Pizza Delivery Drivers Share Their Worst Experience On The Job

'Please let this be a normal delivery. Please, please.'

If all pizza delivery drivers have one thing in common, it's that they always pray for a normal delivery as they approach the customer's front door. In a best-case scenario, they might get a decent tip to supplement their generally low wages. But in a worst-case scenario, they might stumble into a very disturbing situation indeed.

These brave souls shared their most awful experiences delivering pizza, and for what they have gone through, we salute them.

(Content has been edited for clarity)

How About I Press Charges, And Then We Can Talk About Which Toppings You Ordered?

“I used to work for Pizza Hut when I was in high school, and one day one of our delivery drivers didn’t return from a delivery. After 30 minutes, the manager tried calling him, with no response.

He tried again about 15 minutes later and a police officer answered the phone to explain what had just happened. Apparently, the driver showed up to deliver the pizza, and the guy that answered the door was wasted and violent and ended up throwing the pizza in the driver’s face (I think he said the order was wrong or something).

The driver had piping hot pizza sauce thrown in his eyes and then he fell down the stairs, breaking his arm. That’s gotta be that guy’s worst delivery ever.”

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Don’t Play Games With Me

“I used to work at Pizza Hut on a military base, so the tips were good. I was invited all the time to have a drink with the soldiers and get hit on by army wives, but generally, to chat.

One night I was on a roll, with about five $10 dollar tips in three hours. It was near the end of the night, so it was me and just one other driver. We had the final delivery, so we drove off to this house, which ironically was on the other side of a fence facing the rough part of town, right off-base.

We go up to the house, and it’s like 1:00 am. A dude who is seemingly wasted invites me in. I’ve played this game – be kind, be nice, make $5 or more and leave, but Lady Luck was not with me this time. The dude started talking about how his wife had been cheating on him the whole time he was gone on his tour. He was seemingly distraught, and I try to console him. He signs his credit card receipt and I was about to walk off. Then it happened.

He asked me if I believe in god. I’m agnostic, so I said no, not really. He said that god was a joke and that we better hope he does exist and likes us. Why? I turn around to see the dude has a weapon, and he immediately pulls the trigger with the barrel at his head. Click, an empty chamber. Then he points it at me. Click, empty again.

This absolute nutcase was playing Russian Roulette with our lives. We broke the screen door hauling it out of there, running for our lives and called the military police as we drove off. We never did find out if he completed his deadly game.”

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His Last Night On The Job

“This was just over fifteen years ago, had just the left the pizza shop with three deliveries, turned onto the highway, probably not even 5 minutes later some crazy in boxer shorts runs in front of the car (I am doing at least 80km/h). BANG. He hit the window right in front of me which cracked everywhere and pushed in about an inch towards me and then he rolled over the top of the car, I don’t even remember pulling over, just in too much shock. Not long after the police turn up and start doing what they have to do, which of course means they rang my boss (I didn’t have a mobile phone at this stage). My boss turned up, scowled at me and grabbed the pizzas out the back of the car to deliver them – this is at least 40 mins after I left the shop by now. I went home a few hours later when the police were finished and pretty much collapsed as soon as I got in the door, luckily my girlfriend was home early from work and helped me to bed.

Anyway the poor bugger I hit copped a lot of broken bones and was in the hospital for a long time. He had just fought with his partner and tried to kill himself by running into traffic. It took me a few days to get the skin cleaned off the roof and bonnet (it was stuck on like paint), it also took two weeks to get the car fully panel beaten, and the front bumper, light and windscreen replaced. I was found to not be at fault while I was still at the scene of the accident, not that I felt any better about it.

The next morning I quit, I was still shaken up and my boss rang me telling me I should have to pay for the late pizzas as he had to credit the customers. What a prick.

I never claimed any money off the poor guy I run over, it cost me a lot to fix the car and it never felt the same again driving it (my first car), but it didn’t feel right to sue him for it, he was in hospital for over 4 months, to me he had been through enough.”

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Don’t Mess With This Delivery Driver

“When I started working at Pizza Hut, one of my co-workers who was a dishwasher gave me an interesting suggestion: ‘Go to Walmart and buy one of those 12-gauge flares – you know, the kind they put in boats for emergencies. Keep that bad boy under the driver’s seat.’

I asked him why and he proceeded to explain that 6 years prior, he was working for Pizza Hut in Chicago as a delivery driver. Right before closing time, they got an order for delivery in a neighborhood that they usually refuse to deliver to after dark, due to prior muggings. However, he said that he was broke and needed the cash, so he agreed to deliver for a 10 dollar tip.

On the way there, he stopped at a stop light and someone broke his driver-side window with a brick. The man demanded his cash envelope and my co-worker explained that he had to reach down and get it. He instead retrieved the flare that he had bought after he had been mugged 2 months prior. As he brandished it, the guy took a few steps away from the vehicle and my co-worker fired the flare into his chest.

The would-be burglar was wearing a nylon windbreaker and it lit it on fire immediately. The police arrived soon after and took the burned man to the hospital and eventually jail. The strangest part was that a few years later, he was driving through that neighborhood and saw the same guy with his shirt off, and he had a large, nasty scar where he had been shot with the flare.”

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This Guy Has A Serious Problem

“I used to deliver in a pretty rough neighborhood.

One delivery was to a block of flats and as I pulled up, I spotted a guy sat on the steps leading to the entrance. He was pawing feverishly at his man bits. Weird, I thought, as I got out and grabbed the food box. As I got closer, I saw that he had pulled his pants down around his thighs. Great, I think, another trashed weirdo.

Then, as I’m slowly walking closer, he pulls out a spoon and a lighter, dumps something into the spoon and holds the flame under the spoon. I’m trying not to stare as he pulls out a syringe and loads it.

I’m standing at the door waiting to be buzzed in and see this guy out of the corner of my eye lift up his member and stick the needle into his balls, completely oblivious to my presence. I’m buzzed in, deliver the food, and on my way out I see the guy stood in the street shouting at a bush. So messed up.”

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DON’T MOVE

“I had an order for the bad part of town. I try to get out of it, and have the choice of taking it or not working there anymore.

I head out with the order and decide since it is a long run, it will be a smoking run. Load up the new piece I got with some trees and have a nice powwow on the 35 minutes it takes to even get to there. As I come to the area, I have a nice buzz, and I certainly care less about the lack of money I’m about to make.

I stop the car in front of a house that has not heard of the lawnmower being invented. I lean over and put the piece back in the glove box and as I sit up I hear ‘FREEZE DON’T EFFING MOVE!!’ being screamed right next to my window.

I freak out, scream like a 5 yr old girl, and duck down in my car. I look up to see a SWAT officer looking in my passenger side briefly and then moving forward, weapon drawn. I look back to my driver’s side and a huge beast of a man in a SWAT vest screams ‘STAY DOWN KID, STAY DOWN.’

All I can think of is ‘This is it. I played around with illegal substances and now my life is over. They found me. They tracked down me and my nickel bag. I’m going to jail. Crap crap crap crap.’

3 minutes that feel like eternity pass and I hear someone yelling out ‘YOU EFFING PIGS, I KNOW MY RIGHTS, EFF YOU, YOU FAT PIECES OF DOG TURDS.’ I can’t see anything out the windows but the trees, and I’m too terrified to lift my head. 2 more minutes pass and there is a knock at my passenger door.

I raise my head to see a pregnant lady with a baby in her hands and tears down her cheek with a check in her hand. ‘Can you just give me our pizza?’ she sobs. I rolled down the window and said ‘11.81’ and grabbed the check, handed off the pie.

She walks back into the shanty as I lift my head and look around. 4 squad cars are pulled in behind me, blocking off the 1 lane dirt trail to get to the house. I see them standing around a car with a big guy in a dirty tank top yelling in the back seat. One of them walks over to me and says ‘That worked out perfect, he popped out as soon as he saw your little blue domino’s car.’ I just stared, still confused.

Turns out they had been trying to catch this guy on a warrant for some time and trailed in after me to the dogwood. I was bait, the pizza bait.”

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I Wonder How Often She Had To Deal With This

“I was working for Dominos about a year ago and was sent to a crappy motel room. For the record, I’m a girl. When I get to the guy’s door, he’s in nothing but a towel and says he’s been waiting for me. I give him the pizza and he invites me in to get the money, so I go in.

He starts telling me how attractive I am in the uniform and asking for me to come by later after my shift, and I make it very clear I’m in a relationship. As he hands me the money, his towel falls off; I’ve got my hand on the money and so does he, but he refuses to let it go. So as we’re both standing there awkwardly, he asks me if I’m still in a relationship. I yell at him that I am, snatch the money away and leave his room.”

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If He Arrived A Few Seconds Later, Who Knows What Could Have Happened?

“I live in a small town, and things are pretty innocent here. I was on a regular delivery to what was a fairly normal neighborhood in town. As I was arriving, I noticed a man on the sidewalk hunched over and I thought to myself, ‘Man, he’s sloshed already and it’s just past 4.’

Just a few houses down from there, I parked and made my way to the address. As I was walking up a few cop cars flew by me towards that man, and I proceeded to knock while still looking at the cars. When I turned my head, oh so slowly, there was a smear of blood on the door. I scanned the door and farther down there was blood. Everywhere. Pooling down the steps and making a trail to that hunched-over man. Immediately after, a woman in an SUV speeds by yelling, ‘Get out of there!’ So I dropped the bag and just booked it down the street.

Later on, after talking to those officers, more of them arriving too, it turns out the dude had knocked on the door not even moments before I arrived and the man who answered just stabbed him and ran. That ruined my day for sure.’

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He Couldn’t Believe What He Saw When He Heard Screaming Outside

“When I was about 20, I used to live in a bad part of town in an apartment. Neighbor was selling underaged girls for their ‘services’, other neighbor was a welfare fraud, only keeping the place for the checks, living with his girlfriend in another house. It was the kind of place where you looked through the peephole before answering the door and always looked over your shoulder before entering the house.

One night, the doorbell rings and I answer the intercom to a Chinese man, saying he was delivering an order. I didn´t order anything, but let him come up to see if there was a mistake.

The guy had his hands full, several plastic bags in each hand, and I explained that we had not ordered anything, he must’ve had the wrong building. No biggie, he went back downstairs and out the building.

I closed the door and almost instantly heard screaming. We looked out the window and saw some men beating someone up that seemed to be the Chinese guy. Told my girlfriend to call the police and ran downstairs with the first thing I could find, I think it was a walking cane.

As I ran out the door, some 16-17 year old thugs saw me bursting out the door and decided to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the delivery guy ran away also.

So I went after the delivery guy, who roughly ran in the same direction as the thugs (still holding on to his Chinese food like a boss).

Suddenly, I realized the street lights were out and I was running after some criminals with nothing more than a stick, so I returned. Meanwhile, the police had shown up and within half an hour they located the thugs ànd the Chinese guy in two different locations.

Even though I was a witness, had called the police and was walking around barefoot with nothing more than a cane and some pants, the police wouldn’t take my statement.

Thugs got 3 months detention and decided to hang out more in my building, but the Chinese guy was forever grateful, even came by my house later to thank me.”

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“GIVE ME MY PIZZA”

“I delivered for about 4 years when I was in college in a decently affluent suburb of a major metropolitan area. Homes prices were around $250K-$750K for most of the delivery area, except for Dogwood.

One fine fall day, I am up in the queue and see the address on the call off screen ‘Dogwood.’ NO! I knew about the area but wasn’t sure we delivered there. The boss said ‘if they ordered it, and we made it, you are taking it.’ Well crap, I guess I’m taking this ‘free new resident coupon’ pizza to shanty town.

I drive down the normal suburban streets to the Dogwood Trail. A cracked black asphalt street about 300 yds long, that ends with a dirt road/trail that goes into the deep woods/swamp. The sun is starting to set, and I have to admit the area looks like a still from an Ichabod Crane movie.

I keep heading down the trail and come upon a wooden bridge that looks like beavers made it or it was constructed by 2 rednecks with some deadfall wood and hammers. I cautiously get over the bridge and into the ‘Dogwood’ proper. Most of the ‘neighborhood’ is shacks, trailers, and lean-to’s put up wherever they felt like it.

I try to find ’22 Dogwood St,’ which is a fun exercise on a dirt trail with the light fading – no street signs, no addresses listed. As I’m stopped looking around, 2 dirt bikes pull up beside me on either side with 12-14 yr olds on them.

‘Whatcha doin’ pizza boy?’ sneered the kid on my left. ‘Looking for 22 Dogwood, any idea which one that is?’

‘Yeah that’s us, give us the pizza.’ Figuring this is close enough since they aren’t paying for it, so I’m not getting tipped, plus the bonus of not even having to get out of the car. I handed the kid the pizza, and did a 22 point turn on the small dirt trail. As I turn around the right direction, an older man (40ish) with a rake comes out waving me down rather agitated.

‘YOU GAVE THOSE LITTLE HOODLUMS MY FOOD! EFF YOU PRICK, GIVE ME MY PIZZA!’ and he proceeded to smack the hood of my car with the rake. I figured it was a total loss on all accounts, yelled out ‘Call Papa Johns next time!”‘ and sped around him at a whopping 15 mph. Through the woods, I see the kids on dirt bikes pacing me and waving. I hit the pseudo-bridge and nearly launched off of it to the other side.

Whole event took about an hour on a Friday. Instead of my usual $25/hr, I made the minimum $5.15 and had some wicked rake damage on my previously pristine Teardrop.”

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This May Be The Most Ironic Thing That Has Ever Happened

“The pizza shop I delivered for sold a 36-inch party pizza. The thing was massive, incredibly hard to get out of the oven, and the toppings would slide everywhere upon delivery. Anywho, one afternoon we get an order in from the local fire station for one of our party pizzas. Awesome, it sounds like a good tipping delivery.

I carry the giant pizza in through the firehouse and to their lunchroom/kitchen. I look around to set the pizza down but alas there is no room. Empty pizza boxes are everywhere. One fireman who saw my predicament bustled over to clear room for the new pizza, setting the empty boxes in a pile on the stove. I begin to count out change for a $50 bill when a burning smell begins to fill the room. Then the smoke came, then the flames.

Apparently, someone had just used the stove and the burners were still hot enough to light 20+ greasy pizza boxes on fire. We probably watched the fire for upwards of 30 seconds before someone piped up, ‘Ughh guys do we have an extinguisher in the kitchen?’ They ran out to find one. The whole building was ringing, people were running to the truck to get ready to go out on a call. It was pandemonium for about 2 minutes until the fire gets put out.”

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They Deserve All The Pizza They Want

“I used to work at the CSC (Customer Service Center) for Pizza Hut in the Kansas City metropolitan area. I would take orders for the whole city when someone would call our number.

Everything in the computer system was pulled up by telephone number. I received a sad call one day. The person had called in to make an order. There were notes everywhere that whatever their order was, it was 100% free and to notify the on-staff manager that you had placed the order.

Further down into the notes, I read that it was because it was the family of a delivery driver that had been murdered while delivering pizzas.”

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Who Is The “Rich” One, After All?

“I live in a small town where, for whatever reason, people don’t tip. If I get a $2 tip on a $30 order, that’s really good. Another rule of thumb is that the richer you are, the less money you have to tip.

One night, I had quite a few deliveries and was running behind a little bit as I was the only driver left for the night. I took one delivery to not only the richest neighborhoods in town, but to the richest family in town. It’s a huge mansion that doubles its size every year or two when the owner feels like adding on a few rooms, and probably $500,000 worth of sleek sportscars sitting in his driveway. I had delivered to him before, and he has never given me (or any of my co-workers) a cent as a tip even though the order is always on time, always correct, and always hot. I get there and, as expected, he writes a check out for exact change and I head back to the store.

I grab my next delivery, which is to a hotel. I love delivering to hotels because it’s usually people from out of town, and so we usually get better tips. Well, I get to the guy’s room and realize his order is wrong after he opens the door. I apologize immediately and rush back to the shop to fix it for him, meaning he has to wait another 10-15 minutes for his food, but he didn’t seem to mind too much.

After I bring him the correct order, I start talking to the guy for a bit because he was pretty cool and seemed like a very happy person. I found out however that he had just been fired from his job, lost his house, and was now living in the hotel day by day until he could find somewhere else to stay. Even with everything collapsing in front of him, this guy was still one of the friendliest guys I’ve ever met. He chatted me up for awhile, offered me a drink (I declined because I was driving) and to top it all off, he offered me a $10 tip. Even though getting that big of a tip would have made my night, I just couldn’t take it and told him not to worry about it.

Now that I’m remembering this night, the next delivery I took was to an elderly lady living in a trailer park whose trailer looked like it had taken quite a beating. She even offered me a big tip which I also couldn’t take.

Even though like many of you I dream of being really rich, at the same time people like this make me dream that I never actually become rich. I just want to have enough to support myself and buy the things I really need. I’ve seen first-hand time and time again how easily money can corrupt the people that seek to have it all.”

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“There Won’t Be Any Deliveries Today”

“1) Got offered for them to go down on me – by a dude (I’m a guy).

2) A chubby woman offered to show me her chest for cash back.

3) Arrived at a home to deliver a pizza and nobody is opening the door. I wait for about 2 minutes and I’m getting ready to leave. Two cop cars pull up to the door and both policemen proceed to put on gloves and one goes to his trunk and pulls out his weapon. One of them walks up to me and says, ‘There won’t be any deliveries today.'”

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No Tip Will Cover The Tow Truck

“I work in a big college town, and during last Oktoberfest, some wasted college frat boys flipped my car while I was at someone’s door.”

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