Last night husband dearest and I decided to order our usual pizza from the same store we’ve been picking up from for 7 years. Got there 20 minutes later to pick up and the pizza was wrong – as in it was not the pizza we had ordered.
“Oh” said the clerk, “that’s head office’s fault”. On close inspection of the order/receipt it was clear that no, it was the store’s fault – they had been given the correct instructions. Now this is a question of food intolerances so taking any old pizza is not an option. We requested that they correct the problem and make us the right pizza.
So we waited.
Less that 20 minutes later we were handed the correctly made pizza. “That will be $14.68 sir” said the clerk. Now this has happened to us before and we’ve been given both pizzas and told “have a nice night” so we were flabbergasted that they were asking for payment. “What happened to 20 minutes or free?” asked husband dearest. “Oh, that’s not the store’s policy” replied the clerk. At that point, I would have walked out on both pizzas but no, husband dearest decided to pay and take it up with head office.
So, after dinner, the call was placed to head office. “Well, did you get your pizza?” they enquired. “Well, yes, but not in 20 minutes”. “Was a pizza ready for you in 20 minutes?” enquired head office. “Well, yes, but not the pizza we ordered” replied husband dearest.
“Sorry sir, there’s nothing we can do. You got your pizza and there was one available within the 20 minute time frame”.
As you know, I make a big deal about customer service in this blog and in my business (The Virtual Alternative). Last night’s experience with Pizza Pizza was the worst kind of customer service considering that Pizza Pizza makes a big deal about “20 minutes or it’s free”. If you’re going to advertise a guarantee, you must live up to that promise – whether it’s head office’s fault or the man on the ground’s fault…a guarantee is a guarantee. And good customer service is worth its weight in gold as good advertising.
Shame on you Pizza Pizza!