I was probably sucky, but so was the service

[Ree]

I ordered pizza for my staff today. Last week, I said, if they got the entire load of freight done up by Wednesday, instead of running over into Thursday, I would get pizza this week.
They did it, so I made good on my promise.

Lunches start at 11:30 am.

They all wanted to get Pizza Hut, which is just down the street from us- less than 5 minutes by car.

I called just before 11:00 and ordered it for 11:30.
She said they guaranteed 30-45 minutes, so it would be 11:35 at the latest.

At 11:40, I called to see where the pizza was. She said it had gone out 5-10 minutes ago.

I called again at 11:50. My staff was all late getting to lunch, as none of them had brought a lunch, knowing they were having pizza, so I couldn't send them until the pizza got there.
My special needs guy always goes for break at 11:30, so he was getting really antsy. Routine is very important to him. (He hadn't known there was pizza, and I made the mistake of telling him that he could have some of the pizza, shortly before he was supposed to go to break. Then, I couldn't send him for break either. Now I wish I hadn't said anything, but I didn't want to exclude him from the fun.)

She said she was sorry, and the delivery guy had two deliveries to do. The other was across town, but she assumed he was doing ours first, because he practically had to go by our door.

At 11:55, a full 20 minutes past the promised time, and an hour since I had ordered it, I was just dialling the phone to tell them I was either not going to pay for the pizza, or else I expected a discount on it.
I had the first 3 digits in, when the driver pulled up to the door.

It came to just over $50, and I had $60.
Normally, I would have figured in a tip, but I made him count back every cent of change, right down to the last penny.

I knew the guy, and I made a point of making a big deal about letting people know their food was finally here and they could finally go to lunch.
While he was counting out my change, I called out, "Who was supposed to go at 11:30? Your pizza is finally here. You 12:00 guys are going to be late going, because you have to wait. Sorry guys, but this was supposed to be here 20 minutes ago."

The pizza wasn't even that hot, but we didn't care, because we were all hungry.

I am really tempted to call and speak to the manager. The delivery guy they use is a private service. He's not on their staff.
He's giving them a bad name. I have heard from a reliable source that there are at least 3 homes that he is not allowed to deliver to, because the customers complained about him.

I paid for 3 pizzas, and I got 3 pizzas, but it threw off my whole afternoon because of all the late lunches and breaks.

Someone said I should have called anyway and demanded to get my pizza free, but it's not about that.
I really think the manager needs to know that the delivery service sucks!!

[kibbles]

I don't think you were sucky at all, in fact I think you handled it very professionally and got your point across in an excellent way!

[PaRaGaS]

I also have a pizza story, a bit sucky on my part tho

I got back from work today and was in a mood for pizza.
So I called my favorite pizza place, the call went like this:

Me: Duh
PG: Pizza Girl

Me: Hello, I'm calling from <street>, I'd like to order a pizza.
PG: Certainly, what kind?
Me: A small Mafioso (the spiciest pizza on their menu)

Note: I didn't want a large pizza, cause it was already 6PM. I order food there on a weekly basis (and it's great), always a large Mafioso/Kebab pizza combo. If I wanted large, I'd order that instead of just Mafioso.

I finish the call, and my mother figures that we should get a large one, since the price difference isn't really large. Something like 1$. She asks me to call, and change the order *sigh*. So I call:

Me: Hello, I just called about a small Mafioso pizza. Would it be possible to change the order?
PG: Uh... I'll ask.

I actually hear her speak with the kitchen guy, he's already halfway done with the toppings.

PG: You know, they already put the sauces on the dough and everything...
Me: OK, I understand, sorry for your trouble.

I work in a McD's, so I didn't feel quite right about making that call from the start.
I still have to teach my mom a few things, but she's by all means not an SC.

The end of the story? The pizza arrived after 20 minutes and we got a large instead of small.
I made a call to confirm that it wasn't a mistake (didn't want someone else getting our small pizza instead of their large one), but Pizza Girl said that the dough came out large and that it's on the house.

Seems like I'm the only one here who thinks that my ordering was sucky...
And the pizza was great

[kibbles]

I don't think your ordering was sucky either and the pizza place in your story was cool as well.

[blas]

My dad has had that same sort of service, except it was Dominos.

His boss allows him to use the company credit card to purchase lunches for customers. So my dad can take potential customers out to eat and try to lure them in and use their semi truck company for their freight needs.

Anyways, he had called Dominos and placed an order for several pizzas to be picked up at noon. Dominos opens at 11 am. He made sure to order a day in advance.

He shows up the next day at 11:45, and the ovens werent even turned on yet. It took until nearly 12:30 for all of those pizzas to be done.

Dad was irate. I bet his customers were too, and they probably chose another freight service.

[Ree]

I sent them a letter:

"Disappointed with delivery time"

Today, I ordered food from the Pizza Hut located in (name of town) at (street address).

I was ordering lunch for my staff, and I called before 11:00 am to ensure delivery by 11:30, as that was the first lunch break.
We are located at (street address) in (name of town), which is about 1 km from the Pizza Hut, with a travel time of about 2 minutes.

When I ordered, about 10:50 am, I was told that they promised a delivery time of 30-45 minutes, and said it would be there by 11:35 at the latest.

I called at 11:40, and was told that it had left about 5-10 minutes ago.

At 11:50, I called again, and she was surprised that it still had not arrived. She said he had another delivery as well, at the other end of town, but that she had thought he was doing our delivery first, since it was only down the street. She apologized, but, as far as I know, there was no attempt made to contact the driver to find out why our order was heading into 20 minutes later than promised for a 2 minute drive. She certainly didn't offer to make a call, or make any attempt to help us out.

At 11:55 am, our pizza finally arrived.

It was warm, but not overly hot.

My staff, knowing there was pizza for lunch, had not brought lunch, so I was unable to start lunches until the food arrived. This threw off my entire afternoon break/lunch schedule, as they were all a half hour late.

I had ordered 3 large pizzas at a cost of just over $50, and I know that a part of that cost was for delivery.

To me, one hour for a pizza delivery to a business that is only 2 minutes away, is unacceptable.

I am not looking for a refund or reimbursement, but I want to make this business aware that their service needs improvement.

If we were to order pizza again, I would definitely think twice about ordering from this company, or else I would make sure to call over an hour ahead, and then call back 10 minutes before I need it to make sure it arrived on time.

Respectfully,

(My Name)
(Contact Info)

[Broomjockey]

Perfect letter Ree. It's calm, states everything, including why it was important for the pizza to have been on time (rather than most times it just being preferred). Let us know if they send you a letter in return?

[iradney]

That's a beautiful letter Ree.
You quite literally left them with no limbs to stand on, plus it was very polite, very concise, no drama and no gimme grabs.

You should give courses on how to write complaint letters

[JustADude]

PG: You know, they already put the sauces on the dough and everything...
Me: OK, I understand, sorry for your trouble.

That, right there, is the magic. You were actually considerate and decided not to make them start over.

My bet, though, is they has at least one small Mafioso (why the hell can't the pizza's here be that cool. I gotta move to that chain. Godfather's right?) on the order list behind yours, so they just bumped that one up and made you a large for being cool.

A good pizza place takes care of the cool customers and gives the sucky* ones what they deserve.

*I'm talking about Constant stiffs + bitchy attitude + orders so small the commission is about $.40 sucky here, not just people who have a high "Durrr" factor.

[Sliceanddice]

She said she was sorry, and the delivery guy had two deliveries to do. The other was across town, but she assumed he was doing ours first, because he practically had to go by our door.

It sounds to me like he looked at his orders and noticed one was in one area (maybe nicer or at least an area that tips well) and a business and deside he was going ot get buck tip for you either and desided to screw you.

[Becks]

Ree, you were not sucky at all. Not even close.

I would've handled it like you did. (Actually, one time I had a similar situation. I might've mentioned it on the boards somewhere.)

And the letter was superb. The epitome of how letters like that should be written.

[XCashier]

You handled it very well, Ree, with a well-written and well-thought-out letter. I hope that Pizza Hut pays attention to it and reprimands that driver.

[PaRaGaS]

why the hell can't the pizza's here be that cool. I gotta move to that chain. Godfather's right?

Actually it's called Da Grasso
But we have a local chain called Soprano :] They don't seem to have a website tho.
The logo typeface almost screams of copyright infringement.

[Banrion]

I gotta move to that chain. Godfather's right?)

My engagement party was at a Godfather's Pizza. I really miss having Godfathers around. That thar is some good 'za.

[tollbaby]

hmmm the only place I can actually remember the NAME of from when I was dating a guy in Northern Indiana was Godfathers. Some GOOD pizza there Not as good as Uno's in Chicago, but good!