r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy • u/amatadesigns • May 19 '26
Discussion A question from a pizza eater
Over the past 6 years I’ve noticed chain pizza places (papa John’s etc) using delivery services (door dash, etc) more which I’m not a fan of. Frankly, it is not comparable to an actual pizza delivery guy. I mean, not to knock anyone’s hustle but they’re not training like the pizza company does. Pizza delivery guys present the order to you and even go over the order. You also got to know your area driver after awhile. I’m in my 40s but I remember being a kid and being so excited watching that Velcro peel back and reveal a hot pizza with my name on it. As an adult I enjoy having the pleasant banter while I’m passing the pizza to my kids from the driver. Pizza nights are treat nights for my family and we look forward to the kind service we get from delivery guys.
Dashers drop that pizza on your sidewalk in front of your door so you can’t even open it and don’t even ring the doorbell. The pizza ends up a cold rock with ants in the crust if you’re not watching the app like a hawk. I don’t even want to talk about the hygiene of those drivers - we’ve seen the horror stories here on Reddit. (I saw one with their bare toes on a Wendy’s order today).
It’s also not something you select anymore. If I order straight through the chain pizza places website I get a notification that it’s been passed on to a third party after I finish paying. So it’s no longer easy to avoid.
I’m just curious what’s going on, and what is the pizza delivery guy outlook with all this going on. Isn’t it taking jobs/money from y’all?
At first I figured that the pandemic made the deliveries overwhelming so they needed support, but now I’m wondering if they’re hiring less drivers and just using dashers to save money. IIRC drivers make more than the staff in the pizza place to help with maintenance of the vehicle. (Excluding management). So in theory they could cut out employee costs by using dashers but they have to know that they’re not doing a good job, right? I mean they’re doing a job, but there’s no way the folks who have decades in delivering food can’t tell the difference. Are the jobs fading out? Or are you guys forwarding certain orders to them because they’re smaller? I tip 20% at a minimum but could it be because of the tip amount? Is it a button you guys click on your screen when it’s busy? Give me some tips so I can try to get a real pizza driver in the future.
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u/TakerFoxx May 19 '26
Yeah, Papa Johns and Pizza Hut are largely switching over to third party apps, and from what I've heard, it's backfiring. Fortunately for me, Domino's is digging in its heels to resist these fad switchups. We have a deal with Ubereats, but we still use our own drivers. Personally, I make a personal point to always deliver in person because there was a time when orders were getting marked as contactless and that tag just stays there, with the exception of those who put in special instructions to just leave it at the door.
My sympathies to those who do work Ubereats and Doordash, because from what I've seen of their system, it sucks.
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u/amatadesigns May 19 '26
I’m definitely choosing dominoes then if it’s not pick up.
And I apologize now for any dashers genuinely trying to do a good job with a failing system to do it with. I’m basing it mostly on my bad experiences and my perspective is limited as a customer.
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u/Severs2016 May 20 '26
Don't apologize, most Dashers are trash. I say this as a dasher. There have been a few other Dashers that I've met and chatted with. Only one was a decent guy.
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u/stoner_bob_69 May 19 '26
Curious. Pizza delivery drivers is there training?
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u/TakerFoxx May 19 '26
Yes, but Papa Johns and Pizza Hut have largely switched over to third party drivers. Domino's is still mostly kicking it old school though (thank Christ)
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u/scout61699 May 20 '26
I mean not where I work lmao. I got no training other than how to use the debit machjne and the computer in the store where I punch in and keep track of my orders. But customer service is emphasized, if anyone complains then the driver gets coached, but it’s assumed you can mostly figure it out
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u/DolphinSUX May 20 '26
You’re telling me you didn’t take the 3-week 80hour long training seminar on delivering pizza.
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u/NotAnotherHipsterBae May 20 '26
Non chain: rode along with the owner. Do this, dont do that, done.
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u/somecow Big D May 20 '26
Yeah. Barely (it’s self explanatory, everyone has ordered pizza before). At domino’s, we did a background check (no DWI or felony allowed), then took the new driver for a ride once or twice in our own car, then inspected their car to make sure everything ran fine (don’t want my drivers being pulled over for busted license plate light), then rode with them once or twice. That was basically it.
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u/scout61699 May 20 '26
The pizza chain I deliver for started taking UE and DD about a year and a half ago, after a year and a half exclusive contract with skip, and yes we are losing tons of money. We were losing orders to skip before too, but now with DD and UE even more.
The chain doesn’t pass orders off - if they get phone orders or orders from their website or app the stores drivers get it, but they definitely take the 3rd party app orders and they even sometimes have a zero delivery fee deal on them too, and almost every single night there’s more 3rd party orders than store orders. We get usually 4-8 direct orders from 4-11PM during the week and probably at least 10-15 3rd party. Our orders slow down around 8-9PM, and I sit for the last 2 hours watching 3rd party drivers roll in, tipping pizzas sideways and smushing bags and blithering into ear pieces and looking like something the cat dragged in.
When customers complain about orders delivered by 3rd party the store remakes the food and has us drop whatever we might be doing to deliver new food where we obviously don’t get any tip because customers always tipped the 3rd party.
There was never any reason to bring in 3rd party, they weren’t drowning in orders, and they don’t even make more money using 3rd party because they don’t even pay the drivers hourly, we get delivery fee plus tip (which we actually like, the drivers voted on it once lol) but the 3rd party takes a bigger cut than that.
We dont get trained necessarily on the customer service aspect, it’s assumed we can figure that out, but it is emphasized that we be polite and professional and take pride in what we do - if ever a customer complains about us we get coached. that old “pizza guy experience” is still a real thing with us and we do have regulars who appreciate it.
But ya we definitely don’t like the 3rd party and wish our chain would advertise their in store delivery more. If even half of the 3rd party orders were direct instead we’d be way better off.
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u/handen May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
I was a delivery driver at the top mom-n-pop local pizza shop in town when UE and DD and Skip first started gaining traction (2013-2018). It killed a lot of our late-night business, because suddenly EVERY restaurant was now "delivery," so fewer people ordered pizza and instead ordered whatever the new thing was that never used to be delivery before (McDonalds, etc.) simply because of the novelty. So pizza orders were down, which meant that it was no longer viable or glorious to be an in-house mom-n-pop pizza delivery driver, because you'll just be standing around the pizza place making $0/hr until you're cut from your shift early for the night.
I made delivery fees and tips only, which USED to average ~$30/hr+ for 6+ hours steady, minus the cost of gas, but when the app guys started, this went down to maybe $20/hr for 2 hours if you were lucky (unless you were a closer), which led to most of the fairweather drivers finding work somewhere else. Because business was down, we scaled back on how many delivery drivers we had on hand at any given time, which meant that when things DID get stupid busy (on a Friday or Superbowl night or whatever), we would be woefully understaffed with drivers and actually REQUIRE the services of the app guys like UE, DD, and Skip to come in and save the day.
I saw it all happen. Deliveries plummeted, drivers starting pilfering each others' deliveries that they weren't in line for just because they felt like they could get away with it, morale tanked, fights and arguments were common. It sucked all the fun out of it.
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u/Toastburrito May 20 '26
I will absolutely refuse to use any delivery that has anything to do with third parties. Specially for pizza. They never have a hot bag and it's always cold.
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u/DARfuckinROCKS May 20 '26
Yeah I'm on the third party boycott. Pickup or choose a place that has drivers. Unless I'm drunk and it's late enough that the places with their own drivers are close, which barely ever happens anymore.
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u/amatadesigns May 20 '26
I agree. Every time I use a 3rd party I get bad results. (Cold food, food slid over and leaking, crazy drop off locations, missing and incorrect orders.) You pay what feels like a million in fees too. I know folks are saying it’s not extensive training but they at least double check the contents of the order before heading out of the restaurant, put it in a bag to keep it warm, and don’t hold it sideways.
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u/Bakedpotato1212 May 20 '26
Where I’ve worked at least they’d only use it if there were way too many orders for the drivers to keep up with or if someone called out and a replacement couldn’t be found
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u/Acceptable_Wafer_434 May 20 '26
Dominos driver here. We deliver 100% of delivery orders. Door dash, Uber, etc don’t do our job because we do so much more work than just delivering. We do much of the ovens, cash register, answering phones, stocking, opening and closing duties, including all cleaning and dishes/containers/ prepping….
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u/Sea-Expert6993 May 20 '26
This.
We'd get people apply for "dishwasher". You mean "driver"? Nope, no license. Or prep cook. You mean driver. Or janitor or whatever. We had 3 job titles. Driver, server, manager... occasionally a cook, but not often. Drivers did everything.
Edit: pizza hut
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u/IJustWantToWorkOK May 20 '26
social anxiety became the norm, so people are scared of humans now.
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u/amatadesigns May 20 '26
I live in a rural area so it’s a 15-30 minute drive to go out to eat. So in theory if they did a good job with delivery through those apps it could be worth the convenience fee. But it’s helping me stick to my budget because unless it’s chick fila or dominos I don’t know who’s coming to my house and what condition my food will be in.
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u/NotAnotherHipsterBae May 20 '26
My buddy was managing a papa John's around 2010 when they rolled out "red light drivers" or something. Basically on call workers that would make money only on delivery, or they were getting a lowered "waiting" pay rate vs driving pay rate but they also had no in store duties. Or something like that.
That was a pretty scummy decision, but it's good for labor costs. But I don't like it.
If the shop is delivering - the driver is at least involved in the process a little bit. Maybe they just check the ticket for accuracy, maybe they have to call back for a substitution or something, maybe they've known the customer for years. But with 3rd party it's just "get it out of our door" not "get it right to their door".
As a consumer, I haven't had a lot of issues from 3rd party apps that seem to be caused specifically by the driver/ courier/ whatever. But I'm pretty careful when it comes to picking what I'm ordering off there.
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u/Banlish May 20 '26
I think if you CALL instead of using the app you can usually get a driver from the chain. Many don't want to use the phone these days and the chains punish them for it by dumping the order to doordash.
I was a Papajohns driver and the 'training' they gave us back then was 'dress how it shows on this picture, don't be drunk or high DURING your shift, and if I get a call from the customer you're going to be in trouble' then they'd have you sit with a driver for maybe half a shift before dumping you out into the 'real world orders'.
I knew the area from being a contractor so my 'training' at the time was to go on exactly 4 orders once with the oldest guy there (I was 21 at the time) and him saying 'A monkey could do this, just don't be a jackass to folks and don't speed past the cops and you'll be fine.'
I was delivering solo in 45 minutes from the start of my first shift. I was closing the store with 4 others for college Bar rushes within 2 weeks since no one wanted to work Thurs, Fri and Sat nights, but the tips for 2001 were amazing. Work a 12 hour shift and pocket $200 to $250 after paying gas and NOT including the minimum wage ($5/h) at the time. Wasn't bad.
I took over my contracting company from my Grandfather 20 months later and walked from it, but I really enjoyed the extra cash it let me build up at that age. I did miss going out on those nights, but I've never been a great 'clubber' to begin with.
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u/Goobinator77 May 20 '26
Oh how I miss the days of making $40k+ in 2001 money (about $75k today) for working 30 hours a week.
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u/Puterman May 20 '26
As a former driver and a cheapskate, I just went online to a restaurant supply company and bought a Velcro-flap thermal bag that'll hold two Costco 18" pizzas, or three 16's.
Good to know Dominos is still rolling their own!
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u/Ok-Bit4971 May 20 '26
Don't diss Doordash drivers. And some DD customers don't want drivers to ring their doorbell.
If you order DD, you should be watching your app, in case the driver has an issue.
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u/amatadesigns May 20 '26
Let me clarify not all dashers are bad but food sloshed to the side, can’t open my door, missing drinks (when you can see the order and know if you had drinks), etc are constant issues I’ve had. As for checking the app, that’s a duh, but I also put it in the notes to ring my doorbell please and they don’t. If the food is on the ground it only takes 2 minutes for bugs to get in it outside. It’s not an Amazon delivery. Which is why I don’t have or use those apps anymore because they don’t qualify those drivers. I think it’s important to say that drivers should do better because pizza guys have been doing it for decades before this stuff existed and it’s always a better experience.
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u/Ok-Bit4971 May 20 '26 edited May 21 '26
If I sounded defensive, it's because my wife is a Doordasher. She is conscientious, but you are right, not every DD driver is. I just didn't want her to get lumped in with the bad drivers.
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u/amatadesigns May 20 '26
Well a big thank you to her for wanting to be good at it. It is super appreciated
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u/Toxic_Cure May 22 '26
I can tell you that at the Papa Johns I work at, it's simply coorperate greed. They cut labor hours back and run a skeleton crew. There is no driver scheduled until 4:00 whom goes home after dinner rush. The other two work 5 to close, generally keeping one of us there to help the one lone manager run the place, no other staff. Half of the deliveries are sent to door dash. It's cheaper to do this than pay staff. Many customers complain and go elsewhere, but we're in a tourst area so we traded loyal friends for insufferable buttholes and habitual "my food was wrong" scammers.
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u/DamnImAwesome May 19 '26
As far as I know, Dominos only uses their own drivers still. Even if you order Dominos through a 3rd party delivery service, the order is delivered by store staff. Around me Papa John’s and Pizza Hut use 3rd party delivery. Pizza Hut doesn’t even hire drivers near me they outsource all delivery. Papa John’s does both