This actually works (try this if you can afford it)!

[Destructavator]

Talk about really getting what you pay for...

For those who don't know, I'm one of those people who typically orders pizza (delivery) at least once a month, and I used to be cheap about it, giving a few extra loose bucks as a tip, sometimes with coins (like many people I know).  I always had to put up with the usual hassles and horror stories that most people ran into, especially on busy evenings when many people were ordering.

Then I read an article on the pizza business, one thing it mentioned was that many pizza restaurants tend to really remember frequent customers and how much they tip.

So one evening, just for the hey of it, I gave the delivery kid a whopper tip, and after getting to see the boy's face light up I kept it up with the next few orders.

Now they really earn that extra money - The food comes in 15 to 20 minutes or less instead of meandering someplace unknown for an hour (I feel like I can almost snap my fingers anytime and have a pizza ready right there on the spot), the food is prepared more carefully instead of thrown together and it sure tastes a heck of a lot better, and the delivery people are extremely pleasant to the point of being unnatural, even the younger ones, even on a hectic night for them.

Bottom line:  If you can afford it, and keep doing it, they'll really earn it and give you first-class royal service.

I guarantee the food will be that much more tasty as well, worth bragging over.

 

[Prinegon]

Well, if this story might be right, or not, I cannot proove. But I'm glad this works for you.

I normally like to round numbers with the tipps, if I order for more than one person, while I normally give a fix tip when ordering alone. If I do not give a tip, this happens totally on purpose to show, something really annoyed me (like sometimes waitresses tend to be overdoing in asking if there is anything more you want every ten minutes, even disturbing your conversations).

However, there are some examples I know, where tipping has bad effects, like delievery services cutting wages for new personal, because the expected tip is high enough to make this job attractive enough. I even know of one buissnes that tried to keep percentages of the tips.

Oh, one thing: Normally my tip is higher, if I know, percentages of the tips are given to the kitchen crew.

Ps: Ever tried to tip a McDonalds waitress? I did and they were not allowed to cash the tip on restaurant policy those days (the tip ended in the donation box after that). 

[Destructavator]

A waitress in McDonalds?  What country do you live in?  I ask because where I am (United States) there's really no such thing, its just a matter of walking up to a counter, paying for what you want after standing in a line (at the counter), then taking your tray of food and seating yourself with your meal.

[Legendman3]

I wanna try the pizza tip thing... when im older

[Destructavator]

I wanna try the pizza tip thing... when im older

Save your money.    It's definitely worth it, yes, but save your money.  Heck, the last time I paid cash for the food the tip was more than a third of the food itself.

On the other hand, I'll bet that my pizza is better than yours.  ( * poke * )

 

[Prinegon]

Germany...

well, perhaps you should not call the waiters (I am not native english speaking, after all), but cashier or counter craft, perhaps. But if your order is not quite cooked yet, they will bring the food to your table (I even experienced a cashier bring the food to the parking spot, because it wasn't finished as I ordered at the McDrive (for the record, I totally am no McDonalds fan, I may end up there about once a season (normally after visiting cinema).

[Destructavator]

Germany...

well, perhaps you should not call the waiters (I am not native english speaking, after all), but cashier or counter craft, perhaps. But if your order is not quite cooked yet, they will bring the food to your table (I even experienced a cashier bring the food to the parking spot, because it wasn't finished as I ordered at the McDrive (for the record, I totally am no McDonalds fan, I may end up there about once a season (normally after visiting cinema).

It sounds like they are indeed what would be called "waiters" in such a case, but it also sounds like they run McDonalds very differently over in your country compared to in America.  (This doesn't surprise me really, various companies that have locations in more than one nation often times do have differences in service depending on what country a specific branch is in.)  American fast-food chains usually don't have waiters, although more traditional places to eat in the United States do, the places that offer "real" food.  Heck, if I walked into an American fast food joint around where I live and asked anyone who worked there to actually bring me food (or anything) to where I am, they would probably react as if I was crazy.  ("What!?  Do you want me to polish your shoes as well?  Do I look like your ***ing maid/butler?")

[Duke]

Sure enough, tipping can increase the quality of service you get. Everywhere.

My personal tip policy:
Give them a *reasonable* tip !
Depends on
- the country (in Germany it's 5-10 %)
- their efforts (and success)
- the rounding
Be generous, but do NOT exaggerate. Always keep in mind that they probably earn much less than you.

I also found out that treating them as 'nearly equals' often helps more than an enormous tip

[homunculus]

[...]Always keep in mind that they probably earn much less than you.

yeah, when i made some pizzas for myself and some friends i was surprised it wasn't so cheap at all.
i was wondering how those people could make any reasonable profit out of it without any tips.

so, i think next time i order pizza i might give them a few tips like:
1. maybe use green olives rather than black.
2. maybe experiment with a little bit lemon.
etc.

[jsallison]

While working in Kuwait a number of years ago I was a pretty steady customer of a local PizzaHut.  Pretty much every Thursday night I was good for a large Pepperoni lovers.  I'd round up to the next whole bill and have the driver keep the difference.  These guys generally worked for chump change and would send most of that back home to India, the Phillipines, Sri Lanka, etc.  After a few months of this, they'd call me to confirm it was a go for the night and be at the door in a matter of minutes.  About once a month a comped case of soda would be dropped off, as well. Never could convince the manager to try offering a sheep pizza, though, darned things are vermin over there.