I'm writing to bring your attention to a problem with the employees at Papa John's Pizza. Specifically, my complaint concerns an unwillingness to solve problems. The restaurant I'm referring to is at 136 South Gallatin Rd

Madison, Tn 37115.

MORE SPECIFIC ISSUES I AM WRITING ABOUT, THAT YOU WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO CHOOSE: COMMUNICATION SKILLS, COMPANY, STORE,CONCERN FOR CUSTOMERS,POLITENESS, ACCURACY OF ORDER, EMPLOYEE, MANAGEMENT, AND THE CUSTOMER SERVICE

On 9/04/2004 my husband and I ordered from Papa Johns, Online. The order included one 2 litter Diet Coke. My husband recieved and e-mail confirmation for this order that included everything correct, as we had ordered. When the driver arrived, (Mike Keels), He handed my husband the order and the drink was a Regular Coke. When my husband told the driver that we had in fact ordered a Diet Coke the driver stated that the reciept said Coke. When my husband looked at the reciept, it did say Coke, so my husband said Ok, Thank you and we took our order. My husband went straight to the office to check the online order, knowing what he had ordered, and in fact in the confirmation e-mail that he recieved, it stated DIET COKE.

My husband was able to catch the driver before he left the drive way, and advised the driver that our confirmation did in deed say Diet Coke. At the point the Driver became very rude and stated that the receipt said Coke and that they had NOT made the mistake. My husband again informed him of the confirmation that we had sent to our email. So the driver took the coke from my husband and SAID he would be back with the correct drink. Now, keep in mind that Papa Johns is right up the road from us, about 3 minutes, but my husband and I had just gotten back from a long car trip, and it was more convenient for us to have it delivered to us. WE WAITED FOR 45 MINUTES, WITH NOTHING TO DRINK, AND A $30.00 MEAL GETTING COLD!!!! So after 45 minutes I called the store and asked to speak with the manager. (Bobbie). They placed me on hold for several minutes, and then the line disconnected. So, i got the reciept and drove to the store. When I pulled up (they requested that drive thru) I asked to speak to the manager.

At that point I told the manager that 1st, when I tried to call I was hung up on, and 2nd, I had been waiting for 45 minutes for her driver to come back with the correct drink. I also explained to her that the receipt did in fact say Coke, but that is NOT what we ordered,and our e-mail confirmation had confirmed that we ordered Diet Coke. She went on at that point to tell me, and i quote, " Well we dont see the confirmation e-mail" I was completely confused as to why they would NOT be able to see what i ordered when i placed an order online. That defeats the whole purpose,and would make them, what, Mind readers? They know that we placed an order, they just didnt know what??!! So i asked the manager how that is possible, and why she would not be able to see our order. She stated, " I DONT KNOW, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK CORPARATE OFFICE" So in other words, please, call and complain, it will do no good! So, she said that she would replace my drink, i thoght that very kind of her!!! (like i was leaving without it) NO APOLOGY, THANK YOU FOR COMING, JUST HERE'S YOUR DRINK THAT YOU WENT THRU HELL GETTING AND CLOSED THE WINDOW IN MY FACE!!! I NEVER ONCE asked for my money back, like i KNOW so many people do, having been management in fast food, i just wanted them to know how the driver treated us, and for us to get what we ordered, and yes, I WANTED AN APOLOGY. I mean after all, we have lived here for a year and a half, and My husband and i work 60+ hours and week, and we are young, so EVERYTIME over the past year and half, we have ordered pizza from Papa Johns, the same store! And instead i was treated like s**t! When i came home, i looked up the number 1-800 number, per the Instructions of the incompetent Manager (Bobbie), in the hopes that i would get SOME KIND of customer service. When i spoke to the gentelmen on the phone, (Nick), He was very nice to me, took my complaint, and looked up my order. Amazingly he came to the conclustion that We were correct. When he pulled up the order he confirmed what we had been trying to tell the Driver and Manager all along. On the confirmation that he pulled up, it confirmed that we had in fact ordered 1 2 litter DIET COKE. I asked him why they could not see that at the store, again, as instructed by the manager to do so, he stated that, "they CAN!" and didnt know why i was told that. He placed me on hold and called the store. It was approx 11:30 pm, and when he came back on the line he stated that he spoke with the manager and that she about to close up the store,so she couldnt do anything then about it, but they would definatly call us back to take care of the issue, OH, AND SHE APOLOGIZED ABOUT THE WAY THE DRIVER TREATED ME!! ITS NICE TO KNOW THAT SHE CAN APOLOGIZE TO CORP OFFICE, BUT NOT THE CUSTOMER. Also it was a Saturday night, so they dont close until 1:30 AM!! Nick took my number and informed me that someone would contact me back. TODAY IS OCTOBER THE 10TH, AND I HAVE YET TO HEAR ANYTHING ON THIS ISSUE, AND I HAVE YET TO EAT PAPA JOHNS. WE HAVE ORDER PIZZA TWICE, AND IT HAS BEEN FROM DOMINO'S. I am not the type of person to make complaints or simple mistakes. I mean seriously, do you think that i would spend this much time and effort over a d**n diet coke!! NO, its because of the way i was treated. I have not only worked and managed fast food, but currently work in customer service. I know just as much as anyone else that the customer is NOT always right. But in case, we were, and we were treated like s**t, and it apparantly doesnt seem to matter to papa johns that they have lost long time customers, all over the SERVICE they recieved. I would also like to complain that this website does NOT have the 1-800 number on it, so i am unable to call you, and have waisted more of my precious time filling out a form to try to get something done. I do expect this situation to rectified. I have NEVER made a complaint towards Papa Johns, but i have also NEVER been treated this way. At this point i dont want to order from papa johns, not only because of the poor customer service, but because of the fear that i am on some kind of black list with that store now, and really would like to have spit free pizza. It infuriates me that i am most likely labeled as one of typical customers who is just trying to complain to get a free meal, and as i have expressed several times, to both the manager and the customer servie rep that i spoke to, i never asked for my money back, i just wanted and apology and for the situation to fixed. At this point, i would love to have the $30.07, of my hard earned money BACK. Thanks for your time.

After this, I doubt I could ever eat in your establishment again. Also, I don't plan on recommending you to people I know.

Here's what I'd like to see happen: I would like for papa john's to actually act like they care that a long time customer was treated this way. And as i stated before, i was NEVER asking for my money back, but after being treated this way, AND nothing being done about, it's just for the principal of the fact. I was NOT happy the product i recieved, and regardless of what some may think, Customer service is part of the product that I paid for. If i were not happy with something i purchased from a store, they would be MORE than willing to take it back for full refund. I think that full refund is due. for 1 Lard Drop Dead Fred Special (large pizza) Papperoni, Sausage. 1 Small bacon and grilled chicken pizza, 1 2LITTER DIET COKE, YES I SAID DIET COKE, 2 pizza sauce cups, 2 heese Sause cups, Sub total 25.35 +tax, TOTALS; $30.07. The amount that I request refunded.

Tammy

madison, Tennessee
U.S.A.

Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on Papa Johns Pizza

13 Updates & Rebuttals

Giselle

Any City,
North Carolina,
U.S.A.

HR issues should not be discussed with customers

#2Consumer Comment

Thu, January 19, 2006

I work in the legal/HR field and I can tell you that the job performance of an employee should NOT/and is not, suppose to be discussed with customers! To the OP, I find your complaint to be silly. The fact that you let your food sit there and go cold when , as someone else pointed out, you have sink with tap water, is DUMB DUMB DUMB. I am angry at myself that I just not only wasted 10 minutes of my life reading your dumb complaint, but I also just spent almost 3 minutes responding to it. GRRR!!!

Giselle

Any City,
North Carolina,
U.S.A.

HR issues should not be discussed with customers

#3Consumer Comment

Thu, January 19, 2006

Giselle

Any City,
North Carolina,
U.S.A.

HR issues should not be discussed with customers

#4Consumer Comment

Thu, January 19, 2006

Giselle

Any City,
North Carolina,
U.S.A.

HR issues should not be discussed with customers

#5Consumer Comment

Thu, January 19, 2006

Eric

Indianapolis,
Indiana,
U.S.A.

Glad it was resolved

#6UPDATE Employee

Thu, January 19, 2006

I am a PJ driver, and I see all kinds of customers. There are ones who purposely order wrong in order to receive free food, and ones with legitimate complaints. We can usually tell the difference. In this case, if I were the driver, and you showed me the comfirmation email, I would have gotten a Diet Coke to you as quickly as possible, and apologized my a@@ off because I know there are problems with our online system. Also, the replies about tap water, and it is just a soda embarass me. I have had people threaten to "kick my butt" before because the order was wrong. The correct reply to this type of person is "it's just a pizza oder, lighten up!" However that is not the correct reply in this case. I drink Diet Coke, and love it with my food. I do not like regular Coke and do not like my food with just tap water. If one part of your order was wrong, then that can possibly ruin the entire meal. If the driver was having a bad tip night, he should not have taken it out on you, especially if you tipped, which it sounds as if you do. I am also glad the manager was taken care of, because as a driver, I need business and a loser manager like that affects my income and my ability to support my family. I am glad you are back with Papa John's, because I know we do get drivers and managers like that, and they do not represent the company as a whole. And this is coming from somebody who HAS had confromtations with customers who were definitely in the wrong. But as I stated earlier, drivers and managers are pretty easily able to sort out true complaints form the rip off ones!

Tammy

Madison,
Tennessee,
U.S.A.

Problem resolved!

#7Author of original report

Fri, November 19, 2004

I am the person that wrote the above complaint. I keep gettting e-mails when someone writes a rebuttal to my complaint, and I figured since I spent so much time on the complaint, i would spend the same amount of time on the compliment. Since the above letter my issue was resolved. The district manager that just took over the store called me personally and advised me that the issues with the manager in charge that night had been going on for a while. I was not the first to complain. She comfirmed that the order could have been seen, and she also informed me that it had been brought to her attention that that manager had been telling customers that they were closed if they called after 11:30, even on a Friday or Saturday night. The manager wasnt telling the drivers about this, so if the driver was standing around and a customer called, they would answer the phone and place the orders, by doing this the manager was taking money from the drivers as well. My meal was replaced by the manager, and i have since been very pleased with the service. I understand that it was not a big deal....it was just a diet coke. I never made a big deal about until i was treated that way by the manager.It doesnt matter what was wrong about the order, the fact is that it was wrong, and i dont have to defend myself to that! I did what ANY paying customer would do, and expect to treated the way anyone else would want to be treated. I never had a problem with the driver...he was in fact only delievering what was on the reciept...i stated that, and reconized that. (and after i found out what they had to put up with under that manager, i dont blame the guy!) But when he didnt come back with the drink, it then bacame the manager's problem, and she didnt take care of it very well. Yes i have a kitchen sink, that isnt the point. There have been plently of mistakes made before, and I just wasnt letting this one go. But anyway, i wont get worked up, it's over and has been taken care of. I am very happy with the new management at Papa Johns!

COrinne

Toledo,
Ohio,
U.S.A.

Most of you are right!!

#8UPDATE Employee

Tue, November 16, 2004

I am a employee at a Papa Johns resturant..I am a manager and a driver. It is true that a driver has on his receipt what he is suppose to deliver. So there should be little doubt about what you should get. But since we have been having internet orders alot has gone wrong with those orders. Sometimes they have come up wrong (which is a problem with corporate) or they have not actually come up at all, like the order was never placed. Honestly I think that the whole ordering online is not necessary. Because to know that you have really sucessfully got your order you have to call the store. So honestly I would advise anybody not to order online, just take a minute and call them up. But I am also going to say that the manager was totally out of line and the driver was too. I mean usually if I forget something or a pizza was messed up I am as quick as possible to fix the problem. Because paychecks come from the customer..Not a happy customer less of a paycheck

Melissa

King Of Prussia,
Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.

Um,,,did you ever think of water?...

#9Consumer Comment

Mon, November 01, 2004

Do you own a sink? Do you have tap water? Think of it this way, with all the things going on in the world, if that is the worst thing that ever happens in your life, you should be thankful! There are bigger things in life than getting regular coke instead of Diet Coke.

Madison,
Tennessee,
U.S.A.

PAPA JOHNS

#10Consumer Comment

Sun, October 31, 2004

I live in Madison too and stopped doing business with Papa Johns years ago after my first time doing business with them. Yes, they are very rude and are unwilling to resolve customer complaints. And their drivers are, indeed, rude too. Their location, between Kroger and SunTrust, has a lot of business traffic in the parking lot. I'm always polite when their drivers try to pull out, but they sometimes drive as if you're somehow in their way in this common parking area. When their drivers are rude to me in the parking lot, I'm just glad that I don't do business with them.

Robert

Jacksonville,
Florida,
U.S.A.

The driver delivers what is on the reciept

#11Consumer Suggestion

Sun, October 17, 2004

The driver only delivers the order as printed on the reciept. he does not make up the pizza or try to determine what the customer really wants. yelling and/or getting into a pissing contest with the delivery guy was meaningless. But, the real issue here isn't the driver. the real issue is you want to get your money back because you got regular coke instead of Diet. Big whoop. You had the food, eat it. You have real issues going if this is what ruined your day. You say you had nothing to drink. What happened to the coke the driver delivered? You say the place is 3 minutes away. Try going there next time. It took longer than that to have it delivered. Maybe you're just making up stuff. Who knows. WHO CARES? It's a friggin soda for crying out loud! You let a big food oredr go to waste while crying over a stupid soda. Jeeeeeez. You are the reason people like me come in here and tear you a new one. You waste Ed's bandwidth with your petty whining. get a life. Get a clue. Get on the short bus in the morning.

Robert

Jacksonville,
Florida,
U.S.A.