Question for DUers who used to be or are currently in Pizza Delivery:

[SmileyBoy]

I recently got a summer job (not my normal job) at Papa Johns delivering pizzas this week (Tuesday). Last night was only my second night delivering. Now apparently last night toward the end of my shift they made me do my very first run to 2 different houses (apartments).

The first place was a good 3-4 miles east of the store, but I recognized the addy and delivered it promptly. The second address was an apartment building in which I didn't know where it was, and ended up driving around in my car for 15 extra minutes looking for the damn place. When I arived there, a girl answered the door and said her mother (who ordered the thing) left and didn't tell where she was going. She said they got tired of waiting.

She didn't have any money at the door, so I couldn't give it to them. I told them I had to bring the thing back to the store, but they could pick it up and I'd keep it in the warm case.

So in the end, I wasted my 12+ dollars in tips that night paying back for a pizza I unsuccessfully delivered, because I got lost.

So my questions are:

1) Have you ever gotten lost on a delivery, and does it happen from time to time???

2) (For you urban deliverers) Doesn't it sometimes feel that every single place that orders for delivery is located in some tiny apartment building hidden from the street, so that it takes longer to find the address???:grr:

I know I'm not gonna get lost again, cause I'm bringing my cellphone to work from now on.

[skooooo]

1. ..wait a minute.

You have to PAY for the pizzas that you can't deliver?? or that the customer won't pay for?? 15 minutes shouldn't have made that big of difference. What if you got stuck in traffic for 15 minutes? You'd still have to pay for the pizza?

[SmileyBoy]

2. Apparently this lady was impatient.

Though I never saw her.

It was Friday night. I guess she couldn't make the connection that we'd be busy that night. Unfortunately on that busy of a night, you most definitely have to wait an extra 15 minutes or so on your delivery if the drivers are swamped.

If I was waiting for 50+ minutes on a Friday night, I might call the store to check up on it and see if it's okay, but I'm not gonna fucking LEAVE.

[skooooo]

3. Ok, but you didn't answer my questions...

????

[SmileyBoy]

5. I'm sorry, yes I had to pay for the pizza.

There was no way that you could delete the delivery order on the computer system, so basically my 12+ dollars in tips were cancelled out.

[skooooo]

6. I know you had to pay for THIS pizza...

..oh for chrissake, never mind!

[SmileyBoy]

8. I have to pay for ANY pizza that doesn't get delivered to the customer.

It's morning, sorry...:)

[skooooo]

13. it's okay..

...well that rule alone should tell you that this is no "job" it's a joke.

[philosophie_en_rose]

21. That's ridiculous.

There are probably plenty of times that people order pizzas that can't be delivered - pranks, leaving, medical emergencies, etc.

How are you supposed to be accountable for that?

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. My advice to you is to ditch the pizza-delivery job...

and see if you can get a job delivering Chinese instead.

If a delivery job is your best option, working for a Chinese restaurant is better for several reasons: you get to wear your own clothes (no stupid uniform); you don't have to put a sign on your car (which can make you a target in dodgy neighbourhoods); Chinese restaurants generally employ fewer drivers, so your tips will be better (when I was delivering Chinese food, I averaged $60-100 a night for 3.5-4 hours, including tips, commission and hourly pay).

[jpgray]

7. Look for a server job or something similar

Way better money even if your base is $8/hr, and much more fun while being somewhat less degrading. A nice restaurant that doesn't involve hefting massive trays of food is about the best place to work when you aren't interested in putting any thought whatsoever into working. :)

[SmileyBoy]

9. I can't hold trays of food. My coordination sucks.

I actually kinda like this job, but it gets frustrating when I can't find the house (read: apartment).

[jpgray]

12. There are restaurants where the tray thing isn't involved

If you live in a decent-sized city, there should be plenty of restaurants where carrying no more than two plates at a time will be all it is. Of course there they usually hire based on how attractive and female you are. :)

[roach23]

10. they are LIARS !

I've delivered pizzas for several years, and i have NEVER paid for food that the person does not want. What if someone orders $100 worth of food and doesn't want it? The person who said the order could not be erased is either COMPLETELY incompetent, or out right lying. People call and cancel orders ALL the time. There is NO WAY the company can hold you liable for a customers not wanting the order. Talk to your manager immediately.

I will also add that I worked at Papa John's, but only briefly. They didn't watch the drivers, so these greedy guys would always load up with 5 deliveries -even though the are supposed to max at three- and leave me with one delivery to the farthest place we went. Then I had car trouble, and they pretty much fired me for it.

My advice is to work at Pizza Hut. The one I worked at had a separate register for the deliveries, so when you came back, you cashed out. Works out WAY better that way, plus they always had a manager on the register, so people couldn't cut in line or take 5 deliveries at once.

[SmileyBoy]

11. I'll talk to my manager today. Thanks.

I really don't think I should be held liable for it.

[skooooo]

14. Absolutely you shouldn't....

And if you're manager doesn't back you up, you should quit right that second. Otherwise, you could have a night of 3 undelivered pizzas and end up losing money rather than earning money.

Ridiculous.

[eyesroll]

20. In some states, it's actually illegal to hold you responsible

In IL, I know, a manager can't charge you if the register comes up short, or if a customer stiffs you on a bill in a restaurant (although of course you don't get tipped). Friends of mine who worked in a Subway franchise routinely got docked for the register coming up short (and we're talking a quarter here, a dollar there, not the gross incompetence of being $300 short every night, for which they'd be justifiably fired, but it added up) -- they put up with this until they found out it was illegal, and eventually threatened to get all of the employees this franchisee had, in his 15 stores, past and present, and get a class-action suit together (they talked big in high school). They got the back pay, plus interest.

(I don't know about other states; I've only worked retail in IL.)

[denverbill]

15. I delivered for several different companies many years ago.

I never had to pay for an undelivered pizza. The only time I ever got screwed that way was when I came up short on money (either dropped some cash or gave wrong change or something). But then it's your own damned fault.

No matter what the size of the town (mine was around 50K) you are always going to get an address that you can't find for one reason or another. We didn't have cell phones back in the day, but that sounds like an excellent way to prevent a repeat on the late delivery.

I'd definitely bitch about having to pay for the pizza though.

[tishaLA]

16. That's the most JACKED thing I have ever heard of

you either fix this problem before your shift starts or you don't do another shift. How the fuck are you going to pay for food somebody else ordered? That's bullshit.

[SmileyBoy]

17. I know. I'm gonna call today before I come in.

Thanks, everyone.:)

[fortyfeetunder]

18. Your store should have a map or at least Mapquest

Long long ago before the internet, I did pizza delivery in between jobs. One of my a-hole customers called, left message and a partial address, then quickly hung up. I got lost, returned, only to find the manager saying that the customer had called looking for the pizza. Those bastards had the nerve to chew me out....

Anyway, if your employer is insisting on prompt delivery, then they should at least have a map or Internet access to Mapquest or something similar enabling you to promptly deliver the pizza....

I don't think you are liable. Your employer didn't give you the tools to succeed at your job.

[Bozita]

19. Labor unions were born of this type of management decision

"Disgraceful" is too polite a term.

[SmileyBoy]

22. Update:

I called the manager, and he said I don't pay for any bad deliveries. It was all a computer error on the part of the shift leader who processed my deliveries at the end of my shift last night.

I'm actually getting 14 dollars in tips today (from last night) when I come in. It was all a computer mistake.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

23. Yeah!

Congrats!

:yourock:

[King Of Paperboys]

24. Glad it was resolved, BUT

That was no computer mistake. I'd watch my back when dealing with that shifty shift leader.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

25. Agreed.

I wonder if there are other people that the shift leader has done this to...
Anyway, at least you know that you need to keep your eyes open. Lesson learned!