Pizza Hut Accuses Customer Of "Making The Coupon Up"
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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Comments:
@Frank_Trapasso: I go on a business trip for a couple of weeks and see that the comments section still has people blaming the OP. The second pizza order was but a small part of this whole mess -- they got a poorly-made and cold pizza and did exactly what the policy had them do. That turned out to be the wrong thing to do according the franchise owner.
As it stands, the customer enjoys Pizza Hut and would simply like them to honor the promotion they are advertising. That advertising is both on their own web page and being sent via e-mail directly to the customer. They appear to be actively trying to get rid of their base.
In the spirit of disclosure, I stopped buying pizza from Pizza Hut about three years ago after many, many problems. We have been going to Godfather's since then and have never looked back.
@Frank_Trapasso: I'd like to agree with you, but there's also the issue of a lack of sauce to be considered... Unless you bought the Pizza Hut official pizza sauce injecting oven.
When it's a local issue with a pizza chain, you seriously HAVE to stay local. Domino's has been more than satisfactory in their efforts to keep myself and my roommates as customers (even in a hectic college town): We once ordered a three-meat thin crust that came with only pepperoni. We called and told them about it, and they delivered the three-meat and got to keep the pepperoni.
Agreed, while there is no excuse for Pizza Hut's horrible customer service, if an ultimately honored coupon and cold pizza cause Danielle to devote this much of her time to calling the manager, well she should be glad these are the most of her worries in life. I know this might be borderline "against the comments code", but perhaps Danielle should check out a local "family owned" pizza parlor instead of continuing to patron the corpororate places.
TrialPay seems to me to be one of those companies that sells such stuff "Get Free M&M's if you answer this survey!" or "Win a Free iPod nano!"
The OP must watch out for those "get something for free!" sites, because most of them tend to be spam and/or scam sites.
(I should know - I had my identity stolen when someone got a hold of my AMEX Blue card - they didn't do much damage, just a $100 or so, but it wasn't fun calling those companies to tell them the charges were fraudulent.)
If the coupon is a legitimate one, there would have been promotional codes, scanning bars, directions on how to enter the discount, etc. This way, the cashier and the store could easily indentify it as one of their coupons. Unfortunately, it's also at the discretion of Pizza Hut to honor the coupon or not - perhaps they had gotten stung many times before for seemingly legit coupons, only to discover that it was indeed a fake.
The best thing for the OP to do is print the coupon out and send it along to the Pizza Hut corporate offices (EECB?) and have them explain whether it was real or not. Pizza Hut can then say (a) "Spammers do this to us all the time...thanks for your eagle eye, here's some legitimate coupons", or (b) "It's a real coupon - if you have more information, we'll be glad to take that Pizza Hut to task for not honoring the coupon. Meanwhile, here's some valid coupons for a future visit - doesn't have to be that store."
The OP said it best and should follow this rule for future reference: if it's too good to be true, and especially from the internet, it probably is. I would also advise the OP look at her credit card statements, as sites like these tend to steal your identity and charge your card for subscriptions, memberships, vacations, cars, and other stuff.
@mgy: Agreed. My Ex used to give me the eye and the sigh when I would got back to a store to complain they overcharged me 34 cents on my order. I would love to find someone who shared my frugality.
@Frank_Trapasso: How is this stalkerish? The ONLY way you could say this would be stalkerish is if she hunted down the people from the call center and the local store owner, and parked outside their house. She is following up. If the company didn't say, "Someone will call you within three days", she wouldn't be calling each time they didn't. If your bank debited $300.00 from your account, and said it would be back in there in three days, and it wasn't, would you not keep calling?
A couple of years back I ordered a split pizza from Papa Johns. One side bacon, the other side pineapple and sausage. An hour and a half later the pizza arrives. I pay the guy and head into the kitchen to eat, only to find they messed up the pizza. They put the sausage on the bacon side. Thing is, I hate sausage and the pineapple/sausage side was for my girl. I promptly called them up, explained the issue and they told me they would be sending out a replacement.
Another hour later the pizza arrives. I open the box in front of the driver and once again the order is wrong. We both look on the side of the box and see that the order was typed up correctly, but just made wrong. I thank the driver, take the pizza and call the store once again. I spoke with the manager and he told me he made the pizza himself. I explained that the driver verified that the pizza was made wrong and that the side of the box had the order right. He apologized and said he would send out another pizza and it would be there in an hour. At this time it was already 9pm. I told him it was ok, that we would just eat what we had instead of waiting to eat until 10. He said he would give me 50% off my next order instead. He was real nice about it and seemed upset that the orders were wrong.
The point of this long story is don't just accept something you pay for. If you got a cold pizza, you should have called up and complain about it. You paid for it, it should be what you want instead of what they give you.
It seems like a long way to go since it was basically settled after the call to the local store, but I support Danielle's pursuit because she was promised a call and that hasn't happened yet. Multiple people have promised that she'll be contacted by certain deadlines; Pizza Hut has failed to do so. She needs to speak to someone at a high enough level to correct the obvious failure that is their customer service system. If you aren't going to (or can't) do something for me, don't promise that you will.
That doesn't even speak to the problem of being called a liar. That's a nasty accusation that is tossed around far too casually these days. There may have been a disagreement about the coupon's terms or whether there was a duty to honor it under the circumstances, but throwing down the L-word is disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated.
Correction:
sites like these refers to sites like TrialPay.
Frank_Trapasso: Actually, some of the frozen pizzas I've gotten taste much better than Pizza Hut's, and without the surly temper.
wtrwlkr: I agree. If you have a local parlor in the area, chances are they'll make a better product to keep their local base.
@bjcolby15: If you read the article, she went to PIZZA HUTS website from the email, and the coupon was THERE. It's hard to say it's a scam from another company if Pizza Hut is the one issuing the coupon.
It seems like a long way to go since it was basically settled after the call to the local store,
But that's not what happened. That is an aside to the main point of the story. A coupon was used but not honored and, to add insult to the injury, they tried to charge her $10 for the "free" service that she canceled.
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: The problem is the fact that Pizza Hut is arguing that the coupon is being issued by another company (TrialPay, in this case).
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->:
Hence, sending the coupon to Pizza Hut to have them verify whether it was real or fake won't hurt her cause, as it will force them to come up with a reason. In fact, adding that she was called a liar and that she was told the coupon was fake would really help in her instance to solve the problem, as she would have evidence to back up her claims that that Pizza Hut wasn't doing
And yes, I did read the article - and the thing that caught my eye was printing out free coupons from a third-party website like TrialPay, even if Pizza Hut did send out these offers. If her "free" pizza causes her email box to expand with spam, or her credit card got walloped for several thousand dollars, then that's a pretty freakin' expensive pizza - and a huge amount of other troubles the OP would have to go through.
You know if you'd just order from the local college-style independent pizza joint, you'd get rude and belligerent responses to your complaints much more expediently.
Yum Brands is a monolith. They live on volume. Without them coming right out and saying it, they just aren't going to be motivated to work with individual complaints very carefully.
I just don't find it very likely you'll ever get serious satisfaction from them.
talk about writing a book. Hey, Carey, can you email me the cliff notes on this story?
Anyway, I like Domino's because they run the exact same coupons (in my area anyhow) every month, so even if the coupon you have is expired, it's really not. I literally make my coupons up with them and have never been asked for my coupon once they arrive.
That and i've found the local places have tastier pizzas. I used to live in Pensacola, FL and there was this place (forgot the name) that was owned by Americans who spent some time in Italy. They opened this place and imported an authentic wood-buring oven. They made the pizzas Italian-style with cracker thin crust and fresh toppings and cheeses. I'd give my right arm to eat one of their pizzas again.
I've had horrible service at Pizza Hut before, but they always took care of it at the store. One time I ordered acrry out. Whe we got there, the pizza wasn't made. So we decided to just dine in since we would have to wait for another pizza. We were drinking beers and luckily our bread came out in a timely manner, so we had something to munch on. The server had apparently never put our order in (again). Then we get our pizza and it was wrong. At that point, the server told us to go help ourselves to the pizza buffet and salad bar for free while he had them make our pizza again. We got our pizza and it was correct this time. So, we ate and then asked for the bill. The server gave us everything for free (including our beers) and gave us extra breadsticks to take home with our leftover pizza and a coupon for a free pizza next time we ordered. When I called in the next time to order, they had apparently put a note on my phone number to also give me free breadsticks and pop with the next order. What's amazing is that we never really complained because things happen and they were really trying to make it right. They just wanted happy customers. And that's what they have at that location- happy customers that will go there as long as that place is open.
@Frank_Trapasso: It may not be hard to reheat one's pizza...but if I order a pizza from a pizza place, I expect it to be ready to eat when I get it. Unless I pick it up and do an ton of errands, I expect it to not be cold. That's part of the point of ordering pizza. If I wanted to cook one in my oven, I would get one of the fancier ones at the grocery store.
I had a similar issue in 07 with HR Block with my taxes. I filed with them and was supposed to receive a free pizza from Papa Johns. I never received the coupon after contacting both HR Block and Papa Johns. I ended up disputing the charge for my taxes with HR Block. I won because I filed as required and they did not provide me with the service (free pizza) they promised. Result: Free filing of taxes. Hungry me. I never heard from HR Block.
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.
I don't know about you, but if a company accuses me of lying like that I'd have a hard time justifying giving them any repeat business. I think their message is pretty clear - they don't care about your complaint. Call Papa John's next time you want pizza.
I like pizza hut. We only had a problem with them once. Ordered a pizza, 2 1/2 hours later(we lost track of time) called the place, sd they were busy and apologized, i didnt ask for anything, i just wanted my pizza.. i finally got it about 3 1/2 hours after i ordered. About 2 weeks later i get a coupon in the mail for a free pizza due to the situation. All good.
It seems like the franchise itself was OK, but it was corporate that she had issues with. They messed up her coupon, but she still liked the pizza, and so far it wasn't the local office that gaver her the problem. When it comes to these get pizza free deals, that's corporate, not local.
She only had the issue with the local when the pizza was cold/lacked sauce, and when she called the corporate complaints, they said NOT to call the local. The local is apparently OK because they partially compensated her (considering that they only knew of the complaint so late). She should go ahead and patronize the franchise owner, because once they KNOW of an issue, apparently they take care of it. Do what TacoDave said and write a letter to corporate. And next time, take the names of those you contacted in customer service.
That's what I'm sayin'! Pizza Hut is ok,but you can't beat a good Mom and Pop pizza place.
Speaking of pizza,I'm about to have one from Schwann's. They're pretty good,but we probably could've gotten a better pizza for cheaper if we were anywhere but here.
I work for a local franchise Pizza Hut in my area. Just to let everyone know, the 800 number that's on the box never goes anywhere but the franchise owner unless its a corporate store. The best way to handle a complaint is to talk to the manager directly... If they can't handle it in an acceptable way, don't order from there. Simple as that.
I got three small pizzas from the Domino's for 4 dollars each, ordering online with a coupon which worked fine. One pizza was pepperoni, the other 2 were no sauce, extra cheese. (One for myself, one for my mom, one for my brother) Domino's delivered a pepperoni, and 2 pizzas with sauce and regular cheese. My brother and I HATE sauce, so I logged back online to check and see if I ordered it correctly. I did.
My mom called up Domino's and told them our last name, address, and what happened. The lady promptly got a manager. She told what happened to the manager, and the manager said "Well I have nothing showing that there was to be no sauce on any pizza" And my mom said her daughter had ordered the pizza and she had just doublechecked the order and that she had done it correctly. The manager and my mom argued for a good 5 minutes til the manager finally agreed to send out 2 correctly made pizzas and that I would print out the order to show that it said no sauce. Which I did, gladly.
The poor delivery lady got there (different from the first time) and had no idea what was going on. But the pizzas were right and I handed her the printout I had made and explained what that was all about.
Just really dumb that the manager would accuse us to be liars/scammers. We said they could take the 2 wrong pizzas back! The manager also wanted us to come to the store to bring the printouts. Uh, no, we paid for delivery and its like 10pm and we're in our pajamas.
First off, why should she have to order from somewhere else when she LIKES the taste of their pizza? It may not be to your liking, but it is the number one pizza place in the US. Yes there may be a local stores that make pizza, but many independent restaurants suck worse than national chains. I expect PizzaHut should examine if it is a third party coupon using their name in an unauthorized manner or if it is authorized they are responsible to accept the coupon. I will say that many franchised pizza places come back to the rule that offer not accepted at all locations. Call the store first to see if they do accept the offer. You may think they are the same, but if you went to a McDonald's in Detroit, they do not necessarily serve the same offers on the same days as one an hour north in Lansing.
I had a problem with that first online order coupon from pizza hut. Called the store who referred me to the line. The line told me to call the store so I threewayed to the store and the line told me there was nothing they can do.
Cool whatever by the time I got done arguing and hanging up I just got off my lazy butt and went to go get something else.
When I was in school i worked at Godfathers Pizza. There was often a "coupon issue" or problem. I saw it all, from some frat moron trying to use two coupons on the SAME pizza to a woman trying to use an expired coupon and claiming/yelling because she was 'black' we wouldn't bend the rules. trust me kids if its expired its expired.
Pizza Hut is a large organization with promotions all over the world. Corporate 'oks' the promotion(s) then they are briefed to all of the related locations. Its the store manager's job to brief his staff of these things, but this NEVER gets completed. Even if the worker is a smart kid/good worker, people show up 30 seconds before their shift. they get paid to make/serve pizza. You think an 18 year old kid cares about a memo from corporate? exactly....
I had a very similar experience with Papa Johns years ago while I was in college. After several months without satisfaction, my hooligan friends and I instigated a campaign of ordering 2 or 3 pies at a time to non-existent addresses next door or across the street to parties we were attending. Juvenile? Yes. But also extreeeeeeemely satisfying.
This whole problem brings up the big issue of bad customer service again. General managers and some assistant managers are paid a salary AND bonuses. These bonuses are based on several things and one of those things is increased sales. You can not increase sales with bad customer service.
This is a major problem with the franchise used by most fast food corporations. Owners want to franchise to make money and most corporations really don't care if the person has ANY food service experience. It's a situation of money, money, money. If you have the money, the corp. will give you the franchise. I do know of a major exception to this; Domino's requires that its prospective franchise owners have GM experience with Dominos.
Another issue that leads to bad customer service is the fact that most managers believe themselves to be bosses. A manager IS NOT a boss! He/she is just what the name implies; a manager. A manager is supposed to be aware of EVERYTHING that goes on in that establishment. Good customer service WILL NOT HAPPEN if the manager is in the office on the phone or playing games on the computer. Here's a heads up...most franchisees spend little to no time training junior managers.
As far as this specific situation goes; the OP did everything right except for one thing. Never, ever go back to a store that has refused to fix a problem OR one who's parent corporation won't give you the time of day. True, Pizza Hut's parent company is BIG, but, look at what has happened to Sears, K-Mart, Bennegan's and several other companies that are either dying or DEAD! Your dollars is what keeps a company in business. That is the ultimate control in this society.
I'd like to say as a former Pizza Hut delivery driver, crap rolls downhill. I was actually working ofr a franchise company, so the owners try to act like mini Bill Gateses.
But, if there is one thing that vexes me. It's the people who have to be antagonizing to the delivery drivers. 8/10 we won't be making your pizza because we are too busy delivering to addresses to make our tips. I mean, there's a limited amount we can do at the door to actually do a discount or store credit. Usually managers get in our cases if we actually show any customer service initiative.
Or, in my case now, a local pizza company that has a phone center.
Please, anyone, don't pull the kind of shady tricks to antagonize drivers. It's a waste of both of our time, we could be taking two deliveries that could be making us tips and you're just trying to get your kicks off of what is basically harassment.
Also if it takes an hour to get your pizza, don't blame the driver. It's usually the store manager's fault since they understaff for what could be a busy night. We'd rather not deliver you cold and late pizzas(sometimes, that is not the case since we're so busy that the pizza really did take about 20 minutes to get to making) since that's not doing us any favors in making tips.






















Is it really that hard to put your oven on 300 and toss the pizza in for ten minutes?
I'm sympathetic, but her approach is stalkerish at best.