Pizza Hut called Danielle a liar for trying to redeem a promotional coupon they emailed to her and displayed prominently on their website. In exchange for completing an offer from TrialPay, Danielle should have received two free medium pizzas, one with toppings, plus breadsticks. Instead, her favorite pizza place told her, “M’am, you’re lying about what the coupon promised.”
Danielle writes:
I am a loyal Pizza Hut follower, even thought I know I probably shouldn’t be… it’s just what I grew up with.
I spend a fair amount of money with the various stores in my city, and I expect to be treated nicely when dealing with the company. Not like royalty, but nicely.
I get the pizza hut emails because I order online.. I’ve opted out before, but it seems like every time I order online, I get opted back in.
About a month and a half ago (beginning of August), Pizza Hut emailed me a coupon which was linked to the website “TrialPay”. The coupon claimed that if I completed one trial pay offer, pizza hut would send me some free pizza (A medium natural, plus one other medium one topping, plus breadsticks)… it was an amazing deal, and immediately some “too good to be true” bells started going off in my head. So I went to Pizza Hut’s website, and sure enough, the coupon was there as well, linked at the very top of their “Deals” page, where all their coupons are displayed.
So happily, I clicked away, chose an offer (a free trial of a Rhapsody account, followed by a paid subscription), and had it complete (I then went back and canceled the membership with Rhapsody, because their selection was terrible, but I was within the rights of the TrialPay agreement to do this). I got an email from TrialPay, saying I had completed the offer fully, and it provided a link to the Pizza Hut website, where I could redeem my “prize”. I clicked the link and followed the instructions in the email, and when I went to check out I saw I was being charged ten dollars.
According to the coupon, everything was included, tax and all.. the only extra charges would be for substitutions (none), extra toppings (I didn’t order any), or delivery (the order was for carryout).
Seeing that this was a mistake, I called TrialPay’s customer service and asked them to confirm that the bundle was indeed, free, and that I had completed the offer correctly. The nice lady I talked to said yes to all of these things, and even said that it was OK that I had canceled my Rhapsody membership.. I still got credit for completing the offer.
She suggested that it was probably a problem on Pizza Hut’s end, so I decided to call their 1-800 number. I spoke to a nice young man who had -no- idea what coupon I was talking about, so he offered to transfer me to his supervisor. I agreed. I then started the customer service call from hell. Throughout the conversation, which ended up lasting just under an hour, I was put on hold several times, without warning, for five to ten minutes at a time. The woman was also rude, and belligerent.
The woman I talked to claimed that I was “making the coupon up” (her words), and that I was “complaining about a legitimate charge”. I then asked her “If it’s legitimate, what is the ten dollar charge for, then?”. Her offer was that it was for delivery fees and taxes. I told her “The order is for carry out, and it breaks down the sales tax separately.. the sales tax is only a dollar or so of the charge.. what is the rest of it?” She couldn’t tell me. She claimed the coupon didn’t exist, and that it wasn’t sanctioned by Pizza Hut.
I asked how the coupon got emailed to me, in a Pizza Hut newsletter, and how it was linked on their website, and how their website recognized the coupon then…
She said “If you read the fine print, it says the two companies aren’t connected, and that we have no responsibility regarding the coupon”.
I said “That would be all fine and well, expect -your company- is who sent me the coupon. Hence, I want it honored, and honored properly.”
She then proceeded to stonewall me some more, until I got her to agree to pull up the website, using my address, and see the coupon on it.
She did this, and admitted that she saw the coupon, and said I still had to pay the ten dollars. I staunchly refused, and demanded what the coupon promised. I felt stupid arguing over free pizza, but at this point I was rather upset.
She called me a liar. Straight out. She said “M’am, you’re lying about what the coupon promised” with the coupon that lays it out right in front of her.
Eventually I got her to call my local store, and get the charges taken off, and I got my pizza. It was a major hassle, and the store manager at my local store was none-too-happy to remove the charge and hand me a free pizza, despite admitting that the customer service rep told him to do exactly that.
Upset over this experience, I filled out the “Comments, compliments, and complaints” form on Pizza Hut’s website, detailing the experience, and typing into the comments box “I want to be contacted by a manager” as well as checking the box that indicated that I would like to be contacted.
A week passed, and no call had come for me. So I called back the 1-800 number, and told the rep that I hadn’t got my call back, and I would very much like to be contacted by a manager. He apologized and offered to put me back in the queue to be called. I agreed, and he told me I would be contacted within 3 business days. This was a Friday night.
Next Wednesday night, no call had come. So I called the 800 number yet again, more upset this time. The woman I talked to said it was “all she could do to ‘escalate’ my problem, and put me back in line to be called.” I said that was fine, I supposed, since that was probably really all she could do. I then asked when I should expect my call by. She said “the end of the week, for sure”.
The end of the week came, no call. That was two weeks ago. I call the 800 number once every three days to let them know I still haven’t been called back. I’ve talked to the manager of the call center. He says he has no contact information for the manager of my district (the man who is supposed to be calling me). All they can do is put me back in line to be called.
I ended up ordering from Pizza Hut the other night, paying in full this time, and the pizza I had delivered was cold when it arrived, and rather sauceless. Upset, I decided that since I already had plans to call the number, I would just tell them about this then. I told them about the cold pizza, the man said he was “documenting the complaint” and that I would be contacted. I laughed at this, and asked if it would be ok to contact my local store myself if the issues wasn’t resolved (aka, I didn’t get my call back). He said I “shouldn’t do that”, and that the hotline was for complaints.
Three days later, still no call on either of my complaints, I was about at the end of my rope.
I called my local store to ask if they had the number for the corporate office. The lady read off the same number I’ve been calling for weeks. I told her they weren’t helping me.
She asked what the issue was, and I told her one issue was with the customer service people and a coupon, and that there was nothing she could do about it, but that the other issue was with a pizza her restaurant had delivered.
She told me she could help with that issue, so I told her what had happened. I ended up talking to her manager, and he told me he could give me some partial credit for the pizzas, for next time I ordered, and apologized they had been sent out that way, but said that there was nothing more he could do because I’d waited so long to complain.
I told him I had actually complained that night, to the customer service line posted on Pizza Hut’s website, and that they had told me -not- to call the store.He said I should -always- call the store if I have issues with the pizza, so that I can get a speedier and more helpful response.. the store has the capability to send out new pizzas, etc. He also said that as far as he knows, it’s policy to direct the customer back to the local store if they have an issue with the food.
So now I’m stuck.. no calls back from pizza hut, and I paid for a crappy cold pizza and now there’s’ nothing to be done about it because the customer service people continue to screw up.
I’m thinking about visiting the Pizza Hut corporate offices tomorrow. Maybe being there in person will get me -some- sort of attention.
Pizza Hut clearly holds a dear place in Danielle’s heart. It’s a shame a local joint can’t swoop in and save Danielle with superior pizza and service.
(Photo: Getty)
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Pizza Hut obviously doesn’t value this person as a customer. Vote with your dollar and go elsewhere.
IMHO, this story sounds like the customer service rep had actually encountered this problem before.
For some reason, many customer service people go into this mode of defiance when faced with something they can’t resolve. I don’t know why. I’ve had the same thing happen.
This website appears to be in on the conspiracy… Alert that customer service rep!
[www.dmnews.com]
TrialPay advertiser David’s Cookies, an online retailer of cookies, cakes, and other specialty desserts, has seen substantial results with the service, said Dennis Consorte, director of e-commerce for the company. He believes the addition of the gifts and gourmet category from TrialPay will help David’s Cookies even further because it will pair its offers with merchants with similar products, for example Restaurants.com and Pizza Hut…
In situations like this, I always like filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Pizza Hut will pretty much freak out when they are informed that there is a big issue that can get them a lowered score for everyone on the nation to see, so they’ll resolve it. If anything, it’ll guarantee some high up manager finds out about this stuff.
I’m kind of surprised by Pizza Hut’s reaction. A few months ago Pizza Hut forgot my cheese bread with my order. I called the store and the manager was really rude, blaming me for not checking my order before the driver left (I had the new pasta and the driver said the cheese bread was in with the pasta). She wouldn’t give me a refund or send out a new order of bread. Long story short, I called Pizza Hut’s 1-800 number and three days later I had 2 coupons for free pizzas.
This is very interesting to me. I’ve had great experiences with both Papa John’s and Domino’s Customer Service.
I actually emailed Papa John’s about an idea I had for a new type of pizza box and got a call the next day from a regional manager who gave me a free large pizza unlimited toppings from my local Papa Johns.
A few weeks ago I ordered online using Domino’s system and I ordered one of the new sandwiches and it was terrible. So in the online ordering window it gives you a little box to say how your meal was, I said the sandwich is not good because it just is tasteless and has barely any meat on it. I receieved a call from the local store asking my if they could do anything to rectify the situation to which I responded that, no, I just won’t order it again and thought it was pretty bad. He agreed and didn’t like them either and was sorry for my experience. Nothing free, but I wasn’t trying to get anything free, I just wanted them to know that the sandwich tastes bad.
I also got that Pizza Hut trial pay offer and decided against it. Glad I did lol.
I always thought America was the place where you can complain and get something done, and that England was the place where no-one gives a crap.
I would probably have done the same, kept calling to make sure I got some free stuff or someone got a bollocking for basically lieing to a customer. Never been to Pizza Hut in America though, seems only a shell of what it is here in England. Abby’s, now that was good.
Only real problems I had while in America were my order from Taco Bell or some such place was slightly wrong, and I couldn’t really care less, and my girlfriend called them up anyway and got the whole order for free. That’s insane.
Then there’s my first Wii (Which I got about 10 minutes after deciding where to get it from) developed some fault where every now and then it would throw a tantrum and not read discs. Took it back and had a picture ready for them to prove what I was saying (English for you), and they just said yeah it’s all good have this one.
Wow! After your experience I would never order from them again, unless it is the only “pizza” place in your town.
Aside…Why the hell are people eating Pizza Hut. Seriously it can hardly be called pizza. It IS THE WORST “pizza” on the planet.
You poor people.
@dggraphics:
Little Caesar’s and Dominos are worse.
@Phydeaux:
There are gas stations that actually have good pizza.
I am always flabbergasted at the amount of wasted energy these companies expend on policing coupon redemption. Coupons are tricky, if you over saturate, your customers begin to expect the reduced price. But once you have them out there, they are liked ringed bells… you can’t unring them. And you (i’m speaking to the store managers here) can’t refuse a coupon without causing damage to your customer relationship. That’s why years ago these places used to just take them without argument, and it never made a huge impact on the bottom line anyway (other than maybe increasing sales.)
After all the time spent, the pizza is certainly no longer free.
Mos of the major chain pizza is crap anyway. Order from your local shops.
I would call the Pizza Hut hotline and summarize how you have been toyed
around with for weeks, and let them know that if your issue does not get
resolved in a professional manner promptly that you would be formally filing
a complaint with the *Better Business Bureau *to have the situation
investigated.
It’s funny how once you actually threaten to hold them accountable for the
service they provide, they’re much more willing to cooperate. A little while
ago I had a similar problem of being toyed around with Half.com and I
finally let them know that I would be contacting the BBB, as well as the
headquarters of Half.com and parent company Ebay. Within a day I received a
response email clearing up the situation.
Good luck.
Never call a call center or corporate for problems with such things as pizza. You want to talk to an on shift manager, then a general manager, and then the franchisee if really need be. Just stay away from corporate, because they cannot do anything. If worst comes to worst, she could always just go to the next closest Pizza Hut, since she is only accustomed to their style of pizzas. lol I would say move on about the coupon… Oh, and always call immediately to the local store, where you bought the pizza from, because even after a day, they most likely will not do anything, because of the scammers, who call and try and scam free food.
It’s hard to believe that a location that has a bloody Pizza Hut doesn’t have a local place that does pizza that would deserve the business more. I have a Dominos here and a local place on the same street, the local place has better pizza and for half the price. Why support crappy franchises when you can get a better product and support the little guys. Have a look around for other places and if you find one, tell Pizza Hut to shove it. Make sure you tell as many people as possible too. As an added comment, in Denmark, I came across a McDonalds that had closed down due to lack of business and discovered there are no starbucks there because the people won’t support large American corporations. My kinda place.
@shufflemoomin: Oh, my hometown has both a Pizza Hut and a Domino’s. No local joints.
Unless you count gas station pizza.
I haven’t had pizza from Pizza Hut in years. When I was a kid I adored the greasy deep dish stuff like crazy, but now not so much.
But, the OP had a coupon that matched the one on Pizza Hut’s site, so of course they should honor it unless the franchise is allowed to opt out accepting coupons. Definitely complain to HO if the pizza you purchased isn’t up to it’s usual glory.
That all said, I suggest to the OP to buy a deep dish pizza pan and explore the wonderful world of homemade pizza making. The first few will take forever and look rather un-pizza like, but after that you’re gold, Ponyboy. I make much better pizza – from crust to sauce than any I order. I even found in the latest issue of Bust Magazine (sorry boobie aficionados, it’s a perfectly respectable women’s mag) a recipe to make my own mozzarella at home, and I can’t wait to try it out!
Papa John’s put bacon on a pizza instead of black olives. I always do carryout because delivery charges/tipping/etc just don’t make sense unless you live far away and don’t have a car (personal opinion)
Anyways, I got there and opened the box (really glad i did that) and pointed out the mistake. First, the manager argued with me and said I was wrong. I pointed to the sticker on the side of the box where it clearly said black olives and then pointed to the bacon. Despite the obvious nature of the problem and the solution, we needed to have trial about it before the problem could be resolved. So, the employee who made the pizza was brought up to look at it and had an “oops” expression on his face. Ok, so they made another pizza while I waited outside.
But, there was not even an apology from the manager about the situation and then she’s yelling at the guy that she has already had to give people free pizzas/discounts because of his f-ups (yelling this in fornt of 3-4 customers). Then she had one of the delivery guys come and give me my pizza 15 minutes later.
I walked back in and asked her if there was anything she thought she should do to compensate me for their mistake and my wasted time. She was like what do you want me to do? I said, well it’s not worth offering me a free pizza, cause I’m not coming back. I’d like this one free or discounted. Nothing. I submitted a feedback via e-mail to papa johns and was offered a free pizza coupon. Gave it to a roommate who liked papa john’s and haven’t gone back since.
Vocelli’s for the win. despite the price, best pizza and good service
@blockbustarhymes: Can we please talk about Papa John’s some more? In particular, those ads featuring the narcissistic poodle-permed owner, which is to say, all of them?
One of my earliest impressions of the brave new world of HDTV featured a PJ’s ad with him, where it was clear that he was severely made up with trowled-on layers of special-effects latex, color Spanish pumpernickel. “I’d like a large pepperoni and some eyebleach please.” People, please allow yourselves to get old.
The funny thing is, every time I call Pizza Hut and tell them I have a coupon, when the delivery person shows up, they never ask for the coupon.
Wow, talk about bad luck.
My local Pizza Hut (Danada Square, Wheaton, IL) has been nothing but spectacular. I cannot remember a single instance when ordering online had a wait time of more than a half hour for the food, normally it is 20 minutes or less, and this is always when ordering during peak time (5-6).
I always have loved Pizza Hut. Last time I ordered, I tried their Chicken Alfredo; good stuff. And their Stuffed Crust has been, and still is, unmatched. Yes, I agree the quality of the pizza itself has diminished somewhat, however, the local joints around here have worse tasting and MUCH greasier pizza.
Oh, did I mention *every* time I order I use a coupon from their website? +1 for easiness, +1 for quickness, +2 for delicious, artery-clogging food.
Boy, you guys are vicious. While I am luke-warm on Pizza Hut (no pun intended to the OP), I completely understand where she is coming from.
Just because you have one (or two or three) bad experiences with a place that you grew up on, and/or is your favorite, doesn’t mean you have to abandon them. I don’t think that’s in the “consumer rules and regulations” guidebook, is it?
I’m a firm believer in fighting for what is right and what you deserve.
First, Danielle tried to redeem a coupon that sounds like it appeared completely legitimated, in that it was on Pizza Hut’s web site AND in the email she got from PH AND on the trialpay site.
She got screwed, and fought it until she won. End of discussion on that one, in my opinion.
Next, having received a satisfactory resolution (if a bit lengthy and frustrating) on the original issue, she decides she wants a pizza – from her favorite place, and orders on.
When the pizza showed up in unsatisfactory condition, she followed the company directions and called the 1-800 number.
I just don’t understand this ganging up on the OP.
@JPinCLE: Because many of the people that post on this site are corporate “moles” or just plain malcontents that insist that the customer is always wrong. When it comes to coupons, it is FOOLISH to argue with the customer. Our company just issued a memo to ALL employees, district managers on down, that basically stated that they WILL ACCEPT ALL COUPONS, PERIOD! Any employee not accepting coupons will be terminated. They have already fired two GM’s for not accepting coupons. There is NO EXCUSE for ANY company not accepting their own coupons. And there is no excuse for this OP being maligned this way.
Last night I was looking at pizza recipes and wondering why I never make my own. This seems like as good a reason as any to start –
We are less than 5 miles from the nearest Pizza Hut but our town does not exist to them. They can only deliver to a spot on the main highway. Yet we get pizza hut targeted ads in our mail. Go figure…
I had the same thing happen at Gap last year. I received a birthday coupon – my name on it and everything. The folks at the Gap decided that I’d received it from “someone else, not Gap”.
(Years of network experience showed me that either a) someone had hacked into Gap’s servers and sent me, specifically, an email, in the month of my birthday, or b) it was a legitimate coupon and I was dealing with an unhappy cashier.)
Despite my requests to have them enter the code on the bottom of the email, they wouldn’t budge.
I called Gap card services and said “hey, um, I’m having this problem and…yeah.”
CSR: “Okay, how much are you buying?”
Me: “Umm… (dollar amount)”
CSR: “Well, since it’s a 15% off coupon, I’ll go ahead and apply a (15% of dollar amount) credit to your account. Have a nice day!”)
Me: *stunned* …thanks!
Now THIS is the way to treat your customers. Clearly Pizza Hut corporate could learn at least a lesson from this!
I work for Pizza Hut – Beebe, Ar.
as a driver and Shiftleader.
CSC people work from their bedrooms.
I know cause I delever to one! while she was taking an order!
I as well have always told my customers to keep ringing my store phone till they get us, means THANK YOU FOR CHOSSING PIZA HUT recoding = hang up and call again.
I have been so help full to my customers they”ll drive to the store to order even a delivery! Good job on staying on the backs wish you where here!