Objections 16. Tips are only for above and beyond the call of duty. This is a misunderstanding about the importance of tipping and the sliding scale. The tip is a necessary and vital component to make the job worth performing. It is not a mere bonus or afterthought. That may be true for other tipped jobs that don't rely so heavily on tips. For pizza delivery, tips easily make 50 percent of their income. It is expected that tipping be normative for performing the basic duties. At least, unless the driver was rude and the service was terrible. Tipping is payment for services rendered. If you received a service of delivery to your door, and the driver did the job without being rude, you should tip for it. Mere average service is worthy of the tip, since the driver performed a menial task that you could have performed yourself. Tips are expected in this job, yet there's very little variation to what a driver can do in the brief 10 or 20 seconds we spend with you in person. There are some minor things a driver can do to help, at the door and inside the store and en route, and that's where the sliding scale might come in. The sliding scale varies in relation to how well you believe the driver performed. The decency scale for tipping is 10% or less for poor service 15% for normal service ($3 minimum) 20% or more for excellent service Of course, drivers should perform well. The sliding scale offers incentive. They deserve better tips for excellent service but still something for normal service, for doing the job. They still covered the basics. We expect tips just for doing our job. That's what a tipping job is about. A song and a dance is not something a driver is expected to perform and never should do. If that's what you have in mind, it is demeaning. To perform the delivery routine with excellence is enough. Above and beyond the call of duty almost never happens. There would be very little tipping and it would cause everyone to quit. It can't happen very often because it requires an outside unusual circumstance requiring the driver to do more than the job. We hope no driver will have to do more than an excellent job. The job is enough. Last updated: August 6, 2008 return to top