Long waits at factory

[Rick_G]

We have a couple of factories in our area that order often. Lately when delivering to one of them we frequently have to wait 10-15 minutes for the customer to come out and get their food. We call a few minutes before arrival so they know we are there. Today I waited 12 min for a $10.00 order to get picked up. So I had 5 min to get there, 5 min return, 12 min sitting and about 2 min prep. 24 minutes of labor for ten bucks in sales!! This is the third time it has happened to me in the last few weeks and I only run a small percentage of our deliveries. It always seems to happen on the small orders which makes sense because if 5 or 6 people were ordering someone would be free to come get it. I told the guy that we needed to get something worked out because we can not keep doing this and he got real offended and said if it was a problem he would order elsewhere. I have had this reaction in the past when trying to explain why we can not sit and wait that long.

So, are there any magic tactful words to express that we need them to come out and get their order within a couple of minutes of when we arrive?

 

[royster13]

As your customer already indicated, tact does not work…Used to have the same situation with a mine…We tried everything and eventually just stopped taking their orders…

 

[amelmor]

Shoot, I couldn’t afford to lose the $10 every time they order, so I would just try to be fashionably late

We have a customer that works at one of the distribution centers near our shop. He’s done this a few times, but I just s-uck it up for the 2-3 orders a week from him. Turned into a $60 ticket last week from him, when he brought some co-workers in for lunch because, “we treat him so well”.

 

[pizzaduo]

We also have a factory and this happens to us quite often, and it is very frustrating. We also call before we leave the store and unfortunately once or twice a week our driver has to wait 5-10 minutes. I am not sure what a good solution is, but we generally just keep our mouth shut because of the $60 - $100++ orders we get from the factory. I feel your pain but those big orders sure are nice.

 

[pizzapirate]

Just have to factor in the time needed . . .

On another note, I can’t imagine a $10 delivery is worth it for any time spent. Raise your minimum and maybe the time makes more sense for you.

 

[Patriot_sPizza]

We had one problem account like that @ a call center…wasn’t enough business to warrant the hassle…we just stop taking deliveries from them unless it was $50 or more…

 

[famouspizza]

we had this happen at the local Target where we had to get buzzed in to the employee entrance and then wait for the employee to get paged…we make sure on all corporate orders that there is a direct line or cell number that is called when we are almost there. In this case we requested that all orders are paid in advance with credit card and left at the desk and call to let them know when we are there.