I just met Ebenezer Scrooge

[BowserKoopa1]

Last night I was delivering pizzas and drove to this one guy's house. What usually ensues when I ring the doorbell or knock on the door, dogs start barking and going crazy. The way he answered the door seemed like he was irritated with me.
Me: Good evening, sir. How are you doing tonight?
Scrooge: Well, I was doing fine until my dogs started barking.
Me: Sorry about that, sir.
I guess he was implying that his dogs barking drove him crazy, and that he was blaming me because I accidentally made his dogs bark. He didn't say much, so I tried to be polite and just made short conversation.
Me: Pretty cold weather we're getting, huh?
Scrooge (in a flat and somewhat unpleasant tone): Yup.
His dogs continued barking, and he finally turns and tells them to shut up in a loud tone of voice. He takes his food and gives me the credit card slip.
Me: Have a great night, sir.
Scrooge: Yeah.
He practically almost slams the door behind me. I look at the slip to see how much he tipped me, and he had stiffed me! The only reason I could think of for him doing this was because he was irritated with me for making his dogs bark Ok people, they're dogs, they are going to bark when someone is at the door. If the barking of dogs bothers you that much, then get a nice quiet goldfish. I sincerely hope the fat fuck chokes on his pizza.
Btw before anyone leaves any comments, I do not care to hear about how tipping is optional and its not required, and that I should not complain. I am fully aware of this, and I take them all with a grain of salt, even though I am not happy about it. I was mostly unhappy with Scrooge's demeanor.

[eltf177]

Personally I'd refuse to deliver to known stiffers...

[Teskeria]

I guess they must get stiffed a lot where I live. cause the last delivery guy actually thanked me for tipping him. If I can't afford the extra couple dollars for the poor driver (I tip a bit higher in bad weather) I get something a little cheaper so it fits my available budget for that treat!

[BowserKoopa1]

Personally I'd refuse to deliver to known stiffers...

There's no way to know exactly who will tip and who will not. And even if we did know, it would be against our policy to refuse to deliver to their area. It sucks, and if it were up to me, I would blacklist anyone who stiffs consistently unless they got a dam good reason for not tipping. Its not fair to the drivers if the customer has not had a bad experience.

[PepperElf]

Scrooge: Well, I was doing fine until my dogs started barking.

And who's fault is that? His.

If his dogs barking got him pissy then HE should have gone out to meet you.

[MoonCat]

There's an easy solution to his problem of dogs barking. Don't order pizza for delivery, go out and pick it up. See? Problem solved.

As for his attitude, the best solution is usually to remove the stick from his butt.

[Pixilated]

And who's fault is that? His.

If his dogs barking got him pissy then HE should have gone out to meet you.

He could also train them to be silent on command ... and then order them to be silent a lot sooner than he did.

Yes, tipping is optional, but people who grumble about tipping should try doing the job in question for a few months. I've got a friend who gripes about that; she makes good money and there's no reason she shouldn't tip reasonably well. It annoys me no end.

[Food Lady]

First, he should've apologized for his dogs barking at you. It's only polite. Second, I don't see tipping as optional.

[Racket_Man]

BowserKoopa1:

Welcome to my world. The exception being is that most of the time I can tell I am going to get stiffed (for various reasons such as a cursed address/apartment building, Section 8 housing, the neighborhood itself, etc.

sadly my company also will not ban serial stiffers, serial scammers, or dirtbags.

[Seshat]

Yes, tipping is optional, but people who grumble about tipping should try doing the job in question for a few months. I've got a friend who gripes about that; she makes good money and there's no reason she shouldn't tip reasonably well. It annoys me no end.

Mod Note, to avoid tipping discussion that used to become heated until enough of the members realised this:

* In some cultures, certain jobs (wait-staff, delivery drivers, bellhops) are paid considerably less than minimum wage, and the difference is expected to be made up in tips.

* In other cultures, such staff are paid a normal, reasonable wage, and tips are quite literally intended as reward for unusually high service.


Most of the members who say things like 'tipping is not optional' are from the former sort of culture. Most who say 'I don't tip unless I get exceptional service' are from the latter.

Please keep these culture variations in mind when reading posts in tipping threads.

Thank you.

[mhkohne]

Mod Note, to avoid tipping discussion that used to become heated until enough of the members realised this:

* In some cultures, certain jobs (wait-staff, delivery drivers, bellhops) are paid considerably less than minimum wage, and the difference is expected to be made up in tips.

* In other cultures, such staff are paid a normal, reasonable wage, and tips are quite literally intended as reward for unusually high service.


Most of the members who say things like 'tipping is not optional' are from the former sort of culture. Most who say 'I don't tip unless I get exceptional service' are from the latter.

Please keep these culture variations in mind when reading posts in tipping threads.

Thank you.

As a point of reference, for the United States, the normal minumum wage is $7.25/hr. Except that for tipped labor, the minimum is $2.13/hr. These are federal minimums, some states may have higher numbers.

[Grendus]

On another site, delivery drivers suggested designing your route so that high tippers get their pizza first and low tippers get it last. May be worth considering for the serial stiffers if you don't do it already, punishes the cheapskates and makes sure that those who reward good service get their pizza hot.

[BowserKoopa1]

On the minimum wage subject, when I started delivering for Papa John's back in 2006, we got paid what minimum wage was, $5.15, and when they raised it to $5.85 a year or so later in 2007, they paid us that. But they refused to go any higher because this was during that time when the US government raised minimum wage 3 times in 3 years, since they obviously neglected it and had not raised it since 1997.
The company I deliver for now does it in a strange way.... $7.25 in the store, $4.25 when on deliveries. Of course, the tips make up 2/3 of my pay
Getting back to the main subject, this man was just irritable, mean, and cheap. It seemed very much like he was irritated with me because of his stupid dogs barking. Some might say, "Maybe he didn't have enough to tip?" Bullshit. The way I see it, if they can spend $15 on food, they sure as hell can throw in a couple extra bucks. Heck, I am just barely below the poverty level and guess what? I tip drivers and waiters. However, I should also point out that if the service is terrible at a restaraunt, I will leave little to no tip. A couple times in the past when my pizza took forever to get to my house and they comped my order, I would tip the delivery driver at least $3.