Has anobody tried this rather novel idea that Dominos are running in Holland ?
http://www.indie-amsterdam.com/content/ … os_500.jpg
Any thoughts ?
Pretty cool idea. Makes a lot of sense for areas that have a lot of visitors, such as resort towns, beaches and parks.
Sounds dangerous to me for drivers. If these places remain an option at night, it’s a perfect set-up for a robbery.
There was an article in PMQ September 2009 issue about The owners of Slice,The Perfect Food in New York that do something similar. They have 3 drop off points in central park that they use to deliver to. It sounds like a good idea although I wouldn’t keep them running past a certain time unless it was in a well lighted busy location.
I’m with Gregster on this one. Although a great marketing ploy, and if I were in a tourist area I would think it was a great idea for daylight hours, but I did not have to sit in too many parking lots with a cartopper identifying me as the pizza delivery guy, waiting for an unknown person to appear out of the darkness and pick up their pizza to realize that meets are not a good thing, especially at night. that park would be scary at night.
Rick
Neat idea, I’ve thought about something similar, like a flag/pole or something like that.
We have a “need” for something like this when delivering to large office buildings and especially college dorm buildings. I don’t see it as a safety issue because drivers “meet” these types of customers anyway - with or without the “place”. Having it would make it easier to “meet” and be a good opportunity to market.
Plus, Gregster, the “meet point” could have a hidden compartment(s) to hold pistols, knives, mace, etc. :twisted:
I don’t think it’s any more of a security risk. After all, if someone was intent on setting up a delivery driver all they have to do is order to a remote house and rob him when he leaves his vehicle. Seems alot of effort for what would be a maximum £20 in cash. Aside from this, all calls to the store are logged, but if the number was witheld we wouldn’t deliver.
Biggest problem I see is vandalism.
When a customer comes out from inside a house or business, they are highly likely to be associated with that address and not be robbers. In other words, people ordering from an address are much more easily identifiable and therefore much less likely to commit a robbery against a driver. “Delivery Points” offer none of that security.
It is for that reason that the vast majority of ‘big 3’ stores will not ‘meet someone’ somewhere for a delivery. This lesson has been learned over and over and is written in the blood of those who learned it the hard way.
(Oh, and for those of you who will say: ‘we do that all the time and nothing bad has happened’, it is not justification for doing it because others have been robbed or killed doing the same thing.)
From my Navy days: “Safety rules are written in blood.”
I do not allow any orders unless they are going to an actual address. We never agree to meet anyone ‘somewhere’, far to risky. Likewise we don’t go into apartment blocks etc.
I have heard of several places that have 'meeting points ’ on large college campus’s where going into dorms is a) time consuming and b) potentially dangerous for the driver. I don’t have an answer to this as I don’t have a college in my area but having drivers going into college complex could be just as dangerous as going to a well planned/sited meeting point?
If the ‘delivery point’ was at a location on campus that is always full of people, then it might be ok. It would depend on the time of day, and many other factors as well. Campuses tend to have roving security which is more visible than police in public. Doing a ‘delivery point’ or meeting place in a random public place has proven just too risky. That’s why most places just won’t do it no matter what.
My store won’t even deliver to our own parking lot (after we close for carryout)!
so the original idea probably isn’t a bad one as long as the location is thought out.
Sounds like there is a market for armored pizza delivery tanks with .50 caliber machine guns, bulletproof shields and robotic arms to hand over the pizza and collect the millions of dollars you must be hauling around on a delivery.
So, how’s business in these war-torn, 3rd-world countries that you opened your shops in??
On a serious note, this thread is kind of a sad commentary on the state of some societies.
Pizza delivery drivers are robbed every single day in the US. I take my safety on delivery very seriously and for less than minimum wage I hope my employer does also.
Do YOU have a written safety policy policy that covers delivery in your store? Is it posted where your drivers can see it? Is it followed? Every single time? Do you or your assistants ever say “Just take it anyway”? Whose life are you betting when your company says that?
Greg
But so are taxi drivers robbed every day, Banks, Post offices, people out walking their dog, the list is endless. Are delivery drivers more likely to be robbed than anybody else going about their every day business ? (That’s a question, not a statement).
What I can’t get my head around is why you consider a delivery point to be higher risk than a house / apartment drop. I could understand it if the delivery point was deep inside some woodland where the driver had to walk 300 yards on foot, but the entrance gate to a park ? Or the steps leading down to a beach ?
Every delivery involves the driver leaving the security of his vehicle, only at that point could he be robbed. If I wanted to rob a driver I’d ask for a delivery to an address I knew was remote, and involved a short walk. Now obviously that wouldn’t be my home address !
Thank you for your concern, gregster but I don’t need such a policy for my business. My business is in one of the safest countries in the world. You’re 600 times more likely to be robbed in North Dakota (the lowest robbery ratio in the US) than you would be where I am. I did have a driver get a paper cut once when he got a little clumsy handling a receipt. He didn’t whine or complain about it, though.
So, for more than minimum wage your employer doesn’t need to take your safety very seriously?
Just trying to understand how your rate of pay correlates to your employers level of concern for safety.
You would think that the more dangerous a job is, the better the pay would be. Unarmed security jobs here pay $12-15 an hour but I am more likely to face a gun on the job for tip credit wages.
From here: Driver Safety
In a 2007 study, the Bureau of Labor rated the driving profession, which includes jobs like truck driving, pizza delivery, and travelling sales, as number eight on the dubious most-likely-to-get-you-killed top ten list. It joined other dicey professions like electrical power line installers, iron and steel workers, loggers, and fisherman.
The rankings, however, are based on yearly deaths per 100,000 employees, and do not take robberies and other incidents into account. Robberies, Britton says, are the most prevalent danger to his drivers. In the past six months, two of his drivers were robbed. Every night his drivers are at risk.
Delivery points give the caller increased anonymity. By only delivering to an address and not leaving the vehicle unless the house is lit at night you greatly decrease the odds that you are being ‘set up’. Robbers don’t want witnesses or anyone within earshot. A common frequent tactic is to use an unoccupied or abandoned address for the set up. But if the driver sees that no lights are on, they can call from the safety of their car and ask for the lights to be turned on and someone come to the door before exiting. While robbers can have a cell phone and be able to fake an address confirmation, they in most cases are not able to turn on the lights or open the front door.
Delivery points offer no means for drivers to verify that the people waiting there are not robbers.
Considering where you put your points would be a top concern. Say if its at a park you can have the drop off point right at the entrance that way the driver doesn’t have to get out of his vehicle. Same thing on a boardwalk or beach. Where we are the boardwalk has several manned secruity booths. You could see about placing the points by them if it allows. There are ways to make something like this work and still keep your employees safe.
The more I hear the more I plan to get rid of delivery and fire all my drivers.