Papa John’s wouldn’t let reader Adi redeem her coupon for a $9.99 extra-large pizza online, so she trekked over to the nearest store in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where she met the franchise owner from hell. The owner insisted that the coupon didn’t apply to online orders, so Adi asked to cancel her online order and re-order her pizza in person to get the discount. This prompted the owner to angrily throw the coupon at Adi, before throwing away her ready-made pizza. And was just the start of the fun…

Adi writes:

I ordered a pizza online tonight, and since there was no field to enter my coupon, I brought my coupon to the store. The staff member at the register was unsure how to enter it, so she got someone else to help me.

When I showed her the coupon in question, this woman informed me I couldn’t use it. I asked why and she said I ordered online. I re-read the coupon and when I pointed out there was no online exclusion she said it didn’t say it COULD be used online. I said that unless there was a printed exclusion, it should be acceptable. She refused, and I said that I would like to cancel my previous order and re-order my pizza using the coupon. Her answer was, “Fine. You can wait.” She threw the coupon back across the counter and I asked, “Isn’t the pizza already made? You’re going to throw it away and make a new one?” She replied that she was and after commenting that that was ridiculous, I stepped back to wait. She then yelled, “What do you want?” I began to answer and she interrupted me, yelling, “I can’t HEAR you.” I spoke louder and placed my order and she held out her hand for the coupon. I handed her the page of coupons and again she threw it back, saying, “You have to tell me which one.” I pointed it out for the third time, and she typed in the code and then threw the page away. I asked for the remaining coupons back and she snapped, “I’m not your secretary!”

At this point I asked if she were a manager and she informed me she was the co-owner. I was shocked a business owner would take part in such a display of such deplorable customer service. Of course, an employee would be fired in a minute for such belligerence.

When I got home I relayed the experience to my boyfriend, who insisted on calling and demanding an apology. After speaking to the owner, she refused to apologize and he informed her we would be contacting corporate. I realize she is a franchise owner, but I assume she is NOT the sort of person you want as the face of your company, and I suggest action should be taken, perhaps in the form of customer service training. I would also like to be compensated for my time and for the fact that I endured such vitriolic interaction.

I’ve been a Papa John’s customer for a few years, and have never had a problem before, but something of this nature makes me think about never stepping foot in one of your stores ever again.

(Photo: LiveU4)

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