after the national youth workers convention i wanted to get a nice meal. well, the timing didn't work out to do a big going out thing, so erin ordered what has become our stand by meal. some folks call it comfort food. anyways, not only was the person who took our order kinda bitchy to erin, they told us it'd be an hour (what!) well, since we were heading home from the office we didn't leave right away. when i get home what do i find? none other than the pizza guy. so i went scrambling for a check, we payed the guy, but in looking at the bill i notice a $2 "convenience" charge.
uh, where did this come from? where did the idea of 'free delivery' go? anyways, the more i ponder it the more i am going to be calling dominos or roma's pizza now.
That’s been around for years, at least here.
We subtract it from the tip and apologize to the driver, but encourage him to report back to the manager that charging for delivery makes it a commodity rather than a service.
That’s been around for years, at least here.
We subtract it from the tip and apologize to the driver, but encourage him to report back to the manager that charging for delivery makes it a commodity rather than a service.
Well, in tough economic times, people still like to splurge and get a pizza. But they cut back by not tipping the delivery driver. The only way they can get someone to deliver a pizza for free is to get the driver to expect a tip. No tips, no drivers.
You can blame cheap people for this.
Well, in tough economic times, people still like to splurge and get a pizza. But they cut back by not tipping the delivery driver. The only way they can get someone to deliver a pizza for free is to get the driver to expect a tip. No tips, no drivers.
You can blame cheap people for this.
I’ve a co-worker who also moonlights in the evenings as a pizza delivery guy. We’ve had many a discussion on the ethics of tipping versus not tipping the driver if there is a “delivery” charge or a “convenience fee”.
From my perspective :
I ordered from the restaurant :
a (1) pizza to be (2) delivered.
I will pay for (1) the pizza ;
and also EITHER(2) the delivery charge OR(2) tip the delivery person, but NOT both the charge and the tip.
The reasoning behind my argument is as follows :
At sit-down establishments where I receive full service at the table, the wait staff are paid as such(below minimum wage) and I tip according to the service that I receive.
At counter service restaurants / fast food establishments, where I do not receive full service at the table, the staff are supposed to be paid at, or above, minimum wage. I therefore do not tip at these establishments.
To carry the analogy over to pizza delivery : if the food establishment charges me money to send a delivery person, then I expect that the money charged to me goes towards the hourly wage that they pay to the driver. If it does not, then it is not a delivery fee.
In this scenario, my contract/agreement for items&services in return for payment is solely with the restaurant, not with the delivery person.
If there is no delivery charge, then the cost of the delivery is either included in the cost of the pizza* , or passed on to the pizza delivery person. In this instance, I am willing to recompense the delivery person (in the form of a tip) for their time in performing a service for me, because I cannot know which of these two conditions they might be in.
My co-worker, arguing from the perspective of a pizza delivery person, complains that he is not fairly compensated for his time if there is not a tip (disregarding the delivery fee) and that it is therefore unethical of me to not tip.
My counter-argument is that because his employer has already charged me a delivery fee, the terms and conditions of his employment, including his compensation, are solely between himself and his employer.
*[In the event that the cost of delivery is included in the cost of the pizza, anyone who does not have pizza delivered is overpaying for their pizza, and therefore also subsidizing my delivery. I would also note here, without first-hand knowledge of the actual reason as to why the charges now appear, whereas they did not before, it is possibly because : either it was pointed out by some corporate accountant that including the cost of delivery in the cost of the pizza was a bad (unethical or illegal) accounting practice, or that it would be better for the company to list it as a separate charge in order to be able to better track accounts & margins]
I’ve a co-worker who also moonlights in the evenings as a pizza delivery guy. We’ve had many a discussion on the ethics of tipping versus not tipping the driver if there is a “delivery” charge or a “convenience fee”.
From my perspective :
I ordered from the restaurant :
a (1) pizza to be (2) delivered.
I will pay for (1) the pizza ;
and also EITHER(2) the delivery charge OR(2) tip the delivery person, but NOT both the charge and the tip.
The reasoning behind my argument is as follows :
At sit-down establishments where I receive full service at the table, the wait staff are paid as such(below minimum wage) and I tip according to the service that I receive.
At counter service restaurants / fast food establishments, where I do not receive full service at the table, the staff are supposed to be paid at, or above, minimum wage. I therefore do not tip at these establishments.
To carry the analogy over to pizza delivery : if the food establishment charges me money to send a delivery person, then I expect that the money charged to me goes towards the hourly wage that they pay to the driver. If it does not, then it is not a delivery fee.
In this scenario, my contract/agreement for items&services in return for payment is solely with the restaurant, not with the delivery person.
If there is no delivery charge, then the cost of the delivery is either included in the cost of the pizza* , or passed on to the pizza delivery person. In this instance, I am willing to recompense the delivery person (in the form of a tip) for their time in performing a service for me, because I cannot know which of these two conditions they might be in.
My co-worker, arguing from the perspective of a pizza delivery person, complains that he is not fairly compensated for his time if there is not a tip (disregarding the delivery fee) and that it is therefore unethical of me to not tip.
My counter-argument is that because his employer has already charged me a delivery fee, the terms and conditions of his employment, including his compensation, are solely between himself and his employer.
*[In the event that the cost of delivery is included in the cost of the pizza, anyone who does not have pizza delivered is overpaying for their pizza, and therefore also subsidizing my delivery. I would also note here, without first-hand knowledge of the actual reason as to why the charges now appear, whereas they did not before, it is possibly because : either it was pointed out by some corporate accountant that including the cost of delivery in the cost of the pizza was a bad (unethical or illegal) accounting practice, or that it would be better for the company to list it as a separate charge in order to be able to better track accounts & margins]
Matt has put a lot of thought into this…
We’ve had it for years, too. Makes for a pricey pizza. I figured it was the price of gas and cheap people not tipping.
I pay it and tip b/c I would rather be generous.
Matt has put a lot of thought into this…
We’ve had it for years, too. Makes for a pricey pizza. I figured it was the price of gas and cheap people not tipping.
I pay it and tip b/c I would rather be generous.
Pay the fee and tip the person who delivers the pizza. It’s not his/her fault what might be the policy of the restaurant. You ordered the pizza. If you don’t like the pricing policy of the restaurant, take your concerns to the manager but don’t take it out on the driver/delivery person. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then order from a restaurant that complies with your expectations. If you particularly want the pizza offered by a particular restaurant, you will have to be prepared to comply with their pricing policy. Regardless of how one might seek to justify it, failing to tip the delivery person when at least a reasonable tip is to be expected is dishonest.
Pay the fee and tip the person who delivers the pizza. It’s not his/her fault what might be the policy of the restaurant. You ordered the pizza. If you don’t like the pricing policy of the restaurant, take your concerns to the manager but don’t take it out on the driver/delivery person. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, then order from a restaurant that complies with your expectations. If you particularly want the pizza offered by a particular restaurant, you will have to be prepared to comply with their pricing policy. Regardless of how one might seek to justify it, failing to tip the delivery person when at least a reasonable tip is to be expected is dishonest.
“Dishonest” might be a touch strong. I’m fine with being called cheap, if that’s necessary. I’m a 20%+ tipper in dine-in restaurants; you have to really suck or be insulting to dip below that with me. But tipping is for services for which you are not charged.
If you add a 15% gratuity to my check because I’m in a large group, that’s what you get. You predetermined my tip. If you charge me for a service, I am not obligated to pay beyond that. There may be extenuating circumstances where the driver does a particularly outstanding job of getting out of the car and walking to my door with the pizza.
I might be convinced otherwise if I believed that the “convenience charge” was in consideration of our abusive fuel market and that the driver involved was being given the charge as additional compensation for fuel consumed. But don’t make me out to be the bad guy for restaurants finding a new way to squeeze a couple of bucks out of a consumer while exposing their drivers to reduced tips. Unless the charge goes to the drivers, the restaurant is the jerk, not us.
All that said, my pizza establishment of choice doesn’t deliver and offers buy-one-get-one pricing at about half the price of competitors. Rock on, Portifino’s.
“Dishonest” might be a touch strong. I’m fine with being called cheap, if that’s necessary. I’m a 20%+ tipper in dine-in restaurants; you have to really suck or be insulting to dip below that with me. But tipping is for services for which you are not charged.
If you add a 15% gratuity to my check because I’m in a large group, that’s what you get. You predetermined my tip. If you charge me for a service, I am not obligated to pay beyond that. There may be extenuating circumstances where the driver does a particularly outstanding job of getting out of the car and walking to my door with the pizza.
I might be convinced otherwise if I believed that the “convenience charge” was in consideration of our abusive fuel market and that the driver involved was being given the charge as additional compensation for fuel consumed. But don’t make me out to be the bad guy for restaurants finding a new way to squeeze a couple of bucks out of a consumer while exposing their drivers to reduced tips. Unless the charge goes to the drivers, the restaurant is the jerk, not us.
All that said, my pizza establishment of choice doesn’t deliver and offers buy-one-get-one pricing at about half the price of competitors. Rock on, Portifino’s.
dang matt, you’ve thought this one through.
earl, for the record, we tipped the drive $4 bucks which i think is reasonable. we are not some really hard house to find, or have some long drive or walkway to warrent more than a 15% range tip. where i was going with this posting was that i had never noticed a 2 dollar ‘convenience fee’ which i wondered what the convenience was. does this constitute a delivery charge?
regardless, i don’t believe i will order delivery from them again.
dang matt, you’ve thought this one through.
earl, for the record, we tipped the drive $4 bucks which i think is reasonable. we are not some really hard house to find, or have some long drive or walkway to warrent more than a 15% range tip. where i was going with this posting was that i had never noticed a 2 dollar ‘convenience fee’ which i wondered what the convenience was. does this constitute a delivery charge?
regardless, i don’t believe i will order delivery from them again.
to make my point clearer:
I would rather be generous than “cheap.”
Generosity is a spiritual discipline. If I begin to not be generous with another person in one area of my life, I feel it will spill over into the other areas.
My Lord and God has been generous with me — and I’ve never gone broke by tipping.
Call me a yutz or a pasty or whatever — I would rather be generous in all things — even if it might be “stupid” in the eyes of the world.
Giving a little extra to a server is a way we can be a blessing to this world.
Go ahead and dissect me now and tell me all the ways I am stupid — I will continue to be stupid.
to make my point clearer:
I would rather be generous than “cheap.”
Generosity is a spiritual discipline. If I begin to not be generous with another person in one area of my life, I feel it will spill over into the other areas.
My Lord and God has been generous with me — and I’ve never gone broke by tipping.
Call me a yutz or a pasty or whatever — I would rather be generous in all things — even if it might be “stupid” in the eyes of the world.
Giving a little extra to a server is a way we can be a blessing to this world.
Go ahead and dissect me now and tell me all the ways I am stupid — I will continue to be stupid.
I think just about every pizza place here in town has a “delivery fee.” Just like the airlines (adding fees for everything instead of just increasing the airfare), it’s simply a way to disguise the true cost of their product and remain competitive – once one company cuts the “published price” of their pizza but adds a delivery fee, they all have to do it to keep the public price competitive. We’ve moved to picking up our pizzas or making our own.
I think just about every pizza place here in town has a “delivery fee.” Just like the airlines (adding fees for everything instead of just increasing the airfare), it’s simply a way to disguise the true cost of their product and remain competitive – once one company cuts the “published price” of their pizza but adds a delivery fee, they all have to do it to keep the public price competitive. We’ve moved to picking up our pizzas or making our own.