Delivery story 299 Becca writes: I'm both an in-store and a part time driver at a small pizza shop in Streetsboro, Ohio. Anyway, it was a Wednesday night and we were slow. I answered the phone, and a regular customer had just moved out of our delivery area, and wanted to know if we could deliver. I originally said no, and he said he would make it worth my while. I asked the owner, who was there that night, and he said yeah because we were slow. So I took the order. Then all hell broke loose. The rush happened, and later than usual. So the store was backed up. This guy's was my first delivery up, but I had told him on the phone that I would take his order with me, and that I couldn't quote him a time because I had other deliveries to take in our area first, and he was fine with that. I ended up only taking two deliveries before his, and they were both on the way to his new home. What I hadn't mentioned before is that it is the middle of winter in Ohio, and they can be brutal. So he lives on the outskirts of Ravenna, the next town over, and I'm on my way when the store calls. Apparently the guy called twice, complaining about the wait. They asked me to call him, to reassure him I was on my way, and to let him know how close I was. I didn't have a problem with calling, as he seemed nice before. Let me tell you. I'm a pretty nice person. Like it isn't bad enough being a woman delivery driver with all the cat calls and such. I'm pretty tiny and my truck is not. (It's a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500--freakin' gas guzzler.) Anyway, it's not the ideal vehicle for winter conditions, so while I was about to call him, my truck fishtailed and I slid into a ditch. I was fine. Nothing was damaged, really. Even the pizza made it. I called the store, told them what happened, and told them I was okay, but would be late getting back. I have 4x4 drive, so I got out after a bit, and I called the guy. I had barely introduced myself when he started screaming at me, telling me I was a "F*%!ing idiot" and it wasn't rocket science to deliver a pizza. I calmly told him what had happened and explained that since his house was out of the delivery area, and with the conditions, and with what I had told him on the phone earlier, that he knew I would not be there promptly. Then he got even worse. He told me to stop acting like I was doing him a favor, because it was my responsibility to deliver to him, and he wasn't going to tip me a dime. Then he said if I didn't get there within five minutes (I was still ten minutes away--on good conditions) he would not answer the door, and I could stand there all night long. He would not pay me. I said I would do my best and he hung up. I called the store, talked to the owner, told him what was said, and asked him if I would get in any trouble if I just turned around. He said no, so I went back to the store. The guy called later wanting a credit for free pizza, and made a huge fuss. My boss, Billy, said no. Not knowing that he was talking to the owner, the guy said, "I want to talk to someone in charge." Billy then informed him he was in charge. The man then said, "I want to talk to your boss." Billy told him that he had no boss. The man then said, "I'm calling the franchise owner and complaining about this! This is the worst service I've ever had! etc." Billy curtly said, "Well, unfortunately for you, sir, I am the owner, so this decision is final, and this goes no higher than me." The customer abruptly hung up. In hindsight, we shouldn't had taken the customer in the first place, especially with the conditions. That customer will forever be blacklisted in all of our stores in Northeast Ohio, and a few others we called. return to top