KATUWoman makes up for missing pizza tip and apologizesBy Bob Heye Published: Apr 3, 2014 at 1:18 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 3, 2014 at 5:39 AM PDT
ORTLAND, Ore. - March 28 was like every other day for Andrew Shaffer.
Shaffer's been delivering pizzas out of the Papa John's store on Southeast 33rd and Powell for nearly six years.
Shaffer thought he'd seen it all.
“I try and provide the best service for everybody,” Shaffer said. “But yeah, sometimes people are rude. It's customer service. I'm used to it.”
On a delivery last Friday night, Shaffer dropped off a pizza.
The bill was $22.67.
The couple handed him a wad of money. It was $23, tip included.
“I took it back to the car and I counted it and I was 'oh, 33 cents',” said Shaffer. “Okay, well, going to my next delivery."
That's how it ends sometimes. Not this time.
When Andrew Shaffer got to work the next day, his manager handed him an envelope. Inside was a $20 tip and a note that read in part, “We'd like to apologize for our impaired math skills and to thank you for the work that you do.”
It was a hand printed card with an apology.
“Just the effort that was put into it was amazing. I mean, this was just a piece of paper and they made it into something that really made my day. I loved it. It was great,” said Shaffer.
We caught up with the card's author, and apologetic pizza customer, Jenn Benton
“You know, I saw the receipt,” Benton said. “And I realized and I thought, 'Oh, wee, that was like a 30-cent tip. That was not appropriate.”
Benton thought her boyfriend tipped Shaffer.
When she realized what had happened, she made the card, and planned on throwing in $10, until she walked out of her house.
“And I found this 20 dollars and I thought 'this is the universe telling me that this guy, this is this guy's 20 dollars,'” said Benton.
That's another $20 toward Andrew Shaffer's college tuition. It’s also an immeasurable contribution to something even bigger for him.
“It definitely restores my faith in some of the people," Shaffer said. "Especially here in Portland. We've got a lot of good people here in Portland."
