When The Scam Runs Cold

I’m delivering pizzas on a super busy night. This customer’s order is a bit late, so it takes him an hour to get his pizza. He opens the pizza box at his door, right in front of me. It’s the middle of winter, so steam is pouring onto his face from the heat.

Customer: *Looking right at me, through the steam.* “I’m not paying. It’s cold.”

Me: “Dude…” *I give him a ‘seriously?’ look.*

Customer: “I don’t want to pay for cold pizza.”

Me: “You’re not. We can both see the heat coming off that thing.”

Customer: “I know it’s cold, as it’s been an hour.”

Me: “Do you think the pizzas are made the moment you order? Do you think we just left your pizza sitting around on a cold countertop for an hour?”

Customer: *Shrugs.* “Not paying for cold pizza.”

Me: “Then you’re not getting pizza. I got four other deliveries to get to, and I don’t have time for this.”

I grab the pizza back before he has a chance to retreat inside with it (this happens a lot), and I go on my merry way. He called the pizza place to complain, and my manager told him that if he wanted his pizza back, he had to pay for it, and he’d be getting the same pizza back, which definitely would be cold by the time he got it.

The customer hung up, and I got to take home a free pizza.