So I had this lady come in to the shop today claiming that the delivery driver shorted her $40 in change. So here’s what happened… She ordered for delivery on Tuesday her order was 25 and some change. She needed change for 100. She ordered pizza for her kids and the babysitter so she was not home to see the transaction take place but she gave the babysitter instructions to receive 70 in change and for the driver to receive a $5 tip (she left coins so the driver would get an even 5). So today she came in to let us know that the babysitter only received $30 in change. The problem is they are regular customers and have been ordering from us for the past year and have spent $1000 in that time frame. I spoke with the driver that did the delivery drop and he told me that he didn’t remember how much change he gave her but he knew he definitely gave her more that $30 and when I asked him how much tip he received he told me $5. Now I don’t mind giving her a credit of $40(that is what she wants) but at the same time I feel like if I offer to give her the credit that I am basically calling my driver a thief. The other thing is that she knows the driver and his family(its a small town). The driver also comes from money his dad is an ex NFL player so I don’t see him taking money and pocketing it.
Just not sure what to do with this one I don’t mind giving her a credit but I feel like if I do its sending the wrong message.
Maybe the lady ought to speak with the babysitter??? Hmmmm.
Honestly, IMO you tell her it was an honest mistake and you have spoken to the driver about being more careful ( even though it sounds like you believe his side of the story ) and give the credit. $1000 in sales pretty sweet, I wouldn’t attempt to put that in jeopardy. In the meantime I would let my driver know ( if I believed him of course ) that I still trust him and to move on from a crappy situation. Did I mention someone needs to speak with that babysitter??? Haha
This is a tough situation. There are three people that are involved and no matter what way you go you would imply one of them is a thief or a liar. You obviously trust the driver and the customer obviously trusts the babysitter. If it was the driver then you have a problem, if it was the baby sitter the customer has a problem, and if it was the customer making up the story you just someone trying to get something for nothing.
My experience as a delivery driver is that I tend to remember counting out change for the customers and telling them here is your $70. For him to say he doesn’t remember how much change he gave but knows he got a $5 tip is a red flag for me. But maybe that is just the way my mind works.
I agree with the both of you here and like I said the driver knows these people on a personal level and he is honest and not a dumb kid either. I also don’t believe that she is trying to get something for free she is wealthy stay at home mom she lives in a double gated community on the bluffs overlooking the beach. I think she is I don’t know how to put it nicely an airhead so I just think the money got misplaced somehow. My other driver told me that the last time he delivered to her he had to follow her around her house for 5 minutes because she couldn’t figure out where she wanted him to put the pizzas. I believe this is just a case of DUH!!!
I agree with Rob T. I believe in backing my employees unless I am certain they don’t deserve it and Rob’s suggestion does that without an outright accusation of the babysitter which I would be very reluctant to even imply…
one rule I have for both drivers and insiders, if they are getting more than $20.00 back that the change gets counted to them. that way if there is an issue it gets caught at that time and also because sometimes money gets stuck together by counting individual bills you have a better chance of catching that. (may not work in this situation, but people usually remember that they counted it out.)
I agree with the above posts, unless you plan on firing your driver, make sure he know you believe him and your doing it just to keep a customer happy.
I really do believe the driver and I always back up my employees unless they give me reason not to. He is friends with one of their kids they went to high school together so why would he do that and from what the customer told me she gave the babysitter specific instructions to get 70 in change so why didnt the babysitter do this I dont know not that it really matters and I would never tell her to ask her babysitter either. I just dont want to put her on the spot or the driver and assume that one of them is lying. And if he did receive a ridiculous tip I would have heard about because the drivers are young guys who get super excited about receiving large tips and they talk about it amongst each other. I tried calling her yesterday as well to let her know that I would be giving her a credit no answer and mailbox is full go figure! I dont care about the 40 bucks because its going to cost me much less than that to give the customer the credit. What I care more about is her bad mouthing the place to all her friends.