Idiots came out of the woodwork last night

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

What a night. Monday public holiday for Australia Day which fell on Saturday (26 Jan).

Yes that’s right if a major public holiday falls on a weekend then the Monday is given off as a public holiday.

We have to pay penalty rates (double time) for public holidays so we charge a 10% surcharge (common in most places where they have to hire staff and pay the “correct and lawful” rates of pay). This is written into our menu and also clearly stated on our menu board and on our specials board at the front doors. We also charge for deliveries - $5 for zone 1, $6 for zone 2 and $7.50 for zone 3, all depending on distance from shop. Bear in mind we pay $12 per hour for drivers plus $2, $2.50 or $3.50 per delivery by zone. We say that a fee applies for deliveries on our menu.

Last night Mon (28 Jan) was the public holiday with the 10% surchage. In the past we have only had two complaints about the surcharge, but last night they came out of the woodwork.

We had our second delivery of the night phone in to question why her $25.50 2 pizza order ended up at $37.40. We explained that she had extra toppings and a special sauce base which all have extra charges as set out clearly in our menu, plus the 10% surcharge and the $5 delivery. She was fine all except the delivery charge saying that it was outrageous as she lived only 1.5km from the store.

Had another that clearly said they would not pay the surcharge and would not pay for delivery as they lived less than 1km from the store. Order girl said that was the charge and asked if they wanted to pick up instead of the delivery to save the delivery charge. All she got was the phone hung up in her ear.

Lost about another 3 orders because people didn’t want to pay the surcharge. Funny thing it only adds about $2 - 3 dollars an order, and we are talking about our ecconomy being in the prime with unbelievable wages.

Overall last night would have been one of our worst nights for customers with an unusually high amount of half/half pizzas ordered, wierd order request for lines we don’t carry and a customer claiming they have been getting deliveries from us for over 5 years and have never been charged a delivery fee before.

And the main thing about the night … IT WASN’T A FULL MOON :roll:

I think they must have gone to Grantville (or the Australian equivalent) for the long weekend and got on the moonshine which affected their brains. :lol:

To make the night worse I was only feeling 70% so I was probably a bit more tetchy than usual. Might be the effects of working 7 days per week since first week in November catching up on me. :cry:

Dave

2

I am not sure you can pass on those costs without getting this sort of customer dissatisfaction. Would it have been worse to close for the day? Would you have lost money rather than just make less profit if you did not charge the surcharge? Maybe to keep goodwill you just have to s.uck it up.

Another tactic is just to schedule less drivers and explain that because of the holiday, deliveries are running 90 minutes and ask if they will pick up – you will throw in some free breadsticks for the inconvenience.

That’s a tough situation to deal with. People vote for the guys who pass these laws to “help the working man” but don’t want to pay for it.

3

Charles

I hear what you are saying but people want you open. Gee we even had people phoning for deliveries at 2pm when we only open at 5pm.

Surcharging is part and parcel of eating establishments in Australia (PH and Dominos do it and advertise it). When I have to pay double the wage bill for the day there is no way I can or will absorb it.

What these people fail to acknowledge is that
a) they are off work that day and get paid for it because the place they work don’t open on public holidays and if they did they business would have to pay penalty wage rates just like us
b) they wouldn’t want to work on a public holiday but expect everyone else to
c) if they did work on a public holiday they would be demanding double time wages
d) they don’t want to pay extra for services on a public holiday but would want extra pay if they worked

Funny thing is that this public holiday was probably the first we have had with both drivers turning up. Normally we have less or sometimes none on public holidays so they are used to having to wait or come and pick up. Another thing is that deliveries are not a big proportion of my business (25 - 30%).

The extra wages cost me $210 for the night and we took $1320. The 10% surcharge only came to $120 which is far less than the extra wages paid for the night.

I guess the long and the short is that we clearly advertise the surcharge and if they want it on those nights then they know they have to pay more. Also customers want us to be open every night so closing to save charging a surcharge wouldn’t be an option.

The last point about absorbing the costs. Sorry I’m in business to make money. The Salvation Army, Red Cross are charities, not me.

Dave

4

Dave
I think it must be a shift in the earths magnetic force. For every normal customer yesterday I had 3 that you would swear their brains must have been frozen by the 40 degrees below zero temperature.

5

And ours by the 40 degrees cellsius summer heat tht melted theirs

Dave

6

I was only saying to absorb the costs if it is a temporary situation and charging it would lose customers (unless they are the dweebs you don’t mind losing).

Sounds like it is customary and understood by the majority. If this is one of several holidays that you have to do this, you could also preface the calls with an explanation. Some phone systems will queue the calls to a recording first, then ring the phones. Of course, if almost all understand the surcharge already, then it is unnecessary.

Our competitors are charging $1.50 a delivery. We plan to charge $3.00. Yes, I know this will irk some who think we should lose money on deliveries, but I am not going to do it. They can dine in or pick up if they want to save $3.00. If we deliver, they will note that our drivers are clean cut, neatly dressed, polite, prompt, and driving a company delivery car. The delivery charge covers our true costs including labor.

7

weird things —we had the drug rehab center order and when I delivered it the consuler said to take it back because if they order they have to order for everyone (not the first time it happened) when I told him what I wanted to do with it he called the rest and talked to owner (my wife) and said I had an attatude just because I told him the place is cut off and to go screw himself. made me feel better losing money lol weird people the prison halfway house we never have problems

8

So you are saying the rehab place would not allow you to deliver a pizza to a resident?! If that’s the case, you should still be paid. That would really tick me off, too.

9

I sincerely hope you’re kidding. Telling someone to screw himself does seem like you might have given him just a tiny bit of attitude :).