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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Pizza Hut Online Headache

I like the internet.

I like food.

I hate ordering food on the internet.

My journey to order food online started with a simple idea from my wife: try the new Pizza Hut Natural Pizza. At first, it sounded awful. Why the HECK would I want pizza from Pizza Hut when there are plenty of local pizza places all over the place? However, the commercials had gotten to both of us and we figured it was only $9.99 so it was worth a try.

Haven't heard of the new Natural Pizza?

Basically, it's Pizza Hut's attempt to compete with local pizza shops by using all "natural" ingredients and multi grain crust. Read the full details here.

We made our decision and my wife says, "Why don't you order the pizza online?"

Ok, I think, that sounds like something fun and different. (I have never ordered pizza online before).

I sit down at the computer, thinking this should only take a couple of minutes. After all - it's suppose to be faster, easier and more convenient than just picking up and calling my order in, right?

We visit PizzaHut.com, click the Online Ordering link and go through the process of "logging in" with our email address.

After we get in, the process for placing the order is severely complex. First, select one of their 30 "types" of pizza, then select if you want to "create your own" or just quick order a cheese etc.

Once you have selected your type of pizza you select your size. For some unknown and completely unnecessary reason, The Natural only comes in Medium. Frankly, this just isn't enough and the Medium costs $9.99. (A little much wouldn't you say since this is basically fast food pizza?)

We finally manage to finish selecting our pizza, toppings and go to check out.

WAIT!

Before I can check out and place my order I have to create a profile. Why? Because Pizza Hut wants all of my precious information. It doesn't benefit me by completing a profile on their site yet I'm forced against my will to spend countless more minutes of my precious time answering their *required questions.

I complete the profile, enter my email, then enter funky letters (uk5g6) to verify I'm a living human being and click, Complete.

Error: Please enter a valid user name. (err, ok I guess I'll make up a different one)

Click, Complete

Error: Please enter a valid Birth month (Apparently it got reset when I clicked Complete again)

Click, Complete

Error: Please check that you agree to the terms and conditions. (um, ok I already checked this once)

Click, Complete

Error: Please enter a valid Birth month (UGH! Does this STUPID thing KEEP RESETTING every time I click complete?!!?)

Tick, tick, tick - it's been over 10 minutes since I started. I could have called and had the pizza half way cooked by now.

I almost gave up, but since I was so deep in to the process I was determined to finish.

Finally, with one last click I manage to get through and I'm notified of my estimated delivery time: 7:37pm. I look at the clock on the wall.....that's 20 minutes from the time I placed my order.

Hmm.....pizza ordered, cooked and delivered in 20 minutes? What are they microwaving these things?

The pizza arrives at 7:34pm (wow that was fast and yes, it probably was microwaved) and much to my delight it's about the size of a normal, every day dessert pie. So basically, it's tiny.

I don't need to go in to great detail here, I'm sure you've already guessed how I feel about this pizza after my exhausting experience ordering it online. Basically it's a Pizza Hut pizza with different crust. Is it better than normal Pizza Hut pizza? Sure. Is it worth $9.99? No.

Now the bigger question at hand here. Why the heck does Pizza Hut think that Online Ordering is a good idea? No one can possibly be enjoying this service! It's irritating, long, process driven and IT'S NOT FASTER THAN ORDERING ON THE PHONE! Is this just some desperate tactic to eliminate ALL customer - employee interaction?

It seems to me that restaurant companies that offer the "amazing service" of Online Ordering THINK it's something customers want. I'm guessing though, that if they really asked people, the truth would come out: we want someone to take our order, be friendly, get it right (with no errors) and do it fast.

We don't need bells and whistles, we need authentic personal service.

Posted by Dan Holm at 11:32 PM
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4 comments:

  1. Great Post! I couldn't agree more. Just because we can order food on the internet doesn't mean we should. How much money does this cost pizza hut? Wouldn't be more economically to take that money and spend it on training employees in great customer service? Especially now when more than ever customers want an experience over convenience.
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  2. I actually ordered Domino's online about 1.5 years ago and it was VERY easy. I'm not sure if Domino's is different than Pizza Hut or maybe the online services have changed since then. But I can say that I don't think either place even BEGINS to compare to small, non-chain places.
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  3. you forgot to mention the ungrateful delivery driver who doesn't even say "thank you" after his $4.00 tip.....
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  4. I dont even know if the poster looks at this any more but heres my thought. Hopefully this give you a satisfying answer or point of view.

    Ive worked at Pizza Hut for 9 years as a cook, a driver, and now a manager for 6 years. PH launch the online ordering in 2008 and it was very scetchy. Less than half of the orders made online actually made it to the store's computers and the ones that got to the stores usually had wrong information. You can blame that on the Server company we used to head the computer apps of the entire Pizza Hut (now NPC Internaional, I'll talk about that later).
    The online ordering system has been completely revamped and is now bugfree. My store is in a town of less than 10,000, so we are usually forgotten, or the last to get the new systems and even we have 100% reliability. Now on to the pizza itself.
    The Natural for Pizza Hut was a flop. We invested in all natural products (this isnt a promo for PH but most of our toppings are all natural anyway, which confused stores when they made us buy all new "all natural-er" toppings. anyway...) The dough was a whole wheat dough which dried out MUCH easier than any handtossed dough we've ever used. For this reason, much of the dough was proofed (allowed to rise naturally) throught the day. This made for slow delivery times and slow cook times. As this doenst apply to you, I'd also like to address that accusation of microwaving food. I have worked at 5 different stores and no where have we ever microwaved food. There is not even a microwave in the store. The Natural Pizza was cooked at ___º for 6-8 minutes as per every store in the world. There is no faster way to cook a Pizza Hut Pizza.
    This next part goes to the anon. commenter on OCT 24. Drivers are grateful for every penny we make. There are stores in which drivers split their tips with the cooks because cooks receive only their paycheck. Which is minimum wage, may I add. At my current store, there are 8 drivers on staff. Not one has ever come back to the store after a run and said, "I cant believe all I got was $---" unless they were stiffed. To everyone (if anyone) who reads this and still complains about drivers, think about this. 1. They receive their pay check and what minimal tips, thats it. No bonuses, nothing. 2. They are expected to pay for their own gas and car repairs. You drive 3,000 miles in a few weeks because your deliveries are so far away, you pay for your own oil changes. The ONLY incentive to drivers is 1000+ hours of on time deliveries and you get a Pizza Hut jacket, woohoo, right? 3. The time of the food's arrival is about 95% of the cook's responsibility. The driver has a set route in his or her mind and they take the quickest route possible, like I said, for incentives. The cook can only go as fast as they can.
    To end this little rant I've got going here, I'd like to say that Pizza Hut is now owned by a company named NPC International INC. Employee benefits were cut, all scholarship programs were cut, and all pay was cut. Dealing with the public and the idiots who think Public Food Service is a slacker, low brow, rock bottom job, I would trade you jobs for one week and let you decide on whose job is more difficult, and you can see just how much we have to put up with every day.
    So Dan. HAVE YOU ever actually worked at Pizza Hut? Do you think you have the authority to turn people away from a business from ONE bad experience? If you wanted to complain, go to our website and do it there.
    ReplyDelete

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