Places I’ve been to are pretty good about owning up to their mistakes and bending over backwards to fix them.
Only time I ran into a problem was at a brand new sandwich place I was trying run by a husband and wife. I ordered a sub “no-mayo” and sure enough they gave it to me loaded with mayo. I wasn’t even a jerk about and just asked for a new sandwich.
Their reply was to say “What? So you won’t eat it? Are we just supposed to throw this one away then? What a waste.” They then begrudgingly made another sandwich huffing about it the whole time rolling their eyes at me.
So I of course never went back. And they of course went out of business inside of a year.
The last time I had a pizza order screwed up, it was delivered, and I called the restaurant afterward. The options they gave me were to wait like 45 minutes for another one to be delivered and they’d take back the bad one or to get 10% off my next pizza order. A whole $2. I told them we were hungry now and 10% was small enough I was more annoyed than appreciative about the discount.
I would take the ‘eat this pizza and get a coupon for another’ deal and be happy with it if the pizza was something I could reasonably eat, like the example. I’m getting something now, and they’re making up for the error in the future, so I would feel like I’m coming out way ahead. There’s also a decent chance that I might not notice or think I screwed up my order and just go ahead and eat it without saying anything. If I was allergic to the toppings or it was something I really didn’t like, then I would really think a remake AND coupon would be appropriate - otherwise I’m just getting my pizza late, or skipping entirely today and getting one in the future, both of which are a negative for me. I probably wouldn’t complain there, but it’s the kind of thing that would mark them down as ‘maybe go to the other place’. The people demanding 3 pizzas and making a complaint to corporate are just being asses and hoping to get free stuff.
I might call and make a complaint if something was really off, but that’s got to be pretty unusual. For example, one I went out to lunch with some friends at a new restaurant and it took 45 minutes for our food to come out, and when we asked about the delay the waitress gave some condescending line about how sometimes unusual orders take longer for prep, even though we were ordering burgers at a burger place. I called in mostly because I felt like something must be really off in their training for the wait staff to say a line that’s likely to piss people off instead of something generic like ‘oh, we’re sorry, our cooks were backed up but the food should be out shortly’.
Yeah, that sort of stuff would drive me batty especially since I hate mayo. I’ve done my time eating what was in front of me. I’m not an adult with picky toddleritis.
And it’s just stupid. I may be a nobody but I spent a couple of years in charge of my company’s employee engagement group. I got to make the suggestions for the company Christmas party, the department summer outings, as well as some of the catered lunches. We used a sandwich place for the VIP executive visit because I met a guy in the bar who owned a sandwich shop, we chatted about baseball and gave him my card. He sent over a couple of free sandwiches for my office the next day, remembered no onions for me and has ended up getting a decent amount of business from us.
I take phone calls from restaurant complaints at the corporate office, and I can tell you, unless the incident involves possible felonious behavior by the staff, we don’t care. Screwed up orders, and long wait times should be handled at the restaurant level. If the manager couldn’t make you happy, odds are we can’t either.
Just yesterday, I took a long rambling call from some nutcase who admitted that they had already gotten their money back, but just thought that we should know that we need to train our cooks how to make marinara sauce correctly. Sure lady, we’ll reformulate the recipe and reassess our whole training program based on your opinion.
Of course, we are always nice and understanding and apologetic during these calls. And yes, we are taking their numbers to give to the regional manager. But really, most of the people calling in to complain are just jackasses, or else they are moochers looking for free gift cards or whatever.
At one of my former jobs, I had a co-worker who would call places we picked up our lunches from to complain about all sorts of bogus screw-ups. She would get coupons for free stuff. She was proud of how clever she was being. Lived in an upper middle-class McMansion too, so it wasn’t like she needed the extra food, the classless bitch.
This. Life is too short to hang around with people like that.
Holy crap, I know exactly such a person, and her name really is Karen.
Re: the OP, sorry for any redundancy, but I to think the pizza joint handled the issue just right. Also like some others here, I’m pretty chill about any ordering mistakes made, unless the restaurant personnel are being completely indifferent or actively obnoxious. Even then, I don’t pitch a fit, I just don’t go there any more.
The restaurant was reasonable and you were reasonable.
A couple of people are assholes who haven’t been banned enough for being assholes.
I consider myself a reasonable person and if the mistaken pizza was something I was willing to eat this would be an acceptable resolution.
My wife and I used to go to Moe’s but several times in a row the location near our home had painfully slow service and would be out of basic ingredients she enjoys on her burrito. I mean super basic like onions. I got on the website to complain telling them why I wouldn’t return to the location near my home but would happily continue going to the one in Little Rock. They sent me a $20 voucher along with an apology.
I recently went back to the Moe’s near my house after avoiding them for nearly two years. This time I went to their website and complimented them on their vastly improved service and abundance of ingredients. Maybe I should have sent them a $20 tip?
Yes, but what would Walter Sobchak do?
I used to order pizza from a place that was the best in town for a few years and then lost that status over the course of about a year. At first, the pizzas weren’t as good on some weekends and shortly after that it was almost always bad (big chunks of raw onion, crust without salt, toppings apparently thrown onto pizza from passing car, etc.) After getting a particularly bad one, I knew I had to start ordering from somewhere else. A week or so later, I called the same place to order another pizza and mentioned (without acrimony) that I hadn’t liked the last one. They were very understanding and delivered a pretty good one free of charge. It tasted like…victory. Nonetheless, I’ve been ordering from another place since then.
I had the opposite experience once, went to a chain restaurant for a steak and scrambled eggs dinner, and my eggs were a strange bluish color on the bottom. I told my server and they brought out a manager who poked and prodded my eggs with a fork for a minute before realizing that they must have put the eggs on an already used plate with some blueberry syrup before transferring to my own plate. The manager literally said “Well it’s just bluish from food coloring I don’t see the problem here” until I demanded the eggs get remade. He hemmed and hawed but eventually relented, took away my blue eggs, then remade me fresh eggs but that was it, no discount or free food or anything. I’m still mad about it.
My gf and I were out enjoying an evening out recently. After several drinks and some funny conversation with our waitress, we placed our food order.
When food was brought out to the table, it was all completely wrong. The woman who brought it out flagged down our server. Meanwhile, the food looked great. Our server had screwed up and submitted another table’s order twice. She said she’d get our dinner cooking right away, but we decided to eat what they’d brought out. It was delicious. They comped us dessert!
I think the OP handled the situation very appropriately. Always pick the option that doesn’t let someone in the kitchen spit in your food because the order got sent back and they caught sh*t for their mistake. :eek:
That does make sense though. It’s clear that the place has gone downhill and they only do it right when they’re forced to. Pizza places are a dime a dozen in most cities.
My sister and I went out for a nice steak lunch yesterday because the (separation anxiety suffering) dog was at the vet for a dental. We both ordered our steaks medium rare, but my sister’s was much too rare for her. She asked the waitress to have it cooked just a touch more. She actually got a new plate and put the veggies and fries on a new plate and took it to my sister before taking the steak to the kitchen. “So you have something to munch on.” Great way to do it.
Well, my first reaction to what you described (sausage and peppers vs sausage and mushroom) was that they did you a HUGE favor and you should be grateful… then again, I don’t personally consider mushrooms edible, so…
I’m surprised at the “call corporate and raise a stink” people. For a pizza??? that the restaurant more than made good on??? Egad.
As a side anecdote: last summer we were travelling through northern Vermont, and stopped at a local pizza restaurant for dinner before driving on a bit further.
The waitress brought our pizza, and said “We’re training a new cook, and the crust on yours is a bit messed up - so we’re making you a medium pizza to take with you when you go”.
We were baffled. Yes, a bit of one slice had the crust a bit crinkled and rumpled. It was not the prettiest slice of pizza. Tasted just fine, and we tried arguing with the waitress that the second pizza was truly not needed, but she said it was already in the oven.
SO we had more pizza as a bedtime snack 
I applaud that waitress.
PS Hope the K9 is OK.
not sure i’d trust the kitchen to ‘remake’ my order … think we’ve all been victimized with a wrong order now 'n then … typically, depends on the staff as well as mgmnt.
s’been several years since i placed dine-in order at the local red-lobster restaurant chain. the waitress arrived with my order … only for me top flag her down for the wrong options. apologizing … the kitchen prepared me a new dinner … this time it was correct … however, the portions were much smaller. not sure who was at fault … but, likely the waitress disavowed her own fault and blamed it on me. chili’s? better check your utensils ‘n glassware … four outta’ five times, either or both are dirty*(not just water stains)*. back when i worked in the hospitality industry … well, never mind. as for product … mostly it arrives correctly.
fast-food places … mixed bag of tea … some of the staff are well seasoned … while others arrive directly after school’s out for the day. mcdonalds has improved customer quality … mostly, what i find faulty is short-changing*(i pay cash)*. with the predominance of cashless systems … less opportunity for cashiers to polish up on their math skills. true … most POS systems incorporate an ‘amount tendered’ … which most employees have no clue as to how the function is utilized. braums … back 35-40 years ago, used to be great … nowadays, they serve ‘floaters’ … not cook-to-order. i’ve complained to mgmnt … the resulting product was even worse. whataburger used to cook-to-order also … least they freshly cook the replacement item.
pizza-chain … usually eat pizza-hut once a week … the staff at my place screw up often enough. pizza is cooked for too long … cardboard insert missing underneath the item … pizza not cut thoroughly … ‘reorders’ not adhered to spec … etc. why i continue being a patron? because i love the product … and believe in what pizza-hut’s franchise stands for.
however … i have nightmares … fearful as to what the miscreant in any of the kitchens might be doing to my product. occasionally … my only resort is to contact corporate hq.
as to the op’s question … imho, the manager handled the situation appropriately.