On day 10 of a 12-day work stretch, after working 13 hours the previous day and 11 hours that day, all I wanted was to bring home pizza and spend a little time with my family. We had been looking forward to it all day.
I placed an order in the Papa Johns app using the 50% off carryout promotion. My total came to just over $44. The only cash I had on me was a $100 bill, which I didn't think would be an issue on a Saturday night.
When I arrived, Ashley, the employee working the register, told me they couldn't accept my $100 bill. I honestly thought she was joking. On a $45 order, the change would have been two $20 bills, a $10, and a $5, surely they had that available on a Saturday night.
Ashley went to ask the manager and returned looking genuinely uncomfortable. She explained that the answer was still no. She even suggested I pay with a credit card, but if I'd had my card with me, I would have used it in the app when I placed the order.
What made the experience especially frustrating was that there was never any attempt to solve the problem. No suggestion to break the bill using another register, no offer to hold the order while I got change, and no manager coming out to explain the situation—just "no."
What disappointed me most wasn't even the decision itself—it was the lack of management. Cali never came out of the office to speak with me. She left Ashley, who was polite, kind, and professional throughout the entire interaction, to deliver the bad news while she stayed out of sight. When a customer is about to leave without the food they ordered, that's exactly the kind of situation where a manager should step in.
So I walked out empty-handed while three large stuffed crust pizzas sat on the counter, likely destined for the trash.
Instead of taking dinner home, I had to stop at Dollar General, buy groceries, and cook after getting home. The irony? Dollar General had no problem making change for the exact same $100 bill on an even smaller purchase.
Ashley deserves recognition for handling an uncomfortable situation with professionalism and kindness. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the management. Refusing to make $55 in change on a Saturday evening, then refusing to even face the customer, turned what should have been a simple pizza pickup into one of the most disappointing customer service experiences I've had.