CM
Connor McGehee
3 days ago
My experience at this Domino's yesterday evening was memorable, and not in a positive way.
When I entered, one gentleman was ahead of me. I observed his interaction with a young woman whose name tag read Haley (sp?), who later identified herself as the manager. She seemed stern and businesslike. That's fine.
When it was my turn, her entire greeting was one word: "Name?" She never looked up from her computer. She retrieved my pizza, returned, and rang me up. Still no eye contact, greeting, or acknowledgment. She looked distinctly unhappy.
I've owned three businesses. My customers would have been greeted with eye contact, a smile, and something as simple as, "Hello, welcome to Domino's. How can I help you?" That's a basic standard.
As Haley rang me up, I asked in a friendly tone if she was having a good day. She glared and returned to her screen. As she handed me my change, I said, "I hope your day gets better because you appear to be unhappy." Her response? "I don't like old men telling me to smile." She turned and walked away.
I never told her to smile. I asked how her day was going and commented on her demeanor. Apparently that offended her. Her unfriendly demeanor was just as unsolicited as my observation.
I left, then reconsidered in my vehicle. I decided not to let it go. I returned and asked another employee for the manager. He asked why. I explained I had a problem with my customer experience and wanted to discuss it. He didn't acknowledge me; he just walked away.
Meanwhile, the customer ahead of me had returned because Haley apparently rang up the wrong order. He had paid for the next customer's order, and both were trying to straighten it out. The same employee tried to help, then announced, "Hey, she did this, she can fix it. I can't. I don't know how, Im new." Walking away, he told a pizza maker, "We have three problems at the counter. She can fix them. I don't do problems." Three customers heard this, then waited at an unattended counter.
Eventually Haley returned and courteously resolved the other two customers' problems. Once they left, she looked at me and said, "You've already paid for your pizza. You can leave my store."
I was recording by then. I said I wanted to discuss how I'd been treated. The conversation went nowhere. She confirmed it was a franchise location. When I asked for her supervisor's contact information, she told me to look it up online. Admittedly, I should have left then. Any chance of a constructive conversation was over.
What Haley didn't initially know was that my company has done considerable business with Domino's over the past eight years. I have an established professional relationship with its corporate office. I told her I intended to contact my corporate representative and that she might want to start looking for another job. Was that last comment necessary or constructive? No. But I said it, and I'm not pretending otherwise.
She suggested I was on a "power trip." I found that ironic, given that she'd already used her managerial authority to dismiss my complaint and tell me to leave instead of addressing it. As I walked out, Haley flipped me the bird. I just shook my head.
I've spent my career building businesses around customer satisfaction and memorable experiences. I understand difficult days and different personalities. None of that excuses what happened.
I didn't expect special treatment because of my background or Domino's relationship. I expect the basic courtesy every customer deserves. Other recent reviews of this location describe rude employees and poor service, too.
This is not a training issue. This is a people issue. A customer shouldn't have to earn basic courtesy, and a manager shouldn't respond to a complaint with hostility, dismissal, or an obscene gesture.
I'll be contacting my Domino's corporate representative. The owner should know.
All I came in for was my pizza. I certainly didn't expect any of this.
We had guests visiting for the weekend and needed multiple pizzas due to all the kids on Friday night. I ordered 4 large pizzas for delivery. Upon arrival one of the pizzas was missing a premium topping as we ordered. At that point it was past 7pm and the kids needed to eat, so I called the store and asked if I could be credited for the topping we didn't receive. The store offered to remake the pizza and have a new one delivered within the hour, but I explained that with all the kids, bath and bedtime was coming up, so it would be too late. Then, the store stated that they could give me a credit for a future purchase. I stated that I would prefer a refund to my payment method for the missing topping. The staff member stated that they could do a refund if I brought the pizza back. I asked to clarify, you need the pizza back in order for me to get a partial refund, he stated yes. I told him that I couldn't leave, that is why we ordered delivery and that I would reach out to Dominos corporate and the staff person simply hung up the phone as I was finishing speaking. I put in a request with Dominos HQ, they said I would hear from the store in a day or two. It is now five days since this happened and I haven't received outreach in regard to my concern. Just an absurd experience being asked to return a pizza. Did the store expect to try and re-sell it?