Its not about that, its mostly that people dont know just how much someone depends on those tips to actually make a living wage. I would never know there was such a thing as being a pizza driver with your own car and your own gas since there is no such thing in my country. Tips are also considered extra in my country since everyone hired legally earns at least minumum wage regardless of tips.

A lot of places do actually have a delivery charge. The charge at my store is $2.75, and per each delivery completed the driver recieves $1.75 and the rest of it goes to the store. Even with this extra cost it's still highly unlikely that we'd make minimum wage and thus we still rely on the tips.

Most Pizza chains do. they add $2-3.00(delivery fee) that goes to the drivers. wouldn't know about family/local pizza joints though

The delivery fee charge isn't a tip most places though, it will say (in fine print) that the fee does NOT go to your driver so please still tip them.

that the *delivey fee doesnt go to the driver, I got distracted, then couldnt edit. Tip goes to driver, delivery fee does not

They do add delivery charge but it doesn't go to the driver's. The company keeps it.

Yeah, papa johns charges what, $3?? Only 0.50 cents of that goes to the driver.

OK then. Why not give it to the driver? Or if they "need" it to recoup costs, why not make it bigger so it also pays for the driver? Trying to guess how much you're supposed to tip without looking like a cheapskate and also not ripping yourself off isn't a good customer experience. Which is why I don't order delivery (and why I didn't know some places tack on a charge).

OK then. Why not give it to the driver? Or if they "need" it to recoup costs, why not make it bigger so it also pays for the driver? Trying to guess how much you're supposed to tip without looking like a cheapskate and also not ripping yourself off isn't a good customer experience. Which is why I don't order delivery (and why I didn't know some places tack on a charge).

Some do, but they are usually for areas considered "risky" or borderline far away.

There are usually delivery fees. The company keeps it. It is not an included gratuity.

Papa John's delivery driver here. It's lowered because we have the possibility of getting a tip is there. They also tax the credit card tips. Regardless it's a reasonable job if you close on a holiday like new years. I received a single tip of $220.00 and then some for an order. They don't cover vehicle maintenance though, and that can be rough sometimes.

If you drive for work you can almost always deduct a certain amount of car expenses on your taxes. You can go by actual costs incurred (gas, mainintenece, etc.) and deduct a percentage of that, or I think the going rate is 57 cents per mile logged doing work-related things. This is in the US and I am not an expert.

Hate to break it to you, but as a former Papa John's manager, long delivery times are never the drivers fault, so you shouldn't tip them less. It's usually the insiders faults for messing up the pizza or the managers fault for understaffing.

This probably won't show up, but I'm responding to SKY. I think the FML here is less that the person said "keep the change" and more that the person thought the change, in this case a meager $0.04, would be a sufficient tip. "Keep the change" is only acceptable to say if you paid more that was necessary and you're indicating that you've done that on purpose. The man in this case paid technically enough to cover the bill, but fell short as custom and common courtesy dictate. So in essence, the man didn't pay enough, then followed that up with the phrase, "keep the change."

It's obvious when someone doesn't understand how the system works. They get a pass. But when someone gives me $19 on a $18.97 bill and says "The rest is all for you buddy" it becomes clear that they know exactly what they are doing. People do this regularly and it's far more common than with people who dont understand how it all works.

You could also drive your happy ass to the place and pick it up and not deal with a delivery fee or tip

So, even when you know it's not going to the driver you consider it a tip? That's completely illogical.

The delivery charge isn't even a tip and if those extra $3 were, then you're an asshole for giving a shitty tip.

You know, not everyone has a car to just go drive and pick it up.

Delivery charges don't go to the driver, at best it's $.50-.75.... stop being a cheap lazy piece of shit. Tip or go pick it up.

You should get delivery then. These drivers don't get the $3.00 that's being charged for your convenience. If you don't want to tip the person than don't be lazy and order delivery. These folks also have mouths to feed. These folks also have to pay higher insurance premiums to get your food to you, on top of putting gas in their vehicle, getting frequent oil changes and regular maintenance. If you can't afford to tip, you shouldn't order out.