Woes of a Pizza Delivery Guy

[Tyg3rW01f]

Okay... for starters, let me say that THIS has GOT to be THE ALL-TIME WORST night in PDG ((pizza delivery guy)) history!!
My company just initiated what they decided to call "mileage"... it's a WHOLE ing DOLLAR... per run. Yay, right?

Good thing I qualify to receive it. (Yes, there are RESTRICTIONS on the reception of this so-called "Mileage"! What are they? NO CLUE.)

Tonight, I made 15 deliveries; 13 cash, 2 credit card. 15 deliveries for a total 68.8 miles.

Because I got paid $1 per run, I made $2 tonight.
Yes, you saw that right. TWO DOLLARS.

I actually made $8 in credit card tips, and $15 in mileage, but because ALL THIRTEEN of my cash orders paid in small bills and spare change and we are NOT ALLOWED TO COUNT THE PAYMENT (that would OFFEND the customer... God forbid!)... I wound up giving up $6 of those CC tips.
I was $21 short of my store-owed payments, so guess where that $21 had to come from? That's right... my mileage and $8 in CC tips.

You backwoods, inbred hick s SUCK!!

[Sapphire Silk]

That does suck. However, that would not stop me from counting the small bills and change to make sure the customer is paying the right amount. If the difference is coming out of YOUR pocket, then they cannot force you to deliver a pizza for anything less than the full amount.

Is this policy in writing? If it's not, it's not enforceable. If it is, they can't make you pay the difference since they are choosing not to accept full payment. I highly doubt this policy is in writing; it would be legally stupid.

I wouldn't say anything. Just demand full payment and if your manager starts giving you grief point out that you are being expected to make up the difference and you can't afford to do that. Then keep a log of every transaction where they take your money under this policy. If the manager threatens to fire you, go to the Labor Board or a labor attorney. They can be fined for your back wages.

Your mileage is better than the mileage I used to get. I used to get a whopping 7 cents a mile. Of course, that was back in 1988. Federal tax rules let you claim mileage if you are paid less than the current standard rate of 54 cents a mile. You should have gotten about $37 for those runs. Since the company is seizing your mileage, you can claim that.

Damn. It used to be you could make really good money delivering pizza. Under this nickel and dime policy, I can't understand how you can make a living.

[Kaibutsu]

...we are NOT ALLOWED TO COUNT THE PAYMENT (that would OFFEND the customer... God forbid!)...

Wait... what? You're not allowed to count the payment?
Are you supposed to just assume they gave the right amount?
What kind of business runs this way?
As a former delivery driver, I'd tell the manager to bugger himself over that.
Also, any customer who knows of this has the potential to exploit the system into short payments and such.
Oh, it's time to get in someone's ass over this.
Keep us posted.

[Headset Hellion]

I would completely ignore that rule and count the bills anyway. How can management even enforce that anyway? F* that.

Every time I have EVER paid cash for a meal delivery with cash, the driver has counted the bills and I have NEVER been offended. It wouldn't even occur to me that it could be considered offensive...cash payments get counted everywhere else, why should delivery be any different?

[Krivak]

Yep. Screw that crap. Its either count the money, or management assumes liability for any shortages. A certain pizza chain from Ohio does the 1 dollar per order deal, instead of per run. Most times, you take 2-3 orders out per run, so thats 2-3 bucks, plus whatever possible tip. I've had a driver before count the money in the car, realize he was short, and go back for it. I never got a call from the customer. Seriously though, find a new place to deliver pizzas from. That place has "We Screw Our Staff!" written all over it. If you dont mind, is it a local or a national type chain? (or you could PM me it )

[Silent-Hunter]

I would completely ignore that rule and count the bills anyway. How can management even enforce that anyway? F* that.

Every time I have EVER paid cash for a meal delivery with cash, the driver has counted the bills and I have NEVER been offended. It wouldn't even occur to me that it could be considered offensive...cash payments get counted everywhere else, why should delivery be any different?

Probably because they have to wait while he counts it, and leave their door open. Still BS though.

[Tyg3rW01f]

National chain...
oh, and I live in a "Right to Work" state... meaning the so-called Labor Board has no jurisdiction whatsoever. None. No one but your employer has any jurisdiction over your employer in an "RTW" state. Not even OSHA

Folks can claim to the opposite all you want, but I've worked under "RTW" for the last 18 years, and I've never seen anyone be legally able to take an employer to task on anything...and I've seen some crap pulled.

[ADeMartino]

F*ck that noise. Counting out money is a standard, common, EXPECTED business practice. I'll bet the cash is counted when the customer picks up in the store - why should delivery be any different?

If your bosses insist on enforcing this policy, seriously, it's time to move on with a quickness. This policy all but guarantees the drivers can't make any money, especially once word gets out about the drivers not being allowed to count the money - and it WILL get out.

Oh, and the ambiguous 'restrictions' on your mileage - uh-uh. Get those in writing RIGHT F*CKING NOW, and don't deliver another damned thing until you have it. I smell 'scam' all over that idea.

I would NEVER expect a cashier, driver, server, attendant, whomever to just 'take my word for it' when I'm paying by cash. I can make mistakes, too, and I don't expect others to pay for them. When I have pizza delivered, I usually fan out the bills so that the driver can easily see at a glance what I'm handing them. Yes, I've occasionally had to pay with all singles - but I still don't expect the driver to just 'take my word for it'.

This is the sort of bullshit that made me quit pizza delivery. The last time I delivered pizza, the compensation was minimum wage (at the time, $4.25/hour), plus five percent of your delivered total, plus tips, plus $5 per shift if you had the topper sign on your car - which was NOT mandatory. A typical Friday or Saturday night shift was 10 hours, so $42.50 in straight wages, plus during a ten-hour Fri/Sat shift you could easily haul $500 worth of food, and in a college area, tips were usually pretty good. And the restaurant made money hand over first, even paying the drivers like that.

Then the new owners started playing games like this. First, they put a 'cap' on the per-delivery mileage of $1.00 - which wasn't so severe, actually, as most orders were between $15-$20 or so anyway. Ostensibly, it was to prevent drivers scrambling for 'big orders' at the expense of the regular orders. Then they chopped the hourly down to $2.xx (I forget the exact figure; it was legal to do this as we were technically 'tipped' employees), and THEN they wanted to go to a flat $0.75-per-delivery mileage - while at the same time raising the fee they charged the customer from $1 to $3. The final straw was when they told us we HAD to accept checks, but if a check bounced we owned it. We'd have to go after the customer for payment OURSELVES.

No, hell no, and F*CK no. Game over.

[Racket_Man]

Okay... for starters, let me say that THIS has GOT to be THE ALL-TIME WORST night in PDG ((pizza delivery guy)) history!!
My company just initiated what they decided to call "mileage"... it's a WHOLE ing DOLLAR... per run. Yay, right?

Good thing I qualify to receive it. (Yes, there are RESTRICTIONS on the reception of this so-called "Mileage"! What are they? NO CLUE.)

I am also a pizza delivery driver.

I assume by a $1 per run that means if you take MORE than one drop you still only get $1 for that "run"?????

What did your company do for vehicle reimbursement prior to the implementation of this new system????

Is this a national chain or a local or regional chain or a indie/Mom &Pop shop?????

Tonight, I made 15 deliveries; 13 cash, 2 credit card. 15 deliveries for a total 68.8 miles.

Because I got paid $1 per run, I made $2 tonight.
Yes, you saw that right. TWO DOLLARS.

I actually made $8 in credit card tips, and $15 in mileage, but because ALL THIRTEEN of my cash orders paid in small bills and spare change and we are NOT ALLOWED TO COUNT THE PAYMENT (that would OFFEND the customer... God forbid!)... I wound up giving up $6 of those CC tips.

They do not allow you do actually count the money at the door????? Other than "offending the customer" (and why would it offend the customer??? does your company have that many trust issues???? and where did they pick that counting the money at the door would "offend" the customer??? again trust issues arise) what is their reasoning. This smacks of something underhanded. at the very least I would be counting the money at somepoint before arriving back at the store.

THAT my friend is definitely a recipe for disaster. I personally would totally ignore that rule ASAP and forevermore no matter what the company rules say. That would be like me going to any store or business and just handing them a wad of paper bills and saying "YES (wink wink) it is all there. Don't bother to check" and the store being A-OK with that. Meaning NOT HAPPENING EVER.
How much did you officially calm in tips for this particular night?????

I was $21 short of my store-owed payments, so guess where that $21 had to come from? That's right... my mileage and $8 in CC tips.

You backwoods, inbred hick s SUCK!!

NO FRICKIN WAY should this happen. I HOPE you only claimed $2 as tips.

Sapphire

Federal tax rules let you claim mileage if you are paid less than the current standard rate of 54 cents a mile. You should have gotten about $37 for those runs. Since the company is seizing your mileage, you can claim that.

This only works IF you can itemize your Federal tax return. Otherwise you are SOL. and even IF you can itemize you will only get back a small percentage of that mileage $$$$'s.

[Titi]

National chain...
oh, and I live in a "Right to Work" state... meaning the so-called Labor Board has no jurisdiction whatsoever. None. No one but your employer has any jurisdiction over your employer in an "RTW" state. Not even OSHA

Folks can claim to the opposite all you want, but I've worked under "RTW" for the last 18 years, and I've never seen anyone be legally able to take an employer to task on anything...and I've seen some crap pulled.

Well, now you do. I was wrongfully fired from my job at a corporation for not calling in sick when my friends took me to the hospital, they called in for me. (I had food poisoning from the chicken cheese steak that I had eaten the night before.)

I almost didn't follow through because the first thing the lawyer said that first we would said a letter to the company demanding my immediate rehire or we would go to court. I asked if he would ask if I could work at another store because the last person who took legal action got her job back and that terrible manager made her life hell. I was allowed to change stores. That manager lost her job and I stayed with company through two more stores (I moved a couple of times), for 8 years. Then I moved to a place where they weren't located.

[Gilhelmi]

I am no legal expert, But I recommend keeping a log of every time the docks your pay for being short. Then talk to a lawyer (if you look, you can sometimes find 'workers rights' organizations that will fight in court for you, and do it for little/no-cost to you). Even in right to work states, you would be surprised at how fast things can happen (it will be a cold day in hell before I let a Union come into my area, and many others agree. That is why we fight for employees rights so that 'they' can't come in.)

Stories like this are the reason I will never leave small town America. If any of these type of business practices went on here, that store might find themselves of of business in a couple of years. Heck, McD's is going under here after customers heard a District Manager tell an Assistant Manager that he needed to yell at his employees (who were not doing anything terribly wrong) more. The AM walked out right then, as did most of the customers.

[eltf177]

Yep. Screw that crap. Its either count the money, or management assumes liability for any shortages.

100% this!!! Let management take the shortfall!

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I have always assumed (I know, stupid me) that when the delivery driver started counting my payment he was trying to figure out how much change to get me. By the time I've said 'that's good' or 'can I get 5 back' they are already done counting. I've never once thought 'how offensive' as the driver started counting my money. I count out change I get back if a cashier doesn't count it into my hand.

I think your manager needs to look up the word offend.

[Antares]

When I worked in the '88-90 time frame, it was minimum wage ($3.25)+tips. Plus 10% (I think it was) of your deliveries if you drove your car. I only did that once towards the end, usually driving one of the trucks that the place owned.

One of my last days there I made $1.05 in tips for a 9 hour shift.

It was also the place where I earned my first paid vacation. I was working enough that even though I still took 5 weeks of, I averaged 34.5 hours a week. Anything over 34 entitled (I hate to use that word on this site) to a week of paid vacation at my average hours worked.

I ended up quitting when the owner/manager of the franchise was forced out by corporate. I still keep in contact with him to this day.

I drove for the big 3 (at the time) national chains afterwards. The last one being the first to charge a delivery fee. I didn't like that I didn't get the full thing so didn't stick around there long.

And they all paled in comparison to the way the first one was run.


And I learned to never, ever screw with a pizza driver. On the rare occasion where I order pizza and get it delivered, I always tip well.

[sms001]

uhm, hey management.

I'm a little offended that you've instructed drivers to not count my money. What if I've given them too much? Or what if you have an asshat who claims (for lower taxes, or 'cause he wants me banned b/c my house is too far out, or whatever) that I under payed when in fact I didn't. It is a BASIC STEP in a retail transaction that both parties agree on what has been payed. Look it up - there's kind of a whole industry built around it.

On the nice guys finish last, but related front:

I was doing my last run of the afternoon. WAY far out, but whatevs. It's a live-in nurse situation, and she brings the money to the door. Total was 28 and some change and she gives me two bills folded and says 'keep it.' I start to turn away and check and it's two twenties. I'd like to think that a near thirty percent tip was in generous appreciation for my exemplary service but I know better, and hey... old lady.
So I turn back and tell the nurse "This is two twenties ma'am." She looks aghast and holds out her hand so I fork one over. She disappears inside and comes back with a ten and looks at me expectantly. Yeppers. She wanted the dollar and whatever back after I'd just saved her from inadvertently giving a tenner away. People crack me up.