Why Papa John's Pizza will never see ANOTHER $$ from me!

It all began because I was hungry and didn't feel like cooking! It has been raining here all day (all week actually) and I really didn't feel like going back out in the rain to get dinner. You would think that living in Brooklyn (were you can get the best pizza in the USA) that I wouldn't bother ordering from a chain pizza joint. Since my favorite family own pizza shop only takes cash I had to find a place that took cards. I have never been a fan of Dominos so I figured I give Papa John's a try. I had seen their commercials and knew you could order online.

So I ordered 2 specials and a beverage, and a side! First time I put the order in (with a tip added to the total) I don't get any confirmation, so I decided to place the order again without a tip (I figured I pay the tip in cash). This one goes through. Luckily someone from the store calls me and tell me that two orders have been placed and wanted to know if this was a go. I tell the guy "no, I didn't get a confirmation with the first so I placed it again." I tell him I only wanted 1 order. Fine. He says "we'll cancel the first one!"

A few minutes later the delivery guy calls and tells me he will be here in 4 mins. Cool, I tell him just bring it to my apartment door. Then he tells me that it's policy that they don't come into apartment buildings and that I would have to come to the front of the building. For a $35 order, I expect door-to-door service. Damn even Dominos does that! I tell him if he brings it to the door I will give him a nice tip. I'm figuring $10 is worth it. He tells me that I have to call his boss and okay it with him. So I call the place back and tell him I can't come to the front door and he says tell the driver its okay. I get back on the phone with the driver and relay this message. (Why couldn't the boss just do this himself?)

Okay, so the driver finally arrives to my apartment door and he doesn't have change for a $20 (all the small cash I have on me!) All he has is $3 on him, but he will go down into the car and bring back my change! I make a quick decision: if he didn't want to bring the pizzas up in the first place, he won't be back. Against my better judgement, I say "Fine, take the $20 and have a good night!"

So I go in and find that between the two boxes is a paper solicitation for an dog breeder of Siberian huskies! WTF? Who wants to find that WITH a food order. I'm thinking the delivery guy has a side job. But this is just tacky! It's reminds me of pet hospital next to a Chinese restaurant (see photo - yes it's real and it's located on East 14th Street between Aves A and B)! To a person with a vivid imagination, that is the last thing I want to see! It gets better: the receipt with the order is for the first order (yes the one that I put the tip on the card) So, if you are following me, this delivery guy has just made a $25 tip on a $35 pizza order!

Since I ordered online, I go to check both my bank to see if either of the orders have been cancelled. Neither order has been cancelled. So I go back to the phone and call Papa John's and find out what the deal is. The manager tells me, after putting me on hold for what seems like ages, that the first order was cancelled and it should show up on my account in 24 hours. Needless to say, this has been the most expensive pizza order I have ever placed thus far!

So, I do what any disgruntle customer would do, I fire off a letter to the company on their website! It funny that when you place an order the site runs fast and easy. But if you are trying to lodge a complaint... slow as all hell!

Its been raining all week here. Im getting over a bad cold I've had for the past 2 weeks. This pizza fiasco was the cherry on my day!