Domino's Uses Pizza Tracker To Track You, Deliver Forgotten Soda
Do you ever wonder whether post-transaction customer satisfaction or feedback surveys get lost somewhere in the ether, and have no impact on the local branch of the company you're dealing with? Thomas didn't think that his feedback mattered all that much, but his local Domino's surprised him with a nearly instant response to their Web feedback.
I had a negative experience flip into a positive one by venting my frustration to an online form I expected to go nowhere.
Yesterday, I ordered online from Dominos. I ordered a pizza, breadsticks and a 2-liter of Sprite. When the delivery guy showed up, the order was missing the Sprite. He apologized and advised me that the store had no more bottles of Sprite, so they substituted a Coca-Cola instead.
Rewind to about a year ago when the same thing happened to me at another location. At that time, someone from my office grabbed the delivery so I had to take the issue up by phone to the store. "I don't drink Coke, so I don't want this. I'd either like you to pick it up or not charge me for it." That location declined both and the charge was taken up with my credit card company, and all was eventually corrected (I wasn't charged for the incorrect order).
Back to the current story — I refused the delivery of the Coca-Cola. Since I paid with credit card, the driver offered to give me cash for the difference. Easily settled, he just kept the cash as tip and I proceeded to enjoy my meal.
When I returned to my computer after lunch, I noticed the online form on the post-order screen for Dominos — If you're not familiar, it has the "tracker" to see your order being made to delivery. At the bottom is a form rating your experience and any feedback. I rated accordingly, noting my issue with not being contacted before the order got here to let me know a part of my order wasn't available.
Thirty minutes later, the delivery guy was back with Sprite in hand. He was advised by the store to buy a bottle from a grocery store and deliver it to me at no charge. Already shocked by that, I then received a call from the store asking about the feedback I submitted online and ensuring my concerns were resolved.
I'm not sure if stores are rated by that feedback that most people, including myself, normally dismiss or if they were legitimately concerned with my feedback submitted. Either way, the minor annoyance that would have left me with some negative feeling about the transaction was flipped over into a really positive one.
Either things were very, very slow at that particular Domino's that day, or maybe some restaurants are now using INSTANT FEEDBACK!
(Photo: KFreon)
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Comments:
Dominos certainly seems to get the Web. Let's not forget their fast and professional response to the issue with the two numbnuts who were adulterating sandwiches.
Perhaps this is an early example of how corporate can keep track of individual stores and franchisees and do a better job of ensuring a consistent experience for their customers.
Wow, that'd definitely encourage me to buy from Dominos in the future.
And cue the pizza wars down thread in 3...2...
@coren: 1....
I always hated Dominos. Then recently my daughter (who loves it) bought some and I was hungry so I said 'what the hell' and it was GREAT. Seemed like best pizza in a long time.
We got some more other day, same order, same place...... and it sucked. Just terrible. But my daughter still loved it.
Must have been a LOT hungrier than I thought I was the first time.
ANYWAY ........ I'm going back to Little Caesars. Pizza Pizza!
The Domino's near me has yet to accomplish the herculean task of delivering the correct order to me. If it's not missing dips, it's a missing topping, or randomised starters or, in one instance, somebody else's pizza entirely.
Complaining to the store, they say they'll 'just add what was missing to your next order'. Assuming I want to order again after this string of screw-ups.
(I will order again, because I am a fool. But I do loves me some Domino's pizza.)
@HalOfBorg: Oh man that sounds good - Little Caesars didn't exist in my neck of the woods for a good ten or more years - then I found one near where I worked (a good 30 miles away). And then when I no longer worked there, bam, new location, closer than the last one.
i think I'm gonna have to get some tonight now...
I kind of hope they didn't make the delivery guy pay for it out of pocket, though. I don't believe he's the one that made the decision to not contact the customer and to substitute Coke...that sounds more like someone in charge at the location. Just my two cents.
Also, I dislike Domino's pizza immensely. Ugh.
Dominoes = Sitting on the toilet for hours!
We are rated by these web feedbacks, at gamestop anyway.
Infact, it goes into the store managers yearly bonus, have a shitty web feedback, get a shitty bonus.
@Dabby: Last week mine missed a topping on half of my pizza, and they ended up comping the whole thing. I called to ask for the charge to be updated (-$1.50), but the guy said, "It probably won't let me run your card again. Just don't worry about it. I'll reverse the whole thing." Um...okay!
@HalOfBorg: I love Little Caesars pizza. Cheapest. and to me, the best-tasting of the chains. Unfortunately most people that I talk to seem to not like the taste. Now if only they did delivery...
@calchip: And aren't they the same pizza company that accidently activated an online coupon code for a promotion they decided not to run, but honored them anyway? I just wish I liked their pizza.
@katstermonster: the driver probably had no part of the order screw up. Drivers do sometimes take orders, but the orders are usually set up for them to pick up and get back out the door.
@coren: Last time I ate Domino's (over a decade ago), I wound up in the ER in anaphylaxis. I'm allergic to something in their pizza (and no one else's). They wouldn't give out an ingredients list without a request from my doctor, and even then it just listed "spices" as one of the ingredients. I understand that they're allowed to do this if there's less than a certain amount in the product, but when you're trying to identify an allergy, it's not too helpful.
I do remember really liking Domino's at the time, though.
@coren: It all depends on where you live. I'm in an urban location, and have experienced universal suckage with pizza chains. Guess they do enough volume to make up for half cooked or burned pizzas.
If only it weren't nasty ass Domino's... yucky "pizza".
That is good, but when you order pizza from places like Dominos you don't get pizza you get some sort of gluten based tomato and processed cheese bread.
I think it's neat that the web feedback goes straight to the store and not to some corporate or district message group where it will sit for months before anyone looks at it.
I've used online feedback forms only twice in my life. Recently, I used it for Arby's to complain about how a particular franchise consistently screws up something about my drive-thru order and how I have to go back to get it corrected (I'm talking about missing sandwiches, no sauce, hard buns, cold beef). I got a lot of free Beef n' Cheddar combo vouchers in the mail a few days later with a hand-written apology from someone at Arby's HQ.
Speaking as a former driver for one of these delivery chains: Its nice that you got your 2 liter of Sprite that cost all of a dollar, but I am hoping that it was not during a busy period in the day that you chose to make your complaint.
Making a driver go into a random store to buy a 2 liter, and then go all the way back to your location to deliver it screws the driver on making money - the loss of tips from new deliveries while waiting in the store and making a second trip out as well as the loss of extra gas used.
Sorry, but your $.99 bottle of soda and "happy comment" isn't going to nearly make up for the time and money that driver just lost.
@DashTheHand: The point here is that the OP did not receive his delivery as ordered, and used the web feedback to vent.
It was the store manager's decision to act upon this complaint as opposed to disregard it, and to send the driver out to correct the store's mistake. If the store manager continued to be responsible, he would have reimbursed the driver for the bonus fuel used. If the delivery driver was responsible, he would have take the extra 10 seconds to compare the order he is picking to the printed receipt (which should have an itemized list of the order) before delivering it.
It may have been over something relatively trivial, but the Domino's staff are still responsible for completing the order correctly. There's no reason to give the OP crap because the store screwed up originally.
Hey all,
Phil from Domino's here. I can tell you that the feedback from Pizza Tracker does go back to the store real time and stores use it as a customer service as well as training tool.
They can also look back at reports for time periods to see how they rated during that time. It really helps them stay on top of how the customers are viewing their service.
This store obviously "gets" good customer service.
@DashTheHand: Except for the fact that the op didn't ASK the driver to do that. He was just asking for what he had ordered, and left feedback that expressed his dissatisfaction when he didn't get it.
Domino's is *very* concerned with public feedback.
I had an extremely bad experience and it was handled more graciously than any other company has ever handled a complaint of mine.
The Papa Johns in my area always seems to have problems keeping drinks in stock.. whenever this happens though, the driver stops by a store along the way and picks up whatever drink I ordered..
Of course, that is why they also probably charge twice as much for a 2 liter bottle than what I would pay myself if I were to go and buy one.
Reminds me of something I totally forgot about from when I worked at Taco bell 5 years ago. Our soda machines broke down one day and we bought cartloads of 2-liters from the grocery store across the parking lot to fill people's drink orders with.
@DashTheHand: If the OP had told the driver to get him a 2-liter from the grocery store, then sure, you could blame him. When the command comes from the store manager based on an online complaint form (which didn't request the replacement, just complained about the incorrect order), then you're just being self-centered and mean. If you want to go after someone for the lost gas and tips, go after the manager that told the driver to go buy the 2-liter, leave the OP out of it.
Ridiculous. Batman would never order pizza from Domino's.
Alfred would bring him real Italian pizza, made by an Italian four-star chef, on a silver tray and he would wave him off, brooding.
I have had a constant experiences like this with my local Papa Johns, every time(no exaggeration) I order from them, it always takes 2+ hours to get me my order. Every time a few days after the order I get a apology post card for a free large pizza and cycle repeats itself. I moved on to a mom and pop pizza shop and couldn't be happier.
@coren: I always thought Papa John's if you're going to go with a chain (thin crust woohooooo!)
I never much liked Domino's-its always the same cookie cutter frozen pizza. I'll eat it if there's no other game around, but I find the best pizza places are the mom and pop, collegetown, holes in the wall. Unpredictable, sure, but nothing like a homemade pizza. Domino's pizzas (and chains in general) are too...frickin...pretty. I want mine to look homemade, sloppy, original.
@Dabby:
At least your Domino's delivers.
The Domino's that is supposed to be within my delivery range...doesn't deliver. Yes, that's right. I seem to live near the only Domino's that is takeout only.
The other stores near me won't deliver to me either, because they aren't "my" Domino's. They'd never heard of a Domino's that doesn't do delivery either and recommended I try calling corporate to complain. Yes, that's a fine recommendation but it does nothing to solve the immediate problem of not having any pizza.
I really miss the Domino's from my college days back in Ann Arbor. They were the first to use caller ID and a computer database to store your information. You could literally call, tell them to send your usual, and in 30 minutes, they show up at your door with your food. You didn't need to give your name or address. In fact, they would answer the phone and say "hello [name], what can we get for you?" I think the system got thrown out when they then implemented a predictive coupon system. Someone from Domino's would call you at the time the computer thought you would be arriving home to prepare dinner, and offer you a special deal on pizza. Being a college town, this was a VERY effective marketing campaign but I'm sure there were too many concerns about Domino's going "1984".
@calchip: I once complained via the tracker about a delivery guy who, when handing me the credit card receipt to sign, made sure to point out where I write in the tip. I thought this was awfully presumptuous and wrote about my concern in the comments. The next time the same guy delivered to my house, he apologized for it (although with a weak excuse about just wanting to make sure I knew it was there because a lot of people forget... I wonder why they forget...). I guess the manager saw the comment and spoke with him about it.
That was in a college town. However, when I lived in Southern California, I complained many times about a certain delivery driver who ignored my precise instructions and couldn't find her way out of a paper bag if it wasn't in her GPS (the other delivery drivers were perfect and could always find my house). I never heard back about any of those complaints. I think they just didn't care.
@calchip: The Domino's web ordering system is excellent. They really covered all possible options for ordering, splitting toppings, ordering extra sauces, etc. Plus it's neat to see that your order is out for delivery, still in the oven whatever instead of just wondering where the hell your food is.
People can knock their pizza for whatever reason, but they certainly nailed this process and set a good example of how to implement a user friendly efficient ordering system.
@HalOfBorg: Little Caesars?? seriously? thats what the cheap aunt or grandma buys when all the kids come over. Shit taste so cardboard. The fact anyone can convince themselves that a pizza tastes better because it is cheap is astounding.
@coren: Dominos isn't bad, but I've grown up with Little Ceasar's "Pizza Pizza" so it's my pizza place of choice by default. Plus they have those hot n ready pizzas and they always seem to have a promotion for unlimited toppings going on.
@HalOfBorg: Do they still do the 30 slice pizza that was like an entire cookie sheet long?
That stuff was the bomb for school class pizza parties
@PTWhipplebang: Wow, that's crazy. Sounds like a slightly-less-life-threatening version of the woman who was almost killed by something sprayed on crops, and the company refused to release the ingredients.
Well, your mileage may vary with great results from Dominos web feedback. I ordered a while back and put my credit card in. For some reason, the order showed that I was paying cash upon delivery. The driver refused to entertain the possibility of a website mistake, wouldn't call the store to check, and wouldn't take a check or call in my credit card number (I didn't have any cash). So he left with my food, telling me next time I shouldn't use the website. I submitted feedback and heard nothing.
Meanwhile, they've got my phone number and have started sending robocalls with "offers". When I called to get them stopped, the store said it was out of their control and to call corporate. I called corporate, got voice mail and asked for a return phone call to confirm that I'd been taken off their call list. Never heard from them either.
I don't order from Dominos anymore.
@eXo: It had nothing to do with it being cheap. It's simply the best chain pizza. Being cheap is just an extra bonus. (If it was the same price as pizza hut or maybe even a bit more, I'd still prefer it)
If the store was out of Sprite and the manager had the authority to instruct the driver to pick some up on his way out, the manager should have preempted the issue by securing restock of Sprite before the order was filled. This would have eliminated the customer issue before it happened and the need for the extra trip. Furthermore people taking orders should be notifying customers that they don't have Sprite available until this is done.
I hope the OP who was quick to insist on a refund from the missing Sprite was just as quick to insist on paying for the Sprite when delivered. I doubt it though.
@Hooray4Zoidberg: I am a web developer and I am super-impressed not only by the beautiful site but the thought process that went into all of it. I'm sure they have to do some extra work on their end for the pizza tracker system to be functional, and it really shows they care about their customers.
Oh man, the Shitty-Service Union is going to get all up & cranky about this deviation from their standards!