Re: how much tip do you give to the Domino's pizza delivery driver? (October deliveries only)
Posted by:
DominosDriver
()
Date: December 09, 2012 06:11AM
All right. Another driver to set the record straight.
First off: My hourly wage on the road is $4.50. The franchise owner gets away with this via a tax loophole, a 'tips credit.' This allows him or her to claim that they don't have to pay drivers full minimum wage because of the tips they make. About half of the time this is justified.
Second: On an average day, a delivery driver will only spend about half of his or her shift getting paid full minimum wage. This equates to (at least in my case) about $26-30 per shift in hourly wages, and mind you that's before taxes obviously. My paychecks are only about $300 each, for two weeks of work, or $150 per week.
Third: A driver in any sizable town or small city does A LOT of driving. I've only been working as a driver for about 9 months so far, and I've already put on 15K miles on my vehicle. I've had to replace the full set of tires, the front rotors and brake pads, the spark plugs, the windshield (fractured while working), and I've spent an approximate $2000 extra just on gas and regular maintenance.
Think about that. Just in keeping my car running, I've spent close to $4K,
and it hasn't even been a full year yet. This doesn't even touch on the cost
of inspection, registration, insurance, etc.
Fourth: Working delivery isn't nearly as leisurely as some of you make it out to be.
Most people want their order in at least half an hour. Let me tell you what
each delivery typically entails: a 5-10 mile roundtrip, risking traffic
tickets left and right, having at least one near-collision because some
idiot thinks he's entitled to cut me off, driving the whole way knowing
that I have to lay down and take whatever other drivers decide to shat on
me or else they'd call in and complain (for which I would get a write-up),
and in general just having the fact hanging over my head that I have to
deal with all this and get you your order on time, or the possibility of
any tip at all goes right out the window.
Heck, sometimes I do everything perfectly, even dealing with all of this
stress, and still get stiffed (my current daily rate, I get stiffed on 25%
of all orders on the average day.) And mind you, I have never...NEVER,
been rude with a customer, NOR WILL I EVER do something so disgusting as
adding bodily fluids or anything to the food. The very idea sickens me.
Fifth: While I agree it is justified in reducing the tip amount if a driver is late, you have to look at the circumstances.
One day at work, and this day I could swear I was working in a watery hell,
it was raining so intensely that most of the streets were flooded. Now
as everyone knows, places specialize in or offer food delivery almost
always get slammed on rainy days. People just don't feel like going out.
Now something few of you may know, where I live and work there is an air
force base, and the trainees are not permitted to be outside during storms.
Exactly why this is, I'm not sure. To get to the point though, most of the
day we were so slammed that each and every driver took an average of about
5 or more orders per run, with those runs already running 15-30 minutes
later than they should have been. Many customers that day elected to stiff
their drivers, in spite of the overwhelming combination of labor shortage
and demand surplus. This was in no justified.
On the other hand, if you order on an average or slow day, and your driver goes about your delivery with a substandard performance due to choice, stiff the bastard. No one deserves a handout without giving something in return. Anyway, my point here being that you can't just say, "You're late," and not tip just for the sake of being cheap. You have to make a rational decision based on the circumstances, and adjust your tip accordingly.
So just a rule of thumb: (1) Your driver is polite, (2) Your order is on time or early, (3) Your order is made correctly and is still fresh...tip, $3-4 is the average. Your driver will remember you in a positive light.