Not that it matters much to the profit margins or growth of their business (unless this becomes a wide spread and viral issue) because it's not about the (mediocre to bland tasting) pizza but the experience. Papa John's Pizza just lost me as a customer and in the future when a friend or family wants pizza or anyone remotely suggest Papa John's I will suggest anything else except Papa John's Pizza.
When I was younger, our go to commercial pizza place was Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut has a better crust in my opinion and tastier ingredients though Papa John's offers a better variety and their pizza's taste lighter. There are light taste differences so I use to be able to go for either or but if one was next to each other I would go for Pizza Hut.
Lately, in the past few years there have been a few Papa John's opening in my area, especially around where I work. So, co-workers and I would sometimes order from them. When you make purchases at Papa John's on your account with them you get points for free pizza for your next order. 15 to 25 points will get you a pie. So, my account racks those points up and so does my co-workers. I also get promotional points from marketing here and there. I've gotten a few free pizza pies from Papa John's this way. I have a few expired on me. I mean who keeps track of pizza points?
The other day Papa John's sent me a promotional offer with a few points. I login the account and I saw I had a free pie available. But I didn't want pizza then. Today, I had a couple teenagers hanging out in the house and what better way to keep them happy with some pizza! I remember those points and made my online order like before. So, we drive to the Papa John's 10-15 minutes away. I showed the cashier my order on phone. He checked the order and denied me my order. I asked why. What was the reason? He said there was some kind of fraud with my account and I had to make a purchase online to get the order. Correct, that made no sense. Basically, I did not get my order even speaking with the manager. Confused at the explanation and agitated. I sent a letter about my issue to Papa John's via Twitter, Facebook, their Customer Service Email and I called their Customer Service number. Being on hold for 10 minutes after my explanation while the representative I spoke with called the location inquiring why? The answer was still fraud, something wrong with my account. So, the representative escalated the issue to a team that will contact me in 24-48 hours with another rambling excuse.
What's the moral behind the story?
In the past I have come to realize a companies marketing team is not in good communication with the chain of operation. Oh, give customers points when they buy something so in the future they can come back as return costumers. Like a little game, it is a sale booster but it isn't always honored. A: It is somewhat false advertising.
B: I use to be a light fan of Papa John's (not so much for the food quality, just the branding) but not any more. The experience of the douche bag employees that handled my denied order in comparing with the advertisement just seriously lost them a good customer. I unsubscribed to their emails and in the future whenever I see anything related to Papa John's I will think of this experience.
