often, but when we do, we usually tip 15-20%.
The way I see it is that I'm paying for the convenience of having the pizza brought to me. And yes, I know there's a delivery charge, but I also know that the driver doesn't see any of that at all -- so why punish the driver? I'm sure he'd much rather that he would get the fee as opposed to his boss, as well, but he doesn't. If you disagree with the delivery charge, or don't want tip on top of the fee, don't order delivery. My father-in-law thinks the delivery charge is silly, so he picks up the pizza himself 95% of the time -- but when they order pizza, he is a generous tipper.
Exactly.
We probably get pizza at least once every two weeks... I almost always go to pick it up, but, on the occasions that I do, I usually tip $5.00, maybe more and thats for a pizza and breadsticks, which is about 16 bucks.
I don't understand hosing the delivery guy because the place charges a delivery fee. You know the fee ahead of time, and, you chose to have it delivered. Delivering pizza is not a great job at all, especially with gas prices the way they are. Personally, I tip well on that because I don't have to go pick it up and I look at the amount of time and hassle it is saving me. Usually when I have it delivered, it is because we are tired, a bit tipsy, or have company over. The convenience is well worth it!
I delivered pizza for around 4 years, a few at a local pizzeria and one at a big-name chain. Anything under $3 is pretty much flipping the bird to the driver, and I would say under $4 if the place is within 5-10min away. It's not really the cost of the order but as someone said it's more of the quantity of pieces you have, how far they are driving, and how bad the weather is. If you order two expensive pizzas at $40 and they're 10min away, $3-4 is fine. If you order eight pizzas and three sides, chances are the driver is making a special trip just for you and above $5-6 is proper.
Another thing on the delivery charges, a local place will often forward that to their driver, but this is not for sure and DEFINITELY the larger chain restaurants do not give this to the driver, so I wouldn't let that charge change the tip.
I delivered all in the suburbs where the driving was easy, and would think inner city delivery should get a buck or two more than what I recommended. Just know that if you are someone who has an order for $18.56, and you hand them a twenty and say "keep the change", you may be getting some extra "ingredients" on your next order that you don't want to eat.
You make good points. When I did order it was usually one pizza/occasionally two. The place was less than two miles away. It is now closed. Easy suburban driving and weather here is usually good. $3 when it arrived on time and correct; $2 when it did not. I remember giving at least $4 on one occasion when the driver went out of their way to offer a couple paper plates, parmesan and red pepper packets. Confirmed the order energetically: "you ordered a large pepperoni, mushroom and olive, correct?", then thanked me instead of just "Here" in a tired voice before leaving. They certainly deserve a tip.
On the business of tipping for pick up orders, I typically don't but have done so on occasion...usually $1. The pizzeria that closed did not have salad (which is on their menu) on two occasions. They were in the same shopping center as a grocery store, so I grabbed my salad there. The very funny (and sad) part is this place is in the Salad Bowl (Salinas). When I told them "We are in the salad bowl and you don't have salad?" I got a blank stare. OK, whatever. Not "I'll bring it to manager's attention". I seldom ordered salad with the pizza, but it should be available if it is on the menu (especially here!). They never got a tip for pickup orders after that. I always tip on a delivery, though.
...you may be getting some extra "ingredients" on your next order that you don't want to eat.
That's why I don't like the whole tipping scam - restaurant employees feel the need to punish anyone who doesn't leave what they consider a decent tip. Forbid tipping and pay them all minimum wage.
I do $2 for the first pizza, with an additional $1 for the second. I don't think I've ever had a third pizza delivered, but if i did, I imagine I'd just add another $1 to it. I've ordered one pizza when the guy had to drive through what was practically a blizzard - gave him $5 for that.
I gave a guy $10 the other night because it was pouring rain and cold. It varies.
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