Monday, July 17, 2006
Delivery Charge?
It's time to clear things up about the delivery charge that most stores use. What the delivery charge is, essentially, is a way for the store to rake in more profits, usually making up for food costs, etc.
I'll start by pointing out that Napoli's does not enforce a delivery charge, and thus we increase the price of our food. This seems like an easy enough fix, to have "free delivery," but I'll point out the problem with that later.
The delivery charge, often anywhere from one to three dollars, is a charge that only the customers who order delivery are forced to pay. Pick-up customers (and dine-in, in some places) do not get charged with these extra dollars. The problem with it is that the delivery customers, being charged a couple extra dollars for their orders, are being misled to believe that those dollars are going to the driver and, therefore, will often refrain from tipping them. Most stores will give their drivers a small chunk of the delivery charge, typically about fifty cents to a dollar, to make up for mileage costs (though at $3+ for gas in many places, it can hardly be considered a fair compensation). Basically, what is happenening is that the store is misleading its customers into not tipping their drivers. Is it the fault of the customer? Not entirely; the fault lays primarily on the store. Is it fair to ask a customer to pay $5 over their total just to tip the driver $3? Not really, but it's certainly important for the customer to know where their money is going. If they'd like to tip their driver $3, they need to understand that the $2 charge is not a part of their tip.
As for "free delivery," my main (and only) problem is that customers begin to think well, if it's free, then I don't need to tip, right? Wrong. Free just means we're not going to overcharge you for ordering delivery instead of pick-up or dining in. Tips are still expected (it's fair enough to say that because, after all, if tips weren't expected in this job I wouldn't have taken it) and we still have homes, cars, and families to pay for.
I'll start by pointing out that Napoli's does not enforce a delivery charge, and thus we increase the price of our food. This seems like an easy enough fix, to have "free delivery," but I'll point out the problem with that later.
The delivery charge, often anywhere from one to three dollars, is a charge that only the customers who order delivery are forced to pay. Pick-up customers (and dine-in, in some places) do not get charged with these extra dollars. The problem with it is that the delivery customers, being charged a couple extra dollars for their orders, are being misled to believe that those dollars are going to the driver and, therefore, will often refrain from tipping them. Most stores will give their drivers a small chunk of the delivery charge, typically about fifty cents to a dollar, to make up for mileage costs (though at $3+ for gas in many places, it can hardly be considered a fair compensation). Basically, what is happenening is that the store is misleading its customers into not tipping their drivers. Is it the fault of the customer? Not entirely; the fault lays primarily on the store. Is it fair to ask a customer to pay $5 over their total just to tip the driver $3? Not really, but it's certainly important for the customer to know where their money is going. If they'd like to tip their driver $3, they need to understand that the $2 charge is not a part of their tip.
As for "free delivery," my main (and only) problem is that customers begin to think well, if it's free, then I don't need to tip, right? Wrong. Free just means we're not going to overcharge you for ordering delivery instead of pick-up or dining in. Tips are still expected (it's fair enough to say that because, after all, if tips weren't expected in this job I wouldn't have taken it) and we still have homes, cars, and families to pay for.
# posted by D @ 12:21 PM 
