This is a story of a small thing going wrong during a pizza order, and a relatively small gesture from the company to make things better. No, it’s not a large, earth-shattering problem. Jay took a survey on the Pizza Hut web site, and wasn’t entered in the drawing that enticed him to take the survey in the first place. Why was that, he wondered? So he used some Consumerist resources and got on the phone.

I know people rarely bother to write a site like yours when something goes *right* so I thought I would.

I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut online today, and was prompted to fill out a survey afterwards. There was the possibility to be entered into a drawing for $1000 as well as an instant win of an ipod. I filled it out, indicating I had not received my food yet. I answered questions about the online ordering experience and was asked if I would be willing to receive an email tomorrow to follow-up on the quality of my food. I selected no.

A few questions later I got a screen thanking me and saying I was just sent an email notifying me if I was an instant winner. However, no email came. I waited for 15 minutes without an email. I was kind of mildly frustrated. It’s not the end of the world, but these things happen so often! So I decided to take the advice of your “Be a Customer Service Ninja” article and I called Pizza Hut corporate and got forwarded to the Executive Assistant for the president of the company. She, in turn, put me through to someone named [C.] (who I believe is probably in PR.)

C.listened to me attentively and was incredibly friendly. She never made me feel like my issue was trivial, and seemed to take it very seriously. She explained that if you opt out of the follow-up survey you are not supposed to be told you’ve been entered into the instant-win contest. She took me info and vowed to look into it immediately, and also offered to send me a gift card.

I don’t eat out (or order in) often, especially in this economy. Little ridiculous incentives like contests give that silly little extra zing to spending $15 on a pizza. To know that when something goes wrong, someone at Pizza Hut actually cares enough to listen and make me feel like I matter…that means a lot to me.

Sometimes, good customer service is as simple as letting someone know that you understand what they want and what bothers them. Well done, C. and Pizza Hut.

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