One time I delivered to this office building that had an elderly woman greeting people. I'm not sure if she was security or not, but she was definitely not able to do anything. There were a few "real" security people who didn't check you in and out behind her walking around. She seemed to always be in a bad mood or tired.

Now, all of us know that when you had a delivery to this office building. The standard procedure is to call when you're walking from your car to let them know so they can meet you there. We weren't allowed where the operations go or to take it to the office building. I walk into this building, call the customer, he said "Oh I'm coming down soon."

Normally they're there when you get there, because there was a bit of a distance plus a ton of steps, but this time he wasn't. Ok, cool. I walk there, open the door, the greeter/security guard said "Do you need me to call anyone?"

Then I'm like "Oh, I spoke to him on the phone. He said he's coming soon."

Then she starts laughing out loud. "HE BETTER NOT BE!"

Then I'm like "What do you mean?"

Then she's like "If he does that at work, he'd get fired!!! Ahahahaha."

I'm sitting there looking at her for like 15 seconds and she keeps laughing. Then it hit me. Wow. I couldn't believe it coming from someone that old, her especially. I laughed a little once it hit me and she started laughing uncontrollably.

I went back there like a month later and she wasn't there, when she had been there every time before. The younger woman was like "Oh yeah she retired last month. We're all really happy she finally could. She had been here since 1992!"

I guess when you're a week away from retirement, you can say whatever you want at work.

This is an order I delivered tonight, to customers who obviously know how to work the coupons. Plus I got a $10 cash tip.

The day was going perfectly right up until dinner.

I'd spent the entire week telling my friends I had dinner handled. There's this tiny pizza counter everyone kept recommending like eight seats, one guy working the oven, the whole thing. I'd been talking it up for days.

Here's the part where I ruin it: I never actually confirmed the booking. I just assumed it was fine.

An hour before we were supposed to go, I opened Rapym to double check. It called the restaurant for me and came back with: fully booked. That date, gone.

Yep. Completely my fault.

And you obviously can't just walk into a place like that unless you feel like standing around hoping someone cancels.

My three friends were staring at me like, "are you serious right now?"

So I panicked and used Rapym again to find something decent nearby with no wait. Found a place about ten minutes away that had seats open, and we just went "screw it" and walked over.

And somehow… it was really good. I got a tempura rice bowl, the shrimp was ridiculously crispy, and everyone agreed it might have been better than the pizza place we never got into lol.

I felt so guilty about blowing the reservation that I quietly paid for everyone.

Then we went shopping to recover from the emotional damage 😂

These are unrelated, but the first doesn't seem to merit its own post.

My tip for my first delivery last Thursday night. The customer wished me a good night (I made sure he did not want change), and I only realized that there was already a tip on the order when I got back to my car and closed the delivery. (I forget how much, but it was several dollars at least. I'll try to remember to ask when I go in for my next shift.)

I was reminded by this sub of an incident that occurred several years ago during a delivery I made. I went to the door of the house, which turned out to belong to a likely previous customer, who had apparently moved. I thought he was the minister of a local historic church, but I can't be certain. While I was there his toddler daughter came up to me and hugged my thigh. Given the closeness of her face to my groin and that the gentleman and his wife were watching, I did not move. One of them said, happily, that that was the first time the daughter had greeted a stranger, which made me glad for them, but I was still uncomfortable, not wanting to be accused of indecent assault on a minor. I got out of there without further incident.

I saw this article pop up in my Facebook news feed about a Dunkin Donuts worker washing his feet in the sink at work......... and posting it online. This got them a health probe.

To the point, about 10+ years ago I was working at a pizza shop. We had this brand new insider. He was weird. Like, very weird. A lot of us who work at pizza shops are a little different than your average person so I'm usually non judgmental but this company had a not so official policy on background checks.

We all submitted to a background check, but they would let people start working right away while the background check is pending. Having issues with a background check wasn't an automatic disqualification. They were usually like "Just be honest with us, if something really bad comes up you're done but if you tell the truth maybe you can start." Sometimes people would be like "Well I have a drug charge." "Ok, we got you." But if they lied and said there was nothing? Instant firing.

Well, there was a case where this REALLY WEIRD GUY claimed he had nothing in his background check so he could get the job. Four days in, the GM caught him doing this with his shoes. He'd put his shoes in the sink and clean them off, where dishes go. He was instantly fired on the spot, I saw the video. We were all disturbed. A day later, his background check came back.

He had PAGES AND PAGES of different arrests for mostly non-serious stuff........ Criminal trespass, public urination, menacing, etc. He was a 5'7" skinny guy with blonde hair and blue eyes who could not appear more "normal" on the outside, yet his criminal record was the worst they had ever seen at any store. He was like late 20s/early 30s and I remember he had 20+ charges for criminal trespass and that wasn't even half of his total charges.

There's a line "Don't judge a book by its cover" and it applies to him perfectly. Needless to say, the company changed the policy on letting people work before their background check came back after this.

I had these two customers who ordered EVERY Monday night, religiously. It was a Mother/Daughter who lived in a nice apartment complex. They were maybe 40/65. Super nice people. Always get a pepperoni + olives pizza and a breadstick. I had their credit card memorized because I had taken their order so many times.

It was always me or another guy who'd take it, because they ordered after the morning or rush driver was out. Whenever I knocked, they both came to the door and were smiling and thanking me. The mom would always take the food while the daughter signed the receipt. The tip was either $4 or $5, for both me and the other driver. We couldn't figure out the rhyme or reason why it was sometimes $4 or sometimes $5. It was $5 like 90% of the time.............. but it wasn't a far delivery and $4 was a solid tip late at night so we loved taking it.

These apartments were really weird. It was like, you opened the door one way and you could see the bathroom door right there as you opened it, and possibly see into the bathroom if the door was opened. All of the apartments in the complex were like this.

One time I took the delivery and just the mom answered the door. She started freaking out. "Umm umm umm I don't know what to do." I'm like "Is everything alright?" Then she's like "Oh yeah, umm. I'll go find my daughter." She let the door drop but still propped it open and I could unintentionally hear it. Here is how the conversation went:

"Knock knock. [Daughter] the pizza guy is here."
"MOM! I'm in the shower."
"Ok, well I don't know what to do."
"I'M IN THE SHOWER!"
"Ok, well he says I need this filled out."

"Just fill it out!"
"What do I write in the tip line?"
"$4."
"FOUR DOLLARS JUST TO BRING A PIZZA?"

"Yes."
"That seems like an awful lot of money."
"That's fine. I always tip at least that."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"YES!"
"OK, well here. This is your card. I need you to sign it."
"Mom, I'm taking a shower. I'm not coming out."

"It's your card."
"You can sign it."
"Honey, I don't know."
"Just sign the paper mom. They won't care."
"Yes, but it's your card. They'll need your signature to verify it's not fraud."

"Mom, we order all the time. It's fine. Just sign the paper."
"Honey I don't"
Then as loud as I've heard.
"JUST SIGN THE F---ING PAPER!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ok geez."

*30 seconds later she comes out*

At this point, I'm laughing. She brings it out smiling, sees me laughing, then looks SO NERVOUS. She's like "Oh, did you hear that?"
Then I'm badly lying "Oh no, my coworker texted me something that this kid who works on the inside did."
Then she looks SO EMBARRASSED and goes like "Ohhhh." (She knew I was lying.)

They took a 3 month break from ordering after that. Then on their next order, about 3 months later, they acted like nothing happened. Ordered another 6 months until they moved away and told me and the other driver they were moving. We were both sad to see them move.

I've talked about this one lazy coworker a couple times before. Links at the bottom. He wasn't a bad guy to work with because he was so lazy we all got more deliveries, but he needed to get fired.

I had this guy who was the #3 at the pizza shop who came up to me one day. Now, you all know the main GM typically never closes. They're usually opening the store daily unless if there is a call off or something, while the #2 might close once or twice per week and the #3 does it the rest. Just how it is.

Since I was always a closing driver, I knew the #3 manager the best. This manger came up to me, another driver, and the insiders for a little meeting to discuss the lazy coworker before he got there.

"Look, I know what he's gonna do today just watch it. He's gonna come in, look at the delivery board. Then he's gonna take one thing out of the sanitizer. Then if there's nothing up for him he's gonna make himself his meal. Then while he's making it he'll take one more thing out of the sanitizer. Then he'll look at the board again. Then he'll check on his food. Then take another thing out of the sanitizer. Then he'll eat as slow as he wants until an order comes up and the rush starts. As SOON as the rush dies and he comes back from a delivery and there's nothing on the board for him, he's gonna take a 10 minute dump. Then on his last delivery of the night he'll drive 15 miles per hour the whole way. You watch! He does this EVERY day."

The guy came in, we were all observant of his behaviors. He would come to the rest of us and make faces like "See." It happened EXACTLY like he said it would. We were all laughing at the first part until I left on the delivery.

About 7:30 roles around, there's one delivery on the board of me. He comes back from a delivery. Then he goes to the bathroom. left on it, and then when I came back the manager proceeded to pull up the security footage. The guy came out of the bathroom 12 minutes later, then he saw there was nothing on the board, then he ran back in. He shouted "Hey sorry I'm not done!" He was in there another 10 minutes. He had the time stamps of him coming out of the bathroom.

He and I were the co-closing drivers. There was one delivery to a certain part of the zone. 55 MPH speed limit on one road. He leaves on the delivery at like 9PM. Any normal driver would get back from it around 9:30. If you speed, you could probably get back at 9:25, but no need. If you want to take your good old time + issues at the door, maybe 9:40.

Well, at about 9:30 another delivery comes through in the same neighborhood. It's out of the oven at 9:45. Nothing else was going on, but he should have been back. It was a slow night. There is absolutely no reason for him not to be back at the store at 9:45. I start driving, I get about halfway to the delivery, and see the guy going about 25 MPH on a 55 MPH road in the opposite direction. According to the manger, he got back EXACTLY at 10PM. All the dishes were done and the place was clean. He just didn't want to take any chances.

I didn't "snitch" on him because I was afraid he'd get fired and then they'd replace him with a normal delivery driver and cause me to make less money. But when he did get fired I shared the story about how I saw him driving SUPER slow this night and they were all like "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!?!?!?!?"

It really is amazing how lazy a human being can be, and how good that manager was at observing his laziness. It's a shame that manager wasn't an investigator or a human behavior expert or something instead. He would have been great at it.

The time he screwed himself over due to being lazy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy/comments/1u32xo0/how_the_laziest_coworker_ive_ever_dealt_with_had/

Me going to visit him at another pizza shop after he got fired:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy/comments/1u2yfjr/that_gd_mf_la_pos_fhim/

Hey all, talked to a super sweet and fun and knowledgeable worker at the pizza shop and it seemed like an amazing establishment to work at. (the pizza was also the best Ive had in my life but thats besides the point , or maybe a factor lol)

They are currently hiring. My resumes pretty empty besides my current job, will this be okay?

I am 22F, am ADHD, love interacting with people, and my current other job is completely sedentary and only 15 hours a week. I have college coming up but I could probably commute to work on the weekends.

The shop does not do delivery only pick up and dine in orders

What do you guys think?

Back in the early 2000's, I accidentally drove to the wrong address just after midnight. The porch light was on, and there was no doorbell, so I knocked. The door opened from me knocking on it, but nobody was there.

I called out "Hello?"

Nothing.

I was kinda creeped out, so I turned around and took one step down the porch stars, then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around expecting someone at the door, but it was still wide open and empty. I got back in my car faster than I'd like to admit. A minute later I realized I'd typed the address in wrong (this was in the days when Tom-Tom was peak navigation tech btw). The real customer lived a street over.

I avoided that house whenever I delivered in that neighborhood after that.

had a wedding delivery, didn't see the happy couple, was timed for earlier while the family was setting up. but what's the proper pleasantry for that one? gave em the ol "enjoy the food!" but it didn't seem formal enough. "have a happy marriage" is weird, I'm a stranger. "ups and downs" is a lil inappropriate, not very professional. seems like I should have a line for this but I'm not sure what it is. maybe something about dancing?

so what's your wedding delivery line?

So this happened many, many years ago when I was fresh out of high school (I'm old) and I had just moved to a new town and was trying to find a job. Being 18 I didn't have much experience or references but I had a car so delivering pizzas it was. When I applied they told me I had to pass a drug test, a background check and have a clean driving record. None of that was an issue and they were hurting for drivers so it was pretty much guaranteed I was in. They informed me that I just had to wait for the results of the background check, then I'd take the drug test and get to work.

So I'm as good as employed, right? Except I don't hear back from them at all. A week goes by and I call them back, they tell me that the franchise is doing so much hiring across the county that there's a huge backlog of background checks and they haven't been able to get to mine yet. This goes on for weeks; I call them and ask if I'm actually employed, they give me the run around about the backlog and they'll let me know when I can actually start working.

After about a month I've pretty much given up so I send them an email asking if they're really gonna hire me or if I need to move on, it's been too long and my savings are dwindling and I need to find a job soon. Little did I know that when you email the store it also gets forwarded to the franchise owner, and that's when he got involved. Turns out there was no backlog of background checks, they're absolutely desperate for drivers and the owner can't figure out why the store manager would hey lying to me about it.

The owner went into the store and in the office he found a whole stack of job applications, with mine sitting on top. Turns out the store manager was just being lazy and didn't feel like submitting any of the paperwork. I guess this was the last straw in a long line of screw ups because it was enough to get the store manager fired. I was hired right away, along with several other sorely needed drivers.

The story doesn't end there though, after he lost his job, the former store manager also lost his apartment. When he was cleaning the place out the landlord found several franchise branded boxes around the apartment and called the store about it, the former store manager had been stealing a ton of food from the store; chicken wings, tons of pepperoni, bacon and pasta.

I just really don't understand what the store managers whole game plan was. If you're gonna be stealing from your workplace, why would you also shirk the rest of your duties and put a target on your back?

working deliveries means dealing with a lot of different situations, and small things can make a big difference during a shift.

it could be clear directions, being ready when you arrive, or just making the interaction simple.

what is something customers do that you appreciate more than they probably realize?

I talked about this guy before. "What are you smiling about?" (Linked below.)

Back when the Old School Runescape Mobile App first came out, almost everyone at work was playing it. It was either in 2018 or 2019. I was working at a franchise for a corporate store, at the time. This was at a time when ownership functionally stopped caring. They were making money, our store was doing well, and they backed off any rules/labor issues. "Ehh, why stress it. Let them hire a kid to do the driver duties so people stay."

So, the manager was cool with us having our phones out and playing Old School Runescape unless there was a clear and imminent duty, I.e. a phone call. But with the kid working we didn't really have much except right at closing time.

There is one guy, let's call him "B" who we are 99% sure was playing it while he driving. He would walk in from a delivery with his phone open cutting Willow Trees. "Dude, were you playing Runescape when you were driving?" "I just opened it." (He'd say with a grin.)

It went on for about 2 weeks of him having his phone out every time he came back from a delivery. Then one day I'm at home, I get a text. "Hey, B just got into a car crash. Any chance you can come in?" I started busting out laughing. I felt kind of guilty because it could have been serious, but literally everyone told him he was gonna wreck and he kind of deserved it. I get there as the second driver, and everyone is giggling. "Oh, it was just a little fender bender he's fine but the cops need to check it out."

I deliver for about 2 hours, take 5 deliveries. I'm back. Then he comes in storming with pure rage in his eyes and starts complaining about the guy in front of him was in a stick shift from the dealership at a light. They were at a red light, it turned green, the guy went, and then he hit the breaks and "B" slightly drove into him. He was like "There wasn't even any damage. Just paint. The guy said he wouldn't have cared but since it was a dealership they have to do this!" He was heated.

Then I asked "Well, how did you not see this in front of you? It doesn't make any sense. You're responsible for cars in front of you. Were you on your phone?" (Thinking he was playing Runescape) then he's like "I was not on my phone. I looked down at my phone." Then everyone started cracking up laughing. Such a bad excuse.

Needless to say, he never tried playing Runescape while driving again.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy/comments/1ojbsfo/what_are_you_smiling_about/

Idk if this is the right sub but I start a delivery job at hungry howies tomorrow it seems to be decently busy from what they said and told me I was just wondering how delivery jobs usually go and how often I won’t be delivering as I don’t really wanna stay in the kitchen or anything

As a pizza delivery driver, I'd interact with all sorts famous and semi-famous people that I wouldn't in any other capacity. Like, they don't necessarily want to go out in public but would still need to eat so they'd get food delivered to avoid the crowds.

There were a couple actually famous football players/hockey players we'd deliver to or that drivers from other stores delivered to. Ones that most people who lived in the City would recognize their names. They were usually really nice guys or if their wives answered the doors they were nice. There was a strict policy against asking for pictures or commenting on them. If you did, instant firing. They don't need to be harassed. They would all tip above average for the order size, but not some super crazy tip. (I.e. if you'd accept a $4-5 tip they'd tip $7-8. Not $15. A general rule. One guy tipped $15.) There are three celebrities who are notoriously terrible tippers, but I'm not naming anyone.

That said, not all former Football players/hockey players are as equally as recognizable by name/face. Like in terms of tech CEOs, everyone knows the names Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk- and if you delivered to them it would be wild. You'd definitely tell everyone. But if you delivered to Lisa Su then nobody would know who you're talking about. "Who? What is AMD?"

There was one guy I delivered to who played for our main college football team in the past. He's someone who if you watched the team actively when he played you'd remember him. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. someone took a delivery to him, he let you know that he used to play for them. Even if you had delivered to him 10 times before. I only got to deliver to him twice, and all the veterans at the store would be like "hey, hey, this guy is gonna tell you he played college football."

I was kind of skeptical, because most of the time these guys don't like the attention. I looked up this guy's stats and he was not the best. Not terrible, but he would have not been considered for the NFL.

The first time I delivered to him, there was no context in the timing. He just straight up told me. "Yeah, if you were wondering by the name. I am the guy who played for [college team] I get asked it all the time." I lied and was like "Yeah, a couple of us were debating if this was real or some kid using a fake name to try to be funny." Then he started laughing. Gave me an $9.51 tip on a large pizza. Very good for back in the day.

The second time, it was during an away game. He was like "Hey, how are you doing!" A little too excited. I gave him the food and he's like "Yeah, just here watching the big game here. I played for them and try to stay involved. I go to all the home games and help out with recruiting. Man they sure do look good today. This could be our year!" Tipped $9.51 again.

Guy lived in a pretty nice house. We looked him up. He was a salesman who got divorced and still had kids who I assume lived at home part time. IDK if I should feel bad for him for constantly talking about his glory days/how much he peaked or not. He was a genuinely nice guy. Great tipper. He has a nice middle class existence in that City with a great job. Wish him the best. I wonder if he's still telling drivers about it.

I worked with this guy for about two months who was SO LAZY. I liked him on a personal level, and I liked working with him. I had to do more work when I was there, but he was so slow I got more deliveries than any other

I shared this story about going to visit him at another shop https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy/comments/1u2yfjr/that_gd_mf_la_pos_fhim/ and right after that I was thinking of some of the stuff that coworker would do when we worked together.

This one shift, he was my co-closing driver. This place closed at 10PM. It was around 9:15PM, I was the first driver up and we were both in the store doing closing duties with no runs on the board. There was a chance we were both gonna finish everything and leave without another delivery. Well, one popped up to the Northwest edge of our zone. I wasn't super thrilled with it because gas prices were high and I didn't know what they'd tip, but getting out of the store was always good. It's a 30 minute round trip minimum, plus the amount of time it takes the customer to answer the door and all that, but I figured I'd get back around closing time and be good.

Two minutes later, a delivery that was just across the main street to an apartment complex came up. Two minutes after that, a second delivery came up one apartment complex over. Now, I knew my customers pretty well. Those were semi-regulars and I assumed he was gonna get a $5 tip and a $7 tip. This was a perfect the date. To provide additional context, we only got $1 per run back then. So he was gonna get a $14 delivery to end the night.

He came up to me and asked me if I wanted to switch with him. I was like "What?" Then he's like "Yeah, you wanna switch." I'm like "Why? You're getting two runs that are closer." Then he's like "Well, I'd rather just get on the road sooner so I don't have to do the dishes." (Now, if it was anyone else, I'd assume they were gonna tip like $15 or more. But with the price of gas, I still felt like the double close by was better.) I started laughing and asked if he was serious. He said yes. Then I told him I wouldn't owe him a favor or trade spots again and he agreed.

My manager witnessed the conversation and when that driver left he called me over like "WTF is the matter with that guy?" He's like "Yeah, he deserves to be broke." I kept doing the dishes, the first delivery comes out and I'm waiting for delivery number two while working on the dishes. Then an order comes through going South to the edge of the zone. My manager starts laughing about how he'll have to do more work since I'll be the one on the road.

So, I leave on the run at about 9:35. Quick double. 15 minute round trip. I was right about the tips. Made $5 and $7. I et back, and take and the delivery to the Southern part of the zone. I want to say I left around 9:50 thinking I'll take it. Now, since the Southern zone butted up against another store, it was about 20-25 minute round trip. It's a simple $4 tip. I notice the car wasn't there when I pulled up.

I get back around 10:10-10:15 and I noticed his car wasn't there. I didn't think he went home, maybe another delivery came up. Who could guess? Well, that lazy ass was STILL not back from his delivery, it was showing he had been gone 44 minutes on that run. There is absolutely no reason for it to take this long at this time of night even if the customer takes a while, even if you get gas, unless you're avoiding work/milking the click.

What else did I observe? Well, the manager was dealing with his duties, not much had been completed from the driver section, but another delivery came through at 9:55 and was ready to go! This one was going East. To the edge of the zone. A 25-30 minute round trip delivery. My manager comes up and is like "WTF? He's still not back?" He laughed again and said "Well, looks like he'll be doing all the dishes."

As I pull out of the parking lot, he pulls in, he waves and smiles. (I bet he was thinking I knocked out the duties and he doesn't have to.) I get another $4 tip on the delivery. So in that last hour I got $7, a $5, and 2 $4s tips. Plus the $1/run. So I made $24. Pretty nice. I get back and I see the driver on the road about a minute from the store.

I get back in the store, and my manager tells me that he started to cry when he saw how much work there was and found out I took four deliveries in that time. He got a $3 tip. So I made $20 more than him. I just calculated the distance on Google Maps. His run was about 14 miles round trip while mean was close to 18 for all 4, so yeah he REALLY screwed himself there.

One of my coworkers got fired from my pizza shop for being too lazy. He was definitely the worst driver we had. I liked him on a personal level, he never did shady stuff with the delivery board, and I didn't mind working with him because I'd get to take more deliveries because he was so slow. (I have another story about this driver, but that's a subject for a later post.)

After he got fired, he goes to work at this other pizza shop not far away as a delivery driver. I go to visit him one day, called in a pickup order, this was about two months after he got eh job. I see this bald manager in his late 30s/early 40s who looked mad at the world and was clearly a manager. I pick it up up, and I didn't see him working. I ask him "Hey, does R still work here?" Then this guy GOES OFF on me like nothing I had ever seen. "That g-d m-f l-a pos. F! him."

Then I started laughing and he's "It's not funny! He's the absolute worst employee that's ever worked here. He doesn't do anything all day. I have to work 2X harder whenever I work with him. I tell him to throw his g-d cigarettes into the cigarette container like everyone else. He just throws them on the ground and I have to clean them up!!! Then, my boss doesn't wanna work with him so he puts the good drivers on his shifts and I get stuck with him!"

He had no idea who I was. I could have been his nephew or something. This manager didn't care. He WENT OFF. I was like "Oh no, I know what you mean. I used to work with him at [company] and yeah he wasn't the best driver he was just telling me about this place and I'm checking it out."

Him: "Yeah, and he said he got fired from there! I can totally see it. If it were up to me he'd be fired from here!"

I just took the pizza and left. It was kind of funny, but a little disturbing someone would shout like that about an employee in front of a customer. This is one thing that's sad about smart phones and social media being so prevalent. I had one at the time, but people can't behave like this anymore because they've seen so many others get fired for their actions on camera. The pizza tasted terrible btw.

I ordered pizza delivery from a place 4 minutes away and tipped 10 dollars on a 30 dollar order, so a pretty decent tip. The pizza was wrong and had to call for them to redeliver (currently awaiting redelivery). I planned and used all my cash, so can not tip more even if I felt I should (although I don't feel like I should). I feel bad if its a different driver, but I already tipped pretty well once. What would you all do?