Yes, and I know that the “just tip 20% no matter what” group may not like this, but come on! The experience matters! Seriously. If your pizza showed up hot & fresh, and maybe actually early, and the driver was polite (or at a minimum, wasn’t weirdly hostile), then hell yeah—go high! Tip 18%, 20%, add in a couple of bucks. They earned it!!
But if the pizza shows up COLD, CRUSHED, 45 MINUTES LATE, and the driver acts like they are mad you ordered dinner in the first place? That’s tough. It’s still their job, and typically not one person’s fault if just anything goes wrong with deliveries—kitchens get busy, GPS fails, traffic happens. But if the experience as a whole completely sucked, you can tip low. Just… maybe don’t stiff them completely unless you really had a horrible interaction. Like, maybe they threw the pizza on your porch, and peeled out… THAT could be classified as a “no tip” situation. Picture this: you’re doing that job in the middle of a snowstorm.
Seriously.
If you’ve ever driven in a deluge of rain or snow, or in one of those frigid January nights that prevented you from opening your car door, you can appreciate what we are saying: delivering pizza in that mess is no joke. Yes, they choose to do it, but it is still a nice thing to recognize the fact that someone is braving disgusting weather just so you don’t have to cook.
If it is coming down hard out there, and someone makes it to your door with your pizza not too much looking like it went over the handlebars of a bike, throw in a little extra.
It does not have to be extravagant—a few dollars over the price you typically put down should suffice. But, it’s worth something.
What did you order, anyway?
Did you just order a single medium cheese pizza with nothing else? An easy run. Or, did you place one of those $80 party orders with five pizzas, drinks, sides, dipping sauces, and weird half-and-half topping instructions? Yes, that is more work.
Then it means: more time at the restaurant. More bags to carry. Possibly more stairs to walk up.
Big or complicated orders deserve big tips. Even if the percentage seems scary high—like tipping $15 on a $75 bill.
If the driver has to transport a feast to your door, that’s basically the deal. Especially if it arrives in one piece.
Continued on next page:
