Taking The World By Storm

I left with my first two deliveries of the night and had one to my neighborhood and one way out in the middle of nowhere Moody.  I decided to take the one to my neighborhood first, and I'm glad I did.  As I was leaving there, the store called and said the other one cancelled so just bring it back to the store.  Good deal, free pizza takes care of my dinner for the night.

I had a pretty good night last night taking five deliveries.  Of course I got stiffed on one, but I still ended up good for the night.

On a funny note, in addition to the United States, this blog has had views in Russia, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.  The Diary of a Pizza Man is taking the world by storm!!  hahahaa

Worked 3.5 hours, took 5 deliveries and made $20 in tips.

They Brought The Wrong Pizza, Right?

Last night turned out better than it seemed it would when I first walked in the door at 5:30.  After printing a ticket and grabbing a hot bag for a quick delivery right up the street, I noticed an order already bagged sitting on the front counter.  After some checking around, I found out it was one that another guy forgot to take when he left a few minutes earlier.  I grabbed it and headed to the car.  It was to a trailer park in Leeds that of course my GPS didn't recognize.  No big deal, I'll just call the customer and get directions.  She picks up and I tell her why I'm calling.  She responds, "They brought the wrong pizza, right"?  Aw crap.  So I'm not delivering a pizza for a tip, I'm fixing a mistake.  The guy took them the pizza that was supposed to go with the quick, close delivery I printed the ticket for when I walked in the door. 

I ask her for directions and she ends with, "First one on the left with the Christmas lights around the 'Pitbull Puppies For Sale' sign."  Great.  Night not off to the greatest start.

It turned out to be a pretty slow Friday night and we had too many drivers working.  So other than the pitbull farm I only had three other deliveries before I left at 9:00.

Worked 3.5 hours, took 4 deliveries and made $17 in tips.

At Least It Wasn't Raining Too Bad

I went in last night expecting it to be not too terribly exciting.  I was told last week by Emma the manager that I'd be watching training videos on the computer all night.  A night of training videos on pizza delivery sounded pretty boring.  Fortunately when I got there, I was told I'd be driving instead.

Turned out to still not be too terribly exciting, but at least I was able to make some tips.  I got stiffed one time on five deliveries.  I always want to tell a stiffer that if you don't have enough money to tip your driver, you don't have enough money to order for delivery.

Worked 3.5 hours, had 5 deliveries, and made $16 in tips.

The Water Tower

Last night was another slow night.  I was supposed to work until 10, but I got sent home around 8:30.  Had nothing but good customers, so no interesting stories there.  But, if you drive I-20 with any regularity, you've no doubt seen the Leeds water tower off in the distance.  About the only interesting thing that happened last night was running into where it's located.  Right in the middle of a fairly nice neighborhood in between two houses.  Very odd location.  They probably won't, but if anybody ever asks if you know where it is, it's on Crest Road.

Only worked 3 hours, took 5 deliveries, and made $17 in tips.

Too Early?

Super slow night last night, so not a lot to talk about.  I did have my first complaint about a pizza getting there too early after they called it in.  Oh well, didn't tip, so they don't have to worry about early deliveries ever again.

Closed again last night, so I was there a little longer than normal.  Worked 6 hours, had 3 deliveries, and made $12 in tips.

Saturday Night Fever

Some people will say anything to get something for free, and I had a perfect example of it last night.  One of my first deliveries was to the "prestigious" Super 8 motel on Moody Pkwy.  The people who ordered were fairly nice and tipped me $5.    After dropping of my other run I head back to the store.  The manager asked if I'd taken a run to the Super 8.  Not long after I'd left, they called and said the pasta was "cold and hard".  Whatever.  Some more is coming out of the oven, so I gotta go back.  When I get there the second time, I decide to see just how cold and hard this pasta was for myself.  After handing over the new food, I tell the lady I need to take the old back to the store.  She hands me three awfully light boxes.  As I'm walking back to the car, I open one of the boxes to take a look.  I'm no pasta expert, but it looked okay to me.  Of course, it was kind of hard to tell for sure because they had eaten ALL of it. 

A few deliveries later, a guy hands me $16 for a $15.53 order and tells me to keep the change.  Hey thanks, 47 cents.  Last of the big spenders, eh?

Towards the end of the night I had two in the same building at the Oaks of St. Clair apartments.  Big difference between the two.  First order tips me $4.  Second order is mad because they charged her for her extra ranch.  "They never charge me for ranch when I call for carry out."  Well here's an idea.  If you're not gonna tip and they don't charge you for ranch when you call for carry out, call for carry out.

To top it all off, I listened to the Saints implode on the radio.  Totally different team than I've watched all season.  Closed last night, so I had to work a little longer than normal.  I worked 6 hours, had 12 deliveries, and $44 in tips.

Fuzzy Math

Last night I had something happen that may never happen again.  I had a delivery to the middle of nowhere Leeds that brought me my biggest single tip to date.  All because the lady didn't want to fool with figuring some simple math.

The total on the order was $24.63.  It was a split ticket, meaning that half the order was paid with a check and the other half with a credit card.  When I got there, a man in overalls came to the door and said that the two women inside ordered it and he didn't know anything about it.  Why he came to the door I have no clue.  He gave me a check for $10.63.  I gave him the credit card slip that had the total $24.63 on it and explained it would be split when I got back to the store so just tell the lady to subtract the check I already had and that would be her total.  Pretty simple, right?  She owed me $14.00.  He goes back in and gives it to her and she starts asking around for a calculator then says, "Oh well, I'll just do it this way".  After a minute, the guy comes back to the door, hands me the credit slip and a $5 bill.  I give him his pizzas and head back to the car only glancing quickly at the slip.  Only when I get back to the store to cash in do I realize that by, "Oh well, I'll just do it this way", she meant skipping the math and filling the slip out for $24.63.  Or the amount of the order.  Thanks for the $15 tip.

The best part about it was I wasn't even up for that delivery.  The guy that was supposed to take it said he didn't want it.  I made sure to thank him for the $15 when I got back.

That, plus not getting stiffed on any orders last night helped me get my biggest night so far.  I worked 4.5 hours, took 10 deliveries, and made $60 in tips.

I Ordered Dessert

Not a lot to talk about from last night.  I worked 4.5 hours, had 8 deliveries, and made $25 in tips.  Pretty good considering I got stiffed twice, one of which was my worst customer of the night.

She ordered a pizza and wings for a total of $20.27.  She handed me a check made out for...$20.27.  So I already know I'm getting stiffed when she says, "You forgot my dessert".  Actually, I didn't forget anything and showed her the copy of her ticket and explained that she only ordered wings and pizza - the exact wings and pizza I had just handed her.  I told her that the call center didn't have the order for dessert on her ticket and she could call them back and order them if she liked.  She wasn't happy with that, but I wasn't happy about wasting extra time on an order where I made no money, so we're even I guess. 

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful night.

Not A Busy Championship Night

I was actually looking forward to delivering during the BCS National Championship game last night.  Monday nights are usually kind of slow, so I figured that with the game on, we'd be busy all night.  Wrong.  I got there at 5:30 and by 8:00, we were sitting around watching the game at the store.  Not a bad night, but not exactly what I was hoping for.  I did get to deliver to my neighbor's house though, so that was kind of funny.  My best customers of the night were a group of families that had gotten together to watch the game.  Bama fans.  They asked who I pull for and I told them Michigan.  I told them my wife likes LSU and Les Miles is a Michigan man.  The lady paying asked if I wanted to tell her who I was pulling for before she filled in my tip on the credit card slip.  I laughed and said, "Roll Tide".  She gave me $7.

Only two near stiffs of note last night.  First was a guy whose order total was $21.42.  He used a $20 gift card that he proudly told me two times somebody gave him for Christmas.  Congratulations I guess.  So his order only put him out $1.42 and he paid me with $3.  Could have at least given me a $2 tip instead of $1.58.

Second was my last delivery of the night.  I got her delivery there nearly twenty minutes early, but she didn't really care.  Total was $18.80 and she tipped me $1.

4.5 hours, 8 deliveries, 53 miles, $32 in tips

Totally New Exprerience

So to make some extra money and tackle some bills, Kate and I decided I should take a part time job in the evenings a few nights a week.  After a little research to try and find something that would be most worth my time, I decided to give pizza delivery a try.  It's something I've never done before and it's totally different from my day gig.  I've been at it for a few weeks now and as early as the first night I knew there were going to be some good stories to tell.  I started this blog as a place to tell those stories. 

So, I'll try to make this an interesting "insider's" look into what goes on from the time you call in your order to the time I bring it to your door.