I called Domino's and ordered large, thin-crust, 3-topping pizza for carry-out. The voice on the other end of the phone confirmed, "And you said carry-out?" My response, "That's right, sir." The voice then told me, "OK, that'll be $14.10. Give us about 10 minutes."
I walked into the local Domino's and confirmed that the "Monday-Thursday large 3-topping carry-out only for $7.99" was still prominently posted on the window. It was. I opened the door and was greeted by the typical chorus of "welcome to Domino's!" The young man at the counter asked how he could help me, so I said, "I'm Joe, I'm here to pick up my pizza, and by the way, shouldn't I get that price?" (pointing to the words on the window). His response, "Oh,sir! that is for carry-out only!!"
TIME OUT: Isn't that why most people walk into a Domino's? For carry-out? We don't order home delivery and then drive the store, right? OK, maybe he was having a bad day.
Back to the story. The young man looked confused. As I began to explain that the pizza that I was picking up truly was carry-out, a young lady was making her way to the cash register. Very courteously she said, "Don't worry sir, I'm fixing it right now. We are not allowed to offer that price to our customers. You have to ask for it. Does that make sense?"
TIME OUT: I really don't like it when someone makes a straightforward statement and then asks, "Does that make sense?" It is kind of demeaning. Yes, I have the capacity to understand straightforward statements. If I don't, I'll ask for clarification. "Does that make sense?" is one of my trigger phrases, so if you say that to me and I subsequently appear to be biting my tongue or some other part of the inside of my mouth, now you know why.
Back to the story. OK, the young lady was trying to be helpful. Did that make sense. Yes, I understood her predicament, but the Domino's policy (to me) was not logical. So I said, "Well, it does and it doesn't." (This was all very friendly.) Her response to me, "Well, if you want to keep your job with Domino's, it makes sense."
Sigh....
Dear Domino's Senior Management: I am neither angry nor complaining...just making an observation. You really shouldn't play these kinds of games with your customers and your associates. If you offer a price, offer it. You are currently telling your customers, "We really are willing to sell for less, but if you don't know that or are too timid to ask, we're gonna make an extra six bucks off of you!" It is an extra step for the customer to have to ask for the price. Why not simply serve the customer? And I am saddened by the thought of the associate who thinks they might get in trouble for taking the initiative to tell the customer what the true price is. Domino's, this is not a big thing, but it is the kind of thing that makes people feel belittled and leaves a bad impression of your company. Why not just honor and serve your people? Does that make sense?
