No words can begin to describe the anguish I recently experienced because of the poor training and unprofessionalism of Pizza Hut employees.
I placed an online delivery order from the Pizza Hut web site using an online coupon. I've ordered from this exact same online coupon before. The only difference was that last night I elected to pay with cash instead of with my usual debit card payment method.
After waiting an entire hour for the pizza and Pepsi to be delivered (it was a combo coupon for a large one topping pizza and two-litter of pop), I was greeted by a very rude delivery driver. He was tall with dark, long stringy and greasy hair. He wore jeans and a stained up sweatshirt (His appearance alone was deplorable—especially his unkept hair, which looked unprofessional and even on the verge of being sleazy—but I would have overlooked it if the next events had not transpired.)
My son is who initially went to the door. He paid the driver in cash and the driver gave him the pizza and pop. My son closed the door and the guy walked away. But in less than 45 seconds, the guy was back on the doorstep ringing my doorbell again.
I need a coupon for this, he said when I opened the door. And how did you order this? Online or by telephone? I said that I ordered online and that I never before was asked to give a coupon for it. The coupon is online and you click on it in order to receive that special price when youre placing your order.
Well, youre either going to give me a coupon or Im going to have to charge you 4 more dollars, the guy said.
Outraged, I told him to wait while I pulled up the coupon on my computer.
The door was still open while I went into the next room to start my computer back up. (I had shut it down after placing my order.) My two-year-old daughter was standing in the doorway. It was very cold outside and I could feel cold air pouring into my house. She is just getting over a cold and the last thing she needs is to take more cold, so I told the man that I was going to have to close the door and would be with him as soon as I could print off the coupon.
Not even 30 seconds passed by and the man was again ringing my doorbell. I have other orders to deliver and youre just going to have to produce that coupon now, give me the pizza back, or else pay me the extra money, he said when I opened the door back up.
In shock by his bluntness and rudeness, I told the man that he was just going to have to leave then. I said that I had the pizza and he had the cash, and he would have to just leave my property if he wasnt going to wait a few minutes for me to print off a coupon — which I shouldnt even have to print off in the first place.
He then said that if I didnt give him the extra money right then or the pizza back that he was going to report the pizza as being stolen.
I completely lost my patience at that point and told him to wait a d*n minute while I went into the other room to print off the information from my computer. I also told him that I was going to report him for this and that his behavior was beyond what is acceptable.
The man judgmentally said that I shouldnt cuss in front of my kids. He also said this as his eyes shifted around my kitchen, focusing on a television set and other furniture items. He never once made eye contact with me when I was trying to talk to him. He just continued to look around my house at my household belongings, which was also rude and was even making me feel uneasy—as if the man was really here to case my house so he could come back and steal from me.
My computer had just booted up at this point in time. I told him to wait and said he could even wait in his car until I got the coupon printed. I still had to pull up the Pizza Hut web site before I could print off the coupon information. I closed the door again and went back into the computer area. I had just arrived in front of my computer when the man again rang my doorbell.
I need the money NOW! He said very sternly when I opened the door again. Im giving you one minute to print the coupon off or else Im reporting this as stolen! He threatened me. Either produce the coupon this moment, pay me 4 more dollars, or give the pizza back.
Now bear in mind here that I had already paid him in cash the exact amount I was told to pay online when I placed my order. So I did not owe him anything else. I had NOT stolen anything and was now only being harassed because he was insisting upon a coupon that was online and that I had never before been asked to print off when I placed an order after clicking on the online coupon. He was further harassing me with his attitude and unwillingness to give me sufficient time to produce his coupon. His attitude was absolutely abusive.
By this point I had totally lost my respect for the man. All he was doing was harassing me and was basically making it impossible for me to even get a coupon printed off to give him. He again pressed for the coupon, extra money, or the return of the Pizza. I told him I was not giving him the pizza back until he first gave me my money back. He hesitated for a brief moment and then dug into his pocket and counted out the money I had just paid him. He even had a tone about the amount, a tone that communicated without extra words the he was angry that that he was giving me my cash back. Heres your money back! He said as he threw my money at me.
I went back into the house, grabbed the pop and literally threw it onto the porch. The pizza was in the living room by this time. I went to the living room to get the pizza and then handed it to the man. (I did not throw the pizza, just the pop.) I told him to leave my property that moment or I was going to call the police.
So you can visualize how quickly all of the events transpired, approximately five minutes had passed since the man first rang my doorbell to deliver the pizza up until the moment when the pizza was returned to him. It takes my computer a few minutes to boot up. My computer had just booted up when he was giving me the one minute to produce the coupon ultimatum. And most of those five minutes in time were spent with the man continually ringing my doorbell and keeping me from even being able to print off a coupon.
In other words, he didnt even give me sufficient time to pull up my computer and print off the coupon! I think that what he was really doing was harassing me to pay him more money. He was 100% belligerent and was not at all patient enough to wait for something that he claimed he needed.
After he left, I immediately tried to call the Pizza Hut store where the pizza delivered from. I was instead sent into a call queue for all the Pizza Hut stores in the area and was placed on hold for about 20 minutes. During this time period, I tried to find another Pizza Hut number in the telephone book. None of them dialed into any of the stores. I then looked up the customer service number on the Pizza Hut web site (it says For Urgent Matters [call] 1-800-948-8488). I dialed this number on my cell phone and was placed on hold with them for another 10 minutes before I could even talk to a person about what had just happened. (The fact that I could not immediately talk to someone about what had just happened only added to the issue and made me even more offended by Pizza Hut than I was before.)
I finally got to talk to a customer service representative at the Urgent Matters phone number. I told her everything that had happened. She took down my name, phone number, and address. She then wanted to send me out a coupon for a free pizza. I told her that that was not going to hack it for me.
This experience was so deplorable that I have no desire to ever order from Pizza Hut again. So then the customer service representative offered me two free pizzas. Now bear in mind that I have NO pizza anymore. I had waited an entire hour for the pizza to be delivered initially. I then faced the WORST delivery experience of my life and was treated so rudely that I felt that I had no choice but to give the food back to the delivery driver. I told her that she would have to give me 10 free pizzas before I would even begin to feel compensated, and even then it wouldnt be good enough. (This is not an issue where an ingredient was missing from my order, my food was too cold, or I had a hair on my food. This is a case where I was totally mistreated by a delivery driver and had my food taken from me because he was not willing to wait for something that I never before was even asked to provide.)
I then said that what I needed was for this issue to be addressed tonight. I needed this mans manager to be contacted and for me to get a call back to let me know that this issue was taken care of and that nothing like this would ever happen again. I also told her that I felt so uneasy by this guy—who literally threatened me (saying he would report the food as being stolen), looked around my house (which made me feel violated), and was so rude that I dont even feel safe enough to order from Pizza Hut again. I do not ever want this man on my doorstep again and will definitely call the police if he ever does return to my door in the future!
The customer service representative was not at all understanding of my situation. She even threatened me with, well, if you want a call back, then I cant send you any free pizza coupons. As if what I wanted was free pizza! What I wanted was for Pizza Hut to reprimand this man for such deplorable behavior and to have some type of assurance that I would never again be treated with such contempt. When I asked to speak with someone that moment, the representative hung up on me!
No customer should EVER be treated so rudely by anyone working at Pizza Hut! And I have to add now that after the customer service representative hung up on me, I will definitely not ever be a repeat customer again!
At first, only the driver could be blamed for such horrible treatment. Now that I have been mistreated by a customer service representative—who by job description is supposed to make customers feel better about Pizza Hut and who is supposed to resolve issues—I now see this entire situation as a corporate matter that goes all the way back to the main headquarters. This company does not effectively train employees to treat customers respectfully, professionally, or with the kind of quality care that keeps loyal customers coming back in the future.
Let me try to summarize how horrible this situation was. I was mistreated by a delivery worker after waiting an hour for food when I was hungry and have two kids to feed. My food was then taken away from me because the driver harassed me to print off a coupon that was on the web site and that I had NEVER before had to print off after clicking on it. He would not give me time to even print it off. He threatened me and tried to accuse me of stealing something. He then left me with no choice but to give the food back. Then I was not even able to call someone locally to discuss what had happened. I had to wait on hold for 20 minutes and then another 10 minutes just to talk to someone. Then, instead of the true issues being addressed and the customer service worker making me feel better about the situation, I was hung up on by the customer service representative because I insisted on this matter being addressed the same night.
Because I have a car with a flat tire, I had to call a relative to bring us dinner. We were not able to eat until 2 hours after the Pizza Hut incident, which was 3 hours after I initially placed my online order. I spent most of my evening trying to get this matter addressed by Pizza Hut—all to no avail.
Does Pizza Hut really feel this much contempt for its customers?
Pizza Hut will find that this once regular customer is now no longer a customer. Why? Because Pizza Hut hires inept workers who harass loyal customers, do not immediately address valid issues, and actually leave the customer more upset than they were to begin with. (And those free pizza coupons were just an insult! I needed to hear something that would rebuild trust. Not totally destroy it. I needed this issue to be addressed IMMEDIATELY with the local manager.)
I know what happened to me is not typical. I've been a regular customer of Pizza hut for years. I've never experienced anything like what happened last night with ANY company before. But because I was treated so horribly by Pizza Hut employees last night, I now see the company in a whole new light. Take my advice. Do not ever patronize this company. You may regret if if you face a situation comparable to the one I faced last night, a situation that led to anguish, extended hunger, and a still unresolved status.
Totsmom
Greenwood, Missouri
U.S.A.
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