Need to get home but feel like a taxi will be a bit costly? Lifehacker reader Ben suggests an alternative strategy: go to a pizza place and order a home delivery pizza, then ask if you can be delivered with it.
Picture by Paul Joseph
Here’s Ben’s explanation:
A cool strategy for getting a cheap(er) lift home. If you’re stuck in a nearby suburb to your house, go to a pizza place, order a delivery pizza and then ask if you can be delivered with the pizza. Pizza is cheaper than a taxi, plus you get the pizza. My experience is major pizza chains won’t help you, as they have all insurance stuff to deal with, but a local pizza place – especially one that knows you – is usually more than happy letting you in. Just don’t forget to generously tip!
I can well imagine larger chains saying no, and it’s also obviously not viable if the store uses bikes for delivery. Part of me thinks that this is a genius idea, and part of me thinks you’d be lucky to get away with it even once. But if you’re friendly with your local pizza place, it may be worth a try occasionally. If you manage it, share your experience in the comments. Thanks Ben!
skyva
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:39 AMThis is unlikely to happen. Pizza drivers are not insured to carry pasengers, so if there was a crash the passenger would be suing the driver and pizza co.
You would need to offer the driver a good tip: $10-20 min to let a drunk guy in your car, as he would want to eat the piza in there as well.
I have done it as a driver and as a passenger but it is not easy, and not regular enough to plan on.
Nick K
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:43 AMOk I laughed at this one. Most pizza places these days seem to use those little scooters for delivery. Handlebars?
Matt
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:58 AMUsed to use this one all the time. The local pizza joint in town was happy to give me a lift home, especially when I was buying $70 worth of pizza haha
TSH
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:25 AM…wouldn’t this only work if you live practically next door to the pizza place?
Scootah
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:49 AMThis really only works if getting to the pizza shop nearest to your house is cheaper than getting to your house, and that pizza shop is one that uses cars and not scooters for their delivery. Which in Brisbane at least, would rarely be the case.
Also – it’s been a long ass time since I worked at a pizza shop – but I don’t think we would have let a random drunk guy in any of our cars. Too much hassle for not enough money. We occasionally did this for friends/friends of friends – but giving some random a ride to their house sounds like a great way to get ripped off or to spend half the night cleaning puke out of your car to me.
Trav
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:22 AMWe have a pizza shop where you can ask them to pick you up a slab to be delivered with your pizza.
Not really applicable to oz but when living in the states in some snowy places you could just walk home from the pub and the police would give you a lift home if they saw you as they have a duty of care to you and cannot risk you dying of exposure.
Simon Potts
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:36 AMWill NOT happen unless your mates with them, in which case you would probably get a lift anyway.
As an employer who runs a delivery service (not pizza) the liability implications are mind boggling.
Any business would be nuts to condone this
Brett
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:37 AMI used to take taxi’s home from the city on Friday and Saturday nights. My strategy was to get in the taxi, tell the driver where I was going and say openly and honestly, I only have $10. Can you take me as far as that and I will walk from there.
9 times out of 10, the driver would just take me home. The taxi ride would have been around $15 and as I lived in an area with pubs, he was gaurenteed another trip once he dropped me off.
Granted it was 10 years ago, but still worth a go and probably more successful than popping into a random pizza shop….
As an aside, do you think Woolies will take me home with their free delivery offers?
Anna
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:42 AMI went to an all girls school, the police came in once for some presentation and they told us if you ever need a ride hail a police car. Because of their duty to making the community safer they are obligated to take you home. This may only apply to children, but worth a shot.
Alex Dess
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:25 PMThis was suggest on an episode of Life Support on the SBS back in 2001. Although their suggestion was a little more tongue in cheek.
smurfydog
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:47 PMLife Support was one of the best TV shows of it’s time!
It’s a real shame it didn’t have more commercial success but I guess with it’s risque tone it never stood a chance.
I’m sure I still have it on VHS somewhere…
Lee
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:32 PMPretty sure that was a pizza add many years ago.
JT
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 1:10 PMI used to deliver pizzas and this happened to me a fair bit. I would only do it if they seemed cool. Unfortunately it was mostly drunk dickheads that were asking.
coruja
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 1:51 PMdone this before. felt like a boss afterwards.
Tb
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 3:49 PMI think it really depends on the sort of pizza place. Delivered for a little private joint all through Uni, and I did this a couple of times plus more (mainly booze and cigarette delivery). That said, I have never actually tried to be the passenger, I am usually with mates and the cost of a taxi is at most a fiver each :/
I imagine one of the franchises might struggle a bit more with the concept though!
Crafty
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 4:18 PMI reckon if you asked at the counter at Dominos they’d refuse you, but if you approached the guy that’s getting $12/hr in the car park, he’d happily do it on the sly.
Matt
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 5:46 PM@coruja +1
Used to live in Picton NSW.
Few beers at the local, order in a pizza and they would pick you up from the pub and drop you home.
Awesome!
Kyle
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:08 PMI work at a pizza shop. We wouldn’t do it.
Jeremy
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:59 AMI work at a pizza store and occasionally someones asks if the delivery driver is going into the city and most of the time we’re not bothered.
Silver
Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 11:58 AMThis was an original idea about 20 years ago
Damos
Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 8:38 AMActually a better idea – use a pizza delivery company to delivery an urgent message. I had a situation once where I had to contact a housemate, but had no idea of her phone number, and only had her work email. In the end, I phoned a pizza company, and asked them to write her a message on the box.
Damos
Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 8:39 AMAlso a cost-effective way to send someone a personal message (“I love you – here’s some pizza”) in the evening, when any courier/post delivery is impossible. I also once had a Tesco grocery order of chocolate, wine, champagne, meals for 2 days, and a DVD sent to my partner one evening, to apologise for being away on a work trip at short notice.
Andrew
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 7:58 AMI did this in Wellington, NZ about 14 or 15 years ago when I was at university, the Eagle Boy’s driver was cracking up about it the whole time, I think it helped that my flatmates and I had been ordering pizza 3-4 times a week for about 6 months from them…