How would you handle this??

[GT1]

I think you are handling it properly. The only other thing I would suggest…
Make it so you don’t lose orders by hqaving a lower price for school orders.
As was mentioned earlier, the money they save may help the school purchase
other things for the kids. In other words, look at it as another way you are
helping your community by saving the school money, rather than looking at
it as lowering prices to beat dominos.

 

[Registered_Guest]

The Calzone Kid:

Under no circumstances would I give her the pizzas for free. It almost rewards her lack of consideration. I think the buzz created by doing that would backfire and encourage others to try it out to get their pizzas for free.

I completely understand your feelings on this. And the “personal” part of me feels exactly the same as you, and as most on this board do. Personally, I’d like to give that woman a piece of my mind and no way I’d do anything for her.

But, I’m in business to make money. If i didn’t get her money this time, I want to make damn sure I get to take her money next time. That’s why I’m willing to apologize for HER mistake as if it were mine. With the hopes that in the long run, I get her to give me money.

I don’t know her - but I’m willing to bet that one of two things happened. Either she found it cheaper and was embarrassed to call back and cancel the order because of the local business aspect - or she really did just totally forget to cancel. The only other possibility is that she had the intent to screw him over - and I’d find that hard to imagine. As long as she didn’t have intent, I see no reason to not give her a way out. Forcing her to admit that she messed up doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t put more money in my pocket.

I’m not “great” at doing many things - but dealing with customer complaints (IMO) is one of my strong points. I’ll go overboard in situations like this - because that, in effect, makes the other person look even worse - while it makes you look like a saint. When I get done dealing with a customer complaint, they are usually trying to apologize to me for even complaining! :lol: And those people will be your customer for the rest of their life!

It’s the “easy way out” to think that other people at the school would then start ordering pizzas and saying they didn’t order upon delivery hoping to get them for free. I guess it is possible, but in reality that is not going to happen. The chances of that are so slim that using that as a reason for not doing it this time makes no sense. In fact, if it did happen again - so be it. That tells you that you can not do business with those people and you can move on. Even another $60 wouldn’t kill you.

 

[NicksPizza]

Glad the cooler heads beat me here. I always HATE taking a hit on large order that begs off late.
Bigger picture, baby. I needed the reminder again myself. I don’t take hits very often, but when we do, even a $30 gnaws at me a little on a Friday night.

I might suggest typing up a simple and clear policy statement on your letterhead that you can fax, mail or hand deliver whenever needed. It might even be a good thing to send to the local PTA’s school secretaries, and those who generally make largish orders. Cover letter could state that you are streamlining the process so that all the steps get taken care of smoothly, and all communication is clear for all parties involved. No one gets surprised sort of thing.

 

[amelmor]

royster13:

Who was paying for the pizzas?..Often teachers buy them out of their own pocket…Calling her out in front of her school board will often do more harm than good…And if it was the school that was paying for the order, remember that any money they saved was probably used class room supplies…So hard to blame a teacher for being “cheap” when they often buy supplies out of their own pocket…Use this as a “teachable moment” and put a better confirmation system in place…But otherwise just best to let it go…

I say eat the cost of the pizzas, but try to put everyone at the school on a big guilt trip. The school is probably one of the first ones coming to your door wanting you to donate time, and money, to their cause(s). When it’s time to reciprocate the gesture, instead of ordering pizza from you (who has donated to the community) they take their money 30 miles down the road to some corporate entity, who then takes that money out of the area. So what if they had to pay a little more, they should have done the right thing and ordered from you…even if it was coming out of the teacher’s pocket.

Next time they come in wanting a donation, explain to them what happened, and how you won’t be donating this year due to the fact your profits are down from all of the business going 30 miles out of town. Maybe if things change next year…

/I learned this one from a business man.
//It works.

 

[wa_dave]

The Calzone Kid:

Not to bring this thread off topic, but has anyone ever encountered any backlash when asking for pre-payment for large orders?
I did ask for pre-payment once on an order than sounded sort of suspicious to me and lost out on a potential 20 pizza order on a slow weeknight a couple years back. Not sure if the order was legit, but when a new address asks for a $300 dollar order with no coupons/specials and says they are paying cash, I get curious.
Since that incident, I have got into the habit of calling the customer back (before I start making their order) with an silly question like “Do you guys need plates/napkins?” or “I just wanted to double check the time you wanted the order delivered”. That way I have a legit phone number on record and it helps my piece of mind when it comes to new addresses/locations.

Do it all the time without a problem. They either pay by card or come in to the shop and pay cash or card. Just explain that with any other business, large orders over normal size ones require pre-payment. We use the reason that these size orders delay our normal trading and we cannot accept any large orders on the off chance that that we make them and they get cancelled at the last minute, or are not collected.
Most people agree with this.

Dave

 

[marbles2]

We’re in a small town and I would agree that although the teacher is just one of those clueless ones who doesn’t understand the way a COMMUNITY works, you don’t want to get the school district mad at you for the future. Might not hurt to have a sit-down talk with the principal or superintendent about what a good school policy would be so they don’t face the local businesses deciding not to donate in the future.

We had a giant order (for us) last summer when the National Park Service ordered 20 large pizzas and individual salads (all packed in biodegradable packaging) for personnel on a forest fire in a remote area (on a Friday night). We poured our resources into getting the order filled with our two deck ovens, and the delivery to the helicopter pad 18 miles away. It also required an invoice with no sales tax (fed government doesn’t have to pay tax to the state, apparently) and then wait weeks for the check. About a week or two later, I learned from one of the rangers working at the fire fighting compound that the helicopter that was to take the food to the fire fighters had to rescue a hiker with a compound broken ankle somewhere in the mountains and they couldn’t deliver the food. (I felt so bad for the fire fighters that they must have been stuck with MRE pouches when they were expecting our popular pizzas.) The fire base personnel and other rangers at the station got to eat pizza and salad, and I eventually got my check. But it was something I couldn’t let my staff know because they wouldn’t have understood and would have called up the ranger station or something, creating scandals and further policies from the government about big orders. I let it drop. (Until I went to file my state taxes and had forgotten about the no tax thing, causing me to need to file for a refund.) You just live and learn…

 

[gbomb]

qcfmike:

Personally I would send a letter to the school board about what happened. Be nice about it but make your point about how the situation unfolded. The lack of small business support shown by this person and the lack of responsibility to at least call and cancel the order once placed. Tell them you do not appreciate being taken advantage of by this person and her total disregard to the expense and loss you have now taken. Explain that you are an independent operation and yes the big chains can offer better pricing on lower quality products. That is fine if that is what you are looking for, but she came too you and ordered these 19 pizzas for $xx dollars. Tell them you are fine if they wanted to support a national chain 30 miles away to save a couple of dollars…but it was not fair to do it at your expense.

I would also put in a new store policy to verify all large orders with a phone call the day of and maybe go as far as pre-payment or at least a signed order from the person placing the order for any order over 10 pizzas or so.

Excellently put. I like the policy idea too.