We’ve had a regular customer who lives in an apartment complex where you have to either call on arrival, or get buzzed in through a door security code. On more than one occasion our drivers have had to return with the pizza because he wasn’t answering several attempts the driver made to get a hold of him. No big deal because either he would call us back or we would call him and I would just send the driver out again.
However, the past three times this happened he never called or answered his phone.
My drivers reel in frustration now every time they see an order from him because they know what a pain it is to deal with him…or not.
How would you handle this customer? We’ve been thinking about either having him guarantee his order with a credit card, or just not letting him order if he continues this behavior. Hate to do this to a regular customer. But we have other customers (regular and otherwise) who are possibly being inconvenienced by this
We have some customers who live in similar apartment blocks. Most ask that the driver calls on their mobile and they come down to meet them.
If this happened to us I would explain to the person the cost of us re-delivering and the inconvenience it puts on our other delivery customers waiting for their pizzas.
Should it happen a second time we would explain again and state that we would require pre-payment (ie credit card) first and if nobody was at home we would leave the order at their door, slipping a note confirming delivery the door.
Sorry but it costs us money to delivery and we have to pay the driver for the delivery so doing a second time would mean double the delivery fee. We are not a charity and if people want a delivery service they should have the decency to be there to accept it and pay extra for second time delivery. No free delivery if we have to go back.
These sought of people get up my nose and cause more problems to the efficent flow of deliveries than what the order is worth. I’m in the business to make money and not pander to some arrogant slob who doesn’t care a fig if they upset the apple cart.
Sorry but I think we are better off without them. Let PH or Domino’s or who ever have the hassles.
Dave
No brainer – no more deliveries. Be polite but that’s it. And a credit card over the phone doesn’t do anything. He can call the credit card’s bank and void the payment and there is nothing you can do.
I had a few like this. It depends on the situation. My most difficult one ordered at least four times a week and we finally got matters resolved. Customers become like friends and sometimes it helps to bend a little. Word of mouth is so critical.
PD
I have one like this and what we do was call from the store before the driver leaves. If there was no answer it will wait til the next run. One night it sat for 2 hours before we were able to get an answer. I finally asked the customer what the problem was. He is one of those people who falls asleep for no reason at any time any place. He is happy with the arrangement we have now.
we have a guy do this to us as well (think he’s a drinker and passes out). Never answers the door or the phone…even had us honk when we arrive to no avail…so what we do is keep his credit card on file, charge it (including tip) when he orders and deliver as usual. Most of the time he still doesn’t answer the phone or door so we leave it outside on top of his car…haven’t had to deal with him since we initiated this procedure 
Depending on how you want to handle it, there’s a chance that the apartment complex would allow you to put a deposit down on a remote for the gate and have a remote. That at least gets you in the gate. Otherwise, you might want to ask him if he’s turning the phone off (or leaving in another room) or what exactly is happening. In other words, would getting to his door even help the delivery? If all else fails, HE can put down the deposit on the remote and let y’all use it. In any case, it seems like you must do something. You either have to cut him off or hold him accountable.
Cut him off. Gas is too expensive to waste and it doesn’t sound like he cares about your business.