Papa Murphy's Texts Pizza Coupon, Refuses To Honor It
Justin had visions of cheap Papa Murphy's take-and-bake pizza dancing through his head, but after making a half-hour drive to his nearest location, he was told the offer was no good.
It was a coupon sent via SMS from a marketing company that was to be shown to the cashier. The cashier simply said that a letter from corporate was sent to the stores telling them not to honor the coupon.
I finally called their corporate office and spoke to the executive assistant to their CEO and someone from marketing called me on Thursday to basically tell me that I was SOL. This particular promotion was for a particular geographic area, but no indication was made that was the case. I went round and round with this person telling them that I was giving them a chance to remedy the situation and they finally relented by agreeing to send me some coupons (which will not get used).
The problem I have is that the coupon was sent via SMS, so I had to give my phone number to a marketing company. Now the marketing company has my number and I have some "valuable coupons." Why could they not send another message indicating that the promotion was invalid? They didn't post anything on their website or their promotional website. The closest store to me is an hour round trip! I spent $10 in gas to use this coupon only to be sent away. Using the coupon was essentially a wash for me, but now I am down $10.
Papa Murphy's has lost a customer for life!
It's a hard-core move indeed to drive that far for a pizza and return empty-handed on principle. But since Papa Murphy's played the old football-pullaway trick Lucy used to taunt Charlie Brown, his frustration is understandable.
On the bright side for Papa Murphy's, Jason's statement clearly leaves a loophole for him to give the chain another chance if he comes back as a zombie.
(Photo: amanky)
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Comments:
Dude, a pizza stone in your barbeque and some pizza dough will be far more economical than driving an hour to some chain joint!
Papa Murphy's is aware that they're going to lose more money by failing to honor the coupon than they would have honoring it, right?
I don't know the value of the coupon but I do know how situations like this affect a company's image and how much the affected spend on damage control and winning back customers. FYI, its typically seven times the cost of gaining a new customer.
Who drives an hour just to use a coupon? I like Papa Murphy's pizza but not enough to spend a lot on gas just to redeem a coupon. Even if the coupon was for a free pizza it doesn't sound like it's worth it.
I have to side with others on here... Papa Murphy's is pretty tasty, but only when it's within 10-15 minutes of your house AT THE MOST. Unless I had reason to be out there anyway, I wouldn't drive half and hour to get a pizza. But that's just me.
Papa Murphy coupons we get in the mail are usually above average. Plus if you fill out a survey you get when you get a pizza, you usually get free cookie dough or cheesy bread on your next order so I can usually get a large pepporoni + cheesy bread for $6.
@ncpeters:
I'm with you on this. I'd drive an hour for a nice 50 day dry aged ribeye... but for a pizza? Forget it. Surely there are some other alternatives nearby. I'm not sure who I'm more dumbfounded by... Papa's for not honoring the coupon or the OP for driving an hour to get pizza.
I think the title more logically should read: "Marketing Company Texts Coupon, Papa Murphy's Refuses to Honor it"
@ncpeters: Well last I checked, a free pizza worth, I'm assuming, $10-20, would more than cover the amount of gas used to drive there and back.
@Buckwad: Buckwad, this is a useful comment how? I've noticed a trend towards whiny comments vs. the usual high quality stuff.
Please consider complaining directly to the editors if you disagree with the choice of articles.
@ncpeters: I'd drive half an hour one-way without a coupon if I was set on a certain destination. With a little light traffic that's how long it takes to get to the other side of town. It's not really that long of a drive if you're in a city.
@BadHairLife: Truly? At one time I thought I added up the costs of buying the ingredients and it was about the same as just getting it from a pizza shop.
They buy in bulk and I think the savings are huge for them compared to what it costs at grocery stores.
Next time get it delivered. If the person won't take the coupon when they get to your house just refuse the pizza. If they're not willing to drive 30 minutes to deliver then why should you drive that long to get it.
I'm a noob.
What does a texted coupon look like?
Do you print it?
Do you hold up your cell phone for the clerk to see it?
How do you know it's real if it's from a 'marketing company'?
@BadHairLife: Dude, that's not even the point. He was sent an offer that initially was sent as a legit promotion and then they pulled the rug out from under him with no explanation other than you're SOL.
Papa Murphy's > Pizza Hut. But yeah tired of these companies and franchises doing pulling the coupons. Just don't even offer a coupon. Stuff like this does more damage to your brand than anything short of workers putting boogers in food on YouTube.
@ncpeters: It takes me 40 minutes just to get to my friends' house...and they are still within city limits. And *I* live smack dab in the middle of the city. It takes ANOTHER 40 minutes to get to the OTHER side of the city.
I have driven 30+ miles just to eat at In 'n Out!
Para Murphy's is clearly in the wrong here, but why would anyone drive over an hour and waste $10 in gas to pick up a pizza that has to be cooked at home?
Q'doba did this same thing but via email. They sent out coupons for a free burrito, I printed it, tried to use it and was turned down. About 3 days later they sent out an apology email stating that it was for specific geographics areas only and apologized. This was about a year ago.
And by the way AllanG54, Papa Murphy's doesn't cook your pizza let alone deliver it.
@ncpeters: People who live really far from stuff? My aunt lives out in the country and, until recently, it was at least 30 - 45 minutes for any kind of restaurant. He doesn't say where he lives so it could be somewhere where he is far away from anything like that so that an hour drive isn't uncommon.
@ncpeters: You guys are STILL missing the fing point. Regardless of how far it was/is, and how tasty the god damned pizza is/was, it's still wrong by the company. There was no indication on anything that said his coupon wasn't valid. And the only thing corporate could tell him is you're SOL.
People still use coupons?
I make my own organic coupons in my kitchen...
@IfThenElvis: You typically will hold your cell phone up to the cashier. You'll know if it's real because you usually will have to sign up for it by either texting that particular number it comes from, or signing up for it online through the company's website.
Basically it's a way for companies to get coupons out to customers instantly.
@Buckwad: I'm sure every coupon you have received for something was followed by a phone call to the company.
"My friend gave me a 10.00 coupon to Ben&Jerry's let's go." "Wait, let me get on the horn and find out if they are trying to sucker me."
Please
I've gotten newspaper coupons for Papa Murphy's that the franchise owner refused to honor. The coupon was for $2 off any large pizza and I wanted the taco pizza special they had. But, when I presented the coupon the cashier said he couldn't honor it since the pizza was already a special. Problem is, there was no signage in the store saying no coupons on specials and the coupon itself never mentioned anything about that either.
So now I just don't go there any more. Refusing to honor a perfectly valid $2 off coupon has cost them much more in sales from me.
How did they get this guy's number in the first place?
I'd be more irriated that I got an unsolicited SMS to my phone, interrupting my day, and possibly costing me money depending on my phone plan.
@heismanpat: How do you know he wasted $10 in gas? My city is really spread out and it can take upwards of an hour and a half just to get from one end to the other, and when there is traffic...
I'm struck by the $10 of gas for one hour of driving. Assume $2.50 a gallon. That's four gallons of gas. Let's say it's 25 miles away, one way; a reasonable assumption for driving one hour round trip. That's 50 miles round trip. Four gallons of gas into fifty miles means the car gets 12.5 mpg.
So, at least he can get money from the cash-for-clunker program!
There is a Papa Murphy's by my house that we frequent a few times a year. They are picky about coupons, but they do send out good ones in the mail.
@katstermonster: SO hard to find a good pizza place in CT. Especially when you live in the sticks like me.
I've been eating at Papa Murphy's for many years on a semi-regular basis. I've also been collecting their mailed coupons since 2004, as they have no expiration date (just says "limited time only", which is meaningless). Most of the old coupons are more heavily discounted than the newer ones they mail out, so I will continue to use them until depleted. I just call the store and place a phone order, then hand them the coupon when I arrive to pay. Never had any problems, because they know that if a coupon is refused, I will just leave and they'll lose more money by tossing the pizza, so they just grin and bear it!
@AllanG54: Apparently you haven't ever tried or seen papa murphey's. They are a take and bake type of place.
@AlteredBeast: Presumably he signed up for "special offers, etc." via text. Now, unless the OP uses a cellphone with a non-local number, one would think that if an offer is geographically limited, that it wouldn't have been sent in the first place.
But as so many others have said. Ok, so the store refused the coupon, we've seen that time and again here. But for corporate to refuse to make good on it with an apology and a gift certificate? That just seems PR 101 - FAIL!
@AlteredBeast: Read the whole article..."The problem I have is that the coupon was sent via SMS, so I had to give my phone number to a marketing company"
@BadHairLife: ...he thought he had a coupon that would offset the costs. That's kind of the entire point.
@Eddie Jimenez:
Right. It's funny how so many posters get so wrapped up in why someone would do something and completely miss the fact that the company was WRONG. Who cares how far he drove? It's his car, his gas, his prerogative.
@BadHairLife: Oh and of course don't forget the cost of the car, the cost of the insurance, the cost of driving lessons, and the cost of being raised to the age where he could learn how to drive! In fact, taxpayers had to pay to maintain the roads so in reality everyone in that state paid for Justin to not get that pizza. We should all be outraged!
@Buckwad:
That's NOT Consumerism 101. To make sure the coupon isn't expired or isn't specific to a certain location is Consumerism 101. You're going to tell us you call every company you have a coupon for before going there? Give me a break.
@67alecto: That's what confused me. How did this happen if they don't have his number?
Could it be one of those fancy smart phones, that the phone has it's own email address (and thus he signed up for emails)? If that is the case, why would he have to provide his number? couldn't he just provide his email that's associated w/ the phone?
The only pizza I will travel for does not come from some crappy chain, it comes from an old Italian guy in Midwood, Brooklyn. Sure DiFara is expensive, but it is heavenly pizza and right near the Avenue J subway station.
@ncpeters: My words exactly... Heck, I wouldn't even drive an hour to get to a hospital let alone for some half-baked pizza.
@Buckwad: Agreed, especially when it's some odd promotion that doesn't use a coupon. I was at a Capitals game a few months ago and the arena advertised that the next day you could get a 1-topping pizza from Papa Johns for $10 if you brought in your ticket stub. I made sure to call my location and see that they were honoring it before I made my order, and sure enough they were cool with it (even though corporate had not sent a note).
Taken and Baked = BEST. TAG. EVER.
But an hour for pizza? Really? I live an hour from New Haven, CT and I won't even drive that far for Pepe's. And Pepe's is DAMN good.