Reader Jason says he ordered a pizza through Pizza Hut’s website. Everything went through fine, except when he showed up to get the pizza they told him they’d thrown it away because they stopped doing carry-out orders at 10. He says he ordered the pizza at 9:50 and the website confirmed his pick-up time of 10:19.

I ordered a pizza online at pizzahut.com. I was a little concerned about whether the location would be open, seeing it was 9:50 p.m. when I ordered, but when my computer screen said “Please wait while we verify your order” and then issued a 10:19 pick-up time, I figured I was good to go. Until I drove all the way to the restaurant (Portland, OR) to find the door locked. The manager let me in and informed me that they just “threw away” my online order because I didn’t know that they only took delivery orders after 10:00 p.m. I haven’t tested it, but I wonder if I could successfully order a carry-out pizza at 3:00 a.m.? The software seriously doesn’t give consideration to whether the restaurant is open or not?

Here is what I wrote to Pizza Hut on Tuesday morning, I still have yet to receive a reply:

I waited for the online order thing to say “please don’t close your browser until your order is confirmed,” then it was confirmed for a 10:19 pick-up. I showed up to the location only to find the door locked. The manager let me in and informed me they were only accepting delivery orders after 10:00 p.m. and my pizza was not made, but she would gladly let me drive back home and then bring me a pizza. Or I could wait in the lobby for a delivery.

I told her “how was I supposed to know?” And she said “well, now you know.”

I had a feeling that they may close at 10:00, but surely the internet order service would let me know, but no, it seems Pizza Hut policy is to allow for these orders, customers to show up cash-in-hand, and only then discover that all their efforts to order a pizza were in vain. Before walking out I asked if she was going to make amends for this mix-up and she said no. I came home to find a voicemail, placed at 10:11, explaining.

We could see this making sense if they couldn’t let you in after hours… but they did. So… why didn’t they make the pizza? If they were willing to deliver it to the lobby… why not still make the stupid thing? Is all this nonsense over a delivery fee?

We think you should at least get some coupons or those garlic stick things or something. Oh, and they should probably fix the website.

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