I've been working at a Domino's store as a delivery driver for the last few months to bring in some extra money, and I've noticed a lot of people are really cheap bastards. Delivery drivers get paid less than minimum wage because we're expected to make so much in tips. But I've noticed a lot of people either don't tip at all, or are so stingy they only tip a buck or less. This is not only insulting, but a whole night of making one-dollar tips means that a driver ain't making shit. If you can't afford a couple bucks extra, you really shouldn't be wasting the little money you have on pizza in the first place.
So I propose the Domino's Blacklist. Every address that we deliver to is stored in a database so a driver can look it up on the map the next time we have to deliver there. If a particular house gives 3 cheap tips consecutively, they are taken off the delivery route, so the drivers can make at least some profit to help pay the bills.-- 21 Quest, Jul 16 2006 Pizza delivery stories website http://www.tipthepizzaguy.com/stories/ [normzone, Jul 18 2006] There are blacklists for poor tippers in restaurants - are you sure there isn't something like this out there already?
[A quick Google shows that Domino's has a blacklist, for areas where frequent robberies occur, but got sued by people in those neighborhoods. But perhaps you can extend that.]-- DrCurry, Jul 16 2006 Could they also make a blacklist of dominos employees who are incapable of correctly writing down my address? I would have been willing to tip a lot more last time if I hadn't needed to call back five times before they wrote down "Appartment B" on the order so the driver could get to the right place.-- ye_river_xiv, Jul 16 2006 When I used to deliver for Pizza Hut I had customers that I didn't mind if they didnt tip me because they were either children or old, or a disabled vet. So I would hate to see people like that on the blacklist.
The others were relatively easy to remember because most of the non-tippers were also assholes.-- Jscotty, Jul 16 2006 Make pizza drivers civil servants. Consider them part of the infrastructure that makes our urban areas ... civilized ... and have them paid from the tax roll. After all, you don't pay when you call the police or fireman. Why should you have to pay when you call for pizza? This makes the pizza delivery system more fair as everyone has to pay through their tax payment.-- Goesta Berling, Jul 16 2006 But pizza delivery is not an essential service. Why should my tax dollars, or pounds, or indeed pesos subsidise a commercial operation? If you really want the government involved, just lobby for an increase in the minimum wage.-- methinksnot, Jul 16 2006 Actually, this is essentially baked. I worked for a company that wrote software to run the freephone call lines for several organisations including Pizza services.
The system has a BIG list of numbers of nuisance callers and prank callers. Their calls are rejected before they even ring. All you need to do is extend the use of the existing black list!-- the_jxc, Jul 16 2006 Get real. Companies will not subscribe to this because it lowers their turnover. As far as the company is concerned, the tipping habits of its customers are immaterial. Tell that to the delivery driver though.-- methinksnot, Jul 16 2006 Here we go again. If your company fails to pay you enough because they "expect you to receive tips", and you, and thousands of people across the country complain that they aren't receiving enough in tips - you have to weigh up the possibility that either a) Nearly everyone in the world are tight-fisted and miserable bastards or b) Your employer is secretly laughing at your gullibility, whilst paying you sub-minimal wages to boot - i.e. they are particularly adept at tight-fisted bastardry.
You can either complain about the general populace, or get a job working for company who treats their staff with something other than serial exploitation.
To paraphrase Mr Holmes, "Look for the person who benefits most". Perhaps this tipping thing is just a myth spread among gullible drivers by greedy pizzeria franchisees...
i.e. If you "aint making shit" then it's up to you to get another job, somewhere where you're not being so obviously ripped off.
In short then, I propose Blacklisting Dominoes - because they are evidently a bunch of thieving bastards.-- zen_tom, Jul 17 2006 I worked for Dominos Pizza for 8 years and still have friends that work there. Domino drivers are paid minimum wage + mileage or a per address delivery pay + any tips.
The customer is under no obligation to tip and under Dominos policy you can be fired for confronting a no or low tip customer.
I worked as a driver, MIT and was a Store President [yes I know it was changed in 93 but that's what my 'official' title was] I worked both corporate and franchise. I have also worked for Pizza Hut delivery, Papa Johns and several independents. In every case I was paid at least minimum wage + del + tips. [when driving]
It might be helpful to remember that even the non tipping customers help pay your salary. Also delivery drivers do not fall under the same part of the law as wait staff and if you are not being paid minimum wage you should contact the wage and hour division in your state. This is Federal law so don't be fooled by someone saying there is an exception in this state. That only applies in cases where the minimums are higher and not lower [I think California and New York and possibly a few other states]
My association with the delivery industry is almost 25 years and I personally know people who have worked both full and part time at Dominos for 20 years. May I suggest you consider getting a CDL. Truck drivers earn an excellent living and once you have some experience there are terrific owner operator positions. I don't recommend it for guys with kids but if you are single or it is just you and your partner [team drivers earn more] you really should consider it.
Please feel free to contact me ferrell.jc@gmail.com if I can answer any questions about truck driving. There are several companies that will train you if you agree to work one year at a slightly lower pay scale. Don't be duped into paying thousands when it is free. Most states also have Tech Schools that offer training for very little. I know of one driver who paid $7500 to be trained. I paid $600 at a local tech school.-- Finity, Jul 18 2006 [Finity]- Just out of curiousity did you find this site because of this idea? And how did you find it so fast? Because otherwise it's very serendipitous that you happen to be an expert in the pizza delivery service just when this idea came to being.-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jul 18 2006 What [finity] said and then what [NotTheSharpestSpoon] said.
And people are not obligated to tip.-- zeno, Jul 18 2006 At least you got it now [bobofthefuture].-- zeno, Jul 18 2006 What [plish] said. Of course, with skill like that don't expect to be at the bottom dead center of the fast food chain for long. I never worked for tips (five years in a service job I was tipped only twice, one time involved pizza "?"), so I won't say more about this, other than to echo the sentiments above. In the meantime "get the door".-- reensure, Jul 18 2006 No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. You should be delivering pizza's because it gives satisfaction to bring food to the hungry, or you can enjoy driving through traffic (without breaking rules and/or endangering yourself) and being good at that, or because people say thank you and mean it, a smile from a customer is worth many tips.
Bonding with your coworkers, the knowledge and pride you are at the end of a sevice that delivers a good product. There are many intrinsical values to any job. Look for them, it will bring happyness and satisfaction of a job well done.
Tricking people into tipping is immoral, it wil bring you dissatisfaction, anger, fear and self loathing.
Change your attitude or your work, or both.
I am a bartender and sometimes tips amount to as much as ten or fifteen percent of my income. before this I have had many jobs in the service industry, but I have never treated any customer differently for giving good tips or no tips at all.
Instead I have always tried to do my work to the best of my ability, so that I come home with a good feeling about myself. Even when I realise that it is not exactly important work or a career.
Funny thing is, I have always gotten more tips then my coworkers (with whom I shared it). Go figure.-- zeno, Jul 18 2006 //Ording pizza is universal, but I woulfd assume its done mostly by the lower-middle class. Even the poorest people do are busy some times and require convienince food. Doesnt mean they can afford to tip.// Please get a grip!. That statement is only potentially true if you happen to be living in a few affluent countries in the West.
As per [zeno]'s quote - all bob needs to do is sort out the spelling! What [zen_tom] said!-- gnomethang, Jul 18 2006 Zeno, I have never treated any customer differently than any other, regardless of tips. I take a lot of pride in being the consummate professional. I have noticed, however, that the people who consistently refuse to tip are not single mothers or elderly citizens who are struggling with bills. They are the wealthy... the creme of society with a 350-Z and a Ferarri (sp?) in the driveway of a house the size of a football stadium. My problem is with the ones who can most afford a small act of generosity, and choose not to.-- 21 Quest, Jul 20 2006 I understand.-- zeno, Jul 25 2006 //My problem is with the ones who can most afford a small act of generosity, and choose not to.//You decide that someone can afford to give you un-earned money, then you get pissed because they fail to do so? 'This person has money so he should give it to me'. Why? All you're doing is delivering a pizza. All the customer is doing is buying a delivered pizza. If the customer gets exactly what he's paying for, why should he pay more? Because you think that your employer doesn't pay you enough? That's between you and your employer. If you think that your job pays insufficiently, get a different one.-- angel, Jul 26 2006 Delivered pizzas are overpriced cheese on toast as far as I'm concerned. I certainly wouldn't pay extra just because it turned up at the contracted time. Got no sympathy for you I'm afraid 21 Quest. Get yourself a new employer.-- DrBob, Jul 26 2006 Get a job at a supermarket - they usually pay a lot better, well, the one I work at does.
If you're regularly earning beneath the minimum wage, is there someone you can go to? When I went on holiday to America, we often got charged an arm and a leg for service, despite the fact that we were charged a fair amount for the meals. I think that this was mainly coz there was six of us, and they had a serice charge per head at most of the places that we went to.
Why don't they create a policy that dictates that if someone didn't get tipped and was earning below the minimum wage, the business should pay the difference. Of course, that would possibly lead to unscrupulous people abusing the system, but it would eliminate some of the problem.
I happened to know a guy who was a bartender at a large, famous golf course during his uni years, and he said that he always looked forward to the tournaments, coz the golfers would tip very, very well. I suppose there are two extremes of the tipping spectrum, though.-- froglet, Aug 02 2006 How about this; when I buy a box of matches at the corner shop, I assume that the price includes having it taken off the shelf and handed to me. Similarly, when I buy a meal at a restaurant, I assume that the listed price includes having it delivered to my table. What else would I do, stand in the kitchen waiting for it? When I order a pizza to be delivered, the price I'm quoted is for the pizza *and* for the delivery. Why should I pay again?-- angel, Aug 02 2006 random, halfbakery