From another related thread:

Quote: from mclovinN at 9:50 pm on Feb. 12, 2008

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I don't get it we have to pay stupid delivery charges, why don't you start ranting to your company to give you more money, or stop making us pay for those so maybe we will start tipping you.. I get sick of paying the 5-7 dollars extra for stupid delivery charges.

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No, a delivery charge is not gratuity nor is it reimbursement to the driver. A delivery charge is not a "tip" in any form of the word. A delivery charge is a payment to the store. Need me to elaborate?

Prior to the year 2000, there were no delivery charges. All deliveries were free of charge to the customer. Drivers still got reimbursement for each delivery - which, back then, was usually something like 50 cents per delivery. Considering gas prices of the day, 20 - 25 deliveries could have filled up most cars' tanks off of reimbursement alone. But the point is, reimbursement has existed long before a delivery charge ever has.

So what's with the delivery charge? In the year 2000, Domino's tried an experiment of charging a $1 delivery charge for every delivery. Obviously, the results were a success for the company - it did not discourage deliveries and Domino's made extra money off of these delivery charges. So what does Domino's do? They use that extra money to lower the price of their pizzas and make themselves seem much more attractive than Pizza Hut and Papa John's, who were continually rising their prices due to inflation.

In response, Pizza Hut and Papa John's began charging delivery charges in 2001 as well and it has remained ever since. If not for the delivery charge, the prices of pizza would have to go up a dollar or two to compensate for that loss - so when you pay a delivery charge, you're essentially paying what you'd ordinarily pay without one. In fact, I think "delivery charge" is a bad term for it - inflation surcharge would be a much better one.

But you see, the advantage of calling it a delivery charge is that it's a disguised fee. It doesn't seem like you're paying the company anything - it looks like it's all going to the driver, which is a complete myth. The delivery charge here is $1.95 and if you try equating that with drivers' reimbursements, our reimbursement is only 85 cents - a whopping 35 cents more than in 2000, after gas prices have more than doubled, nearing tripled, and after the delivery charge has began eating away at our tips.

So why don't drivers complain? You better believe they do bitch about it all the time. But who listens? Certainly the heads of the companies in their corporate offices see lower prices with good profits - they see no reason to change! As a result of this bullshit, many drivers have formed labor unions to combat this to get them higher reimbursement. But that's about all they can do.

Pizza delivery, in all honesty, does not require a lot from a person other than the fact that they have a working car. Thus, turnover rates are rather high, making it difficult for drivers to get much anything done. To this, people would say "get a new job," and I would agree, but that too is much easier said than done. At least realize that delivery charge =/= tip, and that's all I ask from most people.

Unfortunately, delivery charges are about as ingrained in many pizza stores as delivery itself. Even independent stores now generally charge a delivery charge. It seems like the whole idea of free delivery has gone out the window, and people don't seem to care.

But you see, what gets me are the customers who do bitch about delivery charges but still get a pizza delivered to them anyway, and then not tip the driver, thinking somehow they're making some kind of point to the store. That kind of thinking is retarded as the store is not hurt at all by the loss of a tip, whereas the only person you're hurting is the person who delivered your pizza to you, who has had nothing to do with the damn delivery charge. If you truly want to get rid of a delivery charge, I'd suggest boycotting deliveries from stores who charge one and either pick the pizza up yourself or buy from a store that has free deliveries (whose prices will always be higher because they don't have a delivery charge - imagine that!).

Post edited at 9:39 am on Feb. 13, 2008 by Bud2400