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)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.