I work for a big international pizza franchise as a shift manager. Our store in particular is pretty small and our delivery area is limited. We can also in no way control which locations our system will accept as valid delivery addresses since that is set by the central office. I answer the phone.

Me: “Welcome to [Pizza Place]. My name is [My Name]; what can I do for you?”

Customer: “Yeah, hello, I’d like to order a pizza.”

Me: “Sure, where would you like to have that delivered to?”

Customer: “To [Town thirty minutes away].”

For big deliveries not too far outside our actual delivery area, we will sometimes cheat the system, but obviously, we’re not supposed to do that in extreme cases like this.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but we cannot deliver to [Town] as our system will not allow it and the pizza will probably be cold when it gets to you.”

Customer: *Suddenly screaming at me* “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T DELIVER TO [TOWN]? I WANT A PIZZA!”

I stopped taking people screaming at me seriously right around elementary school.

Me: “Frankly, I don’t care. There are like twenty pizza places in [Town]. Also, since you’re unreasonably screaming, I will now end this call. Have a nice day.” *Click*

Of course, you have to accommodate even ridiculous customers in the spirit of good customer service, but come on. Did I mention I love being the manager?

Related:
A Hot Slice Of Justice, Part 6
A Hot Slice Of Justice, Part 5
A Hot Slice Of Justice, Part 4
A Hot Slice Of Justice, Part 3
A Hot Slice Of Justice, Part 2

I am a regular customer at a chain pizza store that runs a particularly good deal for a large pizza for about $8. As we order from them roughly once a week, they know my order by heart and know my car when I pull up. When you walk in, there is a large screen that shows the status of your order. I see that mine will still be in the oven for a few minutes.

Employee: “[My Name], right?” *Checks for my order* “Um… It’s not ready yet.”

He sounds nervous when he tells me.

Me: “That’s fine. I saw on the board that it wasn’t quite yet. I’m sure it won’t be too long.”

Employee: “Oh… Yes. I can ring you up now.”

Me: *Joking* “Do I get a prize for being the first person to read the sign today?”

Several of the employees laugh and one says, “That’s true.”

Employee: “Your total is [amount $1.50 less than normal].”

Me: “Huh? Um… That’s for the carryout, right?”

Employee: “Yes. See, here’s your coupon.”

He gave me the employee discount in addition to the deal. I’m not complaining, but now I wonder how people have screamed today about a two-minute wait.

It is the middle of quarantine. Most restaurants are closed, but mine is open with limited seating. I work at a pizza restaurant that typically has a buffet but is shut down at the moment for health reasons.

Customer: “I need six for the buffet.” 

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. Due to the health crisis, we aren’t currently having the buffet.”

Customer: “What?! Well, then what are we supposed to do?”

Me: “You can still order pizzas and dine in; we just don’t have the buffet.”

Customer: “So we’re just supposed to order and share? What are we supposed to do if everyone wants a different kind?”

Me: “We can do half and half or personal sizes.”

Customer: “No, that won’t do. This is ridiculous that you expect us to come and share like that. You should have your buffet open!”

Me: “Well, like I said, this is because we are in the middle of a health crisis and it is unsafe for us to have it open.”

Customer’s Friend: *Throws their hands up* “Well, we’re going to [Competitor]!” 

They all stormed out. I’m still wondering how those people order pizza at places that don’t have buffets.

At the pizza shop I work for, if a person calls in for delivery, we ask how they want to pay. If they want to pay with a card, we have to enter their card information into the system. After we confirm the authorization on the payment, we have no way to see the credit card number. If you were to print the ticket, it would only show the last four numbers of the card with the authorization number. 

One day, it’s just my general manager and me in the store. I walk out from the back and she’s on the phone.

Manager: “Again, I’m so sorry. I will definitely look into that ASAP. Tell the officers to come in and ask for [Manager] and we’ll do whatever we can.”

After she hangs up, she pulls a stack of credit card receipts out of the safe and begins going through them. She hands me a small slip of paper that she’d been writing on while on the phone.

Manager: “Do me a favor and look at last night’s transactions and try to find these three totals. A customer got delivery last night and was charged three different times on her card. I need to see if these totals are in the system and I’m going to see if the signatures match.”

This is easy, as you can organize tickets by their total, and I find and print a copy of all three orders.

Me: “Only one of these is delivery; the other two are from the counter… and have an employee discount added to them.”

She hands me the other receipts and asks me to help her look for those three tickets. She finds the delivery one and I find one of the counter ones and burst out laughing.

Me: “[Counter Person] is a f****** moron.”

It turns out that last night, our counter person wrote down this lady’s entire information, used it to buy two meals for herself, gave herself the employee discount, and then SIGNED HER OWN NAME TO THE RECEIPT. The police arrive and my manager shows them the receipts. She starts talking with them about how [Counter Person] also used this lady’s card to buy $500 worth of stuff online. While this is going on, the phone rings and I answer it.

Counter Person: “Hey, [My Name], can I place an order for delivery?”

She placed the order and, I kid you not, she TRIED TO USE THE STOLEN CREDIT CARD. It didn’t go through because the customer had already canceled it, so she said she’d just pay cash. I always wondered who got there first: the pizza or the cops.

I am working a closing shift, the first I’ve worked on my own since being promoted to the management team. Just after I send my last insider home, leaving only me and one delivery driver, we get slammed back to back with orders out of nowhere. I’m trying to keep my cool, but apparently, my stress is showing through my customer service mask more than I’d like it to when I open our pickup window to help a customer. After I give her the total:

Customer: “Hun, are you okay?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, I’m fine. Just a little frazzled, I suppose.”

Customer: “Are you sure? You seem upset.”

Me: “I really am fine. It’s just my first night closing the store on my own and we got hit with orders at an unexpected time is all.”

The customer nods and counts out the money for her total. Then, she hesitates, adds a couple more dollars, and hands me the money.

Customer: “Here, hun, keep the change. I hope your night gets better.”

Me: “Really? Thank you so much! I really do appreciate it.”

Customer: “No problem. Take a deep breath, smoke a bowl of green, and you’ll be fine!”

I laughed my a** off as she pulled away. That one customer made my night so much better, and not even because of the $2 tip. I wish some of my other customers would understand how far a little kindness and a sense of humor go!

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for February 2021!

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